Good morning…
Blinking open his five senses to novel sights, smells, and sounds, the newly born Jesus …was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn’t even notice (John 1:10b, MSG). Noticing Immanuel, God’s powerful presence with us, does not happen immediately. Often, especially during the hectic of the holidays, we have a hard time seeing the newly born qualities of Christ growing in us.
Most of us have heard God’s gospel truth. After being born in the flesh, fully God and fully human, Jesus matured in wisdom and years, and in favor with God and with people (Luke 2:52, CEB). Yet not everyone accepted Jesus’ true identity as the Son of God. He came to his own people, but they didn’t want him. But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves (John 1:11-13, MSG).
I love God’s creative, out-of-the-box plan. That first Christmas morn, our Creator chose to put skin on a fractal of Divine nature, coming into this world as a living, breathing, crying baby, much like you, much like me. Now we each have an opportunity to blink open our own senses to take in novel sights, smells, and sounds as followers of the living Christ.
Today is an opportune time to ask, “Am I maturing in wisdom as I am maturing in years?”
Following in Jesus’ footsteps, “In what ways do I see myself growing in favor with God as I grow in favor with people?”
Immanuel is newly born day by day. “Do I want him or not? Do I believe who he claimed to be? Do I trust my Savior to gradually grow God’s wholeness from within my surrendered soul?”
As we die, layer by layer, to our false self-protective selves, the LORD resurrects more and more of our true child-of-God selves …so that we may know that we have eternal life — we who keep trusting in the person and power of the Son of God (1 John 5:13, CJB). With me, might you keep trusting in the person and the power of God’s newly born gift? I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe (Ephesians 1:18-19a, NIV).
…Sue…
