“Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord: ‘The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.’”
Psalm 102:18-20
What a year it has been! As I was pondering what title to give this devotion I thought about the adventure I am on as I do my best to follow after God and how sometimes that means going into the unknown, hence as I look forward it seems that going “Into the glorious unknown” is appropriate. As I settled on the idea – I thought that it might be a lyric from a song and so it is. The actual lyric is “Let’s follow our leader into the glorious unknown” from the old Steven Curtis Chapman song The Great Adventure. There is another lyric in the song that speaks to this week’s passage “I opened up the Bible and I read about me, said I’d been a prisoner and God’s grace had set me free (emphasis mine).” We are all bound by something at some time and God’s grace can free us even from death if we let him.
I have long stopped thinking I know what it means to be called by God to do His work full time. In what seems like forever ago I thought I knew what the plan was. I have learned that I am clueless, that instead each step – each sometimes painful step I have taken has taken me further into the glorious unknown, has stretched me, has at times broken me, but has always made me – is making me stronger and more willing to take the next step.
I cannot see into the future, but I know there are no coincidences when following after Jesus – everything that has happened in the past has been preparing me for the next step – it’s been preparing you too.
What’s stopping you from fully surrendering your heart and life to Jesus? What is holding you bound, what are you a prisoner too? Jesus reading from what we know as Isaiah 61:1 said: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Will this New Year be the year you find real freedom, where your eyes are truly opened, where you will find His favor even in the midst of life’s struggles?
Come with me and together we will follow Jesus into the glorious unknown.
A Prayer
Father - thank you for getting us through this past year. Some of us are a bit battered and bruised, but we are also strong and closer to You. As we seek to follow you into the glorious unknown of a new year be our strength and courage. Show each of us what you would have us do and grant us Your favor so we can do Your good work – Amen.
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Great Joy
“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 worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, and of incense and of myrrh.”
Matthew 2:9-11
Simple things make me happy. Things like reducing the number of color copies we make at the office or watching baby koala videos on YouTube. A good book can make me happy as well – but joy is different. For me joy isn’t about things, joy is about heart change. Things can’t really bring about the kind of heart change that brings great joy into our lives. There is a person who can though and His name is Jesus. The angels told the shepherds they were bringing good news of great joy – the news of a child born to us to be our savior (Luke 2:10-11).
This week’s passage tells of another heart changing encounter experienced by another group of people. A group of wise men, magi, kings of the orient or astrologers whatever you want to call them, were men of science who had traveled a great distance to find the foretold child. Note that some time had passed in Matthew’s narrative of this scene. Jesus is called a child and he and his earthly family are in a house – not a stable. Jesus is quite possibly a toddler by the time these travelers arrive and their hearts are changed when they reach their destination, when the evidence they had been following led them to the King of the Jews, the Savior of the world – they were overjoyed.
The word overjoyed as found in the New International version of the bible is actually the translation of four Greek words that in the simplest of meanings would be “great, great joy, joy.” This great, great joy, joy comes from a heart changed by the One who according to Jude “is able to keep us from falling and to present us before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior…” (Jude 1:24-25).
This time of year can be so difficult for many of us – even if life is going pretty well, the pain of the not so great things that happened throughout the year, the losses experienced and the stress of living on this planet seem to want to hit us in the face and steal our joy. But He - who as a baby changed the shepherds, as a toddler changed the wise men, as an adult changed the hearts of tax collectors and sinners, and as a crucified, buried and resurrected Savior changed the hearts of all us who believe - fills us with His great joy.
May we all be filled with that great joy and may we share the One who gives it with those around us.
Merry Christmas!
A Prayer
Father - thank you for the great joy that fills our lives when Jesus changes our hearts. Whether it is the baby in the manger or the man pouring our His life and love on the cross we can have great joy even in the midst of great trials and sorrows, because our hearts have been changed. Help us Lord to introduce others to your abounding love and the great joy that it brings. In the name of Jesus, who gives us great, great joy – Amen.
Matthew 2:9-11
Simple things make me happy. Things like reducing the number of color copies we make at the office or watching baby koala videos on YouTube. A good book can make me happy as well – but joy is different. For me joy isn’t about things, joy is about heart change. Things can’t really bring about the kind of heart change that brings great joy into our lives. There is a person who can though and His name is Jesus. The angels told the shepherds they were bringing good news of great joy – the news of a child born to us to be our savior (Luke 2:10-11).
This week’s passage tells of another heart changing encounter experienced by another group of people. A group of wise men, magi, kings of the orient or astrologers whatever you want to call them, were men of science who had traveled a great distance to find the foretold child. Note that some time had passed in Matthew’s narrative of this scene. Jesus is called a child and he and his earthly family are in a house – not a stable. Jesus is quite possibly a toddler by the time these travelers arrive and their hearts are changed when they reach their destination, when the evidence they had been following led them to the King of the Jews, the Savior of the world – they were overjoyed.
The word overjoyed as found in the New International version of the bible is actually the translation of four Greek words that in the simplest of meanings would be “great, great joy, joy.” This great, great joy, joy comes from a heart changed by the One who according to Jude “is able to keep us from falling and to present us before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior…” (Jude 1:24-25).
This time of year can be so difficult for many of us – even if life is going pretty well, the pain of the not so great things that happened throughout the year, the losses experienced and the stress of living on this planet seem to want to hit us in the face and steal our joy. But He - who as a baby changed the shepherds, as a toddler changed the wise men, as an adult changed the hearts of tax collectors and sinners, and as a crucified, buried and resurrected Savior changed the hearts of all us who believe - fills us with His great joy.
May we all be filled with that great joy and may we share the One who gives it with those around us.
Merry Christmas!
A Prayer
Father - thank you for the great joy that fills our lives when Jesus changes our hearts. Whether it is the baby in the manger or the man pouring our His life and love on the cross we can have great joy even in the midst of great trials and sorrows, because our hearts have been changed. Help us Lord to introduce others to your abounding love and the great joy that it brings. In the name of Jesus, who gives us great, great joy – Amen.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Special Delivery
“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
1 John 4:9-10
I don’t know about you but I really enjoy getting packages in the mail or delivered by one of those big delivery services. At the church where I work, the drivers of the big “brown” trucks toot the horn as they pull up, so I know they are there. Most of the time, they are delivering something I ordered. Sometimes, it’s something someone else is expecting and once in a while it is something completely unexpected. Getting a package that contains a gift is especially fun. The celebration of just such a special delivery is almost here - can you feel the excitement in the air? Is something moving in your heart and mind?
Traveling at the speed of divine light the God of everything, the Creator of the universe who is not held by the bonds of time was delivered into a world driven by time as a peasant baby unwelcome at the inn because the kinfolk of his earthly parents didn’t understand. It was such a special delivery that it shifted time just a bit, it shifted from the time before Christ to the time since Christ was born. It was a special delivery that set a ripple in motion that ripples even now and will continue to ripple until His return when time will again shift.
It is a ripple of love that flows through everything allowing hearts to be changed when we choose to open the gift when it comes to us. Once that special delivery has been accepted and opened, we are compelled by His grace and love to share it with everyone around us.
It is a limitless gift, filled with the healing power of God’s love. It is the perfect gift for the one who thinks they have everything, but deep inside are still empty and searching for that one thing that will make a real difference in their life. If you know someone like that – it’s time to share the One – the Only One who can make that difference.
Jesus is the very best Special Delivery gift sent to you with love from The Father.
A Prayer
Father, what an incredible gift you sent special delivery to us, thank you. The gift of Your Son shifted time, healed broken hearts, restored battered soul and built a bridge back to Your heart. Help us to never take that gift for granted and to especially deliver it with those around us who believe they are unloved, worthless and hopeless – because You love them, value them highly and fill them with hope. In the name of Jesus, our special delivery gift we pray. – Amen.
1 John 4:9-10
I don’t know about you but I really enjoy getting packages in the mail or delivered by one of those big delivery services. At the church where I work, the drivers of the big “brown” trucks toot the horn as they pull up, so I know they are there. Most of the time, they are delivering something I ordered. Sometimes, it’s something someone else is expecting and once in a while it is something completely unexpected. Getting a package that contains a gift is especially fun. The celebration of just such a special delivery is almost here - can you feel the excitement in the air? Is something moving in your heart and mind?
Traveling at the speed of divine light the God of everything, the Creator of the universe who is not held by the bonds of time was delivered into a world driven by time as a peasant baby unwelcome at the inn because the kinfolk of his earthly parents didn’t understand. It was such a special delivery that it shifted time just a bit, it shifted from the time before Christ to the time since Christ was born. It was a special delivery that set a ripple in motion that ripples even now and will continue to ripple until His return when time will again shift.
It is a ripple of love that flows through everything allowing hearts to be changed when we choose to open the gift when it comes to us. Once that special delivery has been accepted and opened, we are compelled by His grace and love to share it with everyone around us.
It is a limitless gift, filled with the healing power of God’s love. It is the perfect gift for the one who thinks they have everything, but deep inside are still empty and searching for that one thing that will make a real difference in their life. If you know someone like that – it’s time to share the One – the Only One who can make that difference.
Jesus is the very best Special Delivery gift sent to you with love from The Father.
A Prayer
Father, what an incredible gift you sent special delivery to us, thank you. The gift of Your Son shifted time, healed broken hearts, restored battered soul and built a bridge back to Your heart. Help us to never take that gift for granted and to especially deliver it with those around us who believe they are unloved, worthless and hopeless – because You love them, value them highly and fill them with hope. In the name of Jesus, our special delivery gift we pray. – Amen.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
More Christ - Less Chaos
“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’”
Luke 2:13-14
I don’t know if you are experiencing the same thing as I am when it comes to Christmas. As I have aged and my family has grown older Christmas has become a quieter, more peaceful celebration. No shopping trips to loud and crowded malls, no stressing over what to buy. I can shop online or get gift cards for just about anything at the local supermarket or Wal-Mart. I can send Christmas greetings via email and FaceBook. We celebrate Christmas by going to church and enjoying a good meal – more Christ, less chaos. So nice not having to face the often chaotic pace of the holiday season. I love the traditional “Christmas” passages from Isaiah and Luke.
I also love the peaceful image of Jesus’ birth announcement – ok not the part that probably freaked out the poor shepherds. I love the part about the shepherds being out in the field, perhaps sitting around a fire to warm themselves in the cool of the night. And what about the image the angel provides when he tells them “This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12) – what is more peaceful, more joyful than a swaddled and sleeping new born? Then a heavenly choir praising God delivered a promise from God of peace for all on whom His favor rests.
Jesus’ life was book-ended by gifts of peace. The heavenly host brought the first gift of peace with the announcement of Messiah’s birth and Jesus himself gave a gift of peace near the end of His life when He told his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). Isaiah speaking of the many titles held by the coming King calls Him the Prince of Peace.
We should of course have a bit of reality here – Jesus did also warn us that life wouldn’t always be quiet and peaceful because we would face real trials as we walk this upon this planet. But with that warning was the gift of peace and the reminder that we need not be afraid – there can be peace even in the midst of the trials, even in the chaos of Christmas if we just make a bit of time, if we just create some space for more Christ then we’ll have less chaos.
A Prayer
Father, what an awesome and scary sight it must have been that night when one of Your angels, accompanied by the heavenly hosts announced the birth of Your Son to the shepherds watching over their flocks. What a message of hope and peace they carried to those considered outcasts. Thank you that before surrendering His life to save ours Jesus gave us another gift of peace. As we draw even nearer to the celebration of His birth may we seek more of Him so we can enjoy more of His peace and then help us to share that peace with those around us – Amen.
Luke 2:13-14
I don’t know if you are experiencing the same thing as I am when it comes to Christmas. As I have aged and my family has grown older Christmas has become a quieter, more peaceful celebration. No shopping trips to loud and crowded malls, no stressing over what to buy. I can shop online or get gift cards for just about anything at the local supermarket or Wal-Mart. I can send Christmas greetings via email and FaceBook. We celebrate Christmas by going to church and enjoying a good meal – more Christ, less chaos. So nice not having to face the often chaotic pace of the holiday season. I love the traditional “Christmas” passages from Isaiah and Luke.
I also love the peaceful image of Jesus’ birth announcement – ok not the part that probably freaked out the poor shepherds. I love the part about the shepherds being out in the field, perhaps sitting around a fire to warm themselves in the cool of the night. And what about the image the angel provides when he tells them “This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12) – what is more peaceful, more joyful than a swaddled and sleeping new born? Then a heavenly choir praising God delivered a promise from God of peace for all on whom His favor rests.
Jesus’ life was book-ended by gifts of peace. The heavenly host brought the first gift of peace with the announcement of Messiah’s birth and Jesus himself gave a gift of peace near the end of His life when He told his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). Isaiah speaking of the many titles held by the coming King calls Him the Prince of Peace.
We should of course have a bit of reality here – Jesus did also warn us that life wouldn’t always be quiet and peaceful because we would face real trials as we walk this upon this planet. But with that warning was the gift of peace and the reminder that we need not be afraid – there can be peace even in the midst of the trials, even in the chaos of Christmas if we just make a bit of time, if we just create some space for more Christ then we’ll have less chaos.
A Prayer
Father, what an awesome and scary sight it must have been that night when one of Your angels, accompanied by the heavenly hosts announced the birth of Your Son to the shepherds watching over their flocks. What a message of hope and peace they carried to those considered outcasts. Thank you that before surrendering His life to save ours Jesus gave us another gift of peace. As we draw even nearer to the celebration of His birth may we seek more of Him so we can enjoy more of His peace and then help us to share that peace with those around us – Amen.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
A Wonderful Life - Purpose Brings Hope
“But the Angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.’ The Angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’ ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May it be to me as you have said.’ Then the angel left her.”
Luke 1:30-33, 35, 38
The season of Advent is once again upon us. It is a time of preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ - the One spoken of by David and Isaiah. The One who’s purpose is the restoration of mankind’s relationship with God. The One who makes a wonderful life possible by giving us a purpose that brings hope.
In the beloved Christmas movie It’s A Wonderful Life – George Bailey has lost sight of his purpose and finds himself hopeless and bitter – life doesn’t seem to wonderful until Clarence the angel fishes him out of the water and with some divine help shows him what life would have been like if he’d never been born. You see George’s purpose was to be the nice guy in town, the good banker - the guy who helped out those no other banker would help. His purpose was to be a loving husband and father.
George isn’t so different from the rest of us – sometimes life beats us up and when it does we can lose sight of who God made us to be and do. Sometimes when we are feeling like we are of no earthly good, God will send us someone to let us know just how valued we are. In this week’s passage Gabriel is sent by God to a young peasant girl named Mary. We don’t really know too much about her except that she was a small town girl, engaged to be married when Gabriel turns up with his strange greeting and tells her something unimaginable, more than a bit scary and yet life changing and wonderful. Gabriel let her purpose be known, a purpose that let her know how much she was valued by her God and that purpose that would make life wonderful and filled with hope. Ok we should probably stop for a minute and get real – even a purpose and hope filled life can be difficult, after all Mary would eventually see her Son beaten and crucified. But she would also see Him risen and ascended to His proper place in the throne room of heaven.
If Mary had never been born… well let not dwell on those possibilities. Each one of us has a purpose in life, a purpose that brings hope. Even when the entire world seems to be against us, as it seemed to George Bailey – we still have a purpose, we can still impact others so that the light of Christ shines into the darkness.
Purpose brings us hope… So it’s a wonderful life.
A Prayer
Father, you give each of us purpose and for that we are thankful. In those times when we lose sight of our purpose and lose hope, forgetting how valued we are by You – send someone to remind us that our world would not be the same without us in it. Renew our vision for what you have for us to do, because your purpose for us brings hope and that makes it a wonderful life. In the name of Jesus, whose own life made ours wonderful, we pray – Amen.
Luke 1:30-33, 35, 38
The season of Advent is once again upon us. It is a time of preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ - the One spoken of by David and Isaiah. The One who’s purpose is the restoration of mankind’s relationship with God. The One who makes a wonderful life possible by giving us a purpose that brings hope.
In the beloved Christmas movie It’s A Wonderful Life – George Bailey has lost sight of his purpose and finds himself hopeless and bitter – life doesn’t seem to wonderful until Clarence the angel fishes him out of the water and with some divine help shows him what life would have been like if he’d never been born. You see George’s purpose was to be the nice guy in town, the good banker - the guy who helped out those no other banker would help. His purpose was to be a loving husband and father.
George isn’t so different from the rest of us – sometimes life beats us up and when it does we can lose sight of who God made us to be and do. Sometimes when we are feeling like we are of no earthly good, God will send us someone to let us know just how valued we are. In this week’s passage Gabriel is sent by God to a young peasant girl named Mary. We don’t really know too much about her except that she was a small town girl, engaged to be married when Gabriel turns up with his strange greeting and tells her something unimaginable, more than a bit scary and yet life changing and wonderful. Gabriel let her purpose be known, a purpose that let her know how much she was valued by her God and that purpose that would make life wonderful and filled with hope. Ok we should probably stop for a minute and get real – even a purpose and hope filled life can be difficult, after all Mary would eventually see her Son beaten and crucified. But she would also see Him risen and ascended to His proper place in the throne room of heaven.
If Mary had never been born… well let not dwell on those possibilities. Each one of us has a purpose in life, a purpose that brings hope. Even when the entire world seems to be against us, as it seemed to George Bailey – we still have a purpose, we can still impact others so that the light of Christ shines into the darkness.
Purpose brings us hope… So it’s a wonderful life.
A Prayer
Father, you give each of us purpose and for that we are thankful. In those times when we lose sight of our purpose and lose hope, forgetting how valued we are by You – send someone to remind us that our world would not be the same without us in it. Renew our vision for what you have for us to do, because your purpose for us brings hope and that makes it a wonderful life. In the name of Jesus, whose own life made ours wonderful, we pray – Amen.
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