itsawonderfilledlife

Week 2
The Promise of the Prophets

“Where is the One having been born King of the Jews?
For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

Matthew 2:2

A star in the sky, in the night, in the dark.

The ones who we know as the wise men were scientists, astronomers. They had seen evidence of an amazing light event in the skies. So amazing was it that they went to the king (Herod) to inquire as to where this King of the Jews would be found. I find myself wondering if they were laying wagers as to his location … and, of course, a King so powerful would know where a new king was born.

In the Old Testament, Numbers 24:17 speaks of the star that would come …

I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.
A star will come forth from Jacob,
and a scepter will arise from Israel.

Of course this passage is not necessarily referring to a star in the skies, but the rising of a great man, from the line of Jacob, the Jews. Yet, because stars were such a daily-relied on phenomena, those who studied them would know that a unique light in the skies was significant to their very lives. Plus, the arrival of other leaders (Caesar being one) was commonly announced in the skies.

This astral birth announcement alerted these wise ones. But their interest went beyond the norm, for they needed to know more about this King of Jews, whose star shone so bright.

A star will come ….

and He did,

and is brilliance still shines,

and the wise still seek Him.

God gave the Magi a star, not a road map.
Follow the direction God is pulling your heart
and worry less about needing to know every detail beforehand.

Ian Simkins

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Week 2
The Promise of the Prophets

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

Isaiah 11:1-3

A shoot will come up form the stump of Jesse …

A stump … that is where my mind lingered. A stump is the remnant of a tree that had been cut down. It is visually not small, otherwise it would not be visible, nothing more than a twig. No, a stump tells us that it was sizeable, it contained many rings. It lived for years.

That stump, that stump of Jesse … what does it mean?

Most of us who have weathered the advent season would know this passage from Isaiah as part of the Christmas story, for it is commonly read every year at this point in the church calendar. Most of us would also understand that the shoot is a reference to the Messiah, who was to come from the line of King David (for Jesse refers to the father of David).

The stump … this refers to the the place from where the Israelites (including Jesse and King David). At one time they grew and were strong, and stood tall. But the Jewish people (culture and religion) had been cut down, the kingdom of David a faint memory, their trust in their God holding on by a thread.

But … God ….

God had a plan for dead stumps. From this dead and lifeless stump of the Israelite people came a living shoot, in the person of Jesus. But part of God’s plan was not just that he would come to save his own people, but the entire forest. For he came for all … Jews and Gentiles (everyone else).

In this we all have become the Chosen of God … for he chose to redeem all through his Son.

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Week 2
The Promise of the Prophets

So God has given both his promise and his oath.
These two things are unchangeable
because it is impossible for God to lie.
Therefore,
we who have fled to him for refuge can have
great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.
This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.

– Hebrews 6:18-19

As we open the doors of advent we cannot omit the promises of God to us all … promises made hundreds of years before his promises were fulfilled in the person of Jesus. And the greatest of his promises was that he would send a Savior.

Before we get into the promises, we need to be assured of our confidence in the one who is making the promises.

I love the passage (above) from Hebrews 6, because it is not definitive about how God’s promises are trustworthy, that he cannot lie, cannot change what he says.

In this world we live, so obviously infested with sin and it’s effects, it is hard to find anyone who is unswerving in their promises. Marriages, friendships, workplaces and even in the church, promises get broken … to people who are broken … by people who are equally broken.

But God …

He does not break his promises. He can be trusted.

In verse 19 of the passage is this line:

This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.

Man … the symbolism of an anchor … I can visualize being on rough water and throwing it into the raging seas to hold the boat steady. And that is what God can be in our lives …

but,

an anchor can also be dropped into calm waters, when we want to stay in one place, so as to ensure that we are not deceived by the calm (and we can be so easily deceived by the calm).

God’s promises are our hope, for he is trustworthy!

What a hope is He!

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Week 1
The People’s Need

… my God turns my darkness into light. Psalm 18:28

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son Colossians 1:13

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. Isaiah 9:12

reclaim the dark … for light shines in the dark

Christmas came amid it all … amid all of the dark and twisties …

• tears, sorrow, dismay
• loneliness
• longing for the past
• dying, grief
• sin
• enemies, death

These are the realities today, as we open the daily advent doors to the celebration of arrival of the Christ Child … as we await his coming again. These were the realities then … roughly 400 years ago.

Christmas, then and now, is all about dark places …

• the womb
• a valley
• the grave

But, it is also about contrast, about that upside-down experience of Christ within us.

And without such a contrast …

would there be a reason for a Savior?

No …

That is why we wait with anticipation, otherwise we know not why he came, we know not our own value … for if we follow this Savior (who not only was born, but died and rose), we can be part of bringing the upside-down world to those around us.

Luke 6 says:

Blessed are you who:
are poor (now)
hunger (now)
weep (now)
who are hated (now)
who are rejected (now)

This was the state of life for the Jews … this is the state of life for us … NOW!

Our reality of being the blessed is not due to our circumstances or situations, but because of HIM, of He who came to deliver us from our darkness

and bring the light.

This ends week 1, the People’s Need.

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Week 1
The People’s Need

When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” Matthew 2:13

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Matthew 2:16

A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” Matthew 2:18

It is a black spot on the Christmas story. One that is often not told, alongside that of the Magi … their voyage in search of what the stars have told, the gifts for the babe. Maybe because it occurred a couple years after the birth of the Messiah, or maybe, just maybe … we cannot handle the truth?

The order of King Herod (a leader known to have killed any who threatened his rule) to have all male babes up to two years old, killed. In history this act is known as the Massacre of the Innocents. It is horrific to imagine what it must have been like to live through such a horror.

This sacrifice of innocent life … it too is part of the waiting that is advent. It shows us the dichotomy of the brutality of human life compared with the life-giving that this babe brings. This babe, who later grows up to be killed … yet another killing of an innocent.

Our sin-filled world is one of enemies, brutality. Persecution and torture and death (and war) are part of the package that sin has wrapped up for us all.

As we open a door each day this advent season, may we each remember that our joy in celebrating the birth of our Redeemer came at a cost, that innocence was slaughtered for salvation. May we also remember those who are suffering under persecution … may we lift them up each day in prayer. May we humble ourselves and give our time, our resources, our efforts to bring peace to Earth as we prepare to celebrate the Prince of Peace.

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Week 1
The People’s Need

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Romans 5:12

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” John 8:34

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. James 4:17

A few bad chapters does not mean your story is over …

Since the Garden of Eden, humans have been born into sin. Our most common human legacy is sin. Because of sin, we fall short, miss the mark. Our bodies experience the effects of sin in our fragility, our inescapable end of life, through death. We fail each other, resulting in broken relationships, broken commitments and traumas that get passed from generation to generation.

Sin is real …

and it is really why we are counting down the days, in hopeful anticipation of the coming (and the coming again) of Jesus.

For God made Christ, who never sinned,
to be the offering for our sin,
so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21

We are not just counting down to Christmas, we are counting the days to the anniversary of the end of our life in sin. This is personal, this is life saving … we just need to be willing to open that final door to Him, the one to our heart.

“Jesus told the story of the Prodigal son to make a simple point:
never mind what you’ve done, just come home.”

Unka Glen

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