And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
TO PONDER:
It’s a parent’s worst nightmare. Friends were holidaying in France when they went to get on the underground subway. Their four-year old ran ahead and jumped through the open doors onto the train, only for the doors to close behind her, leaving the rest of the family on the station platform. A four-year old. On the train alone. In a foreign country. Can you imagine the thoughts running through their mind? (Thankfully, everything turned out fine.)
The same thing happened to Mary and Joseph. They didn’t even notice Jesus’ absence for 24 hours and then it took another 48 hours to locate him. Can you imagine the panic? The questions? ‘Where could he be?’ The desperation, ‘Jesus, where are you?’ It’s the same question God asked centuries earlier of Adam and Eve. Given a perfect relationship with the Father, sin caused them to hide. God asks, ‘Where are you?’ Not where they were supposed to be.
Jesus shows us where we belong. That’s why he came. If you’re lost or needing direction, if you’ve spent years searching and still can’t find what you are looking for, head to the Father’s house. There you will find Jesus and life in all its fullness. So how would you answer If God asked you today, ‘Where are you?’
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, help me daily to live in your presence, for that is where I belong. Amen.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
TO PONDER:
‘That’s the problem with Christianity today,’ the young man said with conviction, ‘It’s too black and white. No-one is going to buy in if they have to choose between one or the other. Life just doesn’t work that way anymore.’
It’s a sentiment that many share. Our world doesn’t like either/or statements. A belief in Christ as the way, the truth and the only way to salvation is branded as exclusivism, intolerance or narrow-minded bigotry. But John insists that we need to make a choice. Who will we love most of all? Who will be our first priority and our final authority? We may want to love God, but when the credit card statements come in after Christmas and payments need to be made, what do we desire more? Life in Jesus or the cash to pay off the debt?
In love, God claims all of our lives. In grace, he satisfies our greatest needs. It’s an either/or decision. Will you live to know God and his eternal love or will you live for this world and the temporary pleasures that will pass away? So today reflect on where in your life does love for God compete with love for the world?
PRAYER:
Gracious Father, help me love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind and all my strength. Amen.
Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,
TO PONDER
Buffets. Some people love them. You get to pick and choose what you want to eat. You take a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a whole lot of that other thing. And you leave out what you don’t like. You end up with a variety of all the things you want!
In the community John was writing to, there were some who were encouraging people to treat the Word of God like a spiritual buffet, picking and choosing the parts of the Christian life they wanted to follow, and leaving off their plates what didn’t look palatable. It’s tempting to do the same thing ourselves. To pile up our plates on the parts of God’s Word that are tasty and agree with our palate, while leaving off the selections that we are unsure of or haven’t developed a taste for yet.
John reminds us that obedience to God’s Word is our grateful response to the love and grace Christ has shown us. It’s a willingness and eager desire to eat the set menu before us, knowing that Christ will choose the finest foods that will bring great delight and have us asking for seconds. What parts of God’s Word have you not sampled yet? Don't forget to order your daily devotion book TIME OUT from www.shopacr.com.au to help you grow in living in the truth of Jesus
PRAYER
Lord God, thank you for inviting me to your table. Help me feast on your Word that I may grow strong in faith toward you and deep in my love for others. Amen.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—
TO PONDER:
A few years ago, I interviewed a foundation member of this congregation on camera to preserve the early story of the congregation. During the interview I asked her, ‘If you could give any message to the parents and young people , what would you say?’
With a tear in her eye, she responded, ‘I would tell them that there is nothing better in the world than Jesus. That they will not find a greater satisfaction, happiness, joyfulness in anything else but in Jesus, worshipping God, reading his Word – that’s the message that I would give them.’
How similar to Grandpa John’s message in today’s reading. Nearing the end of his life, he wants to pass on to his spiritual children what’s important to him and it is this: ‘Your life is about Jesus, the Christ. His grace is here. His love has come, forgiveness has been granted.’
That’s a gift that cannot be surpassed. A gift that brings joy in every moment. So what final message would you leave to those who follow you? Maybe share it with them while you are still here!
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus Christ, our life begins and ends in you. Our joy is complete in you. Let the good news of Christmas remain with us every day of our lives. Amen.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.
TO PONDER:
As part of PDHPE at College, a group of students were taken into the filtration chambers at the local pool, dubbed the Black Hole. Led under water into a central chamber, the goal was to find our way out. Except that when we were all in, the light was turned off. Plunged into darkness, it was terrifying, overwhelming, disorienting.
Eventually, the instructor held a small light under water near the entrance. That light gave hope. We were not abandoned.
The light made all the difference to Israel as well. Plunged into darkness for over 700 years, their hopelessness and despair was real. But now light has dawned. Hope has come. God’s people are not alone.
The Saviour climbs into our darkest places to illuminate them with his presence. If we are confused and need direction, he is the Wonderful Counsellor guiding us. If we are weak, the strength and wisdom of the Mighty God will fight and overcome for us. If we are scared, he is the Everlasting Father from eternity, caring for us. If we are disturbed, he is the Prince of Peace, comforting us.
The light has come… born for us… as a gift from God to us. Receive him again. Ask Christ to shine his light on the dark places of your life this day, illuminating them for what they are and revealing who Christ is n your life this day?
PRAYER
Precious Christ-child, be born in me this day, that the glory of your presence may be revealed. Amen.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
TO PONDER:
Thinking outside the box is a metaphor that means to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective in order to find creative solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems.
In order to deal with the problem of sin and address the broken relationship between himself and creation, God had to get creative. He had to think outside the box. Nothing else had worked. No amount of effort. No amount of sacrifice. Nothing could bridge the distance that existed between God and his people.
Christmas is God's outside the box solution. It's a solution that is so 'out there', so mind-blowingly unconventional, so simple in its approach, yet unbelievable in its execution.
God becomes one of us. The Holy God took on flesh as a baby, entered our mess and made his home among us. Does that blow your mind?
In the midst of your struggles, God is there. In the depth of your brokenness, God lives. At the height of your fears, God is next to you. In the breadth of your pain, your grief, your loneliness, God is ever present. Jesus is Immanuel – God with us. What does that mean to you today?
Christmas reveals one simple and radical truth: God loves you, is with you and for you…always. Merry Christmas!
PRAYER
Come to us, Lord Jesus. Be born in us this day; in our hearts, our minds, and in our lives that we may know the truth of God with us, for us and in us. Amen.
The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region. So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
TO PONDER
Have you ever felt rejection and the sense of failure that goes with it? Paul and Barnabas were rejected by the leaders of the city of Antioch, but their reaction was truly odd.
Imagine travelling a great distance with a message of hope and joy only to have your message rejected and then to be expelled by the people you took it to. A normal reaction to that would be a deep sense of rejection and failure, but not by these two, they ‘were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit’.
Perspective is everything. Operating in their own strength, misery and dejection may have been the probable outcome. Barnabas and Paul however, left the city the same way they had entered it, in the presence God, with his Holy Spirit and with joy. They shook the dust of that town off their feet and moved on to the next. The crazy thing is, despite what seemed a failure, God turned it into a success. Further on in Acts we learn that it was precisely in Antioch that Jesus followers were first called Christians. There’s the joy.
Remember: God can never be defeated. Those who move with him, will never know lasting defeat.
PRAYER
Father, I place my life in your hands. I want to know the lasting joy of working side by side with you. Amen.
Today's devotion written by David Schuppan, LifeWay Illawarra.
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: love each other as I have loved you.
TO PONDER
God doesn’t give commands without good reason. He doesn’t threaten us if we fail to do his bidding, he is neither capricious nor arbitrary. God is loving.
The biblical meaning of the word command is richer than just, ‘do as your told’ and do it without a reason. God’s purpose is to benefit us, and the whole creation.
A command is a health directive for the good of all creation. If we fail to follow our doctors’ orders, chances are our health will fail, and on our own head be it! God’s commands for our corporate health and wellbeing are the same. Obey, and experience the permanent joy of God in us, and at work through us. Disobey and reap the bitter consequences.
God’s purpose is to set the world in perfect order as he intended from the beginning. The first humans failed to extend the garden of Eden across the whole earth. Their failure has become Jesus’ victory and success. God is lovingly growing his garden and has called us to lovingly play our part to bring back original beauty and return enduring sustainability to our world.
Remember: God commands because he loves us and wants us to inherit the earth.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, stand by my side and teach me how to love as you love. Teach me to work this earthly garden, to your delight and for our good. Amen.
Today's devotion written by David Schuppan, LifeWay Illawarra
Jude 1:24,25
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and for evermore! Amen.
TO PONDER
Grown-ups tend not to believe in ‘happily ever after’. That’s a comforting fairy tale for little children. Adult cynicism tends to judge such sentiments as sickly sweet and unrealistic. Life just isn’t that way, it’s a complicated struggle for the most part. ‘Joy forever’ is a delusion, isn’t it?
The Scriptures consistently couch joy in the context of celebration. Celebration with family and friends, in good times and through difficulty, in this life and beyond. Jude is promoting hope in what Jesus is doing daily, and the joy we have because of him, regardless of circumstances.
No wonder this text sounds like a joyful toast at a feast. Perhaps he is envisioning the wedding feast of the church and Christ? ‘To the bridegroom! Cheers! To the one, who by his sacrifice can present you to the Father clean and pure, without fault and with great joy. To Jesus, our God and Saviour, who purchased us back from eternal death to heal and restore us for eternal life. Cheers!’
The moral of fairy tales may be unclear and even misleading but the promise that Jude has for us is incontrovertible, joy from our relationship with God grows deep and is everlasting. For ever and ever. Amen.
Remember: Happiness is a fleeting emotion; joy grows deep and remains.
PRAYER
Father, as I sit and wait on you, let joy sink deep into my soul as I reflect on all you have done for me, through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.
Today's devotion written by David Schuppan, LifeWay Illawarra