DAY FIVE - MYSTERY

Pause

“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.”
— Ephesians 3:17

Let the weights and worries of today fade away in the quiet of this moment. Relax your shoulders. Close your eyes. Breathe deeply.

Receive God’s tender care.
Christ has made His home in you.

Receive the wonder of this. Soak in it.

Ponder

“This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people… And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.”
— Colossians 1:26–27

Solving mysteries is one of my happy places. There’s just nothing like putting clues together and guessing at the outcome. From corny crime novels to true crime documentaries—I love them all.

Mystery is a part of God’s story in many ways, but beneath all the drama is a tale of intrigue so mind-boggling that God kept it hidden for ages and generations. Hidden—from angels and humans…even the religious elite. They clung to fragments yet never grasped the full unfolding.

Yet God scattered breadcrumbs across centuries.

Abraham—called to start a family that would bless all nations.
Moses—leading God’s people from slavery to freedom in the promised land.
Prophets and priests—declaring doom, yet hinting of hope to come, a Messiah who would change everything.

What were these God-whispers pointing to?

The day when a Savior would come and make a way not only to bring Jews and Gentiles alike to heaven, but to put heaven in our hearts—a taste of something to come we can hardly imagine.

What breathtaking humility… The God of the Universe bending down not only to be near us, but within us—to take up residence in fragile hearts.

And the mystery unfolds daily in the ordinariness of our lives. Jesus’ presence within awakens hope…like a pledge of what is to come— reminding us that we are made for glory.

The glory of all that He is.
The glory of who we are becoming.

““Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.”
— Ephesians 3:17

One day the curtain will lift. The grand finale. The fullness of the mystery finally revealed.

We will see Jesus as He is…in all His glory. In that moment we will become like Him. Restored at last to our truest selves…glorious in His likeness.

This is the end for which we were created.
Christ in us… the hope of glory.

Marvelous mystery.

Pray

The definition of mystery is “something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain.” How often do you live as if Christ is truly at home in you?

One day you will see Christ as He is—in glory—and immediately become like Him, glorious in every way. Even now, His presence within you is the beginning of that glory.

Contemplate this mystery for a few minutes. Ask God to deepen your grasp of it. Write a prayer of worship and surrender.

Practice

Try the following breath prayer throughout the day—as you open emails, get in your car, or before you go to sleep—to remind you of these wonders.

Breathe in slowly, saying: Christ in me…
Breathe out gently, saying: My hope of glory.

As you go to bed tonight, repeat it a few times, then rest in gratitude—at home in His love.