“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you…” Colossians 1:3

Although we’re thankful for the tangible things in our lives, we know that the more important things are our relationships– our family and friends.

It’s inevitable. We’ve heard over and over about the protagonist (or antagonist) in the story who wanted more and more and more things and lost sight of their family or friends and in the end was more alone than ever. And if the story has a good ending, the character figures it out before the end and is willing to risk losing all the material things just to get back the great relationships that might have already been theirs.

Family and chosen family in our friends are priceless. How many times has something happened, good or bad, that we couldn’t wait to let our loved ones know? Or when was the last time you wanted to be cared for or enjoy quality time and you naturally reached out to your family and friends? It’s a need within us!

God didn’t mean for us to be alone. He created us to have each other. But again, as Christians, we know this means so much more….

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6

Thanksgiving is technically a noun. But when we break it apart, it’s very much an action: giving thanks.

It’s lovely that this time of year we think about giving thanks. We all know that it should be something we do year-round, but we also make a special time to think about it. The world around us pauses as we give thanks. But what is it that we’re thankful for?

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.” Hebrews 11:1-2

“For it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.’ They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.” 1 Peter 1:8-9

Jesus was chosen to be our Passover Lamb so we could be God’s chosen people. He is precious because he is the only one who could deliver us, those who are precious to him. We are honored by him and will spend our forever honoring him.

"What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" "...love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:25-37

Jesus personally died to give us eternal life. We give him all of ourselves, as he gave all of himself. And we love our neighbor, because Jesus didn’t just come for just one kind of person– he came for all of us.

“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:8-9

Though Jesus is unseen to us right now, we know without a doubt that he is more present than anyone else we do see. We love him with the deepest of all loves, a love that we know because he first loved us. And we are filled with a joy we can’t even describe, a joy filled with the glory of God.

“He drew near to the gate of the town...he had compassion on her... he came up and touched the bier... “ Luke 7:211-17

Jesus draws near to us even when we are at our worst. Jesus has compassion on all of us and each of us individually, no matter where we are. And Jesus has done everything to be able to touch us to give us life.

“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

We are alive because he is alive. We have grace because of God’s great love and mercy. And because of that, we are saved from an eternity of death to forever with the King– our Savior.

"Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion
.....
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... " 1 Peter 1:1-3

"“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people… to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham… 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 ‭1:68-79‬ ‭

We are redeemed, bought back from hopelessness to being with God. We are receivers of the fulfilled covenant God made for ages past and fulfilled anew in Christ. And because of that, we are at peace, walking out of the dungeon of darkness and instead being guided into God’s perfect peace.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” Ephesians 1:3-4

We were chosen before the world began. We are blameless because of what Christ has done. And because of that, in every sense of the word, we are blessed.

Psalm 62:1 says, “For God alone my soul waits in silence.” It’s a beautifully strong verse, a statement of assurance and ultimate faith. Not faith as the world sees it (hopeless, for the weak, whimsy belief). No, rather, it’s a faith that is immovable because of Who it’s in but can move mountains. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). We know without a doubt that what we hope for will come to pass. And what we hope for is God. We are convicted that though we cannot see him, we love him (1 Peter 1:8). He is worth waiting for! He is everything our souls desire, whether they know it or not. We are fashioned after our Creator. Home comes from being with him. So, no matter what comes in life—the crazy times, the joyful times, or the mundane times—our souls continue to wait in silence. For God alone.

2 Corinthians 1:8 says, “…we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength… It’s a feeling most of us have felt at some point in our lives, if not several times. That time may even be now. It can be something that’s hard to explain. Something that can be all-consuming that nothing will alleviate it and suffocating to the point of complete despair. As we are enveloped in our pain, we are unable to see past it. But God sees the other side of it. But he isn’t just waiting on the other side. He crosses into our pain and holds us. He patiently carries us as we cry and then gently reminds us that he is God. If we focus on our burden and count on our strength, we will always be in despair, to the point of despairing of life itself (as it continues to say in the verse of 2 Corinthians, 1). But if we drag our eyes away from the darkness and instead look into the ever-constant and ever-loving eyes of God, our hearts will flicker with life. We will know that holding on to him and listening to his plan for what’s going on in our lives will help us see past the darkness. And relying on him, that pain will pale in comparison with who he is and what he can do. Because he has already done it!

Psalm 25:4 says, “Teach me your paths.” It’s a bold statement, yet a simply honest one. The paths of God aren’t always easy and sometimes they’re hard for us to understand. But that’s from our very limited perspective. God sees it all beautifully, everything for what it is. He knows that his paths lead to him, to everything we’ll ever need, in this life and after. If only he had sent some kind of instruction over the centuries, sent his word through various people he trusted, or even come down himself. Hopefully you caught that—he did! He has given us his trustworthy words over the centuries, he sent his word through many prophets, and he even came down as a man, Jesus, to teach us everything. This declaration “teach me your paths” isn’t an order—it’s a humble and personal request, that we are waiting and wiling to be taught by God, to know his paths so we can come Home to him, our Teacher.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 says, “We belong to the day.” It sounds so victorious and mighty. That we belong to the day. Belonging is something so many people yearn for. From the worldly perspective, it doesn’t matter what we belong to. Sometimes any cause or community will do, because it gives them purpose and a sense of belonging. Importance and value. But as we know, it does matter what—and Who—we belong to. Because we were created to belong to Someone very specific—our Creator. The God of the universe, who made Day and Night. And the One who came to destroy darkness, that we might live forever in his light, the light of the Day. That is where we belong.

Isaiah 26:3 says: “You keep him in perfect peace who mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” We all hunger for peace. To be rid of stress or trouble or struggle. While we are in this world, spiritually, we are always fighting. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12) We fight to be with God, to break away from Satan and the grief of sin he brings. But in God, our fighting comes with inward peace. Not only that, but perfect peace. Because as we battle daily against sin, we know God has won the war. Nothing can stop us from being with him because he has done everything to let it be so. So, amidst everything, we have perfect peace because…. our mind is stayed on him, on our God who we trust more than anything.

This is eternal life… It’s so clear! There’s no confusion, we know that the words that follow that statement is going to be the definition of eternal life. It’s kind of like what we look for in textbooks to find the definition. But Jesus doesn’t say “eternal life is being in heaven with God after we die.” Although most would agree that’s what we’d all expect. Instead, Jesus says something mind-blowing: “This is eternal life, that they may know God.” To know God—that is eternal life! Not only that but he makes sure we understand who it is that we know: the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. It’s not about knowing who God is. Eternal life is actually knowing him.

I love you, O Lord, my strength. It’s so simple, yet it’s a statement of conviction and longing for what we know we need. To tell the God of the universe, I love you. And knowing that he is God, the Lord. But not only that our strength.

Establishing our hearts. It sounds so beautiful! To establish ourselves like an unmovable element of nature or any grand architecture that has withstood weather and time over centuries. And our hearts, which are talked about often in the Bible as the deepest part of who we are, where we ultimately decide to go chase evil or choose good. But how do we actually establish our hearts?