Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.Hebrews 4:16 O Come All Ye Faithful has forever been one of my favorite Christmas songs! While every self-respecting musician has recorded their own rendition, I wanted to know the origins of the earliest hymn. It was written in Latin by John Francis Wade, a music copyist, and later adapted to English by Frederick Oakeley, an Anglican minister. Oakeley’s first attempt at an English title was, “Ye Faithful, Approach Ye.” While the original title didn’t stick around, the word “approach” stuck with me. It’s a word full of invitation and desire. It’s a request for our presence. It says, “Come near.” And it’s a reminder that God is not far off. He is not distant or hiding himself from us. And that is the story and miracle of Christmas. “And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.’” Luke 2:10-11 After four hundred years of silence, hope of our redemption was birthed once more. “Word of the Father now in flesh appearing.” Jesus came from Heaven to Earth to close the gap between God and man, to pay the price for our sin so that we might approach His throne of grace with confidence. Because He knows it’s at His throne that we “receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). The invitation for us today is to come adore the one who bought our healing, our wholeness and our peace with God. Come, encounter the compassion, comfort and kindness of our Savior. Come, approach with our heartache and our brokenness, with our wounds and our scars. Come, joyful and triumphant for our victor over sin, hurt and pain has arrived! -Melodie Malone

“For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord? Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings? In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him. Who is like you, Lord God Almighty? You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.”Psalm 89:6-8 Who is like the Lord? Any follower of Jesus would answer this question with a resounding, “No one!” But the Psalmist is not looking for an answer. His question is rhetorical. He’s using it to prove a point rather than get an answer. He’s emphasizing his message. Simply listing the attributes and character of the Lord is not enough. Only a question can articulate the scope of his greatness! Moses does the same thing when he recounts all that God has done for the Israelites in his song, “Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” Exodus 15:11 And when Solomon is dedicating the temple he says, “Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.”2 Chronicles 6:4-15 But why is God, called Yahweh in the Old Testament and “God of our Father and Lord Jesus Christ” in the New Testament, different from all the other gods? There is an apologetic argument that says that everyone is trying to get up the mountain to whatever deity they worship. Every major world religion invites its followers to work their way upward. Follow these steps. Perform better. Do more. It’s all striving and self-determination-focused, except the God of the Christian faith, Yahweh. Because of His Holiness and love, He knows that there is no path up the mountain that we can climb on our own. But He didn’t leave us helpless. In fact, He did something utterly unique from every other religion. Through His Son, Jesus, God came down the mountain to us. Only Jesus can restore us to right relationship with God. Only Jesus can pay the debt we should have paid because of our sin and rebellion against God. Only Jesus left heaven, became a man, took on our sin and shame, endured the cross, died the death we deserved and rose again, defeating the grave and holding the keys to death and hell! There is one true God, Yahweh, who created you and me, the world and everything in it. He made a way, through Jesus, for us to have life, peace, meaning, and a relationship with Him. He alone is worthy of our worship. Who is like the Lord? “Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high,who stoops down to lookon the heavens and the earth?He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap;he seats them with princes,with the princes of his people.He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children.Praise the Lord.”Psalm 113:5-9

The people of God have always been most distinguishable when the presence of God was in their midst. In the days of the Exodus, God made his home in the Tabernacle in the middle of the camp. During the days of King David, the Ark of the Covenant was brought back to Jerusalem where God’s presence would rest, and the kingdom flourished. However, as the kings and people of Israel continued to disobey God, eventually leading to exile, God removed His presence from the temple and the people were hopeless. Until Jesus. In John 1, it says that Word (Jesus) was made flesh and made His dwelling among us. What a miracle that our God has come to us. Later, in His final moments on earth, in John 14, Jesus promises to send us the Helper, the Holy Spirit. Because our sins are forgiven by the blood of Jesus, the Spirit of God can actually live inside of us. We no longer have to seek God’s presence, as within every believer now resides the Hope of Glory, the Holy Spirit. He is a helper, a teacher, and a friend. He empowers us to live the life Jesus has called us to. God wants us to experience a closeness with Him. He wants us to let go of lesser things that don’t satisfy our souls. He is calling us to a deeper relationship with Himself. The good news for those who are in Christ is that we now have permanent access to the throne room of God through the Spirit. In Acts, when the Holy Spirit came into the lives of the disciples, they began to live and walk with a new sense of purpose in the world. These everyday, common men and women literally turned the world upside down as the Spirit empowered them to carry the message of Jesus to the world. This same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead and was moving in the early Church is alive in us. The Spirit has the power to change and transform our desires and make us more like Jesus. So today, let’s pray for a hunger for the Holy Spirit to move in and around us. Let’s ask the Spirit to lead us and help us live our lives in a way that shines bright.

Our God is a God of life and victory. Even though this is absolutely true, it can be hard to believe it when there is so much hurt and brokenness in the world. In fact, all of us face an enormous amount of pressure in life. Chances are you have been pressed by your job, finances, relationships, or the onslaught of disappointment that comes at us on the news every single day. Even in the midst of hardship, God can break through and help us transcend the moment we are in. Psalm 118 is a psalm of victory. It’s a psalm that recounts the faithfulness of God to save and to deliver. Oftentimes, when we look back on how God has worked in our lives, it will embolden us to keep moving forward in faith, even in the midst of suffering. In verses 5-7, the psalmist writes, “When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies.” He says that I remember the time when God delivered me to a spacious place. So even now, I don’t need to be afraid. Because He was faithful then, I can look ahead in triumph. In verses 13-14, he goes on to say “I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” Our God is a savior. This is in His nature. He wants to defend and protect His children. We can trust in the goodness of our God! Worship is always the right response to the gift of God’s salvation. “Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: ‘The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things! The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!’ I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done.” (v15-17). We can trust that God will lead us through whatever we are going through. The purpose of it all is to bring glory to Jesus. In the end, God wants to be the Lord and King over every area of our lives. Anything else we would choose to give our hearts to will ultimately fail us and entrap our souls. God has sent Jesus to save us and give us a new song of praise on the earth. Today, let’s declare who He is over our lives. “You are my God, and I will praise you; you are my God, and I will exalt you.” (v28). Let’s move anything that is less than out of the center of our affection and put Jesus in His rightful place. Let’s step into the triumph of the victory He has given us through His death and resurrection.

One of the wildest stories in the Bible is the story of Abraham and Isaac. In Genesis 22, God instructs Abraham to sacrifice his only son as a burnt offering. Reading this should stop us in our tracks. It might even feel intense and stir up a lot of questions. Why would God require such a thing from Abraham? What was this exercise all about? And if you’re a parent, it might affect you in an even more personal way, making your heart beat a little faster. These questions carry a lot of weight, so how would we respond to such an ask? We see in Genesis 22: 1-3 how Abraham responded… “Sometime later, God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Early the next morning, Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.” God’s ask and Abraham’s obedience happen in three verses. God instructs, and Abraham moves into action. He wakes up early and gets going. Ultimately, Abraham does not end up sacrificing Isaac. God provides a ram at the last second and Isaac’s life is spared. The point is that Abraham trusted God and loved Him most of all. He was willing to put the most important thing in his life on the altar if that’s what God was asking of him. Today, the sacrifice of praise that God wants most of all is our heart. That innermost part of who we are. That place where our hopes, dreams, desires, and affections reside. There is a throne there. Who or what is on that throne? God asked for the most treasured thing in Abraham’s life, and Abraham answered, “Here it is.” He’s asking you and me the same question. What will our answer be?

There are a few moments in scripture where the Lord cracks the door open a little wider for us. It’s as if He is saying, “Come a little closer and peer inside. Let me show you how I see. Come perceive what I perceive.” This invitation is there for us in Revelation 4. Here, He shows us the Throne Room. After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Revelation 4:1-8 There are so many things about this passage that are quite simply beyond our understanding. Which, by the way, is nothing to fret over. It is something to cherish. To worship a God who is incomprehensible is one of the best ways to know you haven’t made a God of yourself. But, we do know this: There is a throne in the center, the Lord is upon it, and His glory is radiating like that of 1000 suns. There are majestic creatures that seem capable of doing only one thing: they circle the throne and with every breath they have, they say “Holy, Holy, Holy”. You get the feeling that they couldn’t stop even if they tried. Perhaps repetition is not redundancy in the throne room. Perhaps with every lap around the throne they catch another glimpse of His glory, another part of his heart, a new piece of His smile, another portion of His power, majesty, and beauty. Again and again and again, they are given another reason to sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” After all, the holiness of God is not a fickle or fragile thing. It is an eternal thing, and there is always more of it to behold. The beautiful mystery doesn’t stop there. Jesus, our High Priest, has given us access to the throne room. Even now, the invitation is there for US to join that endless song. We might sing something like this…. “With every lap around the throne I catch another glimpse, You’re Holy, Holy, Holy. The longer I behold you I can’t help but say again, You’re Holy, Holy, Holy.”

We are living in a time that tends to promote self-reliance and self-worship above all else. We’re taught that our happiness matters most of all and our success determines our value. This selfish agenda is pervasive, sneaky, and, at times, aggressive. It’s a story that puts you and me, and what we want, at the center by leading us to believe that we can manifest our own destiny and control the future. The bottom line is…it’s all about us. This is not a new storyline. In fact, you could even say it’s the oldest one in the book. This lie fueled the fracture between God and man in the Garden of Eden, and it’s fueling all of humanity’s sin to this day. To be clear — this is the Enemy’s plan, and it’s in direct opposition to the kingship of Jesus and the rest He promises. Whether we acknowledge it or not, there is a greater and truer story unfolding all around us. This is the story of God’s kingdom. In this kingdom, Jesus reigns as king on an eternal throne. He rules with grace, power, wisdom, and kindness. He is our Maker and He has our best in mind. He’s the kind of king that gives His life for His people. He is unlike any other king. The story has always been and will always be about Him. “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”Colossians 1:16-17 So how do we resist the cultural current, clear the surface, and get connected to what really matters? How do we fold our short time on earth into the eternal story of God? How do we find peace and a sense of being in a world that runs on striving and doing? It starts with pursuit. Every relationship is built on this. We chase after what we want, and it’s the same when it comes to our relationship with Jesus. James 4:7-8 says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God, and he will come near to you.” To align with God’s heart, we resist the enemy and come near to Him through humble prayer and repentance. We submit to the authority of His word. We are then transformed by His patient love and gentle presence. This pursuit adjusts our perspective and aims us back toward what matters most. Jesus also knows that life with Him at the center leads to the kind of joy, peace, and rest that life apart from Him can never provide. We get purpose and peace when we get Jesus! So, let’s take a step toward Jesus today. And then let’s do it again tomorrow. One day at a time. We have this promise in His word that He will meet us there and we will be changed and fulfilled.

Unless we’re talking about our favorite true crime podcast or courtroom drama, we don’t often use the word “witness” in our everyday vernacular. It may feel a bit antiquated or like a word only evangelists use when they are encouraging us to share our faith. However, Eugene Peterson says “a witness is never the center but only the person who points to or names what is going on at the center…” And Paul tells us in Colossians 1:15-17 that, “the Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” With this information, one could say that not only are we all witnesses, but it’s why we were created — to give praise and honor and glory to the only one worthy of all of it, Jesus Christ. Witness implies presence. It means we can find God in our own story — His faithfulness, His goodness, His love, His forgiveness, His presence. And on the days, weeks, months or years when it’s difficult to remember, we do what the people of God have done for centuries— we sing. We sing to remind our souls of the character of the One we worship and to help resuscitate a faith in desperate need of hope. And as those who are not without hope, we testify to what we have seen and heard. We tell our stories. The language of story is powerful and often conveys a truth that could not be conveyed in another way. Paul is telling the story of his encounter with Jesus when he says this in Acts 22:14-16, “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name’.” When you discover the cure, when you find the answer, when you uncover hope and the way to life you don’t just keep it to yourself. You want everyone to know – you become a witness to He who is at the center! Let these truths illuminate memories of God’s faithfulness in your story that have been hiding in the shadows, let them put words of hope in your mouth on your darkest days, and encourage you to testify of the hope you’ve found to those desperately looking for home. His name is Jesus.

A.W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Take a minute and list some adjectives you would use to describe Jesus. What words or phrases came to mind? Gracious, merciful, powerful, kind, loving, forgiving. Many of us probably had one or more of those on our list. But have you ever thought of Jesus as beautiful? The likelihood of the adjective even existing in the vocabulary of men, other than in referring to their wife or a woman they would like to date, is very small. After all, the word does hold a very feminine connotation in our culture. Merriam-Webster defines beautiful as “giving pleasure to the mind or the senses.” Watching a sunset, listening to our favorite song, tasting the first sip of coffee in the morning, embracing someone close to us — all of these could be described as beautiful. But the question remains, do we experience Jesus in this way? When we think about him and spend time with him, is our mind filled with pleasure? Do we find joy in his presence? In Psalm 27:1-4, David writes, “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?When the wicked advance against meto devour me,it is my enemies and my foeswho will stumble and fall.Though an army besiege me,my heart will not fear;though war break out against me,even then I will be confident. One thing I ask from the Lord,this only do I seek:that I may dwell in the house of the Lordall the days of my life,to gaze on the beauty of the Lordand to seek him in his temple.” An army is coming against David, and what is the one thing he asks of God? To live with him forever so that he can contemplate his beauty! For David, God is more than a philosophy or a worldview. He is more than a quick fix for his day or thought he can share on social media. He is life itself! Pastor Tim Keller said, “Religious people find God useful. Christians find God beautiful.” It is only when Jesus becomes our life, the breath in our lungs, the one who calms every fear, the salvation for our souls, and our greatest reward that we see him as beautiful! And when we do, we want nothing less than to echo David’s prayer, “One thing I ask from the Lord,this only do I seek:that I may dwell in the house of the Lordall the days of my life,to gaze on the beauty of the Lordand to seek him in his temple.”Psalm 27:4

What do you think is one of the most repeated commands in Scripture? There are the famous Ten Commandments, a plethora of additional commands the Israelites were supposed to obey in the Old Testament, and of course the greatest commandment: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’… And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” (Matthew 22:37,39) But the command we are given more often than most throughout Scripture may surprise you. It is not a warning or a “thou shalt not.” It is simply this— give thanks! The Hebrew word for “thanks” is used forty-seven times in the Psalms alone. If we look at each occurrence, we notice it is often accompanied by a specific reason for giving thanks. The psalmists learned general thanks is valuable, but there is power in naming what God has done in our lives! Psalm 9:1 says, “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.” Wherever we find ourselves today, there is always room for giving thanks. There is always space to recount the faithfulness of God in our lives. In the harvest— give thanks.In the desert— give thanks.In the pain of heartbreak— give thanks.In the disappointment of dreams lost— give thanks. In the face of uncertainty— give thanks.In the grief of death— give thanks.In the celebration— give thanks! And there, in the middle of our gratitude, is right where we find God! Because His command to give thanks is an invitation to enjoy Him! It is in our rehearsing, retelling, and recounting of what God has done that we see once again His grace, mercy, love, and kindness toward us. When we remember what He’s done— that Jesus, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, emptied Himself, humbled Himself to the point of death so that we who believe in Him could be made alive with Him, that we should not perish but have everlasting life, we realize thankfulness is an act of praise! Our gratitude is worship! And we see once again Jesus is worthy to receive all the worship we can bring!

When we enter the scene in Isaiah 6, we find Isaiah before the throne of God in heaven. The train of God’s robe, majestic and beautiful, fills the temple! Isaiah hears the seraphim, creatures we would think to exist in the fantasy world of Tolkien, crying out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;the whole earth is full of his glory.”Isaiah 6:2 Isaiah sees the Lord high and exalted, and his immediate response is one of sorrow and grief. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Isaiah 6:5 Isaiah sees the Lord and is convicted of his sin. He knows he is not worthy of being in the presence of a holy God. So much so that Eugene Peterson translates his response as, “I’m as good as dead!” But one seraph flies over to Isaiah and touches his lips with a burning coal. He says, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”Isaiah 6:7 It is because God sees Isaiah that Isaiah then sees God. God is the one who gives Isaiah the vision. God is the one who sends the seraphim with the burning coal to take away Isaiah’s guilt and shame. God is the one who sees, and God is the one who provides. And just like God sent the seraphim to Isaiah, he sends Jesus to us, who used “his own blood as the price to set us free once and for all.” (Hebrews 9:12 MSG) In the same way, Isaiah did not do anything to deserve the atonement he received; neither can we do anything but receive the gift of salvation Jesus offers to us. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8) When we realize that from the very beginning, God has seen us and put a plan in place that would unfold from generation to generation, resulting in our salvation, like Isaiah, we cannot help but respond, “my eyes have seen the King of glory!”