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b'(Is.35:1-6,10;\\xa0 \\xa0Ps.146:6-10,Is.35:4;\\xa0\\xa0 Jas.5:7-10;\\xa0\\xa0 Mt.11:2-11) \\xa0 \\u201cMake your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand.\\u201d \\xa0 Hope.\\xa0 What hope have we.\\xa0 And so we should \\u201cbe patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord.\\u201d\\xa0 Indeed, we must endure \\u201cthe early and the late rains\\u201d \\u2013 having been converted to the Lord we shall be purged of all sin on the last day \\u2013 but, though \\u201chardship\\u201d be with us now, our hope should be firm in Him who comes, in Him who \\u201cis standing before the gates\\u201d even now. Jesus is the fulfillment of the vision given Isaiah and the salvation sung of by our psalmist.\\xa0 By Him, \\u201cthe 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.\\u201d\\xa0 Should not He who has power over all maladies, and even death, bring us hope in the kingdom to come?\\xa0 Should not our seeing these wonders wrought by Jesus instill great faith in our hearts?\\xa0 Should we not even rejoice now in our suffering, knowing well that \\u201csorrow and mourning will flee away\\u201d when He comes, that the very suffering we experience now will then be no more?\\xa0 Patience.\\xa0 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?\\xa0 \\u201cWhat did you go out to the desert to see?\\u201d 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 \\u201camong those born of women.\\u201d\\xa0 But He does not stop there.\\xa0 How much farther He leads them: \\u201cThe least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.\\u201d\\xa0 Remarkable.\\xa0 What hope have we, to be greater than the Baptist.\\xa0 For the Baptist is himself a man, who himself suffers and struggles, inquiring if Jesus is \\u201cthe one who is to come,\\u201d and must himself be assured by the Lord.\\xa0 But in heaven no question will remain.\\xa0 This desert in which we seek the Lord will come to full bloom \\u201cwith abundant flowers.\\u201d\\xa0 Keep the faith in joy, brothers and sisters.\\xa0 We have every reason for hope; we have firm witness of His grace, at work in us even now. \\xa0 Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. \\xa0 Music:"Hold On, Here We Go" from Bearing the Birth Pangs, tenth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. \\xa0 ******* 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.\\xa0 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.\\xa0 And so, we thank you for the release from sin Jesus has wrought, and we wait in hope for His return.\\xa0 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.\\xa0 To this parched earth, this desert wasteland, he proclaimed a baptism of repentance that brought healing to our souls.\\xa0 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.\\xa0 Let all sorrow and mourning flee from us as we humbly await Jesus\\u2019 return and our becoming one with you.'