Tag: Pondering Speaking the Word of God

Are We Going to Celebrate, Praise God, for What He Has Already Done for Us in 2022? Why Does Anyone Anticipate or Confidently Expect, to Celebrate God’s Grace in this Coming Year? Isaiah 63:7-9

Isaiah 63:7-9 The Message

All the Things God Has Done That Need Praising

7-9 I’ll make a list of God’s gracious dealings,
    all the things God has done that need praising,
All the generous bounties of God,
    his great goodness to the family of Israel—
Compassion lavished,
    love extravagant.
He said, “Without question these are my people,
    children who would never betray me.”
So he became their Savior.
    In all their troubles,
    he was troubled, too.
He didn’t send someone else to help them.
    He did it himself, in person.
Out of his own love and pity
    he redeemed them.
He rescued them and carried them along
    for a long, long time.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

Celebrating God as God is Celebrating Us!

God’s Prophet Isaiah invites us to look back on a year of God’s grace drawing to a close and to look ahead to another year of God’s grace that is just beginning.

Celebrating What the Lord has Done for Us!

In the ancient calendar used by the Romans, from which our calendar was created, the name of each month had a meaning.

For example the month of February was so named because that was the time of the year for a feast called February.

Lupercalia was a pastoral festival of Ancient Rome observed annually on February 15 to purify the city, promoting health and fertility. Lupercalia was also known as dies Februatus, after the purification instruments called februa, the basis for the month named Februarius.

Some of the months were named for the false gods that the Romans worshiped. March was named after Mars, the god of war.

May was probably derived from the goddess Maia.

June was named after the goddess Juno.

The months July and August were named, respectively, after Julius Caesar and his successor, Caesar Augustus. September, October, November, and December were named for the numbers seven, eight, nine, and ten in the Latin language.

That was the order in which those months fell in the Roman calendar.

One month in the ancient Roman calendar that had an especially descriptive name was January.

The Latin word janua means a door or window from which a person may look both ways, in other words, in and out–forward and back.

Historians say that January is also derived from the name Janus, a common household god among the Romans.

He was often depicted facing in two directions.

Basically, he was looking forward and back.

As we stand at the doorway looking back on 2022, to the first month of January and a new year in 2023, we will naturally look back over the way we have come.

We also naturally look ahead to the new year and where we are going.

As we celebrate, prepare ourselves and our families, friends and neighbors later this New Year’s Eve, we have to look at the year just past, the year lying ahead.

May we through our Love of God, through our Love for Word of God share in the coming of the New Year – Celebrate the coming of tonight’s midnight plus One Minute, be moved with anticipation, with confident expectation, to greet, God!

Celebrating the Grace of God in our Lives!

I. Look back on it in appreciation

II. Look ahead to it with anticipation

Our biblical text comes from the end of Isaiah’s prophecy.

Isaiah had just described the miraculous changes the Messiah—the promised Savior, would bring to God’s people in the chapters previous to our text.

Here Isaiah went on to describe the effect His preaching would have on those in Israel who were faithful to God.

He introduces the final section of his prophecy by recalling all of God’s ancient mercies, the ceaseless acts of loving kindnesses bestowed upon His Children.

Isaiah 63:7-9Amplified Bible

God’s Ancient Mercies Recalled

7 
I will tell of the loving kindnesses of the Lord, and the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
According to all that the Lord has done for us,
And His great goodness toward the house of Israel,
Which He has shown them according to His compassion
And according to the abundance of His loving kindnesses.
8 
For He said, “Be assured, they are My people,
Sons who will not be faithless.”
So He became their Savior [in all their distresses].
9 
In all their distress He was distressed,
And the [a]angel of His presence saved them,
In His love and in His compassion He redeemed them;
And He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

To these ancient words, still ever true, we should all say, “Alleluia! Amen.”

It reminds us that throughout all of our days, the Lord has been kind to us.

Tonight, at midnight minus one minute we should all regale each other, tell of the abundance of his kindnesses, deeds, from 2022 which God is to be praised.

Tonight, at midnight plus one minute, we should all proclaim and claim and to hug all of God’s coming mercies and loving kindnesses, His grace in year 2023.

These ancient words from Isaiah’s prophecy reminds us to look back in appreciation of God’s grace in 2022 and to look ahead with anticipation and with confident expectation, for more of God’s miraculous grace in year 2023.

We don’t have to look very far back in the year that is ending to be reminded of God’s undeserved love.

In fact we really only have to look back one week.

A week ago tonight was Christmas Eve.

We were reminded, through the celebration of His Gospel, Christ was born to live the holy life we did not live, to die under the just punishment for our sins.

The clearest and most complete reminder of God’s kindness and love for us.

We rejoice, through the celebration of His Word, that we have had the privilege to once again celebrate his first birthday and speak about his great love for us.

But obviously our spiritual blessings for 2022 weren’t confined to Christmas.

For the last 52 Sundays our God has fed us with his Word when we gathered for praise and prayer and worship.

We followed Jesus to the cross, we shouted, “He is risen!”

We listened to the words and works of our Savior God.

In Bible study, and Sunday school, through the children’s ministries, and too, through our personal time in God’s Word we have found healing and hope.

We have felt God’s presence and been reassured of his love when we sinned.

As we celebrate God’s grace tonight, at midnight minus one minute, we look back in gratitude and appreciation of a whole year of enjoying the Word of God and all of the abundance of Father, Son, Holy Spirit, that it has brought to us.

In 2022 we also often received the pledge that we are forgiven children of God as we received the body and blood of Christ in the Lord’s Supper.

There Jesus invited us to eat and drink the proof that full payment for our sins has been made.

At His Passover table we were reminded that too we will eat and drink with him in the Kingdom of heaven.

Although we have many things to be thankful for this New Year’s Eve we are most thankful for those Means of Grace Jehovah God has given us–His Word and Sacraments.

The person speaking in our text from Isaiah acknowledged that the Lord had done many good things for his people.

The Lord had brought his people out of slavery in Egypt.

He gave them a land flowing with milk and honey.

He repeatedly defeated their enemies.

Through mighty miracles he had protected his people and prospered them.

He blessed their crops and their other sources of income.

He did all these things because of his compassion and love.

They were God’s people and enjoyed all the benefits of being God’s people..

This reminder of what God did for his people of old reminds us of what God does for his people today.

He still does great things for us.

Who of us can’t tell of the kindnesses of the Lord?

Take a moment to look back in appreciation for all that the Lord has done for us this past year.

Who of us can’t tell of the deeds for which God is to be praised?

Our Lord has given us abundant life, shelter, food, and clothing this past year.

We have enjoyed the blessings of family and friends and neighbors.

We have enjoyed God’s creation for another year.

The Lord provided us with blessings beyond belief, way more than we can use.

But someone might legitimately say not everything in 2001 was all that good.

What about the continued presence of covid19?

Someone might say, “I had troubles and problems from day one of 2022.”

“In fact this year was one of the worst I have ever had. I lost my job. I was sick. My wife and children too. I faced financial problems and other troubles. 2022 was not a good year at all, I really don’t see all that much God has done for me.”

Yes, we face the temptation to feel that way and have those kinds of thoughts.

But when Isaiah recorded these words from verses 7-9, he could have said something similar to that.

He and other believers faced persecution.

Their country was under the threat of foreign invasion.

Outwardly speaking, for him, things were very bad and seemed very uncertain.

Yet, Isaiah knew that no matter how bad things looked God was with him and his people, Isaiah knew that he could only see things from a human perspective.

If he could look at things from God’s perspective he would know that God was gravely concerned about him, doing everything possible for his eternal good.

If this Isaiah were to be reading these ancient words in 2022, from his ancient context and perspective, how might he now reflect back upon the grace of God?

Because of God’s grace great clouds of witnesses can look back at this year with real appreciation – no matter what has happened the Lord has been good to us.

We are reminded that even when things looked bad in 2022 God was with us.

Isaiah 63:9Amplified Bible

9 
In all their distress He was distressed,
And the [a]angel of His presence saved them,
In His love and in His compassion He redeemed them;
And He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

In verse 9 we are told, “In all their distress he too was distressed.”

God was distressed with us in our distress.

Through all the trials and troubles we faced in 2022 God was both empathetic and sympathetic to us.

It should always makes us feel better when someone knows what we are going through, when someone understands, when someone can relate to our stories.

Hebrews 4:14-16Amplified Bible

14 Inasmuch then as we [believers] have a great High Priest who has [already ascended and] passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith and cling tenaciously to our absolute trust in Him as Savior]. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin. 16 Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].

We have a great High Priest – Immanuel, God With Us, God Within Us – Jesus, who gives us anticipation of grace, everlasting expectation of faith, hope, love.

That is a reason to celebrate God’s grace. Our God felt the pain we felt. When we were shedding our tears of sorrow our God was watching us, caring about us.

Verse 9 of our text continues, “and the angel of his presence saved them.”

We may never know the full measure of all those ‘close calls’ we had last year.

We may never know how many disasters the Lord protected us from.

We may have repeatedly walked through the valley of the shadow of death and not even known it. But we do know the Lord’s presence saved us from disaster.

He sends his angels to protect us and he shelters us under his protecting hand.

Verse 9 concludes, “In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”

Through everything God was there.

As we celebrate God’s grace this New Year’s Eve we look back with appreciation for God’s protection.

The Lord Jehovah said through Isaiah in 46:3-4,

“I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

From our youth to our old age God promises to be with us.

From year to year God will sustain and help us.

Through good times and bad times the Lord carries us.

As we take those few precious moments to look back and reflect at another year of our faithful God’s protection and love, may we look back at it in appreciation.

46 1-3 God is a safe place to hide,
    ready to help when we need him.
We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,
    courageous in seastorm and earthquake,
Before the rush and roar of oceans,
    the tremors that shift mountains.

    Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
    God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

4-6 River fountains splash joy, cooling God’s city,
    this sacred haunt of the Most High.
God lives here, the streets are safe,
    God at your service from crack of dawn.
Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten,
    but Earth does anything he says.

7     Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
    God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

8-10 Attention, all! See the marvels of God!
    He plants flowers and trees all over the earth,
Bans war from pole to pole,
    breaks all the weapons across his knee.
“Step out of the traffic! Take a long,
    loving look at me, your High God,
    above politics, above everything.”

11     Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
    God-of-Angel-Armies protects us. (

With the utmost expectation and confidence, may we celebrate God’s grace!

What reason did God have for allowing troubles into our lives this past year?

He used all these things to draw us into a much closer relationship with Him.

To remind us that the Lord is our strength and our only way out of trouble.

He teaches us where to go for help.

He teaches us how to be strong and face the attacks of the devil and this world.

Our struggles in 2022 have made us stronger Christians.

Have we learned to rely on God more fully?

I fervently pray the answer to that question is an unequivocal Yes!

I fervently pray we can even look back on the bad things of this past year with appreciation for our God has been with us,. God has carried us and protected us.

II.

The other part of our New Year’s celebration is looking ahead.

We make resolutions.

We make plans.

We look forward to another year of God’s grace.

That gives us a great advantage over many who will celebrate New Year’s Eve tonight.

We go forward with God’s grace. We can look ahead to 2023 with anticipation.

What is the one thing we look forward to with anticipation in 2023?

It is God’s mercy and grace.

We know that we will definitely, decisively fail and fall many times.

We know that we will fall short of God’s perfect and holy will.

But we also know that our Lord’s mercy is new every day.

We know that our God will forgive us through the blood of his Son Jesus Christ.

No matter how badly we stumble next year our God will have mercy on us.

We have blown it many times this past year and will blow it again next year, but our God will continue to extend us His grace and will have mercy and forgive us.

Will we look ahead unto 2023 with anticipation of God’s grace and forgiveness?

Will we also confidently, expectantly, eagerly look forward to 2023 with joy, anticipation because of the blessing of God’s Word for another 52 Sundays?

Will we once again find renewed faith, renewed hope and comfort in the Word?

For another year will we be built up in our faith and find guidance for our life?

In 2023 will we see souls enter the kingdom of God through the sacrament of Baptism?

Will we grow in love for one another as we stand together before an altar and receive the body and blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?

Will 2023 be a good year no matter what happens or how it happened because we have the one thing we need – the means by which God brings us his grace?

We have his Word and Sacraments.

Reality is, Truth is still that instead of looking ahead to 2023 with anticipation there are many of our neighbors who will look ahead with fear and trepidation.

What will the new year hold?

Will the economy be good or bad?

Will companies lay people off or will many be hiring?

Will taxes go up or down?

Will our investments go up or down?

What about covid19?

What about the ongoing scourge violence and senseless crime in our streets?

How wonderful it is for us to be confident that the no matter what happens God will be with us and care for us.

He promises to provide all that we need.

We may experience setbacks but the Lord will only do what is best for us.

And what about the potential problems we might face in 2023?

What if we lose a loved one or lose our job?

What if we ourselves get acutely sick?

What if our spouse or our children get acutely ill?

What if some physical or natural disaster strikes?

What if economic disaster strikes at our bank accounts?

Perhaps there will be another wave of the pandemic.

Again, I fervently we hear the ancient words of Isaiah from verse 9:

“In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”

In any distress which might come flowing down our way in 2023, God will be with us – Jehovah will rescue us and carry us through even the worst of times.

So how does our knowledge of God’s grace and goodness for this new year affect our plans for 2023?

How do we look ahead with confident anticipation in a God pleasing way?

We put all our dreams and goals in the Lord’s hands.

We have to be careful how we look forward with anticipation.

We are given this New Year’s advice in James 4:13-15,

“Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

As we look forward to 2023 with anticipation, expectation we recognize it will only be by God’s grace and only according to God’s will that we make our plans.

That experience allows me to ‘stand before you’ this day and ‘preach’ this text from Isaiah 63:7-9 with confident expectation of its contemporary fulfillment.

In the good times and in the bad times God is with us.

As God’s children we tell of all the good things he has done for us.

In 2022 we have enjoyed his love, and grace, and blessing.

We have enjoyed his Word and Sacraments.

He has been with us through everything.

He has felt our pain and sorrow.

We look back in appreciation. We also look forward with anticipation.

We also look forward believing God will be with us again in that New Year.

He will provide us with what we need both physically and spiritually.

He will comfort us and share our pain and sorrow.

Today or tonight as we ring in the new year 2023, celebrate God!

Celebrate God’s grace.

Celebrate Grace that moves us to reflect back on God with appreciation.

Celebrate Grace that allows us to look forward to God with anticipation.

Celebrate Grace that allows us to look forward to God with confidence.

Celebrate Grace that allows us to look forward to God with expectation.

Celebrate God EVERYDAY as God Celebrates Us EVERYDAY! Amen.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 19 The Message

19 1-2 God’s glory is on tour in the skies,
    God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
Madame Day holds classes every morning,
    Professor Night lectures each evening.

3-4 Their words aren’t heard,
    their voices aren’t recorded,
But their silence fills the earth:
    unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.

4-5 God makes a huge dome
    for the sun—a superdome!
The morning sun’s a new husband
    leaping from his honeymoon bed,
The daybreaking sun an athlete
    racing to the tape.

6 That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies
    from sunrise to sunset,
Melting ice, scorching deserts,
    warming hearts to faith.

7-9 The revelation of God is whole
    and pulls our lives together.
The signposts of God are clear
    and point out the right road.
The life-maps of God are right,
    showing the way to joy.
The directions of God are plain
    and easy on the eyes.
God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold,
    with a lifetime guarantee.
The decisions of God are accurate
    down to the nth degree.

10 God’s Word is better than a diamond,
    better than a diamond set between emeralds.
You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring,
    better than red, ripe strawberries.

11-14 There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger
    and directs us to hidden treasure.
Otherwise how will we find our way?
    Or know when we play the fool?
Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!
    Keep me from stupid sins,
    from thinking I can take over your work;
Then I can start this day sun-washed,
    scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
These are the words in my mouth;
    these are what I chew on and pray.
Accept them when I place them
    on the morning altar,
O God, my Altar-Rock,
    God, Priest-of-My-Altar.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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From Faith to Failure and Back to Faith: Walk God’s Pathway Back to Wellness. Proverbs 3:5-8

Proverbs 3:5-8Amplified Bible

5 
Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
6 
[a]In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
7 
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord [with reverent awe and obedience] and turn [entirely] away from evil.
8 
It will be health to your body [your marrow, your nerves, your sinews, your muscles—all your inner parts]
And refreshment (physical well-being) to your bones.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen

Proverbs is one of the most quoted books of the Bible.

Everyone seems to know or has heard those often-quoted words of wisdom and advice.

Did they really work for and during the times they were written for?

But would they really work in our most contemporary of internet times?

Can they be or are they still relevant and effective ?

Are they really wise words to live by as we close 2022 and enter into 2023?

Has anyone ever gotten any real success out of these sagacious verses written thousands of years ago? 

Having Proverbs 3:6 During Hard Times

In the Bible, specifically in Proverbs, there is great wisdom concerning how to live a happy and peaceful and successful life – to be able to move through our failures and failings and arrive at a place where faith becomes first, foremost.

So much so one might find it unfathomable that people would not look forward to immersing their hearts and their souls and their lives into reading, studying, praying through, following, the wisdom this well-known Old Testament book.

Of course, not everyone reads Proverbs.

Consequentially, many never follow its prodding.

That is indeed a shame, for as we look at our world today.

Never has it been so necessary, so vital, to get to know the true powerhouse of Proverbs, what Go brings to our table of life and what miracles it has to offer.

God only knows, it is never merely individual humans who need advice and guidance; it is our families, neighbors, neighborhoods, church, entire world.

Today, let us reflect together about our spiritual journey: its beginning and destination, sharp turns, slowdowns, shutdowns, its challenges and blessings.

Today’s Scripture gives us a crucial piece of advice for every successful journey of faith.

Before we can start “driving,” we have to fully trust the Lord.

The Bible often calls the Lord our Shepherd.

In today’s terms, we could say God is our GPS.

God Positioning System ….

Trust in this GPS, and you and I will never get lost – just twisted around a bit!

The Lord warns us against thinking we are smart enough to figure out our own way. He tells us to turn to him in single every part of our life’s spiritual journey.

Acknowledge His GPS, He will make our path straight and will see us through.

As for me, there is one particular piece of advice from Proverbs that has carried me through countless challenges to my faith, through myriads of my failures.

When was the last time (do we remember the first time?) you an I ever noticed when we were on a good smooth road, and things were moving well, that a big bump or even a big pothole comes out of nowhere and messes up everything?

What if we arrived at a point on that “messed up” road where it felt like we were driving on cruise control at 65 mph driving from the eastern most to the most western point then from the most northern point to the most southern point of our country – and driving around in ceaseless circles – on the rims of our tires?

For a long time, I kept asking myself …. are all roads leading away from failure unto any success such ceaseless circles, is failure all I’m ever destined to know?

Is there any pathway which leads me away from such a dark, defeating cycle?

THE PATH TO WELLNESS ……

The grace of God is demonstrated by the fact that He has a plan and purpose for our lives that He wants to reveal to us.

It’s a pathway He’s designed specifically for each one of us, yet some of us may fail to consider this.

We find it too easy to move through life without giving God a second thought.

Instead of wondering whether our lives have counted for anything, we can all choose to believe that the Lord has the best plan for us, discover His path, and get on it as soon as possible.

If we don’t fully trust God, we will  be reluctant to follow the path He’s chosen for us.

Even though He always leads us the right way, our fears or uncertainty could cause us to sidestep His commands and opt for following our own course.

Proverbs 3:5-8 tells us what’s required to follow the Lord, what the benefits will be. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. 8 It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.” Proverbs 3:5-8 NKJV
 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding” (v. 5).
 1. GOD COMMANDS US TO TRUST HIM

“Trust in the Lord” ProvERBS. 3:5a NKJV 

  • Trust is a strong belief in someone’s integrity, ability, and character. This is the kind of confidence we are expected to have in the Lord. Then whatever He says or He also requires of us, we will prayerfully know with certainty that it is right.
  • If we lack that faith, lack that degree or measure of trust, we will not so innately or faithfully follow Him and will find ourselves living outside the will of God.
  • On the other hand, if we have spent some quantity and quality time, reading, studying, trusting, obeying Him, we can testify that He has never let us down. 
  • Trusting God, is loving God in action. If we love God, we will trust Him. 

“Loving God means keeping his commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.” 1 John 5:3 NLT

 “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And His commands are not burdensome.” I John 5:3 NIV

“Every person who believes that Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah, is God-born. If we love the One who conceives the child, we’ll surely love the child who was conceived. The reality test on whether or not we love God’s children is this: Do we love God? Do we keep his commands? The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome.” 1 John 5:1-3 The Message

 2. THE BASIS FOR TRUST IN GOD IS HIS SOVEREIGNITY.

“Trust in the LORD” Proverbs 3:5b NKJV

  •  LORD = YAHWEH. The One Who Is. The Absolute and Unchangeable One.  The Existing, Ever-Living, Self-Consistent and Unchangeable God.
  •  He is the divine Ruler over all things and all people at all times.
  • His sovereignty is His wisdom, power, and righteousness all wrapped into one.
  • The Lord’s purpose is always right and good even if it doesn’t look that way from our perspective. 

God says: “From the beginning I revealed the end. From long ago I told you things that had not yet happened, saying, “My plan will stand, and I’ll do everything I intended to do.” Isaiah 46:10 GN

 “From eternity to eternity I am God.  No one can snatch anyone out of my hand.  No one can undo what I have done.” Isaiah 43:13 NLT 

“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26 NIV

3. THE DEGREE TO WHICH WE ARE TO TRUST GOD IS WITH ALL OF OUR HEART.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart” Proverbs 3:5b NKJV 
  • Instead of so easily and instinctively relying on our own knowledge, perception, or reasoning, we should P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Something Happens) ourselves to place our total trust in the Lord. 
  • This requires more than just agreeing with Him. We can actually agree with God about many teachings in the Bible without actually trusting Him. Agreement means we believe something is right, but genuine faith responds to that belief with action—do what God says because we trust Him to guide us the right way. 
  • Wholehearted trust also means we cannot pick and choose areas we entrust to Him while trying to keep other parts of our lives under our control. It’s unwise to rely on our own perception because it is so limited, but God’s understanding is complete and eternal. Even when we do not fully comprehend or like what’s happening, we can still fully rely on His loving wisdom and respond in trust.
 “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” Proverbs 3:6 NKJV
 4. IN EACH SITUATION, WE MUST FIRST ACKNOWLEDGE GOD
“In all your ways acknowledge Him” Proverbs 3:6a NKJV
  •  To acknowledge someone is to recognize him. But when we acknowledge God, we are not merely admitting that He exists but confirming He is our Lord who has authority over us and the right to give us direction in every area of our lives. 
  • In each choice or situation, each success, each failure, failing, we acknowledge His sovereignty over them by surrendering to His will and trusting Him fully.
 5. “HE WILL MAKE YOUR PATHS STRAIGHT.” Proverbs 3:6b NKJV
  •  When we follow the Lord’s guidance, He protects us from side roads and eliminates obstacles and confusion along the way.
  • In basic terms, the straight path is the one of obedience. We may slide, stumble and slip into a few ditches along the way or need redirection, but God repeatedly and faithfully brings us back when we confess our change of heart, to obey Him.
  • His path is not always going to be easy to travel upon, but His forever promise is it is always going to be the best. If we think we can do a better job of plotting our own course for happiness and prosperity, it may look good, but eventually we’ll suffer the wear and tear coming from taking unprotected detours on our rims.

His Master Class after Master Class, after instructing us on what to do, God then gives us a poignant warning for our disobedience and a blessing for obedience;

 6. “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil” Proverbs 3:7a NKJV

 “Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them.” Proverbs 26:12 NIV 

  • Whenever we choose our own way instead of trusting the Lord, we are playing the fool because your life does not belong to you. There are 2 masters in life

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” Matthew 6:24 NKJV 

  • One day we are going to stand before God and give an account of how we lived. 
  • If we’re wise, we’ll seek the Lord, listen to His directions, and trust Him. Since He cannot lie, we know that God will always keep His promises, and whatever He says is true. 
7. “Fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.” Proverbs 3:7b NKJV
  •  To reverently fear God is to recognize and honor Him as not only the sovereign Ruler of the universe, but as the Only Lord and Only Savior of our lives. 
  • If we truly believe this, we’ll turn away from sin and seek to live in obedience to Him.
  8. “It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones” Proverbs 3:8a NKJV

 Every day we are faced with choices, and what we decide to do is based on whether we or not we believe God, that He has a plan for our lives and has chosen the best possible path for us, or we distrust Him, follow our own ways.

  • Whether we succeed or we fail, If we are willing to faithfully listen and trust Him, we will discover His faith-filled path leads to healing and refreshment.
  • Success or Failure, there will 100% be an underlying sense of peace, assurance, confidence, and satisfaction when we follow Him instead of going our own way.
 Resolutions, Responses to Consider as we enter upon the New Year
  • Where do you find the most difficulty trusting God?
  • Why do you think it’s so hard to trust Him with this?
  • What promises in His Word could bring you assurance of His trustworthiness?
  • Does knowing God is sovereign over all the events in your life help you trust Him? Why or why not? Which of His other attributes motivate you to trust Him?
  • It’s easier to trust someone we know very well than someone we don’t. With this in mind, how well do you know the Lord?
  • Since the Scriptures are God’s self-revelation, what do you need to do to increase your trust in Him?

Sin has polluted our willingness to submit to the Lord.

The devil tempts us to implicitly trust our own way and intuition.

Our ever faithful God seeks to draw us to back to himself because he knows best.

By our Baptism in Jesus Christ, we are all constantly caught in a faith to failure back to faith tug-of-war, always leaning one way and then leaning the other.

There was a time when I thought I knew it all, but the one thing I did not know, would not acknowledge was God had a better way He was waiting to show me.

God’s Word taught me to more instinctively trust his GPS with the directions.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

God, Author of my Life, God of all understanding, you have promised to give wisdom to anyone who asks. Well, I am now asking and indeed, I am pleading and praying. As I walk through life, give me wisdom and understanding in every decision I make. Guide those uncertain thoughts and redirect my misguided steps. When I experience failure, uncertainty and confusion, may I lean on your limitless wisdom. May your divine Holy Spirit be at work in me like a lamp to my feet and a shield to my mind. Help me to think clearly and calmly. Help me to act with confidence and wisdom. Help me to glorify you in everything I do. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, My Lord.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Alive and Our Being Alive in God: Part Two – Our Inevitable Struggle Between Faith and our Failures. Genesis 12:10-20

Genesis 12:10-20Amplified Bible

10 Now there was a famine in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt to live temporarily, for the famine in the land was oppressive and severe. 11 And when he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “Listen: I know that you are [a]a beautiful woman; 12 so when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me [to acquire you], but they will let you live. 13 Please tell them that you are [b]my sister so that things will go well for me for your sake, and my life will be spared because of you.” 14 And when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was very beautiful. 15 Pharaoh’s princes (officials) also saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken [for the purpose of marriage] into Pharaoh’s house (harem). 16 Therefore Pharaoh treated Abram well for her sake; he acquired sheep, oxen, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

17 But the Lord punished Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her and go!” 20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they escorted him on his way, with his wife and all that he had.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

ABRAHAM’S FAITH AND FAILURES

The time between God’s promise to Abraham and its fulfillment spanned about twenty five years!  During that time, Abraham made several wrong attempts to help God fulfill His promise.  There were times, also, when Abraham made some decisions that revealed a definite lack of faith and decisive distrust in God. 

ABRAHAM FAILS! GOD’S FAITHFULNESS

Despite obvious failings amidst his successes, Abraham is a wonderful example of a man who lived by faith but continued to make mistakes in judgement.  The bottom line is we’ll fail yet God continues to remain faithful to His promises to Abraham, even in the midst of Abraham’s bad decisions and faithless choices. 

OUR FAILURES AND GOD’S FAITHFULNESS

We are told there are two ‘inevitables’ in life: death and taxes.

In leading with your life as a follower of Christ, I believe there are two other ‘inevitables’ we need to be more acutely aware of as well: faith and failure.

As Abraham’s descendants today, we will still inevitably and faithfully fail our God. Thankfully though God’s faithfulness in the face of our inevitable failures is, only but by the indescribable grace and faithful mercy of ABBA God still true. 

For His promise to us is still, “Let not your hearts be troubled” “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (John 14:1; Deuteronomy 31:6; Hebrews 13:5).

Our failures in our faithfully living for God will never deter God’s promises!

But now we come to Genesis 12 verses 10-20 to a time of failure in Abram’s life.

II. The Failure of Abram (Genesis 12:10-20)

Though he began with faith, a time of trouble leads to disobedience and doubt.

It all begins with growing, maturing sense of desperation, a time of famine.

12:10. Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.

I do not know if Abram should have gone to Egypt or not.

The way this part of the story reads, it sounds to me like it was a bad decision on Abram’s part to go to Egypt.

Nowhere do we read in the scriptures is Abram directly or indirectly condemned for his decision to go down to Egypt, but later developments, as made evident in this passage from Genesis, makes it clear his actions did not stem from faith.

Abram did not consult God, but acted independently.

No altars were built in Egypt which are mentioned, nor are we told that Abram ever called upon on the name of the Lord that he and Sarai should journey there.

His request of Sarai [later in the passage] also reflects his spiritual condition. It would thus be safe to say that Abram’s faith failed in the face of that famine.”

So we can’t be certain, but it seems that God wanted Abram to stay in Canaan – even with a famine.

Where God guides, He provides.

It was not God’s intention for Abram to leave Canaan and go to Egypt.

Now a time of testing had come upon Abram.

Not a time of plenty, but a time of wanting.

A time of famine.

Abram faced a choice.

He could stay in the land God had called him to, and trust in God to provide, or he could leave the land and trust in man, specifically the Egyptians, to provide.

Abram did what most of us do in times of trouble.

Abram trusted in man.

Abram stopped believing in God’s promises, and left for Egypt.

Through this whole chapter, we read of God speaking to Abram to tell him where to go.

We read of God appearing to Abram.

We read of Abram building altars and calling on the name of the Lord.

We read none of those things here.

In a time of trial, Abram ignored the promises of God, turned to Egypt for help.

This will become a pattern for Israelites.

Later, in another famine, Jacob and his entire family moves to Egypt.

This eventually leads to the enslavement of the Israelites to the Egyptians.

During the time of the kings, many of them made alliances with Egypt through marriage or treaties rather than trusting in God for help.

Many of the prophets warned the people of Israel about turning to Egypt for help rather than turning to God.

All of this began when Abram, the man of faith, turned to Egypt rather than turning to God.

This shift in trust leads to another failure.

He begins a pattern of lying.

Genesis 12:11-13. And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.”

Abram knows that his wife is beautiful, and that Egyptians are notorious for wanting to marry the most beautiful women.

If there was a husband in the way, it was okay to murder that husband.

So Abram concocts a lie to tell the Egyptians.

He is going to ask his wife to lie for him, so he asks her by beginning with a compliment.

Hopefully, we men compliment our wives more often than just when we want something from her.

Here, Abram wants Sarai to lie for him.

It really is only a half lie, for Sarai is Abram’s half sister (Genesis 20:12).

This is how Abram justified his lie.

It’s a little white lie.

What could it hurt?

It is also a pragmatic lie.

If Abram tells the truth, he might end up violently losing his life.

But notice what this lie does.

It not only reveals a lack of trust in God’s promises, but it also threatens their fulfillment.

In Genesis 12:10, Abram begins to trust in the Egyptians to keep him alive, now Abram is trusting in his wife.

I heard one pastor preach, “Abram was clinging to his wife’s petticoat for protection and blessing, rather than to the promises of God.”

Not only this, but his actions were a direct threat to his wife’s purity and the fulfillment of God’s promises.

God promised descendants to Abram.

Inherent in this promise is a promise that neither Abram or Sarai would not die until this promise is fulfilled.

20/20 hindsight being what it is with all of the commentaries we have to judge,

We can probably say Abram was not wrong in considering the possibility that someone would appreciate his wife as more beautiful and desire her for a wife.

Absent the cultural, historical context, we can probably also judge that it was not even wrong to suppose that someone might even kill him to marry her.

If we were doing an after-action debriefing with him, Abram was wrong to assume that this would happen and that the only way to prevent it was to lie.

Nowhere is the sure, certain promise and the protection of God considered.

Sinful deception is therefore begun before any real danger is ever experienced.

Abram has stopped trusting in God, and is fearful of a some danger not even encountered yet, and so turns to his own plans to provide his own protection.

Notice from Genesis 12:12 that Abram only thought the Egyptian men would find Sarai attractive.

And it was a common occurrence for men to murder other men just to get their wives.

Abram wanted to avoid being murdered so he decided to use this half truth about Sarai being his sister.

In such a situation, Abram, posing as Sarai’s brother, could agree to a marriage, but would insist on a long betrothal period.

Then, when the famine in Canaan was over, they could just pick up and leave.

No harm done.

It was the perfect plan.

But as the saying goes, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.”

In verse 14, things seem to begin just fine.

Genesis 12:14. So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.

Abram was right.

He had a beautiful wife.

The Egyptian men saw her and thought she was beautiful.

Many of them are probably thinking of marrying her.

So far, Abram’s plan was working out just right.

But something happens in Genesis 12:15 that Abram never counted on.

Genesis 12:15. The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house.

It never entered Abram’s mind that Pharaoh might be interested in Sarai.

While Abram could put off the plans of other men, Pharaoh would not take no for an answer.

He took her into his palace, awaiting the time of the consummation of the union.

Part of this involved giving gifts to Abram.

Genesis 12:16. He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

During this time, Sarai would likely undergo a relatively long period of preparation for her presentation to Pharaoh very similar to the preparation Esther went through before presenting herself to King Ahasuerus (Esther. 2:12-14).

Can you or I imagine the lonely, agonizing nights Abram must have spent, wondering what was going on in the palace?

Abram had asked Sarai to lie so that it would go well with him (verse 13).

And it did go well.

Pharaoh sent many gifts to Abram and treated him royally.

The only thing which kept Abram from enjoying his treatment was the realization of what it meant.

Pharaoh was giving these things to Abram as a dowry.

It did go well with Abram, but without Sarai, his wife.

I believe you and I can see ourselves doing an intervention here: Prosperity is never a blessing without the peace which comes from being right with God.

But God is not thwarted by lies, doubt or our mistakes.

His promises are not so easily broken by man.

He made promises to Abram, and although Abram has stopped trusting in those promises, and is living in sin and deception, God intervenes, not only to protect Sarai and Abram, but also protect the faithful fulfilling of His promise to them.

Genesis 12:17-19. But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.”

Abram was confronted by Pharaoh and soundly rebuked.

Abram had no excuse or explanation.

So far as we are told, he did not utter a word in his defense.

No doubt this was the wise thing to do in the light of Abram’s offense.

Pharaoh was not one to be challenged or angered unnecessarily.

Today, we can see the raging irony of the situation is obvious.

Here is a pagan correcting a prophet (cf. 20:7).

It was a sharp royal rebuke that Abram would painfully remember.

How sad, however, that Abram could not dare to speak, for this no doubt hindered any testimony to his faith in the living God Who had called him.

Christian conduct in the face of adversity does greatly affect their credibility.

Genesis 12:20. So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

We see here the patience of God with Abram, for Abram comes away from his mistake with more blessings and riches than when he came.

Abraham becomes richer than he was.

This is a curious discipline.

You would think that God would discipline Abram in a different way.

Rather than make Abram richer because of his lack of trust, you would think God would make Abram a bit more poorer and then to make him more wiser.

Well, these extra riches are double-edged.

Negatively, this is probably how Abram received Sarai’s maidservant Hagar.

When it comes down to it, every failure significantly impacts a relationship because any degree or measure of personal failure in life involves people.

We will read later his marriage to Sarai was negatively impacted. how Hagar inevitably becomes a great stumbling block to Sarai and Abram later in life.

for it is through Hagar that Abram risks making his greatest mistake ever.

But the positive aspect of this blessing is that it shows God’s great love and patience with Abram.

God is not out to destroy and punish Abram for his lack of trust.

No, God is showing Abram love and patience.

God is showing Abram longsuffering and kindness.

Even when Abram stops trusting in God, and makes his bad decisions, God continues to watch over Abram, and even bless him despite those decisions.

Today, we might even conjecture as to how foolish Abram’s fears must have appeared in the light of history.

In order to avoid a famine, Abram was forced to face down a Pharaoh.

The might of Egypt was not employed against him, but was commanded to assure his safe arrival in Canaan.

Indeed, Abram left Egypt even richer than he had come.

But none of this was the result of Abram’s faithless and dishonest actions.

It was the product of undeserved grace and mercy and providential care.

I am not saying you should go out and sin to see if God will bless you even though you’ve sinned.

That’s not the lesson of this story.

Possibly, Abram would have been much more blessed if he had stayed in Canaan.

Maybe many of the Canaanites would have left, and Abram would have received some of the land right then – we really don’t know what would have happened.

The point of this devotional account is God remains faithful to us, even when we are faithless.

Above it all, most of us literally have no desire to be known as ‘failure experts’.

And He can bless us, even when we are “experts,” have PhD’s in being wrong.

Hebrews 12:4-11Amplified Bible

A Father’s Discipline

4 You have not yet struggled to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; 5 and you have [a]forgotten the divine word of encouragement which is addressed to you as sons,

“My son, do not make light of the discipline of the Lord,
And do not lose heart and give up when you are corrected by Him;
6 
For the Lord disciplines and corrects those whom He loves,
And He punishes every son whom He receives and welcomes [to His heart].”

7 You must submit to [correction for the purpose of] discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons; for [b]what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 Now if you are exempt from correction and without discipline, in which all [of God’s children] share, then you are illegitimate children and not sons [at all]. 9 Moreover, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we submitted and respected them [for training us]; shall we not much more willingly submit to the Father of [c]spirits, and live [by learning from His discipline]? 10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for only a short time as seemed best to them; but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11 For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems sad and painful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness [right standing with God and a lifestyle and attitude that seeks conformity to God’s will and purpose].

Sometimes He does discipline us, for He disciplines those He loves.

But sometimes He wins us over with grace and mercy.

He teaches us to be faithful to Him by revealing His faithfulness to us.

This is a step forward in Abram’s faith development.

He has learned that God is a God of love, not of fear.

He has learned that God is a God of abundant blessing, not of destruction.

He has learned that God keeps His promises, even when we do not.

When our faith no longer knows where to look, God’s eyes are 100% upon us!

When our faith slides, slips and stumbles, God does not!

When our faith falls asleep, enters a coma on us, God remains awake!

When our faith plants us on our faces on the ground and fails, God does not!

Abram has learned when God promises the end, He also provides the means.

You and I do not, and cannot, accomplish God’s will with evil methods.

These are wonderful truths for Abram to have learned, and will aid him as he continues to grow and develop into the father of faith we all know and love.

As we close out 2022 and prepare ourselves to enter upon a New Year in 2023;

Are you and I anticipating, expecting, facing a time and a season of testing?

Can you and I safely say God has called you and me to something, and all it seems is He has called you and me into a time of true faith versus famine?

Keep trusting.

Do not short circuit the test.

If you and I try to bypass the test, God will just make you and me face a different test in a different way in a different place to achieve the same outcome for God.

If Abram had been given the choice of tests – a life lived through a famine or his wife in a Pharaoh’s harem – we can rest sure he would have chosen the famine.

And then in the end, Abram had to go back to living through a famine anyway.

Of course, he had been abundantly blessed by God with more animals and more servants to aid him, but the famine just made it more difficult to feed them all.

When God puts you and me in a faith versus famine test, do not try to bypass it.

Just pass it.

Do not sidestep it.

Walk through it.

Abram has gone from faith to failure, and now back to faith.

It is an oft-repeated, much cyclical lesson, we can learn much from ….

by our inevitable faults, the magnitude of our failings and failures ….

– by our faithfulness to God in prayer – we will see how long it lasts.

Immanuel, Immanuel, His name is called Immanuel ….

God with us,

God within us,

God revealed in us ….

God being revealed through us ….

His name is still, to this day and beyond, called Immanuel ….

John 17:6-12Amplified Bible

6 “I have manifested Your name [and revealed Your very self, Your real self] to the people whom You have given Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept and obeyed Your word. 7 Now [at last] they know [with confident assurance] that all You have given Me is from You [it is really and truly Yours]. 8 For the words which You gave Me I have given them; and they received and accepted them and truly understood [with confident assurance] that I came from You [from Your presence], and they believed [without any doubt] that You sent Me. 9 I pray for them; I do not pray for the world, but for those You have given Me, because they belong to You; 10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and [all things that are] Yours are Mine; and I am glorified in them. 11 I am no longer in the world; yet they are still in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name  which You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are. 12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and protected them, and not one of them was lost except [a]the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

Do not fear becoming a ‘failure expert’ and allow it to paralyze you from learning to lead with your life.

Faith-filled, Faithfully Learn through all degrees of failure how to lead your own life well by recovering from your failure for Jesus has prayed for you.

There is nothing more beautiful to Jesus than to see His prayer to His Father answered in and through you, through your failings and through your raisings.

He knows there is a source of strength to be found in those who recover from their failure. 

All because they have come to know through recovery that their source is Him.

The One who prayed for firm faith to remain in Him before they ever wiped the fruit of the vine from their “leaking lips” and promptly went out and failed.

Our Struggle between Faith and failure is always an inevitable one for all of us.

Genesis to Revelation – all the promises of God remain 100% faithful and true!

The war has already been won so you may win your battle.

If maybe today, you are one who feels like a ‘faith in God failure expert’

I now join with God, the Father, Son, Spirit, in praying that you recover well.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

O Lord, Mighty in Power, equally mighty in grace and mercy and forbearance, You say that I should have faith in You so that I will be upheld. I do, Mighty Lord. I give over the full measure and weight of my failings and failures over to you. I place all my faith in You. You strengthen me. Your divine life force keeps my spirit alive and burning fiercely for You. I know that with You I can overcome anything. Thank You for remaining faithful to Your chosen people. Thank You for guiding me in my life and helping me to become a vessel for Your will. I pray that I may continue to put my faith and trust in You because You know all things. You know what the hearts of Your people need, and I believe You will help me through whatever this life brings. Amen.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Alive and Being Alive in Immanuel: Do We Know Where We are Going? Faith and Failure – Part One: Abram’s Faith. Genesis 12:1-9

Genesis 12:1-9Amplified Bible

Abram Journeys to Egypt

12 Now [in Haran] the Lord had said to Abram,

“Go away from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 
And [a]I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you [abundantly],
And make your name great (exalted, distinguished);
And you shall be a blessing [a source of great good to others];
3 
And I will bless (do good for, benefit) those who bless you,
And I will curse [that is, subject to My wrath and judgment] the one who curses (despises, dishonors, has contempt for) you.
And in you all the families (nations) of the earth will be blessed.”

4 So Abram departed [in faithful obedience] as the Lord had directed him; and Lot [his nephew] left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had acquired, and the people (servants) which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the [great] terebinth (oak) tree of Moreh. Now the [b]Canaanites were in the land at that time. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” So Abram built an altar there to [honor] the Lord who had appeared to him. 8 Then he moved on from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord [in worship through prayer, praise, and thanksgiving]. 9 Then Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev (the South country of Judah).

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

Through much of the country these last several days the mountains of snows have fallen and furiously – snow drifts several feet tall have covered cars and snow plows, ambulances and firetrucks and covered the doorways of houses.

Blizzards have returned! Worse than ever, the winds are howling and the wind chills are plummeting deep, to very dangerous and even life threatening levels.

Roads are impassable, homes and apartments are losing power, no heat to cook the food with, no heat to warm the place of abode, pipes are frozen, bursting.

People are trapped in their homes – medical conditions, health and safety.

“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas ….”

“Just like the ones I used to know ….”

Merry Christmas! ….

You have your White Christmas … Just not the one you wanted to know!

Immanuel God with Us and within us, if you can manage to somehow survive.

Christmas Bells are ringing everywhere people can by whatever means travel to; to celebrate that once a year moment with long distant family and friends too.

Christmas bells are silent, just past, and travelers are trying to return home from anywhere and everywhere around the globe their families were living in.

Except, outside too many locations … impassable and dangerous weather, far too dangerous for automobiles, four wheel drives and far worse for- airplanes.

Airports cannot release the planes for take off – they cannot plow their runways fast enough or at all – the risk of life and limb is simply far to dangerous to all.

Travelers are stuck in airports behind a myriad and myriad of cancelled flights.

In many places, during this Christmas season, this isn’t an unusual occurrence.

It is one which many travelers have learned how to accept and how to manage.

They know how to pack “for the occasion” – with snacks and a host of patience.

With experience, traveling gets easier, more familiar, much more manageable.

If we have previously navigated an airport or are at least familiar with the local language and likely weather, it’s not overwhelming to get where we are going.

But if we don’t know the way to our next gate or can’t read the signs pointing the way, or we suddenly encounter all the worse kind of weather conditions, we can soon feel lost and have no idea where we are and where we need to go next.

And, guess what?

New Years Eve and New Year’s Day are but a few days away ….

Another very popular travel day ….

And the weather is still going to be the weather ….

An we still have not figured out how to stop the weather from happening!

Jesus did …. Mark 4:35-41

When the weather went crazy dangerous on those disciples in that boat, they like many of today’s travelers traveling in these blizzard conditions, feared.

Jesus told his disciples …. we are absolutely going over to the “other side” of the waters and the disciples obediently loaded themselves into the boat and sailed.

They were obedient to their Rabbi – then things suddenly got crazy dangerous, the weather threatened their very lives and seasoned fisherman became afraid.

No matter what they tried, seasoned fisherman failed to right the ship in the storm, failed in their efforts to protect the lives of the others an they panicked.

They turn to wake their Rabbi … their Rabbi wakes up … and just as fast, the Rabbi rebukes the weather – “be still!” an then Rabbi turns to the disciples and wonders aloud to them ….

“Why are you so fearful?”

“How is it you have no faith?” (Mark 4:40)

THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN OBEDIENCE, FAITH AND OUR INEVITIBLE FAILURE

Abram soon to be Abraham was in a situation like that.

If we try to put ourselves in his sandals, we can see that it was no small thing to faithfully obey and follow God’s leading when he did not know where the other side was located and no one offered him a roadmap or a weather map to read.

There was only a promise from a God he had never met or experienced before.

God promised that Abraham would be a great nation and bring great blessings for “all peoples on earth,” but this would require a previously unknown, long, arduous journey and a new start, living among strangers in a faraway land.

“He did not know where he was going.”

In a miraculous demonstration of faith – against all of the best advice of his fellow countryman, he packed up and left what he knew of life behind him.

Here we pick up Genesis Chapter 12 …. Here we join the ancient Biblical story.

Genesis 12:1-20 – Faith and Failure

Genesis chapter 12 may be one of the most famous chapters in the Bible.

It forms the basis for pretty much everything that follows.

With the calling of Abraham God really begins to set a plan in motion to deliver the world from the problems that have occurred up to this point in the Bible.

I. Faith (Genesis 12:1-9)

II. Failure (Genesis 12:10-20)

Abraham is one of the most important men in all of history.

Though he lived about 4000 years ago, he is still a prominent figure today.

Christians hold up Abraham as our forefather.

Not necessarily as our physical descendant, but as our spiritual one.

He is the father of faith.

It is repeated over and over in the New Testament that He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Christianity, which is all about faith in Jesus Christ, and walking with God by faith, holds up Abraham as an example to live by.

But for Christians of any generation, including ours, we have to admit that it’s awful hard to live up to that kind of faith standard.

We think of Abraham, or Abram, as this man of great faith who left his family, his home, his possession, just picked up, left one day when God told him to go.

He didn’t know where he was going.

He didn’t know how he would get there.

He didn’t know how he would feed himself or his family when he got there.

But God told Abram to go, and so obediently, Abram went.

That, however, is not quite the Abram of the Bible.

Was he yet a man of great faith?

Absolutely.

But do you want to know what encourages me most about Abram?

It’s not his faith, but his lack of faith.

I want to walk by faith. I want to trust God in all things, and never doubt, and never fear, and never worry – but that almost never works out – I get afraid!

And I could live my life and beat myself up all day about how Abram lived that way, therefore – “I should too – but why can’t I?, I just continuously fail!”

But when we get a real honest picture of Abram’s life, his times of great faith and trust in God, are balanced and offset by those intervening times of great doubt, disobedience and failure. Abram was not naturally a man of great faith.

Nor did he have some spiritual gift of faith, or some “secret” to trusting God.

No!

Abram became a man of great faith because for many years he had very little faith, and even in those times, God continued to keep his promises to Abram.

In Genesis 12 and following, God appears personally to Abram multiple times, each time to develop faith in his life.

During these times, God tested Abram.

You would think that a man of faith would easily pass all the tests.

But think again.

In four of those tests, Abram faith in God failed miserably.

So here is the difference between a man of faith and a man of fear.

Abram was a man of faith not because he never doubted, and not because he never failed.

Abram did lots of both.

Abram was a man of faith because when he failed, when he fell flat on his face, he got up, brushed himself off, and started over again.

That’s faith.

A man of fear gives up.

A man of fear stays on the ground.

A man of fear stops trying.

Not Abram.

And that is why he is the father of faith.

It’s not that he has great faith, but that he has a great God.

Abram knows that even when he fails, God will not.

But this is a lesson that Abram had to live into, steadily learn over time.

His first lesson is found in Genesis 12.

This chapter contains both the faithful obedience of Abram and the doubting failure.

It contains a well rounded picture of the father of faith.

The beginning of his life of faith is in verses 1-9.

I. The Faith of Abram (Genesis 12:1-9)

Abram’s walk of faith begins with God’s promise.

Genesis 12:1-3. Now the Lord had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.

I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

This is the first time God makes these promises to Abraham.

There are three promises of God here.

God promises to make Abram a great nation,

Go promises to give him a great name,

and Go promises to bring great blessing upon the earth through Abram.

Down in Genesis 12:7, there is also the promise of land.

Together, these are the promises of God to Abram.

These promises are often called the Abrahamic Covenant, and God will repeat it and make it unconditional in Genesis 15.

It is these promises of God, these covenants from God, that Abram’s faith is founded upon.

Abram was a man of faith because he knew and believed the promises of God.

If you an I want to develop faith, you an I must know what God has said in His Word, and especially what promises He has made to you and me.

How can you an I trust the promises if we don’t know what the promises are?

Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

If you an I want to be a person of faith, you an I must be in the Word of God.

You an I must read the promises, understand the promises, and as the hymn says, you an I must set a standard of living, to be “Standing on the Promises.”

The promises given to Abram were unconditional promises.

This will become much more evident in chapter 15.

The Abrahamic covenant did not depend on Abram’s faithfulness or the faithfulness of his descendants.

There are those who say today that Israel has lost their right to the land, they are no longer the chosen nation because of their constant sin and rebellion.

That is making the Abrahamic covenant based upon the works and faithfulness of the people of Israel, rather than the Word and faithfulness of God.

It is true Abram and many of his descendants did have times of disobedience.

Sometimes for hundreds of years.

But God always keeps His promises, even when great failure blossomed.

God has promised that Israel will be a great nation.

Isn’t it amazing that though Israel has always been a relatively small nation, and relatively few in number compared to the populations which surround it, yet, they are still one of the world powers in military, science and economics?

And they will become even greater during the 1000 year reign of Christ which is yet to come.

God also promised that He would make Abram’s name great.

I have already talked about how Abraham still makes the news today, even though he’s been dead for 4000 years.

Nobody else in history except for Jesus Christ has that claim to fame.

Abraham’s name truly is great.

There is also the promise in verse 3

God will bless those who bless Abram, and curse those who curse him, and all families on earth will be blessed through him.

That promise at the end of verse 3 is ultimately fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.

All nations on earth have been blessed through Abram, because it is through Abram’s descendants that Jesus Christ came into this world.

And when Jesus Christ returns again, and sets up His kingdom on earth, all the nations of the earth will be blessed again.

Abram hears these promises when he is still living in Haran, and so in verses 4 and following, He acts upon the promises and sets out.

Genesis 12:4-5. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.

When Abram left Haran, he took his wife Saria, and his nephew Lot with him.

As we learned last time we were in the book of Genesis, Abram probably left his father Terah in Haran.

His father had probably had enough of following God who-knows-where, and so wanted to stay in Haran. But Abram can wait no longer for he is now 75 years old. So he sets out with his wife Sarai and nephew and all of their possessions.

Can you imagine, at 75 years old, making such a change?

Most people, by the time they are 75, are pretty much set in their ways.

They are living where they are going to live, and they are comfortable there, and it’s hard to get them to change anything.

Of course, Abraham lived to be 175, so when he was 75, would be comparable to someone today being 39 if we consider it, try to figure it on a 90 year life span.

One of the reasons Abram is a man of faith is because he is willing to follow God anywhere, anytime, even when he’s 75 years old.

He departed and traveled south to Canaan, until they came to Shechem, which is in the middle, or very center of Canaan.

Genesis 12:6-7. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

This is the fourth promise of God to Abram.

The first three were a great people, a great name, and great blessing.

Now we have the promise of Land.

The Land is part of the Abrahamic Covenant.

God doesn’t promise the land to Abram, but to his descendants.

This is not only a promise the land will eventually belong to his descendants, but also that he will have descendants.

God is promising to Abraham that he will have descendants, and that God will give them this land.

This promise was almost completely fulfilled when Joshua and the people of Israel entered the land about 600 years later.

But the first piece of land was obtained through a purchase made by Abram as a burial plot for his wife (Gen. 23:16-20).

Later, his grandson Jacob also bought some land in Shechem, near where Abram received the promise (Gen. 33:19).

Later, it is at the oak tree near Shechem (NIV, NAS, NKJV), possibly the same tree mentioned here, that Jacob and his companions rededicated themselves to God, and got rid of all of their idols and false gods (Genesis 35:4-5).

Six-hundred years later, when the Israelites come to Canaan in conquest, they begin their campaign by gathering at Shechem to remember the covenant, and build another altar to God (Joshua 8:30-35).

After they have defeated their enemies and have gained ownership of the land, Joshua calls the people once again to Shechem to show them that the promises have been kept.

He also asks the Israelites to make their own promises to God (Joshua 24) to serve Him and obey Him.

So this is what they do. Just as Abram builds an altar to God at Shechem, so also do the people of Israel 600 years later (Joshua 24:26-27).

It is at Shechem where Abram received the promise, and it is at Shechem that the people of Israel received the fulfillment of the promise. It is there that they also made a promise to obey God and serve Him faithfully, just as Abram did.

Imagine the relevance and significance of worshipping God in a place where 600 years before, your ancestor Abram had also worshipped God.

Imagine building an altar to God, possibly using the same stones Abram used.

Shechem was a special place for the people for it is where God first appeared to Abram in the Promised Land, where Abram first built an altar to worship God.

The altar was a symbolic and public way of worshipping God.

As long as the altar stood, it was a reminder to all who saw and knew what it meant that God spoke to Abram and promised this land to him.

When God makes promises to you, it is sometimes advisable to set up reminders for yourself.

Make an entry in your journal.

Put a sticky note on your cupboard.

I have daily written these devotionals over the last three years or so and sent them out to quite literally all over the world – It is my ministry unto the world.

It is a reminder of a promise God made to me and a promise I made to God.

As humans, we have a tendency to forget the promises of God.

Altars were a way Abram gave glory to God for these promises.

You and I can find similar means and methods to give glory to God and find ways to give Holy Spirit credit for helping me remember His promises to me.

In Genesis 12:8, Abram moves further south and builds another one of these altars.

Genesis 12:8. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

This site becomes important later when Israel does finally begin to receive the land.

In the book of Joshua, after the walls of Jericho fall down, the Israelites go to attack Ai.

But they are soundly defeated.

Because Achan stole 200 pieces of silver, a wedge of gold and a Babylonian garment as spoils of war from Jericho and buried them, hid them in his tent.

After Achan’s sin is discovered, and he is put to death, they once again attack Ai, and this time they prevail.

Where Abram worshipped God, called on the name of the Lord, the Israelites also rededicated themselves to God by getting rid of the sin in their midst and then going forth to battle.

Abram’s altar and the Israelite’s actions between Bethel and Ai are another witness to their faithful, faith-filled dedication to serve and obey their God.

Genesis 12:9. So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.

We don’t know how long he stayed in each spot, what we are shown is Abram has no place to rest, no place to stop and settle down, no place to call home.

Though he has found a place that God will give to his descendants, it is not yet his.

He has followed God from Haran to Canaan.

God spoke to Abram and promised Him blessings and land.

Abram has built two altars to God.

Things seem to be going well for Abram.

He is making progress on his journey of faith.

When Abraham arrived at his destination, he built an altar and dedicated it to the Lord, who faithfully fulfilled His promise and who had brought him there.

What a wonderful message, what a wonderful witness and testimony in the midst of one of the most memorable pilgrimages in the pages of Scripture.

Where has God brought you?

Is your first thought to worship him for his faithfulness?

God continues to promise us spiritual blessings in this life and the next.

So let’s not forget to faithfully dedicate the steps of our lives to our faithful God, even if, like Abram to Abraham it’s mostly unclear exactly where God is leading.

Tomorrow, we will dedicate and devote some critical time to Genesis 12:10-20.

Here we will try to delve deeper into the Failures of Abram (Genesis 12:10-20)

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

God of Heaven’s Armies, You tell me to put my faith and my trust in You when I am afraid. Dear God, right now I confess I am definitely afraid. I am afraid of things that are happening in my life. I am afraid for my future. I am afraid for my loved ones. I feel helpless, hopeless. I cannot breathe. The walls are closing in around me. I can feel the anxieties near and I need Your protection. Come into me, dear God, and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I need You now! Help me to put my hope in You. I thank You for being my rock and my shield. Thank You for being my God in whom I can really trust. I praise You because even when I was faithless, You remained faithful to me. You have never changed nor ever withdrew Your love from me. I love You, God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

https://translate.google.com/

To Being Alive! To Be Able to Live! To be Living Into His Truth! “I Will Look Up to You, Immanuel, I Will Lift Up My Soul.” Psalm 25:1-15

Psalm 25:1-15Amplified Bible

Prayer for Protection, Guidance and Pardon.

A Psalm of David.

25 To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 
O my God, in You I [have unwavering] trust [and I rely on You with steadfast confidence],
Do not let me be ashamed or my hope in You be disappointed;
Do not let my enemies triumph over me.
3 
Indeed, none of those who [expectantly] wait for You will be ashamed;
Those who turn away from what is right and deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed (humiliated, embarrassed).

4 
Let me know Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
5 
Guide me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
For You [and only You] I wait [expectantly] all the day long.
6 
Remember, O Lord, Your [tender] compassion and Your loving kindnesses,
For they have been from of old.
7 
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
According to Your lovingkindness remember me,
For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.

8 
Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.
9 
He leads the humble in justice,
And He teaches the humble His way.
10 
All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and goodness and truth and faithfulness
To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11 
For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
Pardon my wickedness and my guilt, for they are great.

12 
Who is the man who fears the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with submissive wonder]?
He will teach him [through His word] in the way he should choose.
13 
His soul will dwell in prosperity and goodness,
And his descendants will inherit the land.
14 
The secret [of the wise counsel] of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
And He will let them know His covenant and reveal to them [through His word] its [deep, inner] meaning.
15 
My eyes are continually toward the Lord,
For He will bring my feet out of the net.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

O soul are you weary and troubled
No light in the darkness you see
There’s light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace.

To lift up our eyes upon Jesus ….

To look full in His wonderful face ….

To Let the things of this earth grow strangely dim ….

In the light of His Glory and Grace ….

Not in the darkness of my fears ….

Where the things of this earth grow not so strangely magnified ….

Where the things of this world go and grow not so strangely out of control ….

Psalm 25:1English Standard Version

Teach Me Your Paths

[a] Of David.

25 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

To lift up our souls to God is to confess:

On you, O Lord, we depend; in you we trust, on you we wait and in you we take refuge. O Lord, unless you bless us, we perish.

To lift up our souls to God sets us apart from all who lift up their souls to fear, who look for happiness and refuge not from God, His Son Jesus and Holy Spirit, but, happiness from within dread in their own wisdom or strength or riches.

We lift up our souls unto and into the light of the God of our salvation, not to the dark of these vanities, but to you, O Lord, because you are the center of life.

To you, Immanuel, God with us, God within us, I Lift up my soul ….

You are the great King over all; You are the creator of all things.

This very cosmos that can so astonish us is the robe of glory with which you have clothed yourself.

You are good and very great.

We lift up our souls to you.

Psalm 25:1-2English Standard Version

Teach Me Your Paths

[a] Of David.

25 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust;
    let me not be put to shame;
    let not my enemies exult over me.

From this foundational stance spring two requests.

The first is that we not be put to shame.

We ask that God not abandon us, leave us disgraced, lost, but that instead he prize us and remain always committed to our future for the sake of his name.

Our second request is that we be shown the Lord’s ways.

We plead not only for mercy but for power and wisdom to live holy lives.

If the first request asks God to stay with us and be committed to our future, the second request asks that we stay with God and remain committed to his future.

Psalm 25:1-3English Standard Version

Teach Me Your Paths

[a] Of David.

25 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust;
    let me not be put to shame;
    let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
    they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Can you and I recall a time when a stranger approached us out of the blue and asked what you and I believe about Savior Jesus Christ and the Christian faith?

I easily imagine that you and I have had very few, if any, experiences like that.

I can easily imagine that you and I have a lingering fear about this encounter.

To our shame we have this fear – a shame we may not know the Lord, may not be living the life which the Lord, our Savior calls us to live – “to be His Light.”

“To be His Salt and His Light unto the Gentiles… draw them closer to Immanuel.

Immanuel, God who came to Live with Us ….

Immanuel, God who came to Live within Us ….

Immanuel, God who came to Connect with us ….

Immanuel, God who came to Converse with us ….

Immanuel, God who came to share, shout, one or two Hallelujah’s with us.

Immanuel, God who came to dispel the myth that darkness always wins over.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace

His word shall not fail you he promised
Believe him and all will be well
Then go to a world that is dying
His perfect salvation to tell

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace

Psalm 25:5-10Amplified Bible

5 
Guide me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
For You [and only You] I wait [expectantly] all the day long.
6 
Remember, O Lord, Your [tender] compassion and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they have been from of old.
7 
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
According to Your lovingkindness remember me,
For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.

8 
Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.
9 
He leads the humble in justice,
And He teaches the humble His way.
10 
All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and goodness and truth and faithfulness
To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.

To Live, Be Alive and Be Living the Truth

The ever living and always active Word of God calls Christians be alive in God, to live with God, to live in such a way that the truth of Christ is evident in our lives.

The power of our ever alive, living God’s abundant life through the Gospel is displayed, magnified, in the life of a believer by the transformation it brings.

One of the most common metaphors for truth in the Scripture is ‘light.’

In John 8, verse 12 Jesus says:

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Jesus says that those who follow Him will not walk in darkness.

His truth will illuminate their path.

The apostle John writes in 1 John 1:5-7,

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

What do these ancient passages seek to teach us in these contemporary times?

They tell us God still matters, Immanuel still matters, Holy Spirit still matters!

They tell us we still matter just as much as God, Immanuel, Holy Spirit matters!

It means to be a Christian is to live a life that accords with the truth of God.

Jesus says that whoever follows Him, those are the ones who will have light.

John says the ones who walk in the darkness are not truly born again, no matter what they might say or believe about the nature of their relationship with God.

What this means is that if someone walks in the darkness (i.e. not according to God’s truth), they are not fully following Jesus, because if they were following Jesus fully and completely they would have the light, because Jesus is the light.

The good news is that Christians have truth to live by.

John 14:1-3Amplified Bible

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14 “Do not let your heart be troubled (be afraid, cowardly). Believe [confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.

As you and I follow Jesus, as you and I grow in your relationship with Him, you and I will learn truth, you will live truth, and little by little, or lot by lot, we will be living by the truth and your life, my life too will be completely transformed. 

It is a glorious thing to live the truth, to walk in the light of God’s Word, to learn practical biblical principles of everyday life, and to grow in your love for God.

I have discovered that it’s a rather curious thing: that many people fear coming unto Christ because they think or believe that they will have to make all kinds of radical changes in their life; they will have to utterly obey this rule or that rule.

Maybe because of this Christmas season we now find ourselves in this position.

Perhaps, blessedly, new worshippers, worshippers who were never introduced to Immanuel, curious neighbors, worshippers who left the church because of some disagreement or because life’s overwhelming circumstances, come in.

The truth is that yes, when you and I turn away from our sin, you and I will have to definitely give up some “many treasure things,” but it is also true when we live the truth of God’s word, and turn away from those things which anger God, He changes our desires so that we’ll desire Him more than we do those things.

That’s because when we are living the full truth, we are living life the way that God always meant for it to be lived, the way which God created life to be lived.

1 Peter 3:8-15Amplified Bible

8 Finally, all of you be like-minded [united in spirit], sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted [courteous and compassionate toward each other as members of one household], and humble in spirit; 9 and never return evil for evil or insult for insult [avoid scolding, berating, and any kind of abuse], but on the contrary, give a blessing [pray for one another’s well-being, contentment, and protection]; for you have been called for this very purpose, that you might inherit a blessing [from God that brings well-being, happiness, and protection]. 10 For,

“The one who wants to enjoy life and see good days [good—whether apparent or not],
Must keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from speaking guile (treachery, deceit).
11 
“He must turn away from wickedness and do what is right.
He must search for peace [with God, with self, with others] and pursue it eagerly [actively—not merely desiring it].
12 
“For the eyes of the Lord are [looking favorably] upon the righteous (the upright),
And His ears are attentive to their prayer (eager to answer),
But the face of the Lord is against those who practice evil.”

13 Now who is there to hurt you if you become enthusiastic for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness [though it is not certain that you will], you are still blessed [happy, to be admired and favored by God]. Do not be afraid of their intimidating threats, nor be troubled or disturbed [by their opposition]. 15 But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect.

We ought to be prepared for such encounters, to be sure; the apostle Peter tells us to be always be ready to give a reason for the hope we have (1 Peter 3:15).

But opportunities to explain what we believe most often result not from these random encounters with strangers but from the way we live day in and day out before those who know us well.

How we live and what we believe ought to reflect our attachment to Christ.

This is one reason why Peter says Christians are “a people for [God’s] own possession” (1 Peter 2:9).

Our Koinonia, our intimate connection to Jesus as those who are in Him and belong to Him and Live for Him is comprehensive.

That means we are not at liberty to believe whatever we want; we are not free to form our own views of marriage, of sexuality, of finance, or of anything else.

Our view is now to reflect that of our Messiah and Teacher, Jesus.

But He is not content with His disciples simply knowing the truth.

They also need to be living the truth:

“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” (John 13:17)

Believing must lead to doing. We are not free to behave in any way we like either, then. Our conduct is to reflect that of our sacrificial Savior, Jesus.

Many contemporary religions and secular creeds require nothing of your lifestyle; they leave you free to live as you please.

In fact, many make their guiding principle: you do what seems right to you.

But the call to Christian discipleship is utterly different, for at its heart it is a call to follow a King who is not you.

Psalm 25:10-15Amplified Bible

10 
All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and goodness and truth and faithfulness
To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11 
For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
Pardon my wickedness and my guilt, for they are great.

12 
Who is the man who fears the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with submissive wonder]?
He will teach him [through His word] in the way he should choose.
13 
His soul will dwell in prosperity and goodness,
And his descendants will inherit the land.
14 
The secret [of the wise counsel] of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
And He will let them know His covenant and reveal to them [through His word] its [deep, inner] meaning.
15 
My eyes are continually toward the Lord,
For He will bring my feet out of the net.

God has strewn our path with hopeful, hope-filled, faithful, faith-filled and joyful and joy-filled, encouraging promises, scattered throughout His Word.

He has pledged to lead us in the paths of righteousness and make the way we take straight and secure.

But can we trust His promises?

Can we be certain that His Word is true?

Can we be certain that His Word is faithful?

Can we be certain that His Word is Grace filled?

Indeed we can and this truth is expressed in many of the early psalms of David.

Often in the Book of Psalms, we see David lifting up his heart to the Lord in prayer and praise and calling out to Him for guidance and pardon.

His prayers often contain a request for God’s help in the face of his enemies, which demonstrates a quiet and expectant confidence which declares that God is trustworthy, God is graceful, faithful to His Word and will not let him down.

The promises of God are founded on nothing less than the perfection of God’s holy nature.

They are rooted in the eternal faithfulness of His everlasting Word, and His Word is securely anchored on the rock of our salvation which is Jesus…

Whose name is ‘Faithful and True’ – “for Faithful is He who hath promised, Who also will do it.”

It was David who knew this to be true in his own life, and we find him reflecting on the wonder of the Lord as he prayerfully considers the goodness of God and His faithfulness in meeting sinners and teaching them the way of truth.

“All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth,” he writes,

“His ways lead to gracious love, and He shows His fidelity towards those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.”

The faithfulness, joyfulness, peacefulness, mercy, goodness, and grace of God, are no less true today than during that time when David discovered the Lord was his Shepherd, Who yet gently leads him beside the still waters, faithfully guides him into the way of peace, guards him in the valley of the shadow, and still he prepares a plentiful table of good things in the midst of all his enemies.

Only as we remain in Christ, rest in His love, walk in the path He has planned for us, we will discover all His paths are strewn with joy, goodness and grace.

O soul are you weary and troubled
No light in the darkness you see
There’s light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace

Immanuel, God within us, is working in our lives with an eternal perspective, and it is only as we walk in harmony with the Lord, remain in accordance with His revealed plans and purposes that we will remain in harmony with His truth.

The way we travel may not be the path of our choosing, we expected to trudge.

The path we take will be covered with difficulties and dangers… but His truth is sufficient, His faithfulness is sufficient for every eventuality we may encounter.

He is the ONLY One who knows exactly, exactingly, the best way for each of us to take for He is the WAY, the TRUTH, the LIFE and we need to trust Him to lead us aright, even when the route is overshadowed by dark and thunderous clouds. 

As we trust His Word, carry out His will, abide in Him, and He is us, we will bear the fruit of patience and hone our faith in Him.

His Way, Truth, Life will lead us deeper into fellowship with Himself, enable us to mature in the faith, grow in grace, and gain a deeper knowledge of the holy… for He desires us to enjoy a satisfying and unbroken communion with Himself.

The Lord knows that only as we Koinonia, commune with Him and obey His new commandment to, “love as I have loved,” will He be able to fully, joyfully faithfully pour His streams of living water through us, equip us to be channels of peace, comfort and refreshment to all those with whom we come in contact.

The call to the Christian life is not merely to believe the gospel but to “let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27).

We all fall short.

Do you have someone helping you, and whom you can help, in identifying areas of behavior which are not yet worthy of the gospel?

Lock arms with a brother or sister in Christ, shine the light of God’s Word on one another, and seek to bring the truth to life!

The church is God’s primary appointed means of reaching His world. You are part of that. But do not expect those around you to ask about the gospel—still less to repent and believe the gospel—if you are not living out that gospel:

You are writing a gospel,
A chapter each day,
By deeds that you do,
By words that you say.
Men read what you write,
Whether faithless or true,
Say! What is the gospel
According to you?

Anonymous

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Immanuel, as we now look back on an old year, anticipate a new one, may we look to you at all times to uphold us and make us strong, that we not go down to defeat.

Lead me, Immanuel, in the path of Your choosing. Lead me I pray, along a level path, for Your name’s sake… for Your grace, peace and faithfulness are without measure. Thank You, ABBA Father, that You are a wise, and truthful and faithful God and the One who leads and guides, and You are the One Who corrects and trains, so shepherd Your Children along the path of Your choosing. I trust You to lead us along the path of grace, truth, and righteousness all the days of my life. This I ask in Jesus’ name!

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Christmas According to Immanuel: Grace and Truth Incarnate Has Come Near to Us, Come to Fully Live With Us, and to Fully Live Within Us. John 1:14-18

John 1:14-18 The Message

14 The Word became flesh and blood,
    and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
    the one-of-a-kind glory,
    like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
    true from start to finish.

15 John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.”

16-18 We all live off his generous abundance,
    gift after gift after gift.
We got the basics from Moses,
    and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
This endless knowing and understanding—
    all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God,
    not so much as a glimpse.
This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
    who exists at the very heart of the Father,
    has made him plain as day.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

The apostle John was one who saw the glory of the Word made flesh.

John was one who physically and spiritually gazed on Him in wonder and praised and worshipped at the true feet of Jesus Christ, his Lord and his God.

John lived with Him, walked with Him, talked with Him, and touched Him.

John, a simple fisherman, spent over three years of his life with Jesus, listening intently to His gracious words, astonished by His amazing truth, watching Him attentively as He fulfilled the prophetic Scriptures, and beholding His glory, the indescribable glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Yes, John, a hard working, skilled and simple fisherman, could proclaim with authority: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.” (John 1:1)

John, the fisherman, with both eyes, his heart and his soul saw His glory, the glory as of the eternal God shining in the very face of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The sum total of the eternal, omnipotent, infinite glory of God was reflected in Jesus Christ.

The combined attributes of the living God were reflected in the human person of the only begotten of the Father, the God-Man, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Over, and over again, John and the other disciples gazed on the perfection of the sinless Son of Man, and the glory which was seen in Him was a reflection of the exact image of the glory of God, the Father, both full of grace and full of truth.

The eternal Son of God in the person of the sinless Son of Man was full of God’s grace and goodness, which alone qualified Him to become our One, only perfect Savior and sacrifice for sin.

The Incarnate Word of God, made in the likeness of human flesh, was also full of truth which alone qualifies Him to be the One and the Only perfect source of God’s completed revelation.

Revelation (truth) from God, our Father in heaven, came through the eternal Son of God Who became the perfect Son of Man:

Hebrews 1:1-4Amplified Bible

God’s Final Word in His Son

1 God, having spoken to the fathers long ago in [the voices and writings of] the prophets in many separate revelations [each of which set forth a portion of the truth], and in many ways, 2 has in these last days spoken [with finality] to us in [the person of One who is by His character and nature] His Son [namely Jesus], whom He appointed heir and lawful owner of all things, through whom also He created the universe [that is, the universe as a space-time-matter continuum]. 3 The Son is the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God [reflecting God’s [a]Shekinah glory, the Light-being, the brilliant light of the divine], and the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence, and upholding and maintaining and propelling all things [the entire physical and spiritual universe] by His powerful word [carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal]. When He [Himself and no other] had [by offering Himself on the cross as a sacrifice for sin] accomplished purification from sins and established our freedom from guilt, He sat down [revealing His completed work] at the right hand of the Majesty on high [revealing His Divine authority], 4 having become as much superior to angels, since He has inherited a more excellent and  glorious  [b] name than they [that is, Son—the name above all names].

Salvation (grace) came through the only begotten Son of the Father, the unique God-Man, Christ Jesus the righteous: “For by grace are You saved, through faith in HIM and not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

God was not content just to proclaim his message — his Word — to us!

Jehovah God, Creator God, Pre-Existing God, was not satisfied that only prophets could reveal his coming message — his Living Word — unto us!

God wasn’t willing that his message, his Word, be confined to a book.

No, God’s ultimate message, his Word, is Jesus. God’s message, God’s Word, is Jesus coming in human flesh to live as one of us to reveal God to us.

This incarnation made grace and truth and abundant life accessible, touchable, palpable, and available and very much physically visible unto our human eyes.

Yet, even in an all too confining and limited human skin and burdened with human mortality, God’s glory, God’s grace, God’s truth, could not be hidden.

In all of God’s Neighborhoods ….

In all of those ancient Neighborhoods and Communities ….

And EXACTLY RIGHT NOW ….

In all of our very own Neighborhoods and Communities …..

GUESS WHAT GOD’S GRACE AND TRUTH HATH REVEALED FOR US?

“full and unfailing, undying love, full unyielding, maximum faithfulness” 

absolutely, completely, fully, utterly, ultimately, eternally revealed in Immanuel!

God came near.

God became touchable.

God became knowable.

God became visible to our naked eyes.

God became huggable.

God became palpable.

God became relatable.

God became conversational.

God became connectional.

God became genuine.

God became real and fully capable of being experienced.

Grace and Truth came near.

Grace and Truth became touchable.

Grace and Truth became knowable.

Grace and Truth became visible to our naked eyes.

Grace and Truth became huggable.

Grace and Truth became palpable.

Grace and Truth became relatable.

Grace and Truth became conversational.

Grace and Truth became connectional.

Grace and Truth became genuine.

Grace and Truth became real and fully capable of being experienced.

God’s trusted message of Grace and Truth became max real in Jesus, the Word!

John 1:14-18New King James Version

The Word Becomes Flesh

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

15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me [a]is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”

16 [b]And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten [c]Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

This is a stunning, breathtaking declaration.

It first announces that a miraculous crossing of the great divide—between heaven and earth, between eternity and time, God and man—took place.

God’s Son came to earth to dwell among us.

As God had walked in the garden in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:8), so God’s Son came in the wearying heat of human struggle to live with us.

What is it about God that He loves us so much?

What is it about God that He so strongly desires to live with us?

What is it about God that He so strongly desires to live within us?

What is it about God that He so strongly desires to be connected with us?

What is it about God that He so strongly desires to be relatable with us?

What is it about the availability of God’s Grace and Truth, we want to know why we are even aware of our own irresistible need to be asking God all of these questions?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Holy and loving God, my Abba Father, thank you for the Scriptures, the prophets, the scribes, and the scholars. Thank you most of all for Jesus, who came as your Word in human skin. Thank you for coming to my neighborhood and showing me how to live and how much you love me. As we journey through the Gospel of John, please make your presence and your will known to me as I get to know your Son better. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your only begotten Son into Your streets, Your neighborhoods and Your communities to become the unique ‘God-Man’ Who alone is full of grace and truth, Who alone was qualified, worthy to become our perfect, Kinsman-Redeemer, to die on the Cross as our heavenly substitute for sin. We gather to Exalt, Glorify and Magnify His holy name, Praise His holy name.

Adeste Fidelis, Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Immanuel, Our Christmas Hallelujah! Psalm 146, Isaiah 9:6-7, and etcetera

Psalm 146Amplified Bible

The Lord an Abundant Helper.

146 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 
While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.
3 
Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation (help).
4 
When his spirit leaves him, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts and plans perish.
5 
How blessed and graciously favored is he whose help is the God of Jacob (Israel),
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 
Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them,
Who keeps truth and is faithful forever,
7 
Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets free the prisoners.

8 
The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the [a]righteous [the upright in heart].
9 
The Lord protects the strangers;
He supports the fatherless and the widow;
But He makes crooked the way of the wicked.
10 
The Lord shall reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

This beautiful Psalm is a song of praise that rejoices in the unalterable character and eternal beauty of the Lord.

It extols, it glorifies, it magnifies the greatness of His character, and it rejoices over the unalterable, unchangeable glories and indescribable majesty of our Creator God as, verse after verse, Psalmist reflects on the wonder of His name.

The author reminds us that the Lord is very great and highly to be praised.

The Lord our God is clothed with majesty and honour and brings justice to the oppressed. The Lord provides food for the hungry, sets the prisoners free, cares for His people, opens the eyes of the blind, lifts up those that are bowed down, and He is a righteous God Who loves the righteous, who loves justice and mercy.

The psalmist meditates on the greatness of his God and encourages us all to do the same.

He rejoices in the eternal faithfulness and gracious wisdom of the Lord and ponders over the majestic works of His hand.

The thoughts and the meditations of the Psalmist build into a crescendo of praise as he centers on the steadfastness of the Lord his God, Who is from everlasting to everlasting.

And finally he bursts forth from his joyful meditation on the insurmountable wonders of the Lord his God, by crying out.

“I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath!”

The joy of the Psalmist is inescapably contagious, for when we spend our days reflecting on the eternal faithfulness of the Lord and turn our hearts, souls to meditate upon the beauties of His name, we will also rejoice in His wonderful works, His grace and mercy, His wisdom and might, His faithfulness and love.

As like the Psalmist we will blend the noisiness of our joyful, joy-filled voices with the heavenly choir that proclaims, “Holy, holy, holy.” Hallelujah! Amen.

Isaiah 9:6-7 Amplified Bible

6 
For to us a Child shall be born, to us a Son shall be given;
And the government shall be upon His shoulder,
And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 
There shall be no end to the increase of His government and of peace,
[He shall rule] on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From that time forward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

Immanuel, God with us and within us!

Jesus – our Wonderful Counselor!

Immanuel, God with us and within us!

Jesus – our Mighty God!

Immanuel, God with us and within us!

Jesus – our Everlasting Father!

Immanuel, God with us and within us!

Jesus – our Prince of Peace!

Say it over and over and over again ….

Sing it over and over and over again ….

Shout it over and over and over again ….

All of heaven needs to be shaken …. needs to reverberate …. Hallelujah!

Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, existed long before he was born on this earth. As God, He does not have a beginning; He IS the source of all things.

Before the world existed, he lived in eternal glory and had perfect communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

He was the Word that was with God in the beginning (John 1:1-2).

He was coequal, coeternal, and consubstantial with God.

He was not created; He is one with the Creator. “Through him all things were made,” and nothing that was made was made without him (John 1:3).

The universe was in God’s mind before the foundations of the earth were laid.

The starry worlds were created by him.

He measured the waters of the seas in the hollow of his hand and weighed the dust and the sands, all the rocks and trees of the earth on his precision scale.

He called by name each and every one of the stars in the heavens, and none of them is lacking in splendor. He brought into existence the things that did not exist and created everything from nothing, for his glory and our enjoyment.

As our ultimate provider and protector, the Son born to us is called Everlasting Father; Wonderful Counselor; Prince of Peace! He loves us and came to save us!

Psalm 146:1-2Amplified Bible

The Lord an Abundant Helper.

146 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 
While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.

Psalm 146 is a rousing song of praise that celebrates God’s faithfulness.

And today, as we say “Merry Christmas,” as we sing “Merry Christmas,” as we shout “Merry Christmas” back into the heavens we celebrate the birth of Savior Jesus, reminded within this psalm to praise the Lord, put our trust in him alone.

For the name of God and God alone alone is worthy to be exalted, deep into the deepest and furthest depths of the infinite expanse of all of the heavens above.

For God and God alone is worthy to be glorified and praised!

For God and God alone is worthy to be honored, magnified, worshiped!

For God and God alone “reigns forever . . . for all generations.”

“A Christmas Alleluia”

is a contemporary song by Chris Tomlin celebrating the day of Christ’s birth.

It recalls the scene and song of the angel hosts of heaven, singing,

“All glory to our God and King!”

And it calls us to sing “Alleluia,” which means “Praise the Lord!”

We give praise because “Christ, the Savior of the world . . . has come!”

We sing “Alleluia” because Christ’s is the highest name of all.

Joy to the World (Sir Isaac Watts, 1674-1748)

1. Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
let every heart prepare him room,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing.

2. Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!
Let all their songs employ;
while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy.

3. No more let sins and sorrows grow,
nor thorns infest the ground;
he comes to make his blessings flow
far as the curse is found,
far as the curse is found,
far as the curse is found.

4. He rules the world with truth and grace,
and makes the nations prove
the glories of his righteousness,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders of his love.

With joy and expectation, with highest anticipation, we are reminded in Psalm 146 that God is the Maker of all things and that “He remains faithful forever.”

With the coming of Immanuel, God fulfills his promises to send the Messiah, the Savior; to be forever with us and forever within – us he is faithful forever.

Immanuel – our Mighty Counselor, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace …

Jesus, Christ our King is born!

And because of his birth, life, death, and resurrection, He demonstrates his supremacy over all. He comes to uphold “the cause of the oppressed” and to give “food to the hungry.” He “sets the prisoners free . . . gives sight to the blind,” and “brings justice and mercy,” “lifts up those who are bowed down.”

And because Christ Jesus Lives,

And because Christ Jesus Reigns for­ever,

we sing “Alleluia” to our Eternal King; we “Praise the Lord all our life!”

we shout “Alleluia!” to our Eternal King; we “Praise the Lord all our life!”

we PRAY “Alleluia!” to our Eternal King; we “Praise the Lord all our life!”

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

“I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath!”

Joyful, joyful, we adore thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
hearts unfold like flowers before thee,
opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
drive the dark of doubt away.
Giver of immortal gladness,
fill us with the light of day!

Mortals, join the mighty chorus
which the morning stars began;
love divine is reigning o’er us,
binding all within its span.
Ever singing, march we onward,
victors in the midst of strife;
joyful music leads us sunward,
in the triumph song of life.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Confident Expectations! The Songs of Christmas: The Servant Songs and the Greatest Service of All. Isaiah 49:1-13

Isaiah 49:1-13Amplified Bible

Salvation Reaches to the End of the Earth

49 Listen to [a]Me, O islands and coastlands,
And pay attention, you peoples from far away.
The Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the body of My mother He has named Me.
2 
He has made My mouth like a sharp sword,
In the shadow of His hand He has kept Me hidden;
And He has made Me a sharpened arrow,
In His quiver He has hidden Me.
3 
And [the Lord] said to Me, “You are My [b]Servant, Israel,
In Whom I will show My glory.”
4 
Then I said, “I have labored in vain,
I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity (pride, uselessness);
However My justice is with the Lord,
And My reward is with My God.”

5 
And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him and that Israel might be gathered to Him,
—For I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God is My strength—
6 
He says, “It is too trivial a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the [c]survivors of Israel;
I will also make You a light to the nations
That My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
7 
This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, Israel’s Holy One says,
To the thoroughly despised One,
To the One hated by the nation
To the Servant of rulers,
“[d]Kings will see and arise,
Princes shall also bow down,
Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

8 
This is what the Lord says,
“In a [e]favorable time I have answered You,
And in a day of salvation I have helped You;
And I will keep watch over You and give You for a covenant of the people,
To restore the land [from its present state of ruin] and to apportion and give as inheritances the deserted hereditary lands,
9 
Saying to those who are bound and captured, ‘Go forth,’
And to those who are in [spiritual] darkness, ‘Show yourselves [come into the light of the Savior].’
They will feed along the roads [on which they travel],
And their pastures will be on all the bare heights.
10 
“They will not hunger or thirst,
Nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down;
For He who has compassion on them will lead them,
And He will guide them to springs of water.
11 
“And I will make all My mountains a roadway,
And My highways will be raised.
12 
“In fact, these will come from far away;
And, lo, these shall come from the north and from the west,
And these from the land of [f]Aswan (southern Egypt).”
13 
Shout for joy, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth,
And break forth into singing, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people
And will have compassion on His afflicted.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

I am impressed by good service.

Good service at a restaurant I eat at, good service by the plumber who fixes the plumbing in house when I need it – day and night, good service from teachers in our schools where children are educated, Service from all of First Responders in times of need when we require protection, emergency medical and health care.

Whenever, Wherever it may be, if I receive good service I am impressed by it.

I am very impressed because good service surpasses my expectations for not just the everyday, give-and-take interaction, but also those life saving ones.

In difficult situations or making critical choices, we are often told to trust God.

Trust is necessary to have a relationship with Him.

If you can’t trust God, you aren’t going to willingly obey His calling on your life.

Every time we worry about something, it is showing a lack of trust in God.

Every time we try to take a situation into our own hands, it shows a lack of trust.

Every time we question what God is calling us to do, it shows a lack of trust.

So, what does it mean to constantly, and confidently, expectantly trust in God?

When you take the word back to its origins, we find that one of the earliest uses of Trust was to express “confident expectation” of someone.

That is what it means to trust God: to have confident expectations of what He is going to do.

We are confident in who He is and what He can do, and we are expectant of His working.

The power of that phrase has the ability to strengthen our faith and deepen our relationship with God.

What if we faced every difficult situation and critical decision by saying,

“I have continuously confident expectations of what God is going to do.”

The power of that sentence is palpable and tangible.

So how do we apply this?

How do we act in confident expectation?

To go back to the origin, four words round out our understanding of Trust: help, confidence, protection, and support.

If you trust someone, you believe that that person is going to help you when you are in need or in danger.

Proverbs 3:5-8Amplified Bible

5 
Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
6 
[a]In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
7 
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord [with reverent awe and obedience] and turn [entirely] away from evil.
8 
It will be health to your body [your marrow, your nerves, your sinews, your muscles—all your inner parts]
And refreshment (physical well-being) to your bones.

When you trust in the Lord, He will help you.

He will direct your paths and guide you.

It will be health to your body – and refreshment to your bones ….

To trust in the Lord is to acknowledge His ability to help and to seek His help.

Trust brings with it a sense of confidence in the person.

Isaiah 12:2 expresses this by saying,

“Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For YAH, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’”

There is the expectation of confidence in God’s strength and His salvation.

When we are confident in God’s power, we are no longer afraid—we are bold.  

There is an assurance of protection in trust.

“Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us,” states Psalm 62:8.

He is a sure and certain refuge.

He protects us, we feel confident in that protection when our trust is in Him.

There is support in trust because you believe that the person is going to be there for you and they will be with you the whole time.

When you think of support, you think of the environment or people around you—that which is going to sustain you.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 illustrates what this support from God looks like. It says,

7 
“Blessed [with spiritual security] is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord
And whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord.
8 
“For he will be [nourished] like a tree planted by the waters,
That spreads out its roots by the river;
And will not fear the heat when it comes;
But its leaves will be green and moist.
And it will not be anxious and concerned in a year of drought
Nor stop bearing fruit.

When a tree is planted by water, it has the support of the water to thrive.

That is what it is like for us when we confidently, expectantly trust in God—we have the confident expectation of maximum support from Him that we need.

Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley, founder of Methodism wrote the Advent Hymn titled “Come, Thou Long – Expected Jesus.”

It is pretty much sung at some point during each and every Advent Season.

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

1. Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.

2. Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.

The first verse speaks to the repeatedly expressed, confident expectations, of the Prophets of the Hebrew Testament that at some God Appointed time – a Messiah would come to be born on earth – to ultimately console, restore Israel.

The 2nd verse speaks to that moment having actually occurred, we hear in the background – a confident chorus of those ancient Prophets singing: Alleluia!

At Christmas each year we read and hear the Gospel story of Jesus’ birth.

For those of us who have been involved in church, planning church worship, walking the Christian life for some time, we can take this story for granted.

Instead of being impressed by the actual “long expected coming” of the truths of Immanuel’s incarnation, we often become blasé and apathetic to the season.

Yet, as I daily delve into scripture in greater depth, I become more and more impressed at how God’s handiwork throughout the Old Testament speaks into the birth of Jesus. And lately, for me, this has come from the book of Isaiah.

Miraculously, we read that seven to eight hundred years prior to the birth of Jesus, we read the prophecies and teaching of God through the person of Isaiah.

He speaks to the leaders of God’s people with admonishment and judgement upon their rebellion toward God, but also (like all Hebrew Testament prophets) Isaiah provides a growing sense of confidence, promises of hope for the future.

Through what is known as four ‘Servant Songs’ (Isaiah 42:1-4; 49:1-13; 50:4-9; 52:13-52:12), God’s message through the long expectant, long confident Isaiah, depicts a person who will absolutely, definitely come to serve the people of God.

This person will come from within Israel, and is to serve them as one who has been called and consecrated by the Lord. Through this ‘Servant of the Lord,’ there will come restoration, consolation, hope, and salvation for God’s people.

Isaiah 49:5-6Amplified Bible

5 
And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him and that Israel might be gathered to Him,
—For I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God is My strength—
6 
He says, “It is too trivial a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the [a]survivors of Israel;
I will also make You a light to the nations
That My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Isaiah’s words confidently, expectantly speak of how the Lord will form this servant from the womb, will provide him with strength to unite God’s people.

The Lord then seems to be speaking to this servant directly when he says,

 “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” (See also Isaiah 50:10; 52:13; 53:11).

Through what we could call this ‘Servant-King’, God will enact his mission in reconciling the world to himself once again.

No longer will God’s people be ruled by inept human leaders, but will be governed by a selfless, humble, and perfect Servant-King.

And this Servant-King, as we understand from the New Testament, is Jesus, is Immanuel, God with, within us, the birth of whom we celebrate each Christmas.

As we come together, as believers and non-believers in our worship services, and as we sing “Come All Ye Faithful” and “we sing Silent Night, Holy Night,”

Celebrating Jesus, celebrating Immanuel, God With Us and Within Us, this Christmas it is 100% worth considering at least 1 of these four Servant Songs,

because through them we find how important they are for understanding the incarnation event.

These Servant Songs – written several centuries before Jesus’ birth – reveal just how confidently, expectantly, specifically the prophetic scriptures speaks to the undeniable truth of who the expected “soon to arrive” Messiah would truly be.

In Isaiah 42:1-4 it reads:

1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.

These words of Isaiah give us insight into the Servant-King.

We are told of what this person will do and what he won’t do.

This prophecy speaks to the heart of who Jesus is and why he has been sent.

Here are words which bring maturing confidence and expectation, hope and encouragement to the people of God, both at the time of writing and today.

Through these four verses we begin to prophetically envision a picture of the character and mission of the absolutely expected coming Servant-King Jesus.

This coming Servant-King:

  • is a specific person chosen and upheld by the Lord (verse 1)
  • is one who is delighted in by the Lord (verse 1)
  • will have the Spirit of God upon them (verse 1)
  • will bring justice to the nations and peoples of the world (verse 1)
  • will not cry aloud and lift his voice in the streets (verse 2)
  • will not break people, abuse them, or squash them (verse 3)
  • will not tire nor be discouraged from pursuing his mission (verse 4)

And when we read these, knowing our New Testament scriptures, we find that Jesus meets each aspect of this criteria.

Jesus was chosen, upheld, and delighted in by God.

He had the Spirit upon him, and has come to be the perfect just judge.

Through his ministry he worked in humility and with patience, seeking to serve, to be kind and compassionate, and tender toward others.

And finally, he did not grow discouraged or stop the work he was called to do, not even unto the point of death.

Seven hundred years after Isaiah wrote these words, they find fulfillment through the Servant-King Jesus.

Through his birth Jesus comes as the great justice-giver.

Jesus comes to bring justice to the nations, establish justice upon the earth.

Jesus achieves these words of justice through his life and ministry, ultimately turning that justice upon himself, making himself the conduit of justice by taking upon Himself the maximum measure of all of the sins of the world.

Through the cross Jesus achieves and establishes justice for the nations, and for us personally.

He serves as the Servant-King,

reminding us of the words of

Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The faithfulness of God’s Words ….

The confidence, expectations of the ancient Prophets God will absolutely COME!

The courage of the ancient Prophets to write these expectations down, not just for their coming generations of readers to remain hopeful, but for our very own coming generations too!

The confidence, the faithfulness of God’s Prophets in their Obedience to the Will of God for their times and trials and tribulations, seasons of their lives ;

But, ultimately, it comes down to ….

The faithfulness of God toward his people,

the confident delivery of true restoration,

the long expected provision of hope for the future,

and the eternal salvation for souls finds culmination at the cross.

Jesus, the Servant-King, provides us with the greatest service.

And this Christmas Eve, as we turn our hearts and souls toward the celebration of his birth may we be wonderfully expectant, impressed, strengthened in faith, and humbled through His grace, because of God’s Words through his Prophets.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your perfect plan of redemption and that by grace, You formed the Lord Jesus from the womb to be Israel’s suffering Servant and eternal King. Thank You for the lives of Your Prophets, for their words spoken and written for their people and for us, through their complete obedience to Your Will. It is only by their confidence in You, by the surest certainty, the surest expectations of Your future actions in the lives of coming generations, we have these Servant Songs. Thank You for fulfilling these ancient prophetic words, Thank You that You chose to reveal that fulfillment through the songs of the Shepherds, Mary and Joseph, Zacharias and Elizabeth, Simeon and Anna. Thank You that You chose me to be part of that ancient chorus, through the Body of Christ, so that in Him we might show forth the praises of Immanuel, Him Who came to us, called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

https://translate.google.com/

Paying Attention to God: Waiting for Something Definitely Better – For Our Salvation. Songs of Christmas, Songs of Simeon’s and Anna’s Joy. Luke 2:21-38

Luke 2:21-38Amplified Bible

Jesus Presented at the Temple

21 At the end of eight days, when He was to be circumcised, He was named Jesus, the name given [to Him] by the angel [Gabriel] before He was conceived in the womb.

22 And when the time for their purification came [that is, the mother’s purification and the baby’s dedication] according to the Law of Moses, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord [set apart as the Firstborn] 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy [set apart and dedicated] to the Lord)” 24 and [they came also] to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord [to be appropriate for a family of modest means], “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout [carefully observing the divine Law], and looking for the [a]Consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed). 27 Prompted by the Spirit, he came into the temple [enclosure]; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, [b]to do for Him the custom required by the Law, 28 Simeon took Him into his arms, and blessed  and praised and thanked God, and said,

29 
“Now, Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to leave [this world] in peace,
According to Your word;
30 
For my eyes have seen Your Salvation,
31 
Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 
A Light for revelation to the Gentiles [to disclose what was previously unknown],
And [to bring] the praise and honor and glory of Your people Israel.”

33 And His [legal] father and His mother were amazed at what was said about Him. 34 Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Listen carefully: this Child is appointed and destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for [c]a sign that is to be opposed— 35 and a sword [of deep sorrow] will pierce through your own soul—so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

36 There was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, and had lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, 37 and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She did not leave the [area of the] temple, but was serving and worshiping night and day with fasting’s and prayers. 38 She, too, came up at that very moment and began praising and giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all who were looking for the redemption and deliverance of Jerusalem.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

A giddy old man stands chuckling in the temple with a baby in his arms.

Chuckling with giddy joy, or lost in wonder?

Then he announces that he has seen God’s salvation and he can die in peace.

But what has Simeon’s eyes, heart and soul seen, really?

It is just a little child in his arms, a speechless newcomer to the world.

Whatever salvation this baby might work is still only a promise and a hope. But Simeon stands there in grateful anticipation at the future he holds in his hands.

Then also working in the Temple, there is the prophetess Anna, also old and approaching the end of her days. She adds to the joy and praise of the moment.

38 She, too, came up at that very moment and began praising and giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all who were looking for the redemption and deliverance of Jerusalem.

And then the brief surprising moment of their joy and song comes to a close.

Mary and Joseph do what is required of them for their son in the Temple.

They go about living their lives – watching their son grow up to be very wise.

By the time Jesus becomes a grown man, Simeon and Anna will have died.

Both Simeon and Anna will never be able to see with their own eyes what Jesus does as he grows up, as he ministers unto Israel as the Savior of the world.

But in their patient faith they saw enough to know God is true to his promises.

Today we know more than they did, for we have the rest of the gospel story.

And now, we like Simeon and Anna, try to wait patiently, hoping for more.

Waiting patiently to sing our own songs, having tasted the kingdom’s presence, we wait in hunger and thirst for its coming completely when Jesus comes again.

But for now, may we stand here in patient faith, like Anna and Simeon, and say,

“We have seen him, and we have briefly experienced Him and that is enough for us for now. So, we will wait! We know and trust that the Lord will keep his promises.”

While we wait, we Pray the Holy Spirit to remind us of what we are waiting for.

Luke chapter 2 reveals five individuals who obeyed God’s Word and were truly blessed because of it.

The first two were Mary and Joseph.

They obeyed the law of God.

They were poor, and yet they obeyed.

Sometimes, their obedience was inconvenient for them, and yet they obeyed.

In Luke 2:25-38, we learn about Simeon and Anna who also obeyed God’s Word.

Let us please begin with Simeon who obeyed God’s Word in waiting for Jesus.

Simeon Obeys God’s Word in Waiting for God to Reveal his Promised Consolation.

Waiting.

We all do it.

How long will we all do it?

And do it EXPECTANTLY?

And do it PATIENTLY?

We spend half our life waiting.

We have waiting rooms, and waiting lines.

We wait to be seated, and we wait on the phone to speak to the operator.

Sometimes it seems that all we do is wait.

Our life is one mad rush to get from one waiting line to another, just to get from one line to only wait to get into another ridiculously long waiting line.

A report from a few years ago said on average, in our lifetimes, we devotedly will spend six months sitting at stoplights—and over 5 years waiting in lines.

Five years of your life and Five years of my life—devoted to waiting in lines!

That’s why I always try to keep my Kindle app active to carry a book with me.

You can get a whole lot of reading done in five years.

And there are sayings which we have all heard:

“Good things come to those who wait”

“Some things are worth waiting for.”

If good things come to those who wait, is there anything genuinely “that good” you and I would be willing to wait expectantly, patiently, our entire lives for?

It would have to be something absolutely, really miraculously good, right?

What about if someone offered you uncountable piles of money if you agree to wait for something they “say” it is absolutely miraculous, for your entire life?

Would you be willing to wait your entire life for hundreds of million dollars?

Maybe the prospect of seeing that miraculous pile of money has you thinking, has you tempted to shove everything you have aside to say “You bet I would?”

But what good is hundreds of million dollars going to be to you if at the exact moment you see it and you hold it, you only get it one minute before you die?

The prospects of that circumstance probably does not do much for you at all.

I do not think, seriously believe I would wait for my entire life for any one of those hundreds of million dollars – my time is truly more valuable than that.

But there are things I am waiting my entire life for.

And I’m not alone in this waiting line.

Many of you are probably waiting for pretty much the same miraculous thing.

But before we talk about what that is, I want us to look at Simeon who waited his entire life for something he hardcore believed was genuinely miraculous.

And I think it was definitely something worth waiting for.

If I was given the offer to wait my entire life for the miraculous same thing he miraculously waited his entire life for, I would expectantly, gladly, “just do it.”

We are introduced to Simeon in verse 25 with…

A. Two physical characteristics (Luke 2:25a)

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon,

So here we meet the man we are looking at today, and right away we learn two physical truths about him.

First,

he was living in Jerusalem, which was the political and religious center of Israel at that time – and is still today.

Simeon was where all the action took place.

But more importantly, we learn that his name was Simeon.

The name Simeon means “JEHOVAH has heard.”

And we will see today Jehovah God truly did hear Simeon’s prayer (and also the myriad and myriad of prayers of many others during this time) and was sending to them, for their own personal witness song the greatest answer to prayer ever.

Those are his physical characteristics.

More intriguing still are Simeon’s spiritual characteristics.

B. Three spiritual characteristics (2:25b-26)

and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

The first spiritual characteristic was that he was just and devout or righteous and devout.

The word “just” or “righteous” reveals his witness and testimony, shows his obedience of the Word toward other people.

The word devout expresses his obedience of the Word toward God.

He read and studied Torah, He knew what the Torah said, and he did it.

Again, such obedience is a prerequisite for being used greatly by God.

Now, it was the hope and prayer of every Jew that the Messiah would come, and bring peace and comfort to the people of Israel.

And Simeon was like all other Jews in this regard.

For we see secondly, in verse 25, he was waiting for the Consolation of Israel.

The Consolation of Israel is a reference for Jesus and is a frequent theme found in Isaiah 40-66.

Isaiah says the Messiah would come and so Simeon was waiting for him.

Sometimes, that’s what God calls us to do.

To wait.

It’s not a glamorous task.

It’s not one that gets anyone a lot of attention.

But sometimes, all God wants for us to do…is wait.

In fact, I genuinely believe that waiting, waiting in expectation, is an essential, and very much necessary element, of every single Christian’s maturing process.

Of feeling like we have been put on the backburner, or forgotten backstage.

We know God has gifted us with every good and perfect gift and called us to do something great, but it doesn’t seem like anything is happening in that singular direction.

That might be because God is calling you to wait.

It is God teaching you patience.

God is teaching me patience.

And all too often, if we do not wait, if we try to step out and do what we want, or even what we believe God wants for us, but we do not long wait for His timing, we will fall flat on our collective faces.

We know, these times of waiting can be incredibly fruitful times for us.

So why not anticipate that we will expectantly, innately, enjoy them.

Romans 12:1-2Amplified Bible

Dedicated Service

12 [a]Therefore I urge you, [b]brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be [c]transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].

Why not, while are waiting with high eagerness and with greatest expectations anyway, read, study, ponder, learn, as much about the Word of God as we can.

Become as much like Jesus Christ as you can.

A mushroom matures in a few days, but an oak tree takes hundreds of years.

Which would you rather be?

A mushroom, or an oak tree?

If you and I choose to wait for God’s timing, you and I will become like a tree planted by streams of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season (Psalm 1:3).

And as you and I wait, we might remember that God has not forgotten you.

And as you and I wait, we might realize that God truly hears all of our prayers.

And as you and I wait on the Lord, we might just figure out He will renew our strength, you and I will mount up with wings like eagles, you and I will run and you and I will not grow weary, you and I will both walk, we will both not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

That’s what Simeon did.

God wanted him to wait for Jesus, and he did.

Patiently waiting is a wonderful spiritual characteristic to have.

The third spiritual characteristic of Simeon was that the Holy Spirit was upon him.

This is significant because at this time in God’s history, not all believers had the Holy Spirit upon them.

The Holy Spirit could come upon a person for a while, and then could leave later.

That’s why David prayed in Psalm 51, “take not your Holy Spirit from me.”

Prior to Pentecost in Acts 2, not all believers had the Holy Spirit.

He only came upon a few, and sometimes, only for a short while.

But now, today, in the church age, the Holy Spirit dwells within all believers.

Before Pentecost in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit only came upon certain individuals for certain tasks and responsibilities.

Now, after Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is within all believers permanently.

Simeon, however, was one of those privileged saints prior to Pentecost who had the Holy Spirit.

This means that Simeon was specifically, specially chosen by God to do something specific for God.

We learn what this task was in verse 26.

Luke 2:26. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

Simeon had been told by God that he would not die until Messiah came.

This is quite a promise of God to Simeon!

We don’t know exactly how old Simeon was here, but tradition suggests he was as much as 115 years old, but again, that is only tradition.

And so Simeon had been waiting for God for much of his life, and he knows that he will see the Messiah before he dies.

If I was alive at that time, and I knew this about Simeon, I would have hung out with Simeon all the time.

I never would have left his side.

I would have wanted to be there when he saw the Messiah.

The question though is, why would God tell Simeon this?

Why did God think it was important that someone be there to see Messiah?

Why is it so important for Simeon to spend his whole life waiting, just to see the Messiah?

That’s incredible, but what’s the point?

The point is found in Deuteronomy 19:14-15.

Laws of Landmark and Testimony

14 “You shall not move your neighbor’s boundary mark, which the forefathers [who first divided the territory] have set, in the land which you will inherit in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

15 “A single witness shall not appear in a trial against a man for any wrong or any sin which he has committed; [only] [a]on the testimony or evidence of two or three witnesses shall a charge be confirmed.

We read and we learn from God’s Word, the Laws of Landmark and Testimony that on the evidence of two or three witnesses shall a matter then be confirmed.

Simeon was one of three witnesses that God used to confirm that Immanuel, the Messiah, had come to Israel in the flesh.

The shepherds were the first, Simeon is the second, and Anna is the third, whom we will look at in a bit.

But before we look at Anna, Simeon needs to do his witnessing.

Witnesses speak what they have seen and heard, and Simeon needs to speak.

So this is what he does in Luke 2:27-35.

The wait is over, and God has called upon Simeon to speak, and Simeon, though he has been on the sidelines for so long, obediently steps forth to be a witness.

C. The Wait is Over (Luke 2:27-35)

His witnessing was about two things. First, he blesses God. He thanks God for sending the Messiah.

Luke 2:27-32. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law (they were coming to redeem Jesus with five pieces of silver), he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:

“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation
Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”

Simeon recognizes from verse 29, that his life of waiting for the Messiah was according to the Word of the Lord.

Everything we do needs to be according to the Word of the Lord.

If God’s Word has not said it, you most likely cannot trust it.

Simeon did have the Word from God that he would live to see the Messiah, and so now he says he can depart in peace, he can die now, his devout life, complete.

Are you and I at that place in our own lives?

If we discovered we were going to die tomorrow, would we be ready to go?

Would we be able to depart in peace?

That is an important question to ask of ourselves.

God can take us at any time, and we all need to be ready to go at any time.

This means being at peace with God, and peace with one another all the time.

Do we need to confess something to God?

Do it today.

Do we need to restore a relationship with someone, but we have been putting it off?

Do not delay any longer.

In verse 30, Simeon is ready to depart because he has seen his, our, salvation.

Whenever we see the word salvation, or save, in the Bible, we each need to ask ourselves, “Salvation from what?” or “Saved from what?”

Recall in Luke 1, we saw that both Mary and Zacharias, but especially Zacharias, looked upon the infant Immanuel as the coming Messiah who would soon deliver them from Roman rule, and who would conquer the enemies of Israel.

They thought Jesus was coming to conquer.

And Jesus will do that when He comes the second time, but His first coming was to defeat sin and death.

His second coming is to rule and reign; His first was to come, serve and die.

Simeon sees the truth.

We know this for two reasons, first, because of what he says in verses 31-32.

This salvation, Simeon says, has been prepared before the face of all peoples, and is

A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”

Simeon is showing that he understands that Christ is coming, not to deliver the Jews from their enemies, and place Israel at the head of the nations over all the Gentile nations, but instead, that this salvation is for all people and will bring light and revelation to the Gentiles.

You see, most Jews, when they thought of the Messiah, thought He was coming just for them, and just to crush the Gentiles under His feet.

But in contrast to this, there were some in Israel who were known as

“The Quiet in the Land.”

They had no dreams of violence and of power [or] of armies and banners; they believed in a life of constant prayer and quiet watchfulness until [the Messiah] should come. All their lives they waited quietly and patiently upon God.”

Simeon was one of these Jews called The Quiet in the Land.

He understood from the Word of God what most Jews in that day had missed.

He understood that Jesus came to be a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the Gentiles, to reveal himself to the Gentiles.

And that He would do this through suffering as a servant, dying on the cross, and then raising from the dead.

And how thankful all of us should be that this is why he came the first time.

I believe that Simeon partially understood this purpose of Christ’s first coming, and he reveals this purpose here by what he says in thanksgiving to God.

But Simeon is not done.

He next turns to bless Joseph and Mary in Luke 2:33-35.

Luke 2:33-35. And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

This isn’t much of a blessing, is it?

Well, actually, it doesn’t appear that the blessing of Simeon to Joseph and Mary is recorded here.

We should read this passage as saying that Simeon blessed them, and then after he was done, he then speaks to them what we read in Luke 2:34-35.

The words of Simeon to Mary about a sword piercing her own heart is a prophecy about Christ’s coming crucifixion on Calvary’s cross.

It would be the most tragic event in the life of Mary, and yet, at the same time, the greatest salvation event of all time.

Mary’s soul would be pierced, and so will ours when we innately understand the suffering of Christ, that Jesus did it all to save us.

And if people get saved, God, in, through, Christ Jesus, considers it all worth it.

The rest of Simeon’s words to Joseph and Mary are again an indication that Simeon knows what Jesus has come for.

Not to raise up Israel and deliver them from Roman rule, but to cause the fall and rising of many in Israel, and to be spoken against.

The result will be that many hearts would be revealed.

This is exactly what happens in the life of Jesus.

Most of the leaders of Israel reject him, and so they fall from their positions.

Many of the poor accept him, and so are risen to leadership in the church.

Jesus was definitely spoken against by many.

And ultimately, the thoughts of many hearts were revealed.

Most people wanted a Messiah for selfish reasons.

They wanted to profit from the Messiah, or gain power from the Messiah.

The Gospel of Luke will show all of this to us as we go through it.

Simeon also reveals the thoughts of his own heart here.

He knew what kind of Messiah Jesus would be, and he had waited his whole life for this event, and now that it had come, he could finally depart in peace.

Simeon was the second of three witnesses.

Before we move on to Anna, let me just ask you, what are you waiting for?

What are you and I looking forward to?

Is it that next vacation?

Is it getting married?

Maybe having a child…or a grandchild?

Getting that promotion at work?

Any or All of those hundreds of millions of dollars someone promised us?

Hey, all of these things are good things to wait for.

All of these things are good things to accomplish in life.

All of these things are blessings from God.

But real contentment in life comes from knowing what to look forward to, from knowing what to wait for, from knowing exactingly who we are waiting for.

Simeon knew what to wait for. He waited for and looked forward to Messiah’s first coming.

And similarly, we are to wait for Christ’s Second Coming.

The New Testament tells us over and over that we should eagerly wait and anxiously look for the blessed appearing of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (Romans 8:23-25; 1 Corinthians 1:7; 4:5; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; Titus 2:13).

Living with this in mind, knowing that Jesus could come today, or tomorrow, causes us to live with the right priorities.

It causes us to live with eternity in focus.

It causes us to do things that ultimately will matter for eternity, rather than just for the next moment, the next minute, hour day, next week, next millennium.

And furthermore, if we eagerly look for Christ’s coming, we will do everything we can to speed his coming.

In Matthew 24:14, it says that the end will come only after the whole world has heard the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Waiting for Jesus should cause us to be witnesses just as Simeon’s waiting for Jesus caused him to be a witness.

Let us turn now to see the third witness, Anna.

Simeon Obeyed God’s Word in Waiting for Jesus.

Anna Obeyed God’s Word in Worshiping Jesus.

III. Anna Obeyed God’s Word in Worshiping and Devoutly Serving God (Luke 2:36-38)

Just as with Simeon,

the account of Anna begins with a description of her characteristics.

A. Anna’s Characteristics (Luke 2:36-37a)

Luke 2:36-37a. Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years,

First, we learn that her name was Anna.

Her name comes from the Hebrew word for grace.

And the grace of God was definitely upon her as we see in the rest of these verses.

The grace of God was upon her first of all, in that she was a prophetess.

There are several women in the Bible who have this privilege and distinction; Miriam (Exodus 15:20), Deborah (Judges 4:4), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14) and of Philips daughters (Acts 21:9) are examples of others.

Anna’s work as a prophetess was to speak the Word of God, and share what she knew about Jesus with all who would listen to her.

This is what we will see her doing in Luke 2:38, and this was the basic ministry description of all prophets in the Bible also.

The next evidence of the grace of God in her life is the fact that she was of the tribe of Asher.

You say, “What does that have to do with the grace of God in her life?”

Well, Asher was one of the northern tribes of Israel that rebelled against God, and so was carried away into captivity by the Assyrians.

 

God has always kept a remnant of each tribe safe for himself. We can read the accounts in 1 and 2 Chronicles and other places in Scripture which clearly show the existence of other members of the other tribes of Israel. This is an example right here in Luke 2. Anna was of the tribe of Asher. She knew who she was, and so did everyone else. She did not go to Ethiopia. She did not come to America. She was not lost. She was in Israel. And that is an example of the grace of God. Though her ancestors had rebelled and been carried off into captivity, God had nevertheless raised her up to be one of these witnesses.

A final sign of the grace of God being upon her is her age. We learn here that she was married for seven years and a widow for 84 years. This either means that she was a widow who was 84 years old, or that she had been a widow for 84 years. If we go with the second possibility, which I think has the stronger case. She would then be about 104 years old.[9] But either way, she had been a widow for a very long time. And rather than grow bitter and resentful that she had been a widow so long, she became better.

Sorrow can do one of two things to you. It can make you hard, bitter, resentful and rebellious against God, or it can make you kinder, softer, more sympathetic. It can spoil your faith, or cause your faith to take deeper root. It all depends on how you choose to respond to the sorrow and trials in your life.[10] Anna chose the better path. She chose to reveal the grace of God in her life. And I think that is one reason God gave her a long life.

Do you know what she did with her long life? She served God with it. Look at the last half of verse 37.

B. Served God (Luke 2:37b)

Luke 2:37b. [she] did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

This tells us that Anna, like Simeon, was another one of those who were known as The Quiet in the Land.

She served God first of all by staying in the temple.

It says she didn’t even depart from the temple.

This means that she went to the temple as much as possible.

Nobody, not even the priests lived in the temple.

The High Priest alone had chambers there, but even He did not live there.

So it means that she was there as much as possible.

And while there, she served God by fasting and praying night and day.

This is a wonderful blessing to pour out upon God’s church and God’s people if you are able to do it.

It is sometimes true, not always, but sometimes, that those who are older do not need as much food and sleep as they did when they were younger.

So some of them, some of you, take the opportunity to become prayer warriors for God. You fast and pray. You pray during the night, and pray during the day.

There are many things that go into a healthy church and fruitful ministry,

but here we see two of the most important factors of becoming a healthy Christian and a healthy church.

If you and I want to become a healthy Christian, and we want this church to become healthy, you and I need to follow the example of Anna.

First, spend as much time as possible in church, worshipping God, serving God, fellowshipping with other Christians, learning the Word of God.

That’s the first thing. It will help you; it will help the church.

But secondly, spend as much time as possible praying.

Prayer is the lifeblood of the church.

Prayer is what keeps a church and it’s ministries supported, moving forward.

Prayer is what keeps you in communication with God.

Prayer is what holds back the spiritual forces of darkness.

Prayer is how you can support the pastor and the other laity leaders of your church – the elders and the Sunday school teachers and the music team and everybody else in anointed, voluntary and appointed leadership positions.

And we see this in Anna.

She was a prayer warrior.

Not only did she pray, but she fasted and prayed, and she did it night and day.

Oh, may God give every church many people like Anna who serve God with fasting and praying night and day.

Finally, in verse 38, we read of how Anna was the third witness for Christ coming as the Messiah.

She spoke of Jesus.

C. Spoke of Jesus (Luke 2:38)

Luke 2:38. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

Like Simeon, she gave all her thanks to God for sending the Messiah, and then, not stopping there, she went out and spoke to everybody who was looking for redemption in Jerusalem.

She went around telling people that their Savior, their Redeemer had come.

She was the third witness.

What are some lessons from the lives of Simeon and Anna?

Both of them would be considered elderly by today’s standards, and yet neither one of them thought that being old meant that God was done with them.

Sometimes, in our modern interpretation and understanding the standards of our culture, those of us who are younger seem to think that those who are older have nothing to teach us, and sometimes, those of us who are older, believe it.

Other times, those who are older know they have a whole lot to teach those who are of the younger generations, but they would much rather spend the bulk of their hard earned retirement years fishing and golfing and playing card games.

Both of these views are wrong.

The Bible says those who are younger should learn from those who are older.

Titus 2, for example, encourages older woman to teach and train and disciple younger women how to be mothers and wives.

Older men also, can pass on great skills and truths to younger men.

Those who are older have priceless lessons and years of wisdom to pass on to those who are younger.

And these are not just lessons about cooking and gardening and parenting, but truths from the Bible and lessons on how to pray, or resist temptation, that you and I have hardcore learned over the years – all these things can be passed on.

Even in the church, there are hundreds of things that can be done by those who are older that younger people cannot and are not able to do.

You see, I believe that retirement is often God’s way of releasing the believer from daily responsibilities in order to allow him or her to devote more time and effort to a ministry.

Maybe we shouldn’t call it retirement anymore, but transition.

We transition from working for the world at your job to working for God in the church.

I believe that actually, the years we spent working in the world could actually be God preparing us for the real work of the ministry He wants you and I to do once we have matured in our years, we are reclassifying ourselves as being “retired.”

What skills, what lessons, what truths have you learned which we ourselves can pass on to the next coming generations?

How can we encourage?

How can we help our neighbors?

How can we minister to the needs of others?

Consider the maximum measure of brevity of the Kingdom of God ….

Consider the immeasurable dimensions of God’s entire Neighborhood ….

Consider the ultimately measurable dimensions of our Neighborhoods ….

For believers, the latter years can be the richest in all of life if they become a blessing and a blessed and fruitful part, an example, a mentor, of other lives.

The gentle touch of a seasoned life alive in Jesus Christ brings mutual enrichment.

The elderly should not be great social outcasts, but a living “overpass” between generations; not just a lonely dead end but a visible well-lighted avenue to lead younger people to the riches of a superlative time of living God’s abundant life.

Contentment is not a matter of age or energy level, neither is it a function of how many possessions you have accumulated.

Contentment and significance in life is measured by how open you are to serving God and sharing Him with others.

Even though death is imminent for Simeon and Anna, they have found the meaning of life, and what makes life significant.

They did not wait around for the next vacation, or the next toy, or the next adventure, nor for riches which would, in all probability, never materialize.

No, they waited for their Messiah Jesus Christ, and as they waited, they served God, they honored and worshiped God in any and every single way they could.

What are you and I waiting for?

Who are you and I waiting for?

I hope you and I are waiting for Jesus Christ.

And as you and I do, I hope you and I are wisely using the time and abilities and talents God has given to you and me.

The entirety of our lives has meaning when we spend it all waiting for Jesus.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Angels
Shepherds
Tourists
Magi
Except for Simeon…
Expectantly waiting for consolation of Israel
Righteous, Devout, Spirit filled
Promised no death until…Messiah seen
Temple duties…
Mary, Joseph, Jesus divinely bump into Simeon
Simeon sees, shakes, spirit soars, secures Savior skyward
Shouts Spirit filled Simeon
“Nunc Dimittis!” – NOW! I can depart…
In peace,
Perfect, pacific peace!
Eyes see salvation!
Light to Gentiles
Glory to Israel!
Family returns…Nazareth bound
How bout us?
We came, sang, prayed
Did we see shining Savior’s salvation?
Like Simeon depart in peace?
From the pew, church, life?
“Nunc Dimittis”!!
Now!
Depart
Return in Peace!

God, our shepherd,
you continue to blaze our paths
and point to who and what’s best for us.
You said in your Word
that though the human mind plans the way,
you direct our steps.
We can plan all we want but nothing is out of reach for you.
We pray that we surrender our pride, by your Spirit,
and wholeheartedly follow your direction
so that we may have a better understanding of our calling in Jesus Christ. 
In the exalted name of Jesus, your Son, and the power of your Holy Spirit,

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum!

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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“Come, Magnify Jehovah God With Me!” Songs of Christmas: Mary’s Song of her Truly Magnificent Theology! Luke 1:46-55

Luke 1:46-55Amplified Bible

The Magnificat

46 And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies and exalts the Lord,
47 
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
48 
“For He has looked [with loving care] on the humble state of His maidservant;
For behold, from now on all generations will count me blessed and happy and favored by God!
49 
“For He who is mighty has done great things for me;
And holy is His name [to be worshiped in His purity, majesty, and glory].
50 
“And His mercy is upon generation after generation
Toward those who [stand in great awe of God and] fear Him.
51 
“He has done mighty deeds with His [powerful] arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.
52 
“He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And exalted those who were humble.
53 
“He has filled the hungry with good things;
And sent the rich away empty-handed.
54 
“He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
55 
Just as He promised to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

My wife and I love Christmas carols.

They are what make the Christmas season so special and memorable.

This is probably true of the majority of us.

The tunes and the words remind us of what this season is all about.

They remind us of growing up, singing these very same songs in a candlelight Christmas eve service and sometimes (this year) of Christmas on a Sunday.

They remind us of sitting on the couch in our living room, watching the lights on the Christmas tree sparkle while listening to carols on the radio and TV.

Yes, Christmas carols are one of the things that make Christmas, Christmas.

Did you just happen to notice that such songs magnifying and praising God for the Savior’s birth were always part of this celebration?

Just read your Bibles ….

Such songs actually began to be sung before the Savior was even born.

One of the songs is sung by young Mary, and the other is composed by the aged Zacharias – there are actually five songs in these first two chapters of Luke.

Two by women, two by men, and one by the heavenly angels.

English Theologian and Hymn Writer Henry Burton, writing at the end of the 19th century, likens these two chapters to the entryway of the grand cathedral of the Gospel.

Imagine, as you enter the doors to this cathedral, the first thing you encounter is glorious music.

On the one side are Zacharias and Simeon, the one chanting his Benedictus, and the other his Nunc Dimittis. Facing them, as if in antiphony, are Elizabeth and Mary, the one singing her Beatitude, and other her Magnificat; while overhead, in the frescoed and star lighted sky, are vast multitudes of the heavenly host, enriching the Advent music with their Gloria’s.

Henry Burton

Burton goes on like this for some time. It is wonderful reading, and very poetic.

It seems when reading his sermon that we are being ushered slowly into the crystal halls of grace, our hearts begins to beat with the excitement of standing before the throne and bowing before the feet of Almighty God.

That is the point of music.

To invite us, to call us, to prepare us to meet God.

Luke beckons us into his Gospel with beautiful music that calls us to worship God.

He has put together his choir.

Two women, two men, and the angels as backup vocals.

Burton says that at first, the songs seem too loud.

They seem deafening, out of place, confusing.

This struck a note with me, because that is exactly what I thought when I was reading and re-reading and meditating on the opening two chapters of Luke.

These songs seem to be so misplaced, abrupt and strangely out of character for people like Mary, Zacharias and Simeon.

But Burton points out that they are intended to be deafening, for look what event in history they proclaim!

How disheartening, sad and empty it would be if Messiah had come to earth, and there was no words to tell of it or song or music to proclaim His arrival.

Matthew, Mark and John do not include any of these songs, so how thankful we are to God that the Narrator Luke did.

Can you imagine Christmas without Christmas carols?

What an absolute tragedy it would be if the first Christmas had no music to announce Messiah’s coming.

Burton says

“had there not been a burst of song, [and that the most joyful burst in history], we [would] have listened for the very stones to cry out, rebuking the silence.”

This is seen to be true as we look at Mary’s Song.

It is found in Luke 1:46-55.

It is sometimes referred to as the Magnificat, which is a Latin term from the opening word of Luke 1:46.

It means, “To magnify.”

Mary’s song is all about magnifying Jesus Christ as Lord.

Though He has not yet been born, she wants to sing His praises and magnify Jehovah God’s name.

This is where all such songs begin – with praise to God for what He has done.

Let us break this down a bit.

I. Praise (Luke 1:46-47)

And Mary said:

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

Mary reveals something very significant about praising and worshipping God.

Although verse 46 comes first, it is in the present tense, whereas verse 47 is in the past tense.

In other words, her soul magnifies Jehovah God, because her spirit has already rejoiced in Jehovah her God.

A spirit that rejoices in God leads to a soul that magnifies God.

Biblically, the soul is the root and seat of our emotions.

It refers to our inner self, our emotional center (Psalms 6:3; 10:3).

It is through our souls we relate personally and emotionally with other people.

But the spirit is altogether different.

The spirit is not our emotional side.

It is the side of us that relates to God.

It is the part of us which knows who Jehovah God is, and what He is like, and what He wants from us.

It is the part of us which understands what Jehovah God has done for us, and all that Jehovah God has given to us.

When Mary says that her spirit has rejoiced in God, she is saying that she has understood who God is.

She knows what He has said in His Word.

She believes in the truths He has revealed.

This is the beginning point of all true worship magnifying Jehovah God—an understanding of the facts about Jehovah God.

Emotions and feelings are not necessarily part of true worship.

There are people who believe they have neither magnified or worshipped God unless they get goosebumps and chills, or break out in tears, or end up shouting at the top of their lungs with excitement.

That is soulish worship, but not spiritual worship.

Mary reveals that true worship of God begins with the spirit.

It begins with an understanding who Jehovah God is, and what He has done, and all that He has given to us.

If you do not take the time to read, study and understand the deeper truths of Scripture, you cannot truly worship Jehovah God from deep within your spirit.

Jesus says in John 4 that true worshippers worship God in spirit and in truth.

True worship of Jehovah God flows through the spirit based upon the solid foundation of the Word of God.

Where the Scriptures are not understood, the spirit does not get involved, and there can be no true worship.

Sometimes, the emotions and feelings of the soul get involved.

This is what happens to Mary here.

She says that her soul magnifies, and praises and delights in the Lord.

In other words, she is very emotional, and very excited about God. But this only happened because her spirit willfully understood and rejoiced in God her Savior.

A lot of people say they can’t worship unless they feel like it.

They also think they are not truly worshipping unless they feel something.

Mary reveals true worship of God will sometimes lead to feelings, but not always.

True worship of God does not focus on feelings, but on what God has done for us, and what God has given to us.

When you come to church on a Sunday, or when you sit down on Monday morning with a cup of coffee to listen to your worship CD, listen to satellite radio and read your Bible, and pray – what do all these things stand for?

Is it to get a tickle or a tingle from Jehovah God?

Is it to feel the brush of angel’s wings?

Is it to sense the Spirit falling fresh upon you?

These sorts of things are wonderful when they happen, but they do not necessarily reveal that you have worshipped.

True worship is in the Spirit, not in our emotions, and is based on the truth, not on how we feel.

Do you want to worship God? Get into the Word of God, and ask the Spirit of God to open the truths of Scriptures to your mind.

Sometimes the soul will jump in and you will get that tingle, and that rush, and heart beating wildly…but not always, and maybe not very often.

True worship does not depend on our emotions being highly activated, but depends on spiritually connecting to, understanding the depth of Scriptures.

We know that this is how Mary worshipped.

Mary had a mind that was thoroughly soaked in Scripture.

We know this from the way the angel speaks to her, how she responds to the sudden encounter with the angel Gabriel.

We know it from the words Mary speaks.

We know it from the way Mary lives and raises Jesus.

We know it from the way she interacts and relates with her husband Joseph.

We also know it, because this song of hers is very similar to the song of Hannah, long barren and scorned for it when prays to God, and she gives birth to Samuel.

And the song of Miriam, when the Israelites escaped the Egyptian army by passing through the Red Sea.

In this song, which is ten verses long, there are fifteen discernable quotations from the Old Testament.

Mary’s mind was saturated with Scripture.

Mary knew the word of God, and it came out of her when she worshipped God.

How do you and I respond to the truths of God?

With scorn, ridicule and deep seated hardcore disbelief?

With a lackadaisical yawn of boredom?

How about the thought of responding like Mary?

These truths are eternal truths, rich truths, inspiring truths.

If you allow God to speak to you through His Word, there will be times when you want to break out in song for the magnificence of what Jehovah revealed to you.

For Mary, worshipping God was the greatest, most exciting thing she could do.

The truths and promises she learned about God from Scripture caused her to rejoice in and throughout her whole entire being.

She worshipped God in spirit and in truth.

She rejoiced in the God of her salvation.

She magnified the Lord, and exalted His name.

In the rest of her song, we see some of the truths of Scripture she had learned and was exited about.

She sings about how the Messiah will benefit her, how He will benefit the world, and how He will benefit Israel.

Her benefits are found in Luke 1:48-49.

II. Mary’s Benefit (Luke 1:48-49)

For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.

Mary says all generations will call her blessed, and that God is Holy.

For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant.

For He (Jehovah) who is mighty has done great things for her.

She is called “Holy Mary, Mother of God.”

She is definitely the mother of God, and she is definitely blessed, but it is God alone who is holy.

She was a sinner just like the rest of us.

But Jesus was born without sin because He did not have an earthly father.

Instead, God, who alone is holy, is His Father.

Mary reveals her knowledge of this in these verses.

First, she speaks of her own lowly state.

This of course, refers to her own humility and lowliness of mind.

But it also refers to her sinful condition.

She understood that she was a sinner.

The word Mary uses here is also used in Philippians 3:21 to refer to the body of sin that we all find ourselves in.

Philippians 3:21 speaks of our body of humiliation, in direct contrast to the body of glorification we will receive in heaven.

The main difference between our body now, and our body in heaven, is sin.

Mary knows she is a sinner.

This is why she is lowly and humble.

Secondly, she also recognizes that she is a servant.

She refers to herself as the Maidservant of God.

She does not deserve anything from God, but wishes only to serve and please Him. Yet though she is a sinner and a servant, God has seen fit to bless her.

She recognizes that all generations will call her blessed.

This is not a statement of pride, but is a remembrance of what the angel had already told her. When he appeared, he proclaimed, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women” (1:28).

And this is true.

She has been blessed.

She is the most favored woman on the face of the earth.

But did you know that you can be blessed more than Mary?

Later in Jesus’ life, He is teaching, and a woman shouts out from the crowd, “Blessed is the womb that bore you…” Jesus responds by saying, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:27-28)

Jesus was not trying to downplay the significance of Mary’s blessing.

He was putting her blessedness in perspective.

We have already seen the Mary was blessed because of her knowledge of and obedience to the Word of God.

Jesus reveals that if you and I want to be blessed just as much, if not more, than Mary, all we have to do is do the same thing she did – read the Word of God, and study, meditate upon the Word of God, hear the Word of God and just “DO IT.”

This is what it all comes back to.

The Word of God must be read, studied, meditated upon, heard and obeyed.

This is where true worship of God springs from.

This is where true blessings from God come from.

If you want to worship God, you must get into the Word.

If you want to be blessed by God, you must get into the Word.

Mary’s song reveals all of this.

She understands what God has said.

She understands who God is.

She understands what God has done.

She understands what God has done for her.

And in Luke 1:50-53, she understands what God has done for the world.

III. World’s Benefit (Luke 1:50-53)

And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.

Mary sings that Jehovah God responds in two ways to the two different kinds of people in the world.

There are those who fear God and those who obey Him, and those who are proud and arrogant.

The ones who fear God and obey Him receive His mercy and provision for their needs.

They are exalted.

Those who are arrogant and haughty are cast down and scattered.

Fearing God is a respectful obedience of Him.

He shows his mercy to those who fear Him.

The greatest act of mercy God has ever shown is in sending Jesus Christ to the world to save sinners such as you and I.

Though we deserved only punishment, God did not give this to us, but gave us His Son Jesus Christ instead – ALL who believe in Him alone receive eternal life.

Mary implies that this good news is not just for her generation, but can be passed down from generation to generation.

The good news is for all people.

The blessings of God through Jesus Christ are for everybody, if they will just believe in Jesus.

We see the opposite happens to those who trust only in themselves.

The proud trust in themselves and in their own plans.

God scatters these plans and does not let them come to fruition.

He “breaks their measures, blasts their projects…brings them low, brings them down…[and He does this] by the very counsels with which they thought to advance and establish themselves.” (Psalm 138:6, Proverbs 16:1-9, 18-19, 18:12, 21:4)

They lay traps for others, but God causes them to fall into it themselves. Their pride leads only to their own destruction.

Before Jehovah God, the plans of the haughty will come down to nothing.

In the book of Esther, Haman sets out to destroy the people of Israel and magnify himself.

But the story ends with him losing everything he had worked for, and even getting hung on the gallows he built for his enemy, Mordecai.

Though God is not mentioned in the book of Esther, His handiwork is seen everywhere in exalting the humble, and bringing down the proud.

Even in the rest of history, the higher men rise, the further they fall.

Kings and princes – those who set themselves up the highest, “the one’s above all the rest” – fall the fastest furthest from the throne of God.

This is what Mary sings.

While the proud are brought down and left empty handed, the humble and lowly are filled and exalted.

This is not because their plans were so great, but because their God is greater.

This is the benefit God has poured out upon the world through the coming of the Messiah.

Luke 1:52Amplified Bible

52 
“He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And exalted those who were humble.

This was a wonderful promise for people in Mary’s day.

The common people of that day were almost helpless when it came to justice and civil rights. They were often hungry, downtrodden and discouraged (Luke 4:16-19), and there was no way to ‘fight the system.’

…Mary saw the Lord turning everything upside down: the weak dethrone the mighty, the humble scatter the proud, the nobodies are exalted, the hungry are filled, and the rich end up poor!”

I want to see the world turned upside-down.

I want to see hungry people fed.

I want to see tyrants removed from their petty thrones.

I want to see broken lives put back together.

I want to see people who have little know the blessing of God’s lavish care.

I want to see clever people discover that God’s foolishness is true wisdom.

That isn’t the kind of world we live in, is it?

But is such a world coming?

Mary sings of a world in which social relationships are up-ended; she sings of an upside-down kingdom created by Jehovah God, ministered by divine grace.

If you are a disciple of Jesus, you live in that kingdom already.

Oh, I realize that kingdom isn’t fully here.

But the faithful discipleship of people like Mary is helping that kingdom show its face throughout the world.

This reminds us of the beatitudes we read in Matthew 5 and Luke 6.

Such truths are very comforting, even for us.

When you are wronged, God will set it straight.

When you are downtrodden, God will lift you up.

When you are slighted, God will bless you.

When you are insulted, God will exalt you.

Of course, the condition for Him doing these things for you is that you must be humble and lowly yourself.

You must immerse yourself deep into the Word of Truth and be obedient to it.

Mary begins her song by magnifying God.

If you have trouble magnifying God, it is probably because you are spending too much “quality time” magnifying only yourself.

If you have trouble magnifying and praising Jehovah God, it is probably because you are trying too hard to displace Jehovah God and sit yourself in His seat.

You had better step down before you get tripped up.

God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

This is the benefit to the world.

The final benefit goes to Israel in Luke 1:54-55.

IV. Israel’s Benefit (Luke 1:54-55)

He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever.

Although the people of Israel have almost always been in a state of rebellion against God, God reminds them here through Mary He will never forsake them, but will always remember them and will always fulfill His promises to them.

God is on Israel’s side!

Mary once again shows her knowledge of Scripture by quoting one of the promises of God to Abraham from the Old Testament (Genesis 12:1-3; 17:19; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14).

Do not ever let anyone tell you that God has permanently set Israel aside and will not fulfill His promises to her.

If God does not fulfill His promises to Israel, He might not fulfill His promises to us either.

God always fulfills all of His promises.

He does not lie.

Mary shows she understands that the baby in her womb is God fulfilling another promise to Israel.

It is Jehovah God coming to help Israel and fulfill His Word.

Mary’s song is a beautiful reminder of all that God has done for us and has promised to do for those who follow after Him.

It is a new song magnifying Jehovah God that burst from the lips of Mary, based on what she knew Scripture to say.

This song, for me, seems to end way too abruptly.

All of a sudden, it’s just over.

It stops.

Maybe Mary drifted off into humming her tune. Maybe Luke didn’t record all of her song. But I think her song ended just as recorded here—with an abrupt stop.

Why?

Because her song is not over.

This was just the first verse of millions more to come.

She sang many more stanzas throughout her life, and the men and women of God throughout time who allow the words of Scripture to penetrate their minds have added many more words to this song.

You and too can Magnify Jehovah God – You and can add our own verses too.

Your life and my life are a stanza in the greatest song ever written.

You and I are part of a divine symphony.

How are you and I playing your pieces?

It’s like the end of the book of Acts.

Acts 28 ends without any conclusion.

It seems natural that there should be an Acts 29.

And there is.

There is no end to Acts, because you and I are continuing to write chapters in that book which records the acts of the Christians in the church.

You and I are Acts 29, and 30, and 31 and on and on.

It’s similar with Mary’s song.

You and I are yet writing more stanzas.

It must never be forgotten that whenever Christ has entered into the human heart, a new song has been put into the mouth of the believer.

Christianity in the heart means music in the life.

A religion or a church without joy is a scorched landscape without the sun.

Christianity without [the] elevation [of music] is as an eagle with broken wings.

Do you want to mount up with wings like eagles?

Do you want to run, and not hide from Jehovah God, run but not grow weary?

Turn to Scripture every single day, asking God to give you a note to sing.

He will show you a verse, or a passage that He wants you to read and think long and hardcore about, meditate upon and pray upon it throughout that day.

These verses pluck on the harp strings of our lives, and Jehovah God will see to it we’ll feel as if there is a constant song on our lips and a bounce in our steps.

You and I may not have a good voice.

You and I may only be capable of making “joyful, joy-filled” noises.

You and I may not have a melodious or very poetic way of saying things.

It doesn’t matter.

God made you and me, and He loves to hear us sing and give praise to His glory.

God gave you and me the wonderful gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

During any and every Christmas season, people will often ask what to give to the person who has everything.

But only God has everything.

So what do we give to the God who has everything?

We exalt Jehovah God!

We magnify Jehovah God!

We give Jehovah God praise!

We give Jehovah God all the Glory!

We give Jehovah God all the Honor!

We give Jehovah God our prayers and our worship!

We give Jehovah God thanks.

That is what Jehovah God wants.

That is why Jehovah God created us!

Learn a lesson from Mary – sing praise and thanks to God this Christmas.

Learn a lesson from Mary – Magnify the Lord God Jehovah every single day!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Our hearts praise you, O Lord, our spirits rejoice in God our Savior, for you have remembered us, your humble servants. Mighty God, we celebrate the great and mighty things you have done for us—your name is to be magnified and is holy!

From one generation to another you have shown your great mercy on those who honor you. You have stretched out your mighty arm, scattering the conceited, confusing their schemes. You bring down tyrants and lift up the lowly; you fill the hungry with good things, but send the rich away empty. You have kept your promises to us; you have come to our help; you will show your people your love for ever; let the words of our mouth and the first loves of our lives magnify you, our hearts, our souls sing with the heavenly chorus to honor, worship and praise you, O Lord Jehovah.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen

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