Romans 16:17-19 - I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naïve people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. Take Heed Lest You Fall These are some of Paul's last words to the Church at Rome. With these words he revealed his Christian love and pastor's heart for this congregation. After a significant, deep, and vital treatise on Christian doctrine and living, Paul stressed one last time how crucial it was for these Christians to take heed to what he shared with them. Paul knew there were those wolves in sheep's clothing (Acts 20) who would creep in among God’s people (from within and without) and cause divisions - some purposefully and others because they themselves had been deceived. Regardless, these wolves would place obstacles before God’s people. They would seek to undo and disrupt sound teaching; the very doctrine Paul took pains to communicate throughout his Letter to the Romans. Deception, Then Derailment Paul said to keep away from such troublemakers. Don't hang around them. No good can come from getting too close to them. Such people do not represent our Lord, regardless of how smooth their words are. They serve the idol of their own agenda, their own desires and cravings, not Christ's. The first result of listening to them is deception. Once deception sets in, wandering from the faith is never far behind. Paul loved the Church at Rome. Because he cared for them, he therefore encouraged them and built them up by complimenting their obedience. But he warned them to be wise with regard to what is good and innocent concerning evil. Sticking your head in the sand won't do here. The discernment Paul spoke of required learning and growing in the sound doctrine he had been teaching them throughout his letter. Their lives and souls were at stake, as well as future generations of Roman Christians. The same is true for you, your children, church, and friends if you wander from the sound, life-giving, life-transforming doctrine of God’s Word. Walking Points
All-wise Father, your Word presents to us, from beginning to end, commands and encouragement to take the right path and warnings against taking the wrong one. We are to believe in you and no other. We are to follow you and your Word and nothing else. We are to take the hard and narrow road and not the wide and easy one. Every page of Scripture beckons us to trust you and follow the map you have set before us. Please forgive me for those times when I, as did Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress, stray from the path, even a little. Thank you for your abundant grace which shows me my error and your Spirit who enables me to get back on the right path and continue my journey with you. Please help me to serve as a guide for others who are traveling through this world, seemingly unaware of the map and other road signs you have provided. Furthermore, help me lead and protect from false teachers and prophets, those you have entrusted to my care. For it is in the name of the Good Shepherd I pray. Amen.
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The World Around You A few years ago, the men in our church’s men’s ministry studied the words of the Apostle Paul to his young son in the faith, Titus. In chapter three of the letter that bears his name, Titus was instructed to encourage the people entrusted to his care to not be like the world around them – foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, being hated and hating (Titus 3:3). He then reminded Titus of something very important with these words: At one time the Christians on Crete had also been… just like that. Paul told Titus that because of God’s love, the redeeming work of Christ, and the renewing and washing work of the Holy Spirit, the Christians in Crete were no longer like the world around them. Have You Changed? That fact, very naturally, brought up a painful question in our group discussion: What if we still are like that? What if we’re still like the world around us? One possible answer to the question was even more painful: If there has been no change in your life, it may mean you aren’t in Christ... that is, you haven’t been redeemed, washed, and renewed. We’re all at different places in our relationship with Christ. And, of course, we all walk at different paces with him. Thus, we won’t all look alike. Yet, if we can’t look back at our lives a year ago, two years ago, or five years ago and see some sort of growth, some level of maturation in faith, love, godliness, and the rest of the fruit of the Spirit, then we may well need to ask the question: Am I truly in Christ? Of course, only God knows the heart, and this devotion isn’t about others judging you. But it is about each person doing an honest assessment of himself or herself. There’s no getting around the fact that true faith in Christ will result in a changed life. We can’t possibly remain the same. Facing the Music About eight months after I graduated from college, I went back to visit a few friends who were still there. I also returned to share with them the news that God had called me into ordained ministry and I would be heading off to seminary soon. I was very excited. I was also a bit nervous. Why was I nervous? Well, I had not always lived a godly life while in college. I knew it and I knew my friends and fraternity brothers knew it. What happened? Well, my closest friends thought my news was great and wished me well. Others laughed me out of the room. I absolutely had it coming. Glory to God I give glory to God, and God alone, that over three decades later I can point to real change in my life. And, as the old saying goes, while I’m not where I pray I will one day be in my faith, by God’s grace, I’m not where I once was. I don’t know if I was the chief of sinners way back then, but I certainly was competing for the title. That fact makes the following words from Paul all the more precious to me. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:15b-16) If God could work in Paul’s life, as well as my own, then he can work in any person’s life. I praise God for the truth and power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to change lives. Where Are You? So where are you now compared to where you once were? Do too many of the descriptions in the New Testament of the unbelieving world still describe you? Are you moving on to maturity with Christ, training yourself for godliness day by day? The progressive nature of growing in Christlikeness means it will never end on this side of heaven. But faithfulness to Christ does require we get started. We start with rebirth. We continue by growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through the power of God’s grace and Spirit. Are you moving forward? Have you started yet? If God could work in Paul’s life, as well as my own, then he can work in any person’s life. I praise God for the truth and power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to change lives. Where Are You? So where are you now compared to where you once were? Do too many of the descriptions in the New Testament of the unbelieving world still describe you? Are you moving on to maturity with Christ, training yourself for godliness day by day? The progressive nature of growing in Christlikeness means it will never end on this side of heaven. But faithfulness to Christ does require we get started. We start with rebirth. We continue by growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through the power of God’s grace and Spirit. Are you moving forward? Have you started yet? Walking Points Gracious God, you are the Lord of our lives. I confess that all too often I resist obeying and following you and resist the change you desire for me. I am grateful for your patience with me and for the wonderful news of your Gospel. Move me, by the power of your Spirit, to pursue you for all I am worth, for surely in that pursuit I will also find myself becoming more like you. Help me to find Christian friends who also seek to walk with you and help us to build up and pray for one another. Enable me to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, encourage other Christians to do the same, and bring glory to your name. In Christ I pray. Amen. Luke 21:20-28 The conclusion to the eschatological discourse focuses on the need to prepare for the coming of the Son of man on clouds after people see the signs in the sky (Didache). Christ comes in a cloud to cover the mystery of his heavenly descent, like the presence of God in the Old and New Testaments (Ambrose). “Son of man” is the title most associated with Jesus in his passion. Now the crucified and glorified Christ comes from heaven (Augustine). When believers see him coming, they know that that the dead are about to be raised and they will receive the glorious body promised in the resurrection of all flesh (Cyril of Alexandria). The coming of the Son of man only intensifies the fear of unbelievers, for people will wither from suffering, and fear is a sign that the end is near (Augustine). Many today associate Advent readings almost exclusively with the coming of baby Jesus and discourses on his incarnation. Our Lord’s first Advent, of course, has much to do with both. And make no mistake about it, that is reason to rejoice! But, in the early church, Advent was understood to also be a time of penitence. Reflections during the season of Advent included both the first and second coming of Christ.
Today’s Scripture highlights his second coming. It’s an unsettling portrait painted by our Lord, one we often forget is in the New Testament, or at least in the Gospels. Yet here it is. When Jesus spoke these words, the fall of Jerusalem was about four decades away. When Jesus would return in clouds of glory, only the Father knew. That remains true today as well. Yet Jesus makes the point to his first-century hearers, and us as well, that signs will attend his return and we ignore them at our peril. In fact, many of the readings throughout Advent remind us that the surest way to be ready for Christ’s return is never to not be ready, pardon the poor grammar. As the Boy Scout motto declares, we must always “be prepared.” And when Christians see the signs of eternity intermingled with signs of the times, we should recognize that the time of our redemption draws near. And whether Christ comes in the middle of this paragraph, five years from now, or whenever our last day will be, we must live each day as though it is our last, knowing we will live in God’s unveiled presence forever. We shall see him as he is, and it will be glorious. It will be beautiful. I’m paraphrasing C.S. Lewis, but he said the return of Christ and the end of all things as we know them will bring intense joy or intense terror. Those of us who know Christ will experience no condemnation, for our sins have already been condemned when Christ took upon himself our judgement. Those who depend upon themselves and their own righteousness, or who reject the idea of needing to be righteous in the first place, will find themselves judged by the King of kings and Lord of lords, without the slightest hint of concern for what their preference will be on that Day. One of my mentors has said often that every Christian should have two days marked on their calendar: today and that Day. Christ will return in glory. He will carry the sword of justice. Grace is for today. Today is the day of salvation. Therefore, entreat your loved ones, coworkers, neighbors, and others not to put off turning to Christ in trusting faith. He calls to them even now. They too can enjoy the assurance and delight of knowing their judgement has also been atoned for by the cross of Christ. They can rest each night knowing they’re guilt has been forgiven and their consciences cleansed. They can simultaneously be thrilled and humbled in knowing they will experience no condemnation, but only eternal fellowship, rest, and joy with the One who loves them with a perfect love. The Dilemma No person fails on purpose. Yet, spiritual, and moral failures abound. A few years ago, I taught a lesson to my church’s men’s group which focused on temptations men face. The workbook we were using quoted C.S. Lewis on this subject and was a turning point for many in the group. Lewis wrote, “It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the person away from the light and out into the nothing… Indeed, the safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” The truth communicated by Lewis rang true. It reminded me of something a former mentor of mine once said. He emphasized repeatedly that compromise comes through the smallness of our daily surrenders. It’s giving up that little bit of personal conviction each day. It’s the little piece of candy no one will ever know you ate. It’s watching that program or visiting that website when you are all alone. You get the picture. Usually the first surrender to “small, insignificant sins” makes it easier to fall prey to them again and again. The damage comes from the “cumulative effect” Lewis was pointing to. Few people wake up in the morning planning to sin spectacularly later in the day. Yet those daily surrenders build up over time. Give a little ground here and there and before you know it, you’re in trouble. In fact, you become practically unrecognizable, even to yourself. You didn’t plan for this to happen, but those daily surrenders were enough to do the trick. The Solution Therefore, we must be vigilant. We need to work from the foundation of knowing who we are in Christ. We need to count ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11). Those “daily surrenders” needn’t reign over us. The same Spirit who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead dwells in us as well. Yet, we also need to exercise the self-awareness that recognizes those areas in our lives wherein we are weak. Every person ought to ask himself or herself: Am I being less watchful in some areas of my life than others? Even the small, seemingly insignificant areas? Am I overly confident I would never again fall prey to that particular temptation? A member of my church used to remind me often, “to be forewarned is to be forearmed.” If you want to avoid those small daily surrenders, then pray for God to deliver you from temptation. But don’t forget to do your part. Name those temptations in advance. Talk with a godly person you trust and ask them to hold you accountable. Renew your mind daily in God’s Word. The Apostle Paul shared God’s wisdom on this point when he wrote in Philippians 4:8-9, Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. What are you thinking on? Walking Points
Merciful and patient Lord, I don’t want to sin. I don’t want to “fail on purpose.” Yet I confess to you that I have not always put in place or practiced those wise spiritual disciplines that would draw me ever closer to you and protect me from the snares of the devil and my own fleshly weaknesses. Please forgive me and renew me. As David cried out, put a right spirit within me. Give me such a desire for you that turning away from you would be the last thing on my mind. Give me greater Spirit-enabled self-discipline and self-control to practice those means of grace you have given to your children to help us conform more and more to the likeness of your Son, our Lord and Savior. For it’s in his name and for his sake I pray. Amen. Luke 21:29-38 Didache 16.1–7: “Watch” over your life. Do not let “your lamps” go out, and do not keep “your loins ungirded,” but “be ready,” for “you do not know the hour when our Lord is coming.” Meet together frequently in your search for what is good for your souls, since “a lifetime of faith will be of no advantage”2 to you unless you prove perfect at the very end. In the final days, multitudes of false prophets and seducers will appear. Sheep will turn into wolves, and love into hatred. With the increase of iniquity, people will hate, persecute and betray each other. Then the world deceiver will appear in the disguise of God’s Son. He will work “signs and wonders,” and the earth will fall into his hands. He will commit outrages such as have never occurred before. Then humankind will come to the fiery trial, “and many will fall away” and perish. “Those who persevere in their faith will be saved”5 by the Curse himself. Then “there will appear the signs”7 of the Truth: first the sign of stretched-out hands in heaven, then the sign of “a trumpet’s blast,” and third, the resurrection of the dead, but not all the dead. As it has been said, “The Lord will come and all his saints with him. Then the world will see the Lord coming on the clouds of the sky.” Many texts through the Advent season encourage us… urge us… to be prepared. We hear those parabolic warnings throughout the Gospels, of thieves coming in the night, virgins being unprepared with their oil when the bridegroom returns, and more.
Jesus assures us in our Scripture today that though the whole universe will pass away, his words will never do so. It has been said that the only things that will last eternally are people and the word of God. So, we have confidence that what Jesus shares with us in these hard words are not only true, but lasting. Furthermore, they are shaped in the form of promises, so they will come to pass as surely as the sun will rise and set each day. In verse 34, Jesus says, “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap.” Have you found yourself so caught up in the troubles and worries of each day that you forget to keep your eyes on Jesus? Or, perhaps, during the tough times of life, or even those periods in which life seems a little more mundane than usual, we turn to distractions… distractions that will numb us to life’s cold realities. Of course, the answer to our problems is Jesus, which sounds like a proper Sunday School answer, but it’s still a true answer. Jesus warns us against being “weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life.” It might accurately be said that Satan and company know us better than we know ourselves. That demonic company knows our weaknesses and the best ways to tempt us. Jesus tells us to beware such things, for they are traps being set for the unprepared and unsuspecting. That’s why so much time is spent in Scripture, and throughout the Advent season, to urge us to be ready for when the Day of the Lord will arrive. We won’t get an email or text at the beginning of the year to let us know. Whether we return to Christ before his second Advent, we will, nevertheless, stand before him to give an account. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather my Advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ, stand in my place and plead my case by declaring the precious truth that he took upon himself my sin and brokenness, rather than me sharing my personal spiritual resume with God Almighty. Nothing good can come from that. Thus, Jesus says in verse 36, “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” Always! Minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, month by month, and so on. We must always be on watch, for the devil is like a lion waiting to pounce upon us in our unguarded moments. Let us also remember we cannot do what is being asked of us, at least not in our own strength. We need the Spirit of the Living God coursing through our hearts, minds, and souls. We need to pray without ceasing and constantly be people of the Word of God. We need the fellowship of the saints to rally around us with love, care, and encouragement, just as we offer the same to them. When Jesus returns it will not be in secret. The whole world will know. And that will not be the day to “get right with the Lord.” That will be the day when you discover whose side you have been on all along. To repeat myself yet again, today is the day of salvation. Turn to Christ today and live. Thanks be to God. Amen. Luke 10:41-42 – “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, [42] but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” My Prayer One way to pray Scripture back to God is by turning a verse or two into a first-person statement. I’ve done that with today’s Scripture. Read it again... "May I not be worried and troubled about many things; only one thing is needed. Like Mary, may I choose the good part, which will not be taken away from me." I have no difficulty seeing the relevance of this truth in my life. It’s living out this truth that’s the hard part. Get Busy Doing Martha was busy… busy cooking, cleaning, organizing, preparing, just plain busy. Her work was important. She was entertaining guests and someone, after all, had to act responsibly. She was busy “doing.” Mary didn’t seem quite so busy. What was she doing? Chatting, listening, and seemingly lounging about. What distinguished Martha’s activity from Mary’s apparent laziness was who Mary was with – the Lord Jesus Christ. She wasn’t necessarily busy “doing.” Instead, she was being, being in relationship. She was basking in the presence of the Lord Jesus. He was an invited guest who would not always be with them. What else should she have done? Mary chose the one thing needed and was told it would not be taken from her. In our world, many people look down on Mary’s kind. “Why, nothing would ever get done if Mary and her ilk had their way,” we might hear. But that’s not exactly true. It’s not like Mary was a habitually lazy person who lay around the house in her pajamas until noon on a regular basis. This was different. Much different. She was enjoying fellowship with her invited Guest. Our Invited Guest We need to take a closer look at the text. Jesus does not admonish Mary for spending time with him; he admonished Martha. Like the poor, so too our jobs, chores, errands, and all the rest, will always be with us. But what of Christ? Well, he promised to always be with us, but in a practical sense he must be our invited Guest each day. He must be the One with whom we can just “be” each day. Jesus said that is the one thing needed and it will not be taken from us when we pursue it. Not only that, but “being” must precede “doing” or else “doing” will turn into drudgery, bitterness, and even pointlessness. This is the point of Jesus’ words in John 15 about the branches needing to be connected to the vine. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing. Without time to “just be” with our Lord, we will run out of gas. We’ll burn out. It will hinder us in persevering until the end. Our “doing” may shine brightly for a season, but it won’t last for the long haul because it will not have the fuel of Christ’s Spirit to sustain it. And that fuel comes only through the one thing necessary – pursuing and enjoying our ongoing relationship with the living God through his Son. We must not forget that knowing him in this way is eternal life (John 17:3). Are you pursuing the one thing in life truly needful? There are many competitors vying for your time, energy, and attention. Some of those things are even good. But don’t let the good become the enemy of the best. Choose the best. Choose consecrated (set apart) time each day to spend with your Lord. He promises you it is the one thing needed and it will not be taken away from you. Walking Points Read the following quote by James Houston. “This past century is possibly the first one in which action has been emphasized and valued more than contemplation. Today we think contemplation wastes time, produces nothing, and bumps awkwardly into our schedules. A devotional life is a questionable priority for most successful people today. But are we “successful” Christians if we are so busy organizing and propagating the Christian faith that we really do not know God personally and intimately?”
Prayer Psalm 20 Augustine: Sometimes people run off to a mountain to pray, as though God will be able to hear them better from there. Do you want to make contact with God in your prayer? Humble yourself. But again, just because I have said, “Do you want to make contact with God? Humble yourself,” do not take it literally and materialistically and go off down to underground vaults and there start beseeching God. Do not go seeking either caverns or mountains. Have lowliness in your heart, and God will give you all the high altitude you want. He will come to you and be with you in your bedroom. Loving Father, above all the requests I could ever bring you, I ask you to give me a humble heart that seeks you above all else and desires only what you desire. For you have told me through our Lord Jesus Christ that when we seek you and your kingdom first, you will provide what we need. So, Lord, I know that will also require me to trust you above all else. I don’t want to trust in material things and technology, man-made plans and schemes, or even my own intuition, but in you. I know you have provided wisdom and that godly counsel from others is a good thing. Yet, empower me trust in you and the guidance of your Spirit and word. Lead me not into the temptation of trusting in “chariots and horses” but to stand firm in you… your character, your word, your promises, and your grace. Lead me, O Lord, into paths of righteousness and remind me of your presence as I wander through the valley of the shadow of death. Above all else, Father, let my life glorify you, reflect you, and point others to you. In Christ I pray. Amen.
Luke 20:41 – 21:4 Leo the Great: Although the spite of some people does not grow gentle with any kindness, nevertheless the works of mercy are not fruitless, and kindness never loses what is offered to the ungrateful. May no one, dearly beloved, make themselves strangers to good works. Let no one claim that his poverty scarcely sufficed for himself and could not help another. What is offered from a little is great, and in the scale of divine justice, the quantity of gifts is not measured but the steadfastness of souls. The “widow” in the Gospel put two coins into the “treasury,” and this surpassed the gifts of all the rich. No mercy is worthless before God. No compassion is fruitless. He has given different resources to human beings, but he does not ask different affections. I am tempted to let Leo the Great’s words suffice for they are beautifully and poignantly expressed. This morning I was reading A Christmas Carol by Dickens. The two men collecting money for the poor introduced themselves and their errand to Scrooge, at which time they were immediately and ungraciously rebuffed with his contempt and disdain for others. Here was a man who could have financially helped everyone within his sphere yet closed his heart to them. (Of course, we know the rest of the story and what can happen to a person whose heart is reborn and reopened by grace.)
Yet the people Jesus describes in today’s Scripture are those who can give much and do so. It’s not that they were wrong to give. But they were giving out of their abundance and thus their offering was not sacrificial. The poor widow, who probably should have been the recipient of the temple treasury’s provision for the poor, gave out of her impoverished condition. Hers, according to Jesus, was the sacrificial gift that is dear to our Father’s heart. Whether we are giving money or our time and talent, God calls us to be living sacrifices, which is our acceptable service to the Lord (Romans 12:1). It shows our commitment to God to be sure. But it also reveals a deep dependence upon him as well. For if we give what we will not miss, or do that which costs us nothing, we are not living sacrificial lives. Let me hasten to add that we don’t live this sort of life in order to be saved. If we are Christians, then we have already been saved by God’s grace alone, received by faith in Christ alone. This is no meritorious system. This is fruit. What else would a life redeemed and reconciled by a gracious God do? The other word for us here is not to compare how much we give to any other person. As the old saying goes, comparison is death to contentment. The widow gave numerically less than the others yet gave more because it was all she had. That’s how God’s Kingdom economy works. In Jesus’ parable of the talents, the person who increased the two talents he was given to four, received the same praise as the one who doubled his five talents to ten. Each was given a particular number of talents. Each was faithful with what he was given. Each received the same praise from his master. Whether you are rich or poor, gifted with many talents or few, you are called to give out of what the Lord has provided you. If you have more, give more. If you have little, give what you can from that. Leo was surely correct when he said, “What is offered from a little is great, and in the scale of divine justice, the quantity of gifts is not measured but the steadfastness of souls.” Let the steadfastness of your soul be enlarged, like the widow’s in our Scripture, or like the soul of Ebeneezer Scrooge himself. Not because you have to, as our senior pastor likes to put it, but because you get to. Yet let this paraphrased divine caveat be inserted here: “to the person who has been given much, much is expected (Luke 12:48). Let the recipients of such gifts rejoice at the opportunities that await. Thanks be to God. Isaiah 2:12-22 Origen: Not only do human beings “make gods for themselves” from statues, but you will also find them “making gods for themselves” from their imaginations. For such people can imagine another god and creator of the world in a system different from the divine plan of the world recorded by the Spirit, other than the true world. These all have “made gods for themselves,” and they have “worshiped the works of their hands.” So, too, I believe is the case either among the Greeks who generate opinions, so to speak, of this philosophy or that, or among the heretics, the first who generate opinions. These have “made idols for themselves” and figments of the soul, and by turning to them “they worship the works of their hands,” since they accept as truth their own fabrications. God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, you are the one true God and there is no other. You care deeply that we know this… that we believe this… that we live according to this truth. You built it into the fabric of your people when you taught us that you alone are God and therefore, we must have no other gods in your presence. And yet, O Lord, we are idol factories.
Whether we are cutting down trees and carving idols for our altars with leftover wood, forming and shaping precious metals into images, or bowing before a mirror, our innate need to worship has gone wrong. In some instances of our idolatry, we turn the good into the enemy of the best. We take your good gifts, such as our health, families, jobs, homes, and other good gifts you have provided, and have made them the focus and grand pursuits of our lives. And, at other times, we create fabrications of who you are based on our personal preferences. We turn from your clear commands and go our own ways because we know better and are more enlightened than the ancient words written by ancient people. For this, Almighty and Only Wise God, we ask for your forgiveness and for the desire and power to repent and seek you only. The season of Advent reminds us that as you visited us in the flesh the first time, you will once again return. But you will not return as a babe in a manger but as the judging King of kings and Lord of lords. And as our Scripture for today reveals, there will be no place to hide from you. The idols of our hearts will be laid bare before you. Those lesser things in which we placed our adoration and devotion will be exposed. That will not be the time to repent. That opportunity will have passed us by. O God, today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to meet with you in faith and repentance. Today is the day to humble ourselves before you and recognize you for who you are. Today is the day to bow before you and cry out, “my Lord and my God.” Today is the day to throw our idols into the fire and rejoice in our freedom from them… and to celebrate our true liberation found only in Christ. You alone are God and there is no other. In Christ’s holy name we pray. Amen. Isaiah 37:1-7 Theodoret of Cyr: In everything he taught the benefit of hope in God: the person hoping in God, he says, and fed by him will enjoy the goods supplied by him while those who find delightful constant converse with him will most of all attain them. Do you trust the Lord when times are tough, when you see those who do not appear to care about the things of God prospering? I believe our trust grows as our eternal perspective becomes clearer. How little would we worry about the things of the world, or value the things of the world, if we saw things more clearly from God’s perspective? If we valued what God values?
The Psalmist encourages us not to fret about those who do evil or be envious of those who do what is wrong. Instead, we should not wander off to the right or left, but continue down the right path, trusting God the whole way, obeying him as we travel. Better yet, as we travel with God let us love what he loves and desire what he desires. How do we discover what those things are? Theodoret tells us we do so by conversing with God continually. And as we speak with, and listen to our loving God, he will not only show us what delights him, but will give us those things as well. But we must be patient with God. He reveals and gives according to his schedule, not ours. We must trust that he always has our best interest at heart and knows what our best interest is. When we’re certain of those two truths, we can be at peace because we know we are being well loved and cared for. |
Devotions, Prayers,
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