Reflecting on the Gospel

We have been doing a lot of reflecting around here lately. Every morning Adam reads an excerpt from Good News of Great Joy by John Piper and then we read a chapter (which are pretty short) from Come Thou Long Expected Jesus and it has been such a joy.

It has really began to reshape and mold my thinking about the advent season and Christmas. I have never really meditated on the weight and glory of Christmas. I have never really thought about just how magnificent the birth of Christ is, just how pertinent to the Gospel it is! That if Christ would not have been born, he would not have been able to live a sinless life and give of himself completely on the cross. Oh, how much more should we delight in Christmas because of this! This is the beginning-- the beginning of God's redeeming work on the cross. THIS is what mankind was waiting for! And now, because Jesus was born and because he lived the perfect, sinless life and because he died a horrific and brutal death and because he rose again, defeating sin, death and the devil, we are able to wait for him to return!

"The whole of Christ's life was a continual passion; others die martyrs, but Christ was born a martyr. He found a Golgotha, where he was crucified, even in Bethlehem, where he was born; for to his tenderness then the straws were almost as sharp as the thorns after, and the manger as uneasy at first as the cross at last. His birth and his death were but one continual act, and his Christmas Day and his Good Friday are but the evening and the morning of one and the same day. From the crèche to the cross is an inseparable line. Christmas only points forward to Good Friday and Easter. It can have no meaning apart from that, where the Son of God displayed his glory by his death. " John Donne The Book of the Uncommon Prayers

"comparison is the thief of joy"

I can not tell you how often I need to be reminded of these words. I deeply struggle with an idol of approval. The Lord is so gracious to me and is greatly growing me in this area but, I have so much to learn. I recently read this article and was so encouraged (but also, pretty convicted).

Ever since I became a mom I feel like this issue has become more magnified. Not only do I think people are watching me and judging me, I now think they are watching my child and his every move is somehow a reflection on me. Adam tells me all of the time to "get out of my own head," and he is so right. I am so inward focused. I am so self-consumed.

This article was such a great reminder of the freedom and security that we have in Christ! I don't have to be trapped in this "oh no, what will so-and-so think?" mentality because my identity is found in Jesus Christ-- the King of the universe! If I really believed and rested in this! Oh my, how different my life would be! If the Gospel really and fully has changed my heart, I wouldn't be weighed down by these insignificant fears. But it hasn't. I have to be refocused on Christ constantly; I have to reminded that HE loves me... so much so, that he died for me. This has to sink to in, over and over again. The only way for any of this to happen is through the Lord and not through any of my own attempt, and praise God for that. I am such a train wreck sometimes and I am so grateful that God sees THAT as good--- my total insufficiency for His total sufficiency.

Resting in His grace,

Megan