(Is.35:1-6,10; Ps.146:6-10,Is.35:4; Jas.5:7-10; Mt.11:2-11) "Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand." Hope. What hope have we. And so we should "be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord." Indeed, we must endure "the early and the late rains" – having been converted to the Lord we shall be purged of all sin on the last day – but, though "hardship" be with us now, our hope should be firm in Him who comes, in Him who "is standing before the gates" even now. Jesus is the fulfillment of the vision given Isaiah and the salvation sung of by our psalmist. By Him, "the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them." Should not He who has power over all maladies, and even death, bring us hope in the kingdom to come? Should not our seeing these wonders wrought by Jesus instill great faith in our hearts? Should we not even rejoice now in our suffering, knowing well that "sorrow and mourning will flee away" when He comes, that the very suffering we experience now will then be no more? Patience. Indeed, patience brings us hope, enables us to endure all, even joyfully. And does Jesus not seek to encourage greater hope, greater faith in our hearts by His words about John the Baptist? "What did you go out to the desert to see?" He asks the crowds, addressing their longing for truth, their desire for hope, and confirms that the prophet they sought was indeed greater than all "among those born of women." But He does not stop there. How much farther He leads them: "The least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Remarkable. What hope have we, to be greater than the Baptist. For the Baptist is himself a man, who himself suffers and struggles, inquiring if Jesus is "the one who is to come," and must himself be assured by the Lord. But in heaven no question will remain. This desert in which we seek the Lord will come to full bloom "with abundant flowers." Keep the faith in joy, brothers and sisters. We have every reason for hope; we have firm witness of His grace, at work in us even now. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music:"Hold On, Here We Go" from Bearing the Birth Pangs, tenth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, come with your Word to heal our souls that we might enter your kingdom. YHWH, the coming of your Son is close at hand, when all your children will dance and sing for joy. Though He has come once to open our eyes, to clear our ears, yet in some measure we remain blind and deaf, waiting for the day when your kingdom shall be fulfilled in our midst. And so, we thank you for the release from sin Jesus has wrought, and we wait in hope for His return. Give us the patience we so desperately need. John was the greatest of men, the greatest of prophets, who prepared the way for your only Son, O LORD. To this parched earth, this desert wasteland, he proclaimed a baptism of repentance that brought healing to our souls. Yet all he has done is but a shadow when compared to the glory of the eternal kingdom to which the Christ does carry us. Strengthen our hands, dear LORD; make firm our weak knees. Let all sorrow and mourning flee from us as we humbly await Jesus' return and our becoming one with you.