“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.”
TO PONDER
As a child I used to love playing 'Hide and Seek' until I was emotionally wounded in a Hide and Seek accident. I Became trapped in a wardrobe which had toppled over, face/doors down on the floor with me hiding inside, just as the seeker cried out ‘Ready or not, here I come!”
My screams, I’m sure, echoed throughout the neighbourhood and were sure to have drowned out the usual protestations of “Not fair I’m not ready!” given in answer to the seekers announcement (don’t worry I did survive…physically at least).
Today’s verses remind us to always be ready for when God shows up, to always keep the lights on in preparation for the “un”-expected arrival of Jesus.
The reason for saying “un”-expected is that even though we expect Jesus to be at our worship (Matthew 18:29) and expect his Second Coming, God always shows up when we don’t expect it… even though we should expect it… um… unexpectedly.
I don’t want to get go too deep theologically here; only to say that God “finds” us, we don’t “find” him. After all, when we were still God's enemies, hiding from Him, he found us (Romans 5:10) but being a follower of Jesus is not passive, faith is not a spectator sport, grace demands a response.
Are we playing a game of “Hide and Seek” with our lives trapped within a wardrobe called Church, called belief, called religion?
Today’s reading tells us that God has called out “Ready or not, Here I come!”.
PRAYER: Almighty Saviour, I thank you that you found me, even when I was hiding as deep, as far as I could to get away, you still removed the wardrobe I was trapped in. Mighty God help me respond to the amazing grace you show me daily and share it with the world around me. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock (Hide and Seek survivor), LifeWay Westside.
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
TO PONDER
We mostly live in an age and place of abundance in Australia, and yet mental health is in crisis.
In 2021, it was reported that 19% of Australians had been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, or another serious mental illness, epidemiologic evidence suggests that these mental health issues have risen dramatically over the past century.
A consensus for why this is the case has been difficult. Many experts attributing the rise in mental health issues to our modern lifestyle, including things like social media, the “need” to always be “connected”, competing for the curated “instalife” (Instagram), and “FOMO” (Fear Of Missing Out), all adding to a performance culture.
In today’s verses we read a story of juxtaposition between two sisters, two friends of Jesus, Mary and Martha. Martha had invited Jesus into their home and then got busy preparing for guests while Mary sat at Jesus feet listening to what he said. When Martha realised she alone was doing all the preparation she became angry and demanded that Jesus tell Mary to get up and do something of value, to perform to at least help with the preparations.The answer Jesus gave probably surprised Martha when he said Mary was doing exactly what she should be doing, she was doing what was important.
Martha was too busy preparing for hospitality to actually be hospitable, she was too busy preparing for life instead of maybe living life.
This story reminds me of some of our Christmas experiences, when we spend so much time preparing for the perfect Christmas that we forget sharing the Christmas story is not a performance but rather an experience to take time out to enjoy with others.
This Christmas hear the reply Jesus gave to Martha, “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it—it’s the main course, and won’t be taken from her.” Luke 10:41-42 (MSG) - The main course is to experience the true Christmas story.
PRAYER: Loving God, I say sorry for when I have turned Christmas into a performance, when I have stressed about making it happen instead of experiencing Christmas as a celebration of life, and grace. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.
TO PONDER
I remember when I realised, as a child, that if I went to bed early on Christmas Eve, Christmas would come faster. However, there was a floor with my brilliant plan, how to actually sleep with the thoughts of presents floating through my young, over active mind, imagining what they were going to be.
In today’s verses James (the brother of Jesus) tells us to be patient, not to be in a hurry for the conclusion of the Christmas story, for the ultimate promised Christmas gift.
James was specifically talking about being patient in difficult times, he even brings in Job, the archetype for human suffering, as an example of endurance. Job had lost everything, family, health, riches, and even his faith until he realized he needed to trust God regardless.
Job apologised to God, apologised for his lack of faith, for his lack of trust and he was remembered, finally, as an example of endurance (verse 11).
While James is addressing patience through difficult times his advice is not negated in good times where we can grow complacent in our salvation/baptism, forgetting we have a role to play in the harvest. Patiently waiting is not a complacent act; its an active faith, a belief with action, a responsive waiting. The farmer doesn’t sow his crop and sit back and wait for the harvest, the farmer watches and responds to the circumstances and cares for the crop through every season.
As a child, Christmas was not a time for sleep, especially as the day drew closer and closer. Christmas was a time for excited expectation, a time for dreams, a time to imagine, a time to share the Christmas experience with anticipation and joy.
PRAYER: Amazing God, I give you thanks through every season of life, I give you my trust in the good times and I give you my trust in hard times, help me patiently wait on you. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
TO PONDER
At the time of writing this post, my amazing wife is away for a work trip in 'always sunny' England. She has already been gone for over a week and won’t be back for 4 more days… the pause was for my sobbing.
Right now we are not prepared for her to come home.
As a temporary single parent, I have perhaps neglected some of my parental duties, dropped the ball on a few household chores but you better believe the house will be spotless upon her return, spick and span, floors clean enough to eat off, children dressed adequately smelling like the cherubs they are.
The past few days we have talked about John the Baptist whose role it was to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus the saviour of the World, and today’s verse tells us how that coming prepared the way for our redemption and our participation in the ongoing Christmas story.
The coming of the Messiah changed the way we relate to God, changing our status from enemy to friend, from spectators to participators. Through Christ’s sacrifice we joined the Christmas story. Our call/role in the ongoing Christmas story is to partner with the Holy Spirit to prepare our temporary/alien home for Christ’s return, sharing and inviting others into the ongoing Christmas story.
But unlike my preparation for my amazing wife’s planned and scheduled return on Sunday, preparing for Christ’s return shouldn’t be left to the unknown last few hours.
“He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.” Ephesians 2:10 (MSG)
PRAYER: Almighty saviour Jesus, I give you thanks and praise for your incredible act of sacrifice, for your death on the cross so I could become your family and join you in the work you have already prepared for me to participate with you in. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”— “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
TO PONDER
I guess it was around 17 years ago when we found out we would be first time parents. While we were overjoyed, the pregnancy was a huge surprise. It was our first year of marriage, with no family living in the same hemisphere, most of our friends being young, international University Students, so to say we had no idea what to do or how to prepare was a bit of an understatement.
The book “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” became part of our EDC (every day carry), reading and re-reading at every chance to try to learn how to prepare.
Yesterday’s verses were about the Angelic visitation to Zechariah the priest to announce the future birth of his son John (the Baptist) and today’s verses are quoting the actual call of that son, prophesied some 700 years before his actual birth… that’s a long preparation period. But I guarantee his parents were still not prepared and that’s even with John’s father, the priest, being somewhat of an expert in all the scriptures talking about the messenger who was to prepare the way for the promised Messiah.
We don’t hear anything about John’s life, his birth, childhood, schooling until we finally meet him as a, somewhat, crazy man living in a desert, dressed in clothes made from camel hair, eating locusts, holding up a sign saying “The Kingdom is nigh!”, as he baptised crowds of people in the desert.
One can only imagine what John’s parents were thinking when they saw John in his full camel fur wearing splendour, with bits of locust stuck in his teeth…
Again, we don’t know but I would expect they were proud of their role in preparing the one who was promised to be the one who was preparing the way for the saviour of the World.
As the church, we also have a calling; a preordained role to prepare for Christmas, just like John the Baptist. We probably feel unprepared, unsure, ready to flee to the desert with trepidation but we have the ultimate “What To Expect When You’re Expecting Christmas” book in the Bible telling us to love God and love others, sacrificially and wholeheartedly to prepare the way for the Christmas story.
PRAYER: God, I thank you for Christmas, the story of you, the Almighty, coming as a servant, becoming human, surrendering yourself to die an excruciating criminals death for the chance to call me your child. I ask you to help me step into my role as one called to prepare the way for Christmas to everyone I come in contact with. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay WestSide
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
TO PONDER
This is the last daily devotion for 2024 before we hit the church season of Advent, a time of reflecting and preparing to receive the best gift ever given; God giving himself to us to, offering himself for us, in order to save and redeem us from our own foolish choices.
One of the best things about this gift is that it does not change. It does not wear out over time, or need new batteries every couple of weeks, or fall out of fashion like last years summer collection. God's love is an enduring love. God's grace and mercy is eternal. God's power and might are unfathomable. These things do not change.
In a world that seems to be experiencing significant change in various realms (political, economical, social, etc) a constant can be a really comforting thing.
I remember when I first moved out of home in country Victoria and headed for the big city (Canberra, not Melbourne). One of the you can see from anywhere in Canberra is black mountain and the 'Telstra Tower' at its peak. As I learned from one of my local Canberra friends while trying to find my way around this new city, if the tower was on my left, I was probably headed North, if it was on my right, I was probably headed south, and if I couldn't see it, I was probably closer to either to Goulburn or Gundagai and should probably turn around.
God's faithfulness and consistency is something I have learned to give thanks for regularly. When everything around me is changing and life seems all topsy turvy, It is a wonderful gift to know that my Heavenly Father is always ready and willing to sit with me and listen, to love me even when I know I have stuffed something up. Canberra's Telstra Tower, I know I can pull over for a second, look for God and he will get me on the right path again. That's a comforting thought and one I am very thankful for.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you that no matter what my life may look like or what challenges or changes I may be facing, I can have confidence that you will be there. That your love for me and your forgiveness and mercy toward me will never change or fail. Help me to live each day confident in your love and in your promises. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe
TO PONDER
I was having an argument with my two eldest children the other day. As a former mathematics teacher, it's one of my favourite arguments to have with young people when they start doing fun and creative things with geometry. I was trying to tell them that two things can be true at the same time using the example of squares and rectangles. Maybe you know where this is going, maybe you don't. So let me briefly explain, then I promise I'll get to the point.
The argument goes like this, I start the ball rolling by claiming that a square is a rectangle. Their immediate response is obviously, 'No dad, a square is a square, it can't be a rectangle!' Then we start to look a little closer. We talk about the necessary characteristics for a shape to be considered a square and those necessary for it to be considered a rectangle, and wouldn't you know it... A square ticks all the boxes for being a rectangle! I guess two things can be true at the same time after all.
I think there is sometimes a similar issue when it comes to the way we relate to God. There is no doubt or argument that we should be thankful for all he has done. And yet, I think many Christians today tend to offer a casual or even flippant, 'thanks God' like they would to a friend who who just paid for their lunch. Don't get me wrong, at certain times Jesus made a point of calling his disciples friends, and Hebrews 4:16 says since Jesus [our friend] is our hight priest who intercedes for us we can, 'come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need'. That's true. However, it is also true that God the Father should be approached and thought of with reverence and awe, and our verse today suggests that to worship God without recognising that, is not acceptable worship.
The problem for most of us is that both are true. When we live, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, we have nothing to fear when we come to God in prayer and praise. And yet we also must remember that while we might now be called children of God, Our Heavenly Father is still the maker, creator, sustainer, and redeemer of all creation and is also worthy of our reverence and respect. When it comes to God, certainly more than one thing can be true at the same time.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, you alone are worthy of my thanks and praise. I'm sorry for the times when my attitude toward you does not reflect the fulness of who you are and you value and importance in my life. Please help me to see more clearly each day your powerful and might acts in creation, in those around me and also in my life so that I might always worship you with reverence and awe. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
TO PONDER
Doesn't it feel good when someone says 'thank you' !? It means that someone has noticed your effort and appreciates what you have done. It makes you feel good.
Why would we imagine it is any different with God?
Obviously God doesn't need our thanks or praise, but it's not hard to imagine he might appreciate it when we acknowledge what he has done. But in order thank him, we need to be watchful for where he is at work.
To illustrate the point, it's confession time. My biggest struggle when it comes to parenting is the lack of thanks or recognition from my children for all the things that their mother and I do to provide for their needs. There's never a "thanks for dinner" it's more likely to be "Oh, I don't like that". They just don't see everything that happens for their clothes to be washed and folded in their wardrobes, for their school lunches to be ready in the morning and for the fridge and pantry to be stocked with food. And yet, on the rare occasion that they glimpse some of the effort that their parents go to in order to care for them and show their love for them and they actually do say thank you... well that makes it all worth it.
God doesn't need your thanks and praise, he loves you and will keep loving you, forgiving you, helping and supporting you, but the funny thing is, the more we notice it and give thanks for what he does, the more we start to see him at work in us and through us in every moment of the day and then all of life becomes something to be grateful for.
So watch, and when you see God at work, stop and pray. Pray a prayer of thanks to God for allowing you to see him at work. You might find you start seeing him at work more often.
PRAYER: Father God, so often I am too busy looking an my own agenda, my own work, and my own problems, that I fail to see all the ways that you are at work even in the midst of all that calling and drawing me to yourself, seeking to lift my burdens and give me your yoke which is easy and light. Please help me to be more watchful, help me to see and to give thanks for the amazing things you do in and around me each day. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
TO PONDER
The book of Psalms is like the Ancient Israelite version of a hymnbook. It contains the songs and poems they would use in worship and at different festivals and all sorts of other occasions. Psalm 100 is a "Psalm of Praise" and there were lots of reasons the people of Israel might praise God. However, this particular verse invites them to bring praise as they enter the temple, the place where God dwelt.
People would go there to be 'closer' to the presence of God and there were lots of ways people might approach the temple. If you were coming to repent, you would likely come with fear and trembling, hoping that God might find your sacrifice acceptable and you might leave the presence of God in one piece. If you were coming to offer a prayer or petition to God, that is, coming to ask God for something, it probably served you best to come to him with humility and reverence; to recognise that you are a worm and do not really deserve the opportunity to pester God with your petty requests. You might come angry and seeking God's judgement on those who have wronged you, there are certainly many psalms for that!
Spend some time reflecting on how you approach God. Do you see Him as the divine judge, ready to smite you for the slightest misdeed, and therefore come to him with fear and trembling? Perhaps you approach God as the genie in a bottle or something akin to Santa Clause, who if you have been nice and stayed off the naughty list, you can come and tell him what you want... the possibilities are endless.
But take a moment now to simply come into his presence with thanksgiving. Put aside your wish list, your fear, your worry, the injustices that have perpetrated against you, and just come to God and thank him for His love, mercy, grace and forgiveness. Thank him for giving his own life in place of yours. Identify and thank him for the blessings he has placed in your life (and there are some, no matter how bad things may seem). Thank Him for all that and come into his presence simply with joy and thankfulness, sit with those ideas and see what He wants to do next.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I thank you for all your goodness to me. For all the things I am aware of like my daily needs of food, shelter, friends and family. For your son Jesus and his death on the cross for my sake and my forgiveness. I also want to thank you for all the little things that I perhaps don't even notice. Please help me to notice and see those things so that I might have even more reason to sing your praise. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle