FBC Daily Devotions

We begin with week 2 of Advent since Advent actually begins 4 weeks prior to Christmas Day. This week we will look at the various characters that were part of the Christmas story.

Character #1 – The Holy Spirit
The story of Jesus’ birth is a wonderfully unique story in the history of humanity, and nothing shows us this more clearly than a brief look at the diverse cast of characters participated in this unrivalled event.
One of the first important characters to appear is the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit who moved over the waters of creation in Genesis 1 is now breathed into Mary to create the holy child. In this passage the “Most High” travels from the highest throne of heaven to visit his presence on the lowly home of Mary.

Luke 1: 34-38
34And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy-the Son of God. 36And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Shedding some light…
This story is one of the great miracles of the Bible. It is utterly beyond our comprehension to understand or fathom how Mary could become pregnant from God. Yet God did it. He descended from his heights of his holy home into the midst of our broken and fleshly humanity. Mary never looked for God to do this. She was astonished by the visit. God pursued her in his plan to keep his promise of redemption. Stop for a moment and slowly reread this well-known story. Allow yourself to be captured by this picture of the God who loves you! Be amazed by the work of the Holy Spirit-in creation and in Mary. And then consider the work of the Holy Spirit in your life and continue in your astonishment.

Children’s Prayer:
God, help us see the ways you’ve helped us-even in the ways that we didn’t expect it. And help us believe that you will still help us.

Adult’s Prayer:
Wonderfully Wise God, we admit your ways are higher than ours and we fail in our ability to understand your great miracles on our behalf. Give us ears to hear and eyes to see so that we can marvel with Mary at the wonders of your son Jesus’ birth. Don’t let the familiarity of the story limit our amazement. Let us pause, consider, and be utterly astonished at what you did! Give us faith to believe what you can do-in us, in others, and in this world!

Advent Singing: Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

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source: www.ctkraleigh.org

As we are now well into the Christmas season (and for some people, that happened back in October!), we are going to spend some time preparing for the blessed celebration of Jesus’ birth. For many, many centuries, this has been called the Advent season – a time to focus and reflect on the particular themes of John the Baptist’s preparation for the ministry of Christ, the annunciation to Mary that she would be the mother of Jesus, Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, and the final judgment. Throughout the season we are constantly reminded that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.

Last night I received a link from Gary Kato to a website which has already completed the Advent devotions for the weeks leading up to Christmas. It is an excellent resource, and one that is timely for me personally (I have a lot of vacation to use up before the end of the year!). But what I especially like about these devotions is that they are to be done in community. From the authors:

“We designed this devotional as a way to help you, Christ’s worshiping community; think about Advent themes during the entire month-not just on the four Sundays leading up to Christmas.

“Each individual devotion contains a passage of Scripture, a brief reflection on that passage, sample prayers to guide the prayers of children and adults, and hymns to sing together to give voice to your praises and longings.

“The devotional was designed to be read in community. So, whether you have a large family or live alone, we encourage you to find one or two (or more) others and go through these devotions together during a time of family devotions, after a meal, or over the phone. Read the Scriptures, pray together, and sing the songs together (if you can’t read music, you can find many of the tunes either on iTunes or by doing an online search of the hymn’s title)”[1].

Unfortunately, I don’t have the capability to reproduce the music here, but I trust you can find the songs on the web.

I personally love this concept of devotions done in community! I hope you’ll give them a try, and if you find the exercise valuable, drop me a line or post a commnent.

I will post the Advent devotions daily as available (there are only 4-5 devotions/week). However, if you would prefer to print out the entire booklet of devotions (including the songs), you can do so by clicking here.

May God bless you this Christmas season as you remember the real reason for it.

-Mike

[1] www.ctkraliegh.org

Read Revelation 22:8-9.

The moment I read this passage, I knew I had read these words somewhere earlier. Indeed, they are found in Rev. 19:10. Despite having been told earlier not to worship the angel, John simply could not help himself. The moment was just too much for him. He was moved to worship. What moved him so powerfully? The answer appears to be common in both instances: Rev. 19:9 and Rev. 22:6.

These are the true words of God. (19:9)
These words are trustworthy and true. (22:6)

The words and the revelation given to John were important words emphasized by the fact that they were said to be true. I wonder why the angel needed to emphasize this. Would John not have believed the words? Did the angel really need to tell him the words were trustworthy and true?

When I have dreams (and I’m not suggesting John was dreaming), sometimes I wake up and realize it was only a dream. I calm myself and go back to sleep, able because I know it was only a dream. I wonder if John doubted for a moment what he was seeing. Like waking up from a dream, I wonder if he thought this was not real. I can’t say for sure, but it seems the angel’s words jolted him back into reality. This vision was real. The impact of those words seemed to cause him to fall in worship.

I must confess that sometimes I treat God’s truth as a dream. I don’t always live like it is real. Have you ever wished the reality of God’s truth would bring you to your knees in worship? I sure do. It’s perhaps not so much doubt in God’s truth, but probably more neglect of God’s word. Taking it for granted, living on autopilot, putting experience before faith. Believing in God’s truth will lead to a life of worship, and if that’s the goal of my life, then it’s important to get it out in front of my life. Do I believe forgiveness is essential for good relationships? Then I better forgive rather than think holding it in is the better thing to do! Do I believe persevering will strengthen my faith and reveal God more in my life? Then I better not throw in the towel and give up or give in! Do I believe transformation really begins with the mind? Then I better be very careful what I fill my mind with! If we believe God’s word is trustworthy and true, it will be reflected in the decisions we make. It will lead to a life of worship.

Worship reflects our trust in God’s word. May His word be real in your life, and may it lead you to fall on your knees in worship as it did with John.

-Mike

Read Revelation 22:7.

Do you believe Jesus is coming back soon? Our passage today (and repeated in several verses in this chapter) indicate that Jesus will come back soon. Depending on the translation, it could also mean Jesus is coming back quickly. Which is it? Is He coming back soon or quickly? With nearly 2,000 years since the prophecy was given, Jesus has still not returned. This has understandably led people to see Jesus’ words of comfort to mean He will return quickly, in the twinkle of an eye. Others note that with God, a thousand years is like a day (2 Peter 3:8). Let’s not get too caught up in the differences and remember the more important thing – Jesus is coming back. Why is He coming back?

-For the sake of His name. He’s didn’t leave us to die here alone in a sinking ship. What kind of name would Jesus have if He simply walked out on us? No, Jesus is returning, and part of the reason is because His name is on the line. Not that it really matters, of course, because He could do whatever He wants regardless of what others think of Him. Which gives us a second reason for coming back:

-Because He loves us with an everlasting love. His return will be the final testimony of His love. If we have any doubt about His love, we will have none when He returns.

-To destroy evil and sin. His return will see the end of sin and evil in the universe. All things that are opposed to God will be destroyed.

-To vindicate the persecuted. All those who stand firm to the end will find sweet victory knowing they had not run in vain.  

-To dwell with His people and His creation forever. As it is, sin prevents us from dwelling in the presence of God. We live in corruptible bodies. But one day, when Jesus returns, we will be raised incorruptible, and as such will be able to dwell with Him forever.

There are so many reasons why Jesus is coming back. All of them are good and true. Do you believe He is coming back? If so, you have the greatest hope one could ever have. Today, no matter what happens, no matter how frustrating or difficult the day may be, remember one thing: He is coming back. There is light at the end of the tunnel. There is hope at the end of the day. So relax a little. Cast your cares upon Him. He is coming back.

–Mike

Read Revelation 22:1-6.

Eternal life and the glory of God are inseparable. Where eternal life exists, the glory of God is revealed. Even in this life, our eternal life (not yet fully realized) expresses some of the glory of God in various forms. Character, attitudes, behavior… the glory of God cannot be hidden in a life filled with eternity in Christ.

Last week we looked at the New Earth and the construction of the New Jerusalem. Indeed, they will be incredibly beautiful. Today, we take a look inside. Inside we see eternal life and the glory of God together in their fullest manifestation. At center of the city is the throne of God. A river flows from the throne called “the water of life” – appropriately named because eternal life flows from God, and God alone. Its crystal clear description no doubt emphasizes the purity of our eternal life.

[I diverge for a moment… the river is said to flow down the middle of a great street. I have seen many rivers flowing beside freeways heading east on I-90, but never a river down a street. Judging from the size of the city and its features (e.g. 200′ thick walls), this must be one wide street. The fact that the tree of life stands along the street yielding crops (not just a few buckets) every month, this street must be stand out as a fairly prominent feature.]

As just mentioned, the tree of life yielding 12 crops of fruit (matching the 12 apostles and 12 tribes of Israel) every month tells of the eternal nature of our own lives in the New Jerusalem. Its leaves provide “healing for the nations” – a peculiar statement considering there will be no more pain or suffering in the New Earth. But as one commentator notes, “The word healing can be understood as “health-giving”. The English “therapeutic” is derived from this Greek word.” As such this need not be problematic. The tree of life provides in a sense eternal life and eternal comfort. Here we have both the water of life and the food of life provided in the river and tree. These provide for the essential needs of eternal life.

Not surprising then, at the center of this testimony of eternal life shines the glory of God. As already described in chapter 21, the glory of God will provide everlasting light for the city. His light will outshine even the sun (which is pretty bright even on a cloudy day like today). His light will never fade or set as the sun, but will remain forever bright.

In this short set of verses, the fullness of eternal life in the presence of our glorious God is emphasized. This is something we look forward to, but in part, we experience some of that today.

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. -2Cor. 3:18

Let’s be honest. We don’t always do a good job reflecting God’s glory. But there will come a day when we will reflect His glory perfectly. Until that time, we are being transformed with ever-increasing glory. Sometimes that can be a very slow process. We may think we will never reflect His glory adequately. And the truth of the matter is, we won’t in this fallen world of ours. But the picture given us of life in our eternal home is one that gives me hope that one day, yes, one day the fullness of God’s glory and eternal life will be finally realized.

-Mike