“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people.
TO PONDER:
Behind every song there is a story.
‘May the child of God grow in you. And his love bring you home.’ For my family, these last two lines of Robin Mann’s Christmas Blessing hold special significance. We were around the bed of my wife’s mother. For days, she had been silent. In the middle of a prayer over her, she opened her mouth and started singing those words. Her last words to us. Her final prayer for us.
There’s also a story behind the song in our text today. For 400 years, there had been silence. The people of Israel had been losing hope about the redemption of their nation and the promise of the Messiah.
But now, as Zechariah looks down at his infant son, the crucial moment of world history had come. In his arms, he holds the baby who will grow up to prepare the way of the Lord. It can only mean one thing. God had not forgotten them. The long wait is over. The Messiah was coming. God has visited his people. After nine months of silence for Zechariah, the only words that could express that joy and emotion were the words of this song. Re-read Zechariah's full song in Luke 1:68-79
What song leaves your lips when you think about Jesus and what his coming means for you?
PRAYER:
Come Lord Jesus, come and fill my heart with your song. Amen.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you…
TO PONDER:
Christmas. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Really? Tell that to the woman who berated an elderly gentleman for taking too long to exit the car space. Tell it to the couple engaged in a heated, public discussion about how much should be spent on presents for her family.
As Christmas approaches, it seems many suffer from myopia. A short-sightedness in which the bigger picture is blurred, perspective is distorted and hope is a distant speck that cannot be distinguished. But it is not just at Christmas, is it? Churches and Christians, for many reasons, can develop spiritual myopia at any time, resulting in bitterness, negative thinking and a loss of perspective in which God’s movements are blurred.
Immediately after sharing God’s vision for the Church, Paul prays an incredible prayer of thanksgiving for God’s people. A heart of thanksgiving corrects our spiritual myopia. The lens of faith gives a wider angle, bringing everything into sharp focus against the background of Christ’s death and resurrection. In his victory, we are given a hope that is certain, a purpose that inspires, a power that overcomes and a grace which brings focus and a clarity to every moment.
Where do you need a greater clarity in your life right now?
PRAYER:
Come Lord Jesus and open the eyes of my heart that I may see you more clearly, love you more dearly and follow you more nearly. Amen.
Be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.
TO PONDER:
It’s one of the most frustrating and annoying situations – waiting to try and talk with a government department. You ring the number, get the automated menu, spend minutes filtering through all the menu options, are placed in a queue and given your wait time. Just when you think you are making progress, there’s a long beep on the other end of the line. The call goes dead! Half an hour of your life you won’t get back.
Waiting is hard as James points out in these verses and requires much patience. But it’s hard to be patient when circumstances are uncontrollable. Just ask a farmer. It’s hard to be patient when people are unchangeable. Just ask the prophets. It’s hard to be patient when problems are unexplainable. Just ask Job.
When waiting is hard, and patience is low, James reminds us, “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.’ It’s God’s faithfulness to his promises that anchors our waiting. God is always in control. It may be out of our control, but things are never out of his control. So wait…patiently…for God to act.
Where in your life are you struggling to remain patient?
PRAYER:
Faithful God, when my patience is tested today, fill me with your compassion and mercy, that your grace may flow out from me. Amen.
If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
TO PONDER:
I intended to start Christmas shopping earlier this year but…
I intended to get fit this year but…
I intended to volunteer at the local homeless shelter but…
I intended to complete the house painting but…
I intended to invite that new person at church/work over for dinner but…
I intended to …. (you fill in the blank!)
Good intentions, no matter how well-meaning, are simply meaningless without action. As people often remark, ‘talk is cheap; actions speak louder than words’.
James recognises the disconnect that often exists between what we say and what we do. That’s why he reminds us that living faith and loving action go hand in hand. The gift of grace that comes down from above (1:17) radically changes our heart, transforms our lives and shapes our actions. It’s a faith that is hands on, willing to roll up the sleeves and get dirty to serve others as people whom Jesus loves. Living faith always moves beyond good intentions to tangible acts of love and mercy.
What is one good intention that you could put into loving action this week?
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, take my good intentions and turn them into concrete acts of love and mercy, that your name may be praised. Amen.
And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?”
TO PONDER:
There are times in life when we come to a crossroad. Something happens. Someone says something. Things don’t work out. Change is needed. Perhaps we acknowledge the reality of addiction for the first time. Or recognise the deep sense of unhappiness or restlessness that permeates our lives. It leaves us wondering, ‘What do I do now?’
Sometimes life brings us to a crossroad whether we are ready or not - the loss of a loved one, a divorce, a shattered dream, a betrayal, our children growing up and moving out. We are left asking, ‘What do I do now?’
These crossroads are places of discernment and ultimately repentance. Places where we recognise that Jesus’ coming means our lives and the world cannot continue in the same old ways. ‘What shall we do, then?’
John’s message is simple: Go and be a people who act differently in the world. Start with the very next thing that you do. Give when it seems ineffective, love when it makes you vulnerable, be satisfied with your life even when it seems you do not have much. In this way, we give witness that Kingdom of God has come and the world is forever changed by Christ’s birth among us.
What crossroad are you at in life and what is the next thing God is calling you to do?
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, your coming brings a new focus and direction at every crossroad of my life. Use me to prepare the path for others that they might also meet you at their crossroads and be changed forever. Amen.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
TO PONDER
I think we sometimes overcomplicate the Holy Spirit. Now that is not to say that the Holy Spirit of God is not mysterious, often working in strange and miraculous ways in the lives of people, but one of the things that the Bible is very clear about when it comes to the work of Holy Spirit is to help God's people understand what has been revealed in Scripture.
Even Jesus disciples who walked alongside Jesus for three years didn't really understand all that had happened until the Holy Spirit came on them at Pentecost.
My grandfather was an amateur hand radio operator. He once said to me, the Holy Spirit is like the tuning dial on a radio receiver, he helps dial us in so that we can hear God speaking to us more clearly. I've always liked that analogy. Maybe today you might let the Holy Spirit 'tune you in' to hear God speaking to you more clearly through His word, revealed to us in the Bible.
PRAYER
Lord Jess, you are the way, the truth, and the life. Holy Spirit, help me to see the way, hear the truth, and live the life that Jesus offers more clearly every day, so that others might also be drawn into his life. Amen
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
TO PONDER
Are you a good listener? I'm not sure if it is the world changing around us or if it's just me getting older, but it seems to me that it has become increasingly difficult with each successive child in our family, to teach them how to listen properly. It's almost as if I have to develop a colourful and engaging powerpoint display with pictures and diagrams every time I want to talk with them about something, if I expect to hold their attention for long.
We see it in social discussion and issues debates in the media and online, we seem less prepared to listen to each other than ever before. If we lose the art of listening then we are going to very quickly find ourselves a long way down a very difficult path.
Because as we refuse to listen to those whose ways and thoughts are different from ours we also begin to tune out God who calls us to serve others, not ourselves; who asks us to forgive rather than to seek revenge.
Following Jesus is not easy, his ways are consistently different to what comes naturally to us, the only way to follow him is to quick to listen to his voice and not to argue about what he says.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, sometimes even your own people argue about what you are saying to us. Help me, and your church throughout the world, to learn to listen to to you with truely open ears and hearts that we might hear what you are saying to us rather than what we might wish you were saying to us. Amen
Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
TO PONDER
A number of years ago, before my own father passed away, there was a bit of a fad gifting craze going around. I wonder if you ever encountered those children's books which had a built in recording device so that you could buy the book and record yourself reading it and then send it as a gift to loved ones who lived a long way away. Our family got in on the craze and had our children's grandparents and aunties and uncles all record a different page of the books and then gave hem to our kids for Christmas.
What's special for me about those books now is that they still hold a recording of my dad's voice.
Hearing your dad's voice was also important for Jesus. at his own baptism, Jesus, and the crowd gathered around him heard a voice from heaven proclaim, "You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." Maybe you have, or had, a father who was pretty generous with positive words and encouragement, maybe you have, or had, a dad who was fairly absent or didn't have much in the way of positive things to say. Whatever your earthly father may be like, we all can claim God as our Heavenly Father and he longs to speak those same words to you, "You are my son/daughter, whom I love; I am pleased with you." Just open up your Bible and let his speak those words to you each and every day.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, sometimes when I look a myself, all I see is the things I've done wrong, the mistakes that I have made and all the ways I just don't measure up. Give me ears to hear your voice which tells me of your love and dedication to me and help me to help others hear that voice as well.
For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
TO PONDER
The human race are a fickle bunch. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the story of the boy who cried wolf. Basically, while caring for the sheep, he thinks it might be funny to shout to the local villagers for help to defend the sheep agains an attacking pack of wolves. He plays this trick repeatedly until the people of the village stop listening because they are tired of rushing off, only to find their time has been wasted. Of course, when wolves really did end up attacking the sheep, no one responded to the boys cries for help.
I sometimes wonder if that's not a bit how it was for the Israelites. God had promised a messiah, but it had been hundreds, if not thousands of years between the first prophecies which talked about messiah and the eventual birth of Jesus. Did it become like the story of the boy who cried wolf? Although the Israelites knew the prophesies and had been studying them for years had they been told and reminded of this promise so often but then waited so long for it to actually arrive, that they didn't recognise it when it happened?
Is this possibly something that has happened to you? Have you heard the Christmas story so many times that it tends to just go in one ear and out the other? Have you stopped recognising the significance and the importance of the story of a God who came down from Heaven and became part of creation in order to redeem it? If that's you then take this opportunity to pray and to ask God to give you ears to hear the love, joy, hope and peace he wants to bring to you not just at Christmas, but every day of your life.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, forgive me for when I have failed to take your voice and your story seriously. Please help me to you more so that I can share you more with my friends and family this Christmas. Amen