Advent 2019 – Day 6

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Clear Creek State Park, PA

Romans 8:18-25 – For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.  And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.  For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

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Advent 2019 – Day 5

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Verse 2

O Come, O Come, Thou Lord of might, who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height,

in ancient times did give the law in cloud and majesty and awe.

If you asked me to write a couplet based on the prophecy of one called the Lord of might, or mighty God, coming for His people, I would instinctively be inclined to a much different angle.  After all, the people of Israel were often under attack – in need of a mighty God to be their champion; or else they were in captivity – in need of a mighty God to be their liberator.

So why would the author of this antiphon choose instead to highlight the Lord of might as the giver of the law?  Surely there are any number of other monikers with which this would pair better. Continue reading →

Advent 2019 – Day 4

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Isaiah 59:1-2 & 20 — Behold, the LORD’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so He does not hear.
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“A Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD.

As ever, Israel is a microcosm of God’s story for us. As their transgressions kept them from the promised land, so too our sins have kept us from God’s presence. We have always been exiles. But, even in the depths, God sees. In our most dire separation, there is hope in the prophecy that a redeemer will come. Continue reading →

Advent 2019 – Day 3

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Isaiah 7:14 – Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Names are important in Scripture, like when God changed Abram (high father) to Abraham (father of a multitude).  Or when Simon was given the name Cephas/Peter/Rock. Jesus has 100+ names throughout Scripture, each one revealing more of his purpose and character. Continue reading →

Advent 2019 – Day 2

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Cherry Springs (47)

Daniel 1:1-6 — In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.  The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god.  Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring in some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and of the nobles, youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king’s court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.  The king appointed for them a daily ration from the king’s choice food and from the wine which he drank, and appointed that they should be educated three years, at the end of which they were to enter the king’s personal service.  Now among them from the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.

In 605 BC, three centuries after the split of the Hebrews into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and a century after the Kingdom of Israel had been taken by the Assyrians, the Kingdom of Judah falls to the Babylonians.

The people of God are exiled, scattered.  Jerusalem and the Temple will soon be destroyed. Continue reading →

Advent 2019 – Day 1

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IMG_1017It’s Advent once again.  I began this devotional series as a gift of encouragement for my small group, but as I’ve drawn deeper, my heart is to share with all of those who would join me in some daily moments of reflection this season.  Thank you for joining me in waiting this year.

The first candle we light is the candle of the prophets, the candle of hope.

Scholars differ on the number (as they so often do), but the Old Testament contains anywhere from 200 to 400 prophecies regarding the Messiah – and they aren’t limited to the capital “P” Prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, et al.. The coming of God’s anointed was known and passed down as part of the faith of the Hebrews since before they were a people.  Moses wrote of Him, David sang of Him.

I won’t list here the copious references and their New Testament fulfillment – you have Google for that – but I would share one prophecy I have been reflecting on today: the first one, God’s words to the serpent in Genesis 3:14-15.

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Standing Secure in God

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Read: 2 Samuel 22:1-7, 20-35; Habakkuk 3:1-6, 16-19

Reflect: “He makes my feet like the feet of a deer.”

There are only two people in Scripture who use these words: David and Habakkuk.  David first sings them to the LORD at the end of his last battle, after his servants have killed the four sons of the very giant David himself killed long ago in his first battle.  It’s a song of victory.  David looks back at a lifetime of God’s providence and rejoices in His goodness and strength.   He’s confident in who God is and in his relationship with Him:

“For you are my lamp, O LORD, and my God lightens my

darkness.  For by you I can run against a troop, and by my

God I can leap over a wall.” [2 Sam 22:29-30, ESV]

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Resident Alien: Abraham Part II [Hebrews 11:9-10]

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I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could deal if all we ever read about in scripture were perfectly holy people, never doing wrong, and shining through the ages as beacons of irreproachable righteousness.

I cannot adequately express how much that would suck.

So I am thankful that, for every example of faith, the Bible also keeps record of the mistakes, the sins, the doubts, the “bad-life-decisions”, and the utter failures that remind us God’s historical cast was broken, inadequate, temperamental, imperfect and, well, human.

And Abraham is no exception.  Father of nations or no, Abraham pulled some really stupid stuff in his time.  Like when he passed his wife, Sarah, off as his sister.  Or when he tried to take control of God’s plan and slept with his servant to produce an heir.  Or when he abandoned that servant and her newborn child to his wife’s jealousy.  Or when he passed his wife, Sarah, off as his sister…again.

Really, Abraham? Not cool.

It is encouraging, then, when we get to Hebrews and find that even a life as flawed as Abraham’s can be marked by faith: Continue reading →

Into the Unknown: Abraham Part I [Hebrews 11:8]

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By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Hebrews 11:8 [NASB]

One of the things I love about opening the Word is that I am never quite certain where it is going to take me.  Take this week for example:  I sat down to look at Abraham’s mentions in Hebrews thinking that I would probably need to look at his faith in two parts – Abraham’s life of faith in a strange land (v. 8-10) and Abraham’s faith in God’s promises (v. 17-19).  As I dug in, however, I realized that there was a lot being said in verse 8 alone, things that needed to stand on their own, things that I needed to hear.

So now, we’ll be looking at Abraham’s faith in three parts.  And we start with his first steps, when he was still Abram: Continue reading →

No Contingencies: Noah [Hebrews 11:7]

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These are the records of the generations of Noah.  Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.  And Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japeth.  Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.  And God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.  Then God said to Noah; “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.  Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.  And this is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.  You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.  And behold I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.  But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark – you and your sons and your wife and your son’s wives with you.  And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.  Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind shall come to you to keep them alive.  And as for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.”  Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.

Genesis 6:9-22 [NASB]

Can you imagine Noah’s thoughts as God gave His instructions?   Whether or not it had ever actually rained, nobody had ever seen that much rain.  Never had a boat (or any structure probably) been built to such scale as God set forth.  What was Noah thinking?  “How can I possibly build something that big?”  “All the animals? Really?”  “Why me?”  “Why my family?”  “This is impossible.”  “People are going to think I am crazy.”  and maybe “Holy cow! God’s talking to me!”
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