The forgiveness of the Almighty God. Is there any more resounding mark of greatness, than the mighty giving mercy to the weak? Shakespeare so beautifully painted mercy’s portrait, when he noted: “’Tis mightiest in the mightiest… It is enthroned in the hearts of kings; it is an attribute to God Himself; and earthly power doth then show likest God’s when mercy seasons justice…”

His mercy has walked with us, every step of our life.

In every failure, with every stumble or shortcoming… we turn with childlike trust to look on His fatherly face. Will it be holy vengeance we find scowling down in condemnation? No, child of God. For every heart that truly seeks Him, we look on His countenance and find only mercy streaming down.

“Remember Your mercy, O Lord, and Your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to Your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of Your goodness, O Lord! …All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth toward them who honor His covenant…” Psalm 25:6-7, 10

As we walk in His presence, close to His covenant, mercy is our constant companion. There is no condemnation or fear than need hold us, when our hand is safely clasped in His. 

Joseph and Mary so well knew this. They were walking a path in life they could never have comprehended… yet they went on, step by step, leaning ever harder into the mercy of God. He would sustain them. He would empower and give wisdom. He would provide and bring them safely to the purposes for which they were meant. These two, most especially entrusted with carrying close to their hearts the Baby Jesus—they walked faithfully, secure in that trust. They knew a good Father God would be constantly at their side, that His mercy would follow all the days of their lives.

*******

We Were Led Forth by Mercy (excerpt)

By: Amy Rutherford

…and so this journey began with faith.
…We obediently just carried on; we knew Your hope would keep us strong.
When the stars gave no light and the path bore no sign, we were led forth by mercy. 
When You called, we obeyed… no need to be afraid. We were led forth by mercy.

*******

If God has called you to a path, He will be there with you, walking faithfully alongside You… never forsaking the children He has called by His own name. 

“He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me… Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…” Psalm 23:3-4a, 6a

-Amy Rutherford, 2023-

If you’d like to listen to “We Were Led Forth by Mercy,” it’s track 8 on our album streaming here:

http://artists.landr.com/064837238814

One beautiful translation of that verse puts it this way, rather:  “Cease your striving and know that I am God.” How often we continue pressing harder and harder, still feeling inadequate, though, and so trying even more to “be enough.” Yet, all the while, what God knows we most need is to just be still, to cease our striving and come sit in His presence awhile. 

In 1 Kings 19, the prophet Elijah came to a similar season in his life. Exhausted, hounded, worn by giving everything he could, finally he withdrew to a high place, tucking himself into the refuge of a cave, desperately just wanting to be near God: to hear Him and to be heard. He felt pummeled in his own striving and just needed to be with His God.

At first, Elijah tried pleading his cause, defending his motives, arguing his case… and God drew near in like manner: there was a howling of wind that encompassed the mountain, but God’s voice was not in it. Then there came the violent tearing of an earthquake, but God’s voice was not in it. Then there descended flames, but God’s voice was not to be found there either.

Finally, the tumult in Elijah’s spirit began to subside, and he quietly came to the mouth of the cave, standing there silently, a cloak wrapped around his face, waiting wordlessly for His God to come to him. It was then that he finally heard God draw near… not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire, but in a still, small whisper of tender voice.

They communed there, heart to heart awhile, before Elijah went back to his work, renewed and strengthened for the task at hand. 

There are times we all need that space of refuge, to pull deeper into the presence of our loving God awhile—to know Him as our hiding place. As we learn to be still and quiet in His presence, giving Him our full trust, He will meet us there and renew our spirits.

In our present day, the way in which we celebrate this Christmas season of joy, can become full and busy, bustling and hurried, chaotic and overwhelmingly full of stimuli on every side. No matter how good some things may be, sometimes the good can crowd out our heart’s space for what is the best. How important—now as ever—to find time to be still. If we will wait with Him awhile, we will hear His voice and more fully know His beautiful heart. That same still, small voice that reached to Elijah was later echoed in an infant’s small cry reaching mercifully to us. We waited in stillness for this Jesus, and in His humble birth, we find our refuge has come.

“In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength… Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you… blessed are all those who wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:15b, 18

*******

“It Came upon the Midnight Clear” (excerpt)

Edmund H. Sears (1849)

It came upon the midnight clear,

That glorious song of old,

From angels bending near the earth

To touch their harps of gold:

“Peace on the earth, goodwill to men,”

From Heav’n’s all-gracious King.

The world in solemn stillness lay,

To hear the angels sing.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife

The world has suffered long,

Beneath the angel strain have rolled

Two thousand years of wrong;

And man, at war with man, hears not

The love song which they bring:

O hush the noise, ye men of strife,

And hear the angels sing!

All ye, beneath life’s crushing load,

Whose forms are bending low,

Who toil along the climbing way

With painful steps and slow,

Look now! For glad and golden hours

Come swiftly on the wing:

O rest beside the weary road,

And hear the angels sing!

*******

-Amy Rutherford, 2023-

If we haven’t already, we will all eventually find a struggle that seems “beyond us.” Sometimes, the odds seem insurmountable, and we just find ourselves longing for help and guidance and strength to stay the course. Time and time again, we can see through history how God stepped in to protect and guard His people in their times of trouble.

A flood was to sweep over the world, and God provided an ark to carry a remnant of people and animals safely, so that life would have another chance soon. Sheltered secure above the waves, Noah and the others saved knew the reality of God having shielded them. (Genesis 6)

Later, when a horrendous famine was coming, God gave His servant Joseph the wisdom to plan ahead, saving enough grain to preserve multiple nations when all other food was obliterated. Those saved knew God had shielded them from catastrophe and starvation. (Genesis 41)

A few generations later, God’s people were enslaved in Egypt, and God was determined to deliver them safely back to their homeland. Plague after plague swept through the Egyptians until they relented and let God’s people go, but God continually sheltered the district of Goshen where His own people dwelt… keeping from them the pestilence, suffering, and sickness visited upon their captors. Those saved knew they had been shielded by a merciful God. (Exodus 7-12)

The stories go on, thousands of years. With miracle after miracle, we see God’s divine intervention on behalf of His people, no matter the battle or difficulty in which they found themselves. He would continually shield those who took refuge in Him. 

The Psalms held many such prayers that He would shield the one placing his trust in this good and faithful God. David, the writer of most Psalms, knew what it was to be unjustly harangued, to be hated without cause and assailed by his enemies. “The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him.” Psalm 28:7 David knew, so well, that his very life depended upon God shielding him and giving help in his hour of need… and God did both so faithfully, as David leaned close, trusting Him fully.

This is a faithful God, forever willing to help those who call to Him in faith and trust. Sometimes, ever so beautifully, He allows others around us to be an extension of His hands and heart into our life, giving the help and encouragement we so desperately need.

One of my favorite stories finds Israel in a struggle against the Amalekites during the Exodus years. Joshua was in the valley leading the Israelite army, while an aged Moses watched and prayed from the hill overlooking the fight. God would give grace in the battle and sustain the Israelites… as long as Moses held up his hands in petition over the warring armies.

As the day wore on, however, Moses’ strength began to falter; his hands would slip down, and the battle would begin to turn against them. Two of his closest advisors saw this and drew near, each holding up one of his arms, until the sun had set, and the battle had proved victorious for the people of God.

You see, sometimes God’s provision will come in unexpected ways, as He brings others around us to bear more clearly His heart in this world. When we need His shielding, His might, His help… all we need do is call upon His mercy and wait for Him to faithfully draw near… in whatever way and through whatever means He deems best.

Psalm 33:20 says, “Our souls wait for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.”

We need only wait on this good God to prove Himself as faithful yet again, as He always has. In His perfect time He will come to help us. 

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” Galatians 4:4-7

Jesus was born and all the waiting of our hearts came to perfect fulfillment of the promises of a good God… In His Son, we were saved, we were called sons, and we were helped—shielded by the One Who Himself became mercy.

“…because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us, from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79)

*******

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (excerpt)
Latin hymn
translated by John Mason Neale (1818-1866)

O Come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God apperar.

O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee,
O Israel!

******

-Amy Rutherford, 2023-

If you’d like to listen to “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” it’s track 4 on our album streaming here:

http://artists.landr.com/064837238814

Before Jesus’ coming, God had carefully set a redemptive balance wherein sin was carefully atoned by repentant sacrifice. Even the first sin in the Garden of Eden immediately found a blood sacrifice being made to cover Adam and Eve’s shame and bareness.

For years that ensued, there were offerings brought before God in this way: the fruit of the field, the fruit of the vine, the fragrance of incense, and, most crucially, sacrificial animals. These animals were bearing the weight of sin’s cost—for death was the price to be paid—as God mercifully tried to spare His children.

But each new sin commited, and a new sacrifice would have to be made; each passing year, a new atonement would be pled.  Goats and sheep, bulls and doves… or a perfect, spotless lamb—all held their place in a worthy sacrificial system that held a tenuous truce awhile. God always knew though. 

Eventually, a sacrifice would be required “once and for all,” an offering—perfect, holy, giving of itself willingly—only that kind of sacrifice which would pay sin’s debt for every soul, for all time.

The hints of this truth were scattered throughout the stories, as God’s people grew into a nation. There was the perfect lamb slaughtered before each Passover, its blood covering a doorpost, so that death would not enter the home of those sheltering there. There was Abraham nearly sacrificing his son, Isaac, only to hear a merciful reprieve from the heavens in final, fateful seconds—a fulfillment of Abraham’s assurance to Isaac that “God would provide, Himself, for the lamb” for sacrifice… and there they raised their eyes to find a ram caught fast in a thicket just by their altar. Again and again sacrifices made, again and again lambs and other innocent creatures bearing the cost.

We reach the Israelites’ time of the prophets and find remarkable words from Isaiah. God had begun to reveal the full measure of eventual sacrifice required, and Isaiah penned these profound prophecies regarding the Messiah Savior to come: 

“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth… He poured out His soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:4-7, 12b

This perfect, sacrificial Lamb had been long-foretold, and when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, he cried out with a heart that had always known the truth: “Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29b

Jesus willingly took on this role and carried it through to completion at a cost beyond anything we could ever comprehend or imagine. All the weight of all the sin of all humanity for all time that had yet passed and would ever be… all of it cast upon the shoulders and soul of a perfect Son of God… this Lamb of God Whose love was enough to take the punishment and spare us.

 “…You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a Lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you…” 1 Peter 1:18-20 God knew of this perfect Lamb all along, and when the time had come, made it known to us: Behold the Lamb of God!

A child lay there that Christmas night, wrapped in cloths to swab away bloodied hay, born in a forsaken stable, tucked for safety into a manger surrounded by animals, themselves, meant for eventual sacrifice… and this Child would grow to be the Lamb Who saved us all.

*******

“Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” (excerpt)

Theodore Baker (1851-1934)

This Flower, Whose fragrance tender

With sweetness fills the air,

Dispels with glorious splendor

The darkness everywhere.

True man, yet very God,

From sin and death He saves us

And lightens every load.

*******

-Amy Rutherford, 2023-

When God made us, it was from the overflow of a profoundly loving heart. He did not create us out of some sense of incompleteness or need. No, He was already perfect and whole, but He desired—just because of measureless love—to create humanity who would be the objects of His holy and tender affection… and in that story of love bring great glory to His name. 

One of the most beautiful ways of understanding His heart is to see how tenderly He longed to knit this human race and Himself together as Father and children. Isaiah 63:16 acknowledges this with “…You, O Lord, are our Father; our Redeemer, from of old is Your name.” From the very first, He longed to be “Father” to us. 

Errant children that we were, we just couldn’t manage to stay close, though. Like any growing child who distances themselves, knowingly or unknowingly, from their parents, we were forever allowing ourselves to be called away. It was too easy to hear competing voices of the world: our own desires, goals that looked more interesting, passing priorities that stole our hearts’ vision away from the very One Who breathed into us our life.

Jeremiah 3:19 reveals God’s response, His longing after us, as we wandered further and further… “’I said, How I would set you among my sons, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful of all nations. And I thought you would call me “my Father,” and would not turn from following Me.’” …and yet we did turn away—far too quickly and for far too long. He loved us too much to leave us in that state, though.

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18) Here, God made a way.

The perfect, only-begotten Son of God, our Jesus, would step into our wayward mess and make a path again for us to come home and be family once more. “…We have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

Jesus was perfect, without stain of the sin that had so assailed us. Being holy and true, He was the only One worthy to settle the cost of our straying steps. He came to us, that we could be adopted back into a loving Father’s arms.

All that was required of us: to believe in Him and to trustingly accept the gift He freely offered—salvation to all who would have Him… “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12-13

Our hearts cling to the Baby of Bethlehem… so unassuming at birth and yet the very Son of God Who was making a way for us to come home again… home to a Father for Whose love we were always meant.

*******

“Jesus, The Father’s Only Son” (excerpt)

John Mason Neale 1818-1866

Jesu, the Father’s only Son,

Whose death for all redemption won;

Before all worlds of God most high,

Begotten all ineffably.

The Father’s light and splendor Thou,

Their endless hope to Thee that bow;

Accept the prayers and praise today

That through the world Thy servants pray.

Salvation’s author, call to mind,

How, taking form of humankind,

Born of a virgin undefiled,

Thou in man’s flesh becam’st a child.

Thus testifies the present day,

Through every year in long array,

That Thou, salvation’s source alone,

Proceedest from the Father’s throne.

And we who, by Thy precious blood

From sin redeemed, are marked for God,

On this the day that saw Thy birth,

Sing the new song of ransomed earth.

*******

-Amy Rutherford, 2023-

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” Psalm 27:13-14 NKJV

One of my favorite examples of redemption comes to us from the story of Ruth. Living just before 1000 B.C., she was a young Moabitess widow—a foreigner who returned to the land of her late husband’s family and tried to make a fresh start there. She was not assured any sort of warm welcome, however. The Moabites were not on friendly terms with Israel; she was a widow, unattached and poor. These realities seemed to count against her in every sense of social standing, tallying against whatever worth she felt she might hold within the community.

One day, Ruth was gleaning a random field’s leftover wheat for sustenance, when that field was revealed as “not quite so random.” Not only was its owner a good man, Boaz, who immediately showed kindness and mercy to this young widow… but he was also found to be a near relative of her late husband’s family. This made him one of the few who could legally step into her life as “a kinsman redeemer.” If willing, a redeemer could pay off standing debts, restore the inheritance her husband would have wished for her, and bring Ruth into a home, a family, and a name of good standing… a redeemer would be the bearer of protection, provision, peace, and promise. 

Boaz did just this. At his own sacrificial expense, he went through the steps to redeem her. He married Ruth, and God brought much joy to their lives in the years that would follow… the first of God’s many blessings: the birth of their baby son, Obed.

We often find ourselves in need of a new beginning, desperate for a new season with its hope of a renewed measure of grace. Needs of the soul are not a void that “just anyone” could fill. Only God could know how to truly restore us… taking us under the covering of His righteousness when our own is so faulty, wiping away the debts our sin has accrued, bringing us back into a right standing of fellowship with Him, and giving us a home in the shelter of His heart and a name provided by His merciful adoption. 

In Malachi 4:2, we find the last page of God’s words written before that ensuing period of palpable silence in the Word. “The Sun of Righteousness shall rise with healing in His wings.” Then, a single page is turned, and, with it, four hundred years have passed, but the very next story: the birth of our Redeemer, Jesus. 

Even in those darkest days, God’s people held to this hope of a Redeemer, again and again. They kept close the promise that He would deliver and rescue, that He would restore and vindicate, that their Redeemer would come. Then, after their waiting seemed almost in vain, He came. God mercifully sent a baby, Who—as unlikely as He seemed—was holding the fate of all humanity in His frail, infant hands—He, the promised Redeemer.

Ruth’s same supplication rang true, a thousand years after she spoke: “Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” (Ruth 3:9) Little did she know her words to Boaz became the heartcry of an entire nation desperate for redemption in Jesus… this baby Savior Who, beautifully enough, was also Ruth’s own great, great, great… grandson—descended from Obed, her own child of promise, the bearer of hope-filled days to come.

So, even today, we turn to this God and ask, “Spread Your wings over Your servant, for You are a Redeemer.” As we trust Him and turn to Him, this Jesus will be the One to cover us, shelter us, bring us into His family, and give us His own righteous standing before God. We bear His grace, and we bear His name, for our Redeemer has come.

*******

“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” (excerpt)

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild;
God and sinners reconciled.”
…Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King.”

*******

“Remember these things… I formed you; you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me. I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to Me, for I have redeemed you.” Isaiah 44:21-22

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed… but with the precious blood of Christ.” 1 Peter 1:18-19a

-Amy Rutherford, 2023-

We are never beyond the loving gaze of our Creator God Who keeps us. He made us; He knows us; He loves us.

Psalm 139 tells how He formed our parts and knit us together in our mother’s womb, that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. “My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven… Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” 

There is no time we have been beyond His notice and His Fatherly affection; nothing escapes His sight. He sees all. He knows the profound purposes for which He first made us. He is not unaware of our struggles and failings, but He equally sees the promise of what we are made to be IN HIM. 

Psalm 121 says that He Who watches us neither slumbers nor sleeps. His love holds perpetual vigil. No matter how silent the heavens may seem, no matter how one-sided a prayer may appear to echo, He is there… He has always been there and always will be. 

In the continuing story of God’s redemption, His people had walked with Him awhile and then strayed away… walked with Him awhile more and then strayed away again. Generation after generation passed with this cyclical renewal and abandonment of their desire to walk beside their God …and suddenly, all was quiet.

A nation of God’s people had now long been captive beneath hostile warring kingdoms; all the promise of their own beautiful land had been rendered barren and desolate wasteland; and the word of the Lord had seemingly died away—no new messages, no new signs, no new prophets, no new hope… just a deafening silence as sin took its spoils. When the world was aching for its salvation, it seemed to have only found a season of silence. But God had not gone away… 

He was watching with love: that type of love that throbs in the heart… all the more piercingly, as its intended recipients stray further and further from the arms longing to hold them in tenderness. It is a pain the father or mother of every prodigal child knows, and it is the way our Father God was watching and waiting and loving us, until that perfect moment for redemption would come. He was keeping us…

The Hebrew word for “keep” means to guard and protect, to exercise great care. We were never beyond His enveloping care, that desire to wrap us in His sheltering arms. In the oldest days of castles, the “keep” was the tallest, strongest part of any fortification. It was the refuge to which you would run for protection in battle… the last hope still standing strong when all else fell. This is what the love of God is to us, as He keeps us… a place of refuge where we can rest secure in Him, as all other faulty strongholds and assurances around us fall. 

Another beautiful meaning comes to us from the Old English word for keeping: to hold, seek after, and desire. This, too, is the way our Father God is keeping us. He is holding us safe in His heart’s tenderest affection, even when we so foolishly go astray. He is seeking after us single-mindedly, even when we are seeking lesser things rather than Him. He is forever desiring to be near to us, even when we can’t sense just how far we’ve wandered away.

Our God loves us so much that, even when we couldn’t comprehend how to draw close to Him, the One Who keeps our souls deigned to make the first step, Himself, and draw near to us.

*******

“O Little Town of Bethlehem” (excerpt)
Phillips Brooks (1868)

How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven.
No ear may heart His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him, still the dear Christ enters in.

O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray. 
Cast out our sin, and enter in; be born in us today! 
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us—abide with us, Our Lord Immanuel.

*******

-Amy Rutherford, 2023-

It was a perfect and beautiful world our loving God first created. Before even a few chapters had passed, however, humanity had stooped to its own will and had left that sacred path of obedience and trust that kept them in communion with the God Who made them. With our fall away from His perfection came all the brokenness you would expect in a shattered world… all the brokenness we still find today—no aspect of life untouched by its reach.

But this was not to be the end of the story; for God was making a plan… a plan of redemption and renewal, of healing and hope.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4-5

Did you hear those first words?
“But God.”

All our stories hinge on the words of that profound turning phrase… 

We were held captive by the sin whose cruel mastery we chose… but God made a plan to pay its ransom Himself. We were broken, and subsequently all of Creation was, too… but God was already crafting His merciful restoration. Our souls were buried in our shame… so much so, that we actually tried to hide from the presence of the God that made us… but God would come as our Comforter.

“I, even I, am He Who comforts you.” Isaiah 51:12

Hiding in Eden’s garden, that first day after sin entered the world, Adam and Eve would hear that merciful voice calling to them… their God coming to draw them back into His presence, taking upon Himself all the burden of atonement and reconciliation: “a Father of all compassion, a God of all comfort” wrapping them into the covering embrace of His love yet again.

This was only the first hint of that profound story of love yet to follow in the millennia to come.

*******

“God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” (excerpt)

God rest ye merry, gentlemen; let nothing you dismay.
Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day…
To save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray.
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;
O tidings of comfort and joy. 

“Fear not,” then said the angel, “Let nothing you affright;
This day is born a Savior of a pure virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in Him from evil’s power and might.”
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;
O tidings of comfort and joy.

Now to the Lord sing praises, all you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood, each other now embrace.
This holy tide of Christmas resounds with truth and grace.
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;
O tidings of comfort and joy.

*******

Wherever you find yourself, in whatever season or circumstance, there is no depth beyond the reach of the transfiguring hope of “but God…” The God of all comfort is as near as the breath we breathe, as we call His name in holy expectation.

Late Friday afternoon, a UPS truck pulled up outside the small-town music shop my husband manages in beautiful Boerne, Texas. Several boxes were brought inside and set deftly in the hallway with care unknowingly-befitting of their contents’ worth; each humble cardboard box held the culmination of years’ investment of time, resources, and heart.

I emerged from my teaching room where I’d given music lessons all afternoon and was immediately greeted by my husband’s beaming smile.

“The CDs are finally in!” he said.

He took my hand and drew me quickly to the side of one of the large boxes. Pulling out one of the CDs, we opened it together and finally felt that peace that washes over your heart, when you know you’ve “run a good race” or “fought a good fight.”

The recording held an immense investment of our heart – both in worship and in work – and held, also, the legacy of countless hours of prayer given by those who love us most. Most of all, it held a testimony of the great faithfulness of our loving God – to give us the music of worship in the first place and to help carry us through this beautiful journey of bringing this gift of His heart to the rest of His children, too.

There is no higher purpose than to love our God, to know His love for us, and to share it faithfully with others. This is simply one step out of a journey’s millions that will allow me to tell this world, “Your Father loves you!” Our great God has given every heart the opportunity to love Him; He has given us all the chance to seek Him and find that He has a hope and future awaiting us.

Seek His heart, dear friend… Know the hope that is Christ. May this recording help bring your heart closer to Him, and may it open your eyes to the truth of your eternal purpose: you were created to bring glory to God and to know His love forever.

No higher calling… No greater hope or future…

I just had a glimpse of such fulfillment, when seeing the CDs that carried with them the promise of all that was yet to come and the legacy of God having led us so faithfully thus far. He’s helping me follow the path He always meant for me, day by day…

“…and I am sure of this, that He Who began a good work in you
will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 1:6 ESV

Walking alongside you in this journey of faith…

Blessings Always,
Amy