The Advent Season // Finding Jesus in ChristmasSample

RISE

Like a flower in a vase without water are the daughter and son who wilt without sustenance. Time is short, the days a passing breath. Yet I see you. I cup my hand underneath your chin. I look upon you, turning your face upward, asking you to meet my gaze. I love to see you, look upon you. You were the reason why I came.

The world is aching, and the ache is a series of wounds bleeding out, one after another. But I tend to each wound. I do not forget or turn away from the daughters and sons who call upon Me. If I say I came for this world, for the daughters and the sons—for this world that feels too overwhelmingly broken for you to live in—you must know that nothing is too broken that I can’t fix.

My business is restoration. My business is love. My business is the mending of broken hearts, again and again. I will not stop. I will never stop tending to this world, pursuing the daughters and the sons who know that whatever they face, whatever hardship or trial, is only temporary. And all is for my glory. And what is given to them now will be used to build upon the everlasting Kingdom; it will be the foundation for their future glory—the glory they realize when I come again, when all is restored.

Children, raise your heads now. The days are difficult, yet there is joy within you, a light on a hill that cannot be hidden. In the darkest seasons, there is yet light—a light that shines and does not dim. It is what it is, neither growing stronger nor dimmer. I am constant—and despite the weighing of circumstances that worsen or change, I do not flounder. My love is the same.

Know in whom you trust. Know on what you stand. Is it something that shifts—so that fear overwhelms you when the times are hard and you grow frustrated by all that you do not understand? Or do you know that I have you—that in this season of longing and waiting and turning toward light in darkness, you see the light; you know it shines upon you?

In the darkest night, I shine. In the heaviest of days, I carry you. In the most pressing of circumstances, when all feels lost, I guide you. There is a way forward, always. There is a hope that is not extinguished despite the spirit of the age. Let me show you how I am peace in the midst of chaos. I am joy in the midst of despair. I am hope when all feels dark. The heavens shake and tremble in anticipation of Me coming again. I came, and I come again. I am here, and I work to restore what is broken, what is mine.

Lift your head. Lift up your eyes. Raise your hands. Sing out with a loud voice. I steady you in my arms while you stand and claim your place beside Me— your place in this Kingdom that is ready to be reborn, your heart in mine—broken and mended and stronger than ever before. Yes, I restore what is mine. I have not forgotten you.

Come closer, daughter. Come closer, son. See what it is I have for you. See this world, this new awakening with your heart, with your soul that responds to my voice, that responds to what is true. This is a new day, as you wait on Me. Choose and see and wait. Step forward to receive more of Me. Participate in the Kingdom rising. Not falling. And watch what I do next.

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