15th December 2025

During the season of Advent, we celebrate the coming of our Lord and Saviour. It is a time we as God’s children have been longing for. The world we live in can drain us of hope, joy, peace and love. I have begun to read the news very sparingly because it is so discouraging and depressing. It seems the minds and hearts of mankind have gone dark; there does not seem to be any light of God within some. So, the longing for God and his blessed coming has become more and more precious in my life.

We read in Matthew 24:36-44, how it speaks of our need to wait for the Lord’s arrival, and as we wait, we are to continue to live our life in him and for him. We hope in his coming, assured that he will come because he has shown his faithfulness to us. What God says he will do; we are confident that he will do it. It gives us hope, joy and peace as God demonstrates his love to us. As we look at this world before us, we see a complete mess, but we have the assurance that God will return to us and teach us his ways to live. I have hope secure in him, that all wrongs will be made right in time.

What Jesus brings with him is not the peace of this world. He brings to us his peace. Though the world speaks of peace, it has no real concept of it; it is full of promises that it has no intention of keeping, nor does it seem to have the ability to function in a way of maintaining its integrity. It will take a change of heart, a change of mind, and this rewriting needs to be done by God himself. It reminds me of the way God takes the caterpillar and makes it anew into a butterfly. The process is a complete morphosis; a new forming or changing. This is what we need done, and what God by his Holy Spirit is doing within us. We will be made into instruments of God’s peace.

We struggle in this world to find hope, but God we are told is the source of his hope. The hope that he is more than willing to give to us. He came to us personally, to give us the hope of a life filled with his presence. This life we are told is secure in his hands, and nothing can take this away from us. This security gives us joy and peace, as we know God will always be with us and for us. What love the Father, Son, and Spirit has for us; one that binds us securely in his circle of love.

I must ask myself: how will I live out this love of God? How will I share what God has given me, to a world in such desperate need for God’s hope, joy, peace and love? How will I, this season, and for the rest of my life, live as God has intended us all to live? This is only possible by God who dwells in me by his Holy Spirit. God is the source of all good things, and as he fills me, I will overflow with confident hope and reach out to those around me with his love.

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