Advent, Part 6

John 1:1-14 (NASB)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John’s gospel seems to be the most “quotable” of the four gospels - lots of propositional truths laid forth. Straight-up doctrine. John and Jesus explain it all. That’s why I once memorized these verses plus the next few as well. But I also think that John is a bit trickier to understand than the other gospels. I really have to put my thinking cap on to get what he’s saying.

Jesus is Word. Jesus is Creator. Jesus is Life. Jesus is Light. Jesus is God. Jesus is Flesh. Jesus is Glory. Jesus is Only-Begotten. Jesus is Grace. Jesus is Truth.

How can one person who lived for 33 years in a specific time and place be all these things? I think this is the mystery to which John is trying to draw our attention. This is the background through which his entire account should be seen.

For the believer, this ought to draw us into worship. Awe. Reverence. Spending time telling Jesus how amazing He is. Not because He needs to hear it, but because I do. I need a reminder that I’m not all that. Like daily. Like hourly. Like minutely. If I am practicing to redirect my thoughts towards Him moment by moment, I will be changed, and I will be living a more real life than I can ever imagine.

I should not worry about getting everything done today. I should instead ponder Christ’s omnipotence. I should not criticize my family member. I should instead think about Christ’s tender love for each hurting person he met. I should not think about how to get ahead for myself. I should instead think of Christ’s example in serving and putting himself last for the sake of others. Then the glorious riches of Christ will open before me, and I will be an heir with Him. Think of that!!

Advent, Part 5

Matthew 2:1-12 (NIV-UK)

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him. When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. In Bethlehem in Judea, they replied, for this is what the prophet has written:

'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him. After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

I read a verse this morning, which I think ties in.

Luke 7:23 (words of Jesus): And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.

Jesus said and did many things which, intentionally or not, revealed the condition of people’s hearts. Some people were humble and were willing to accept his compassion and conviction, and so loved him and were willing to follow him. These souls took no offense at Jesus. Many more rejected his conviction and compassion, wanting instead to stand on their own two feet and be right in- and of-themselves. Such people took great offense at Jesus.

Both kinds of people are present in this story, even though Jesus at this time is only an infant.

The Magi from the east, and Mary, and Joseph are all willing to accept Jesus.

King Herod, the people of Jerusalem, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law all took offense at Jesus. Those were all the people who were someone.

Am I humble enough to accept Jesus for Who He is? Am I willing to take no offense even when my human nature bristles at His conviction and even at His gentle mercies?

Advent, Part 4

Luke 2:1-16 (Contemporary English Version)

About that time Emperor Augustus gave orders for the names of all the people to be listed in record books. These first records were made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to go to their own hometown to be listed. So Joseph had to leave Nazareth in Galilee and go to Bethlehem in Judea. Long ago Bethlehem had been King David's hometown, and Joseph went there because he was from David's family.

Mary was engaged to Joseph and traveled with him to Bethlehem. She was soon going to have a baby, and while they were there, she gave birth to her first-born son. She dressed him in baby clothes and laid him on a bed of hay, because there was no room for them in the inn.

That night in the fields near Bethlehem some shepherds were guarding their sheep. All at once an angel came down to them from the Lord, and the brightness of the Lord's glory flashed around them. The shepherds were frightened. But the angel said, "Don't be afraid! I have good news for you, which will make everyone happy. This very day in King David's hometown a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. You will know who he is, because you will find him dressed in baby clothes and lying on a bed of hay."

Suddenly many other angels came down from heaven and joined in praising God. They said:

"Praise God in heaven!

Peace on earth to everyone

who pleases God."

After the angels had left and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about." They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and they saw the baby lying on a bed of hay.

v. 9: All at once an angel came down to them from the Lord, and the brightness of the Lord’s glory flashed around them. The shepherds were frightened.

These shepherds received a pretty spectacular message. And they acted on it. Immediately.

v. 15b-16a: Let’s go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about. They hurried off...

The shepherds:

1. were overwhelmed by the amazing message from God.
2. immediately went to Jesus
3. told other people about God’s message.

This would not have happened unless their hearts were already soft and turned heaven-ward, and if they were not simple and childlike in their faith toward God. Lord, I try to over-think things and am double-minded toward so many things. How can I develop a childlike trust toward the Lord?

v. 20: As the shepherds returned to their sheep, they were praising God and saying wonderful things about him. Everything they had seen and heard was just as the angel had said.

I want to make that my attitude, too, because I have heard and seen so much, really, every day, which brings glory to God.

And then the Scriptures mention two prophets:

Simeon. He was righteous, devout, and looking forward to the consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit rested on him.

Anna. She was a prophetess who never left the Temple. She worshipped day and night. With prayer and fasting.

These are the characteristics of people who love God deeply.

Advent, Part 3

Luke 1:26-38 (Phillips)

Then, six months after Zacharias’ vision, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a Galilean town, Nazareth by name, to a young woman who was engaged to a man called Joseph. The girl’s name was Mary. The angel entered her room and said, “Greetings to you, Mary. O favoured one!—the Lord be with you!”

Mary was deeply perturbed at these words and wondered what such a greeting could possibly mean. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; God loves you dearly. You are going to be the mother of a son, and you will call him Jesus. He will be great and will be known as the Son of the most high. The Lord God will give him the throne of his forefather, David, and he will be king over the people of Jacob for ever. His reign shall never end.”

Then Mary spoke to the angel, “How can this be,” she said, “I am not married!”

But the angel made this reply to her—“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the most high will overshadow you. Your child will therefore be called holy—the Son of God. Your cousin Elisabeth has also conceived a son, old as she is. Indeed, this is the sixth month for her, a woman who was called barren. For no promise of God can fail to be fulfilled.”

“I belong to the Lord, body and soul,” replied Mary, “let it happen as you say.” And at this the angel left her.

(This is off-topic, but Mary was shocked that she could be a mother because she wasn’t married. That’s not an a protest I’m used to. I pretty much assume that unmarried people are in a position to become parents unless I hear otherwise, and that otherwise is always surprising!)

Mary doubted the angel’s promise at first. But the angel told her of another miraculous child given by God. Mary could go and check it out if her doubt lingered. This was proof, the angel said, that “no promise of God can fail to be fulfilled.” Hallelujah! What God has promised, he will do! In hunting the pages of Scripture, I continue to find that he has been trustworthy *so far.* The experience of so many over the years recording his trustworthiness imputes a future trustworthiness. He has accomplished so many rescues of all sorts when people have not seen a way through. Can we doubt that he will accomplish the Ultimate Rescue? That there will be a future with no more tears, no more death, no more sin?

Mary may not have seen the way through or believed that all the angel said could come to pass, but in faith, she told him, “I belong to the Lord, body and soul, let it happen as you say.” She was willing to accept whatever the Lord had for her. I am praying that I will also be willing to accept whatever the Lord has for me, whether it’s difficult or easy, big or little. I pray that my desires would line up with His.

Advent Part 2

Isaiah 9:2, 6-7; 11:1-9

The people that walked in darkness, have seen a great light: to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light is risen.... For a CHILD IS BORN to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and for ever: the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears. But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle of his reins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb: and the leopard shall lie down with the kid: the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall abide together, and a little child shall lead them. The calf and the bear shall feed: their young ones shall rest together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp: and the weaned child shall thrust his hand into the den of the basilisk. They shall not hurt, nor shall they kill in all my holy mountain, for the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the covering waters of the sea.

God's chosen people were walking in darkness, living in the shadow of death, when Christ came to earth. Even though they had the Scriptures, their religious leaders and traditions had led them so astray that most of them did not recognize their Wonderful, their Counselor, their God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, and the Prince of Peace. That is heartbreaking.

Today the Scriptures have gone out to nearly the whole earth. And yet so many of us who have this immeasurable privilege of reading and studying and searching them also do not recognize our God, clothed in humanity. We do not take advantage of the immeasurable opportunity to search God's word, and we are blinded by so many things of our own choosing, searching after wealth, health, and happiness in all the wrong places. I pray that I will not squander the treasures I've been given in the Word.

I love how Isaiah's prophecies weave together the Jesus who came to bring God' love to the world in his life and death in Palestine, and the Jesus who will come to bring God's peace, judgment, justice to the world again (soon, I hope!) It is the same Jesus.

This verse really stood out to me:

He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears.

I frequently judge by externals, by the "obvious," but I do not look deeply enough to see people as precious creations of God or listen deeply enough to hear situations as a place where God's Holy Spirit is working to bring healing and truth.

I am amazed by the descriptions of the character of God: wise, understanding, of good counsel, possessing of fortitude, knowledge, godliness, just, and equitous. I pray that God will see fit to begin growing some of those characteristics in me.

I was struck by 11:3 in the Contemporary English Version:

His greatest joy will be to obey the LORD.

That must be the way to developing the character of Jesus!

What really warms my heart are the descriptions of the Recreation God has promised: “there shall be no end of peace,” with graphic descriptions of mortal enemies in the world as we know it living together. It also says: “for the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the covering waters of the sea.” I often long for that day, and I know that it will not arrive until Jesus visits us again.

*The first passages are from the Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition

Advent Part 1

Genesis 3: 8-19, 22: 15-18

Our people fell. Long ago. By our disobedience we became afraid of God rather than enjoying his company. We live in fear and deceit. We chose a curse for ourselves: physical pain, relational problems, hunger, death, and decay. Yet, even at that time, God promised a human who would strike down our greatest enemy. I wonder if Adam and Eve knew that human would also be God himself???

Abraham did not keep back his own very special son when God asked him to give him up. The world has been blessed in uncountable ways by that act of obedience. But even more, God did not keep back his own very special Son at just the right time. And the world has been blessed in even more unimaginable ways by that Sacrifice and Gift!

With that Gift comes the promise that one day the beautiful paradise of Adam and Eve, which was marred by fear and deception, will be restored - no more pain, no more relational problems, fullness (more than just food - we’ll be filled with the Lord!), life, and growth. God kept his promise to Adam and Eve in a way so amazing they could not probably have imagined it. He is able to keep his promise of complete restoration - let’s be on the lookout for it!

Christmas is a celebration of a past event, but, like so many of the Psalms which meditate on God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt, it’s a reminder that as God has acted in the past, he will act in the future. Christmas looks back to our fall and to God’s Gift in Jesus, but it also looks forward to God’s miraculous plans for the future. Let’s not grow weary in our faith, because the best is yet to come!

Philippians - In Review (Week 6)

The Big Take-Aways:

I need a big adjustment when it comes to my attitudes toward God and my attitudes toward others. Actually, I’m thinking most specifically about adjusting my attitude toward God. My attitude toward Him is where my attitudes toward others come from. The main thing is that I need to be thankful to God for all the wonderful things He is and that He has done *no*matter*the*present*circumstances*.

My week-long not-complaining experiment (based on 2:14-15) was challenging. I had to look at my experiences in a different light - more from God’s perspective (what little I can see of it from down here!) ...to see what God has done and is doing. And thank Him for that. It helped me see others with a more sympathetic view - looking at what might be difficult or unknown for them rather than just being annoyed they didn’t do things the way I *expected.* Paul expresses sympathy, not judgment, in this book (3:18). Paul has an attitude of joy, and this is the attitude I need to cultivate.

(Sidenote: there is still a question in my mind about what is the difference between “complaining” and “objective state of being” e.g. “My foot hurts.” Complaint? Valuable description? Don’t know. Context might determine the answer.)

The other conviction I have is that I need to pray more faithfully. With thanksgiving. For others. Paul is mentioning prayers and thanksgiving all over the place in this book. I am weak in prayer. There is a new week-long experiment going in which I am reorganizing a little thing in my life to put prayer time higher up on the list. I need a more vital connection with God.