ADVENT MEDITATIONS - Part 10

DEC. 20 - (Единство)
Today's devotional thought is on the theme of solidarity - unity of purpose. Although we have received freedom in Christ, our enemy will continue to try and turn us away from that, and we must be prepared and stand firm in the truth.

I chose to memorize these verses: Philippians 1:27-28a -- Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.

The world is watching us - so at Christmas and every other day throughout the year we need to stand united as Christ's followers, confident in Him, sure of our freedom, and eager to share the gospel with others around us.

DEC. 21 - (Воплощение Бога)
Today's meditation was about why Christ's birth is so miraculously different than any other. Because Christ has existed forever, His birth was an incarnation. He already existed, yet He took on the form of His creation.

I chose Isaiah 43:10-13 -- "You are My witnesses," declares the Lord, "and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from Me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed - I, and not some foreign god among you. You are My witnesses," declares the Lord, "that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am He. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?"

There is no other god, and no one who can do what God did. This is what we celebrate at Christmas - God becoming human in order to save us and bring us into relationship with Him. What a miracle!

LIFE - Easter Sunday Meditation

"Very early in the morning...they came to the tomb when the sun had risen." - Mark 16:2

"Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning..." - Luke 24:1

One of my favourite times of the day is the morning. I love to watch sunrises, to see the light filling the sky, bringing the dawn of a new day. I love the stillness and quiet of the early morning, to feel the cool freshness of the morning air on my face and breathe it in...

In two of the gospel accounts of the resurrection, it is mentioned that it was very early in the morning -- as the women came to the tomb they could probably hear their footsteps on the ground, since they were probably the only ones on the road that day. There might have still been dew on the grass, and the air might have been a little cool, since the sun had just risen and had not yet spread its warmth around. THIS is the context in which they discover that Jesus Christ is NOT dead, but alive!

The morning is usually the time of day when I feel most alive, and when something unexpected and joyful happens, it gives me an extra burst of energy...I imagine the women probably ran back to tell the disciples and maybe their hearts beat a little faster with the incredible realization that death could not conquer life!

God gave me a new insight today as I was meditating on this miracle...it's been a week since most of my friends and family celebrated Easter, but the celebration should last longer than just one day. Why, you may  ask? Because life really started anew when Jesus arose...

It's like when a baby is born and you begin thinking about all the "firsts" that you will be experiencing, all the things that you are going to do with your child, and suddenly, life takes on a new fullness. It's the same for us -- when we receive the gift of spiritual life that Jesus made possible by His resurrection from the dead, that is JUST the beginning of life!

Here are a few Scriptures about living - REALLY living - in light of the resurrection:

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. - John 10:10

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God,

and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. - John 17:3

Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death,

that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,

even so we also should walk in newness of life. - Romans 6:4

...always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,

that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. - 2 Cor. 4:10

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;

and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,

who loved me and gave Himself for me. - Galatians 2:20

Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, we have the hope of eternal life, which will not be realized until He returns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords...but while we live here on earth, it is His life that is to be seen in us, in everything that we do.

This is more than just knowing that we don't have to fear death -- it is living with faith and abundant joy and in complete surrender to our Redeemer, the One who has given us this life.

HOSANNA - Palm Sunday Meditation

This picture is my creative expression of what we celebrate on Palm Sunday, and the meaning of the word "Hosanna."

Today is Palm Sunday. Here in Ukraine, the Protestant churches will celebrate a month later, but I have decided to take time this week to meditate on the events we celebrate at Easter - which are the foundation of my Christian faith.

The word "Hosanna" originally was a cry for help, for salvation -- "Save us!"
In the context of the New Testament, it is generally used as an expression of praise and exultation - "Salvation has come," which is probably the intended meaning of Matthew 21:9 when the crowd shouts, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"

I chose John 1:29 as the focal point of my Palm Sunday poster, because I believe this is the reason to shout and sing "Hosanna!" Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, the Savior of the world, and when we cry "Hosanna," we are acknowledging that He is who He said He is.

I wonder if the people in Jerusalem really understood the significance of what they shouted as they waved their palm branches and rejoiced at Jesus' triumphal entrance. Perhaps some of them did, but not all believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the One sent from God to be the salvation of Israel.

Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday was a fulfillment of prophecy and an act of voluntary and complete obedience to His Father's will and it was also a demonstration of His love. It was the annunciation of Jesus' purpose on earth ... to be the Lamb of God, the Savior who takes away the sins of the world.

This Palm Sunday I witnessed a miracle -- following the pastor's sermon on John 3 and Jesus' declaration that a person must be born again to see the kingdom of God, one of the men in the congregation prayed to receive salvation and was spiritually born again, praise God!

HOSANNA in the highest, salvation has come! HOSANNA, to the Son of David, the Messiah, our Savior! BLESSED IS HE who comes IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!

CELEBRATING ADVENT: Jesus Christ

INCARNATION

In the beginning when the world began, God was there -

He is eternal and unchanging, as the Scriptures declare.

The God who created everything by His Word alone

Chose to come to us and make Himself known.

And all those who believe and place their trust in Him,

His Spirit indwells and transforms them from within.

~ Darlene Koop, Dec. 31-2012 ~

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. ~ John 1:14 ~

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ~ 1 John 4:9 ~

What a miracle, that the Son of God was supernaturally conceived and miraculously born of a virgin -- God come to earth in human flesh! For the One who spoke the whole world into existence, this was not impossible, and it was the way He chose to make Himself personally known to mankind.

Yet even more incredibly miraculous is the way that God, by the power of His Holy Spirit, can live inside us and change us from the inside out! This is why the incarnation is not confined merely to the celebration of Christmas -- because the greatest miracle was the redemption that Jesus Christ purchased for us when He died on the cross and rose from the dead.

And though Christ's incarnation is complete, we have not yet been fully glorified. This is why we eagerly await the second coming of our Lord -- when we will finally see Him in all of His glory and we will know Him and live with Him the way God intended it to be from the beginning.

Without Christmas, without the cross and the empty grave, this hope would not be possible. And so, although for many of us the celebrations are over for another year, I issue this challenge:

Let us celebrate the miracle, the incarnation of the One and Only King, Lord and Savior of the world, all year long, remembering that without Him we would be nothing. Let us eagerly await and pray for His return, always keeping it in view. And may we accept His work in our lives, allowing the Potter to mold us so that daily we become a little more like Him.

Father, please help us to keep this reminder in view and to live more like You each day. Thank You for the great and incomparable love that compelled You to send Your only Son to save us and bring us into fellowship with You. In Jesus' name, amen.

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said..."Oh, righteous Father! The world has not known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." ~ John 17:1a, 25-26 ~

GIVING THANKS...

   Just before I left Thunder Bay, a friend gave me a book to read...it's called ONE THOUSAND BLESSINGS, by Ann Voskamp. It is a different writing style than I am used to, so it took me a little while to get into the book, but once I did, the truths that it contained gave me a new perspective, or lens, to see life through, one that has completely changed the way I interact with day-to-day life.

   And just as she did, so I began a "One Thousand Blessings" dare of my own...to write down 1000 blessings -- even the things that might not at first glance seem like a blessing. I'm more than halfway there, and every day I find myself giving thanks for God's gracious hand in EVERYTHING.

   It really is a change in perspective, and it is the beginning of true joy -- to give thanks. I want to share with you just a few insights from the book that have impacted me and I hope that they speak to you in some way as well...

Is the height of my chara joy dependent on the depths of my eucharisteo thanks?

As long as thanks is possible, then joy is always possible. Joy is always possible. The holy grail of joy is not in some exotic location or some emotional mountain peak experience. The joy wonder could be here! Here, in the messy, piercing ache of now, joy might be - unbelievably - possible! The only place we need see before we die is this place of seeing God, here and now.

Charis. Grace.

Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving.

Chara. Joy.

Sozo means salvation. It means true wellness, complete wholeness. To live sozo is to live the full life. Jesus came that we might live life to the full; He came to give us sozo. And when did the leper receive sozo - the saving to the full, whole life? When he returned and gave thanks.

Our very saving is associated with our gratitude. If our fall was the non-eucharisteo, the ingratitude, then salvation must be intimately related to eucharisteo, the giving of thanks. Jesus counts thanksgiving as integral in a faith that saves.

We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if not with thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is the manifestation of our Yes! to His grace. Thanksgiving - giving thanks in everything - prepares the way that God might show us His fullest salvation in Christ.

She quotes from Alexander Schememan:

"Now, in the Bible a name...reveals the very essence of a thing, or rather its essence as God's gift...To name a thing is to manifest the meaning and value God gave it, to know it as coming from God and to know its place and function within the cosmos created by God. To name a thing, in other words, is to bless God for it and in it."

And then she writes her own thoughts:

In naming that which is right before me, that which I'd otherwise miss, the invisible becomes visible. I name. And I know the face I face. God's! God is in the details; God is in the moment. God is in all that blurs by in a life - even hurts in a life.

This act of naming grace moments...moves beyond the shopping list variety of prayer and into the other side. And I see it now for what this really is, this dare to write down one thousand things I love. It really is a dare to name all the ways that God loves me. The true Love Dare. To move into His presence and listen to His love unending and know the grace uncontainable. This is the vault of the miracles.

Jesus embraces the not enough...He gives thanks...and there is more than enough! Eucharisteo always precedes the miracle. And who doesn't need a miracle like that every day? The real problem in life is never a lack of time. The real problem of life - in my life - is lack of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving creates abundance; and the miracle of multiplying happens when I give thanks - take the just one loaf, say it is enough, and give thanks - and He miraculously makes it more than enough.

Thank You, Lord, for Your blessings on me!!!