12/6/12- Tidings of Comfort

Thursday- December 6

Joel 1:4; 2:21-25 - What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten. Do not fear, O soil; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things!  ²²Do not fear, you animals of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit, the fig tree and vine give their full yield.  ²³O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God; for he has given the early rain^* for your vindication, he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the later rain, as before. ²⁴The threshing-floors shall be full of grain, the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.  ^25III will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent against you

I am not a huge fan of bugs.  And a text on locusts eating all the food and devastating the land of Israel is surely not a pleasant one to contemplate as we deck the halls and sit by tree.  But the promises here are truly beautiful. A plague has devastated the people – a plague their sins brought upon them. But no matter how bad things get, God’s compassion does not let the locust be the last word! In the midst of hard times, God tells the people and even the animals to not fear. A time of blessing is coming! Pastures will be green. Fruit and fig trees will bloom. Abundant rain will yield such incredible harvests that the years of deprivation will be completely forgotten.  When we face hard times, when our Christmases are tinged with sadness, pain, and grief, God is there with us.  He promises that any years any locusts have eaten will be repaid by ones full of joy. Jesus will come again and “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’ (Rev.21:4) The baby born at Christmas will return as the King He is and make all things new.  Suffering will cease and the years the locust ate will vanish in His glory!  “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”

Prayer: In my hard times, help me to keep hope and trust in you. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Application: Think back to a time when you wondered if you were going to make it.  Think of how God saw you through.  If you know someone in need, pray for them and send them an email or card to encourage them.

O Tidings of Comfort and Joy!  Comfort and Joy!  O Tidings of Comfort and Joy! (From "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen") 

By Rev. Tracie Stewart

12/5/12- Shiny Christmas

Wednesday- December 5

Isaiah 55:2-3 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food, ³Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.

Shiny Christmas

Sometimes the glitz and glamor of our commercialized Christmas celebrations can both attract and repel me.  It is all so shiny and bright, so sparkling and beguiling. As beautiful as a mall Christmas scene can be, it is so far away from the squalor of the first Christmas.  A scared peasant girl recently married and obviously too pregnant gives birth in a stable surrounded by animals in an occupied country. It is a scene of scarcity, poverty, and desperation.  And yet here in this unlike place are beauty and treasure beyond our imaginings! Here is the miracle of the Incarnation – God with us – Emmanuel – not us at our best, but at our worst.  God’s love sees us at our most unlovable and feels only compassion and mercy for us in our pitiful state. The baby in the manger is Living Water and the Bread of Life. He is the Crucified King who conquers death and everything that brings us misery!  This Christmas let us pass a bit on the glitz and glamor and instead delight in the rich food and abundant treasures of the Lord!

Prayer: Lord, in the glitzy and tacky world, help me to keep my eyes on what is pure and good.

Application: Pick one day during advent in which you will refrain from the crowds, the traffic, and even from TV.
In its place, take 30 minutes on that day to do something to restore your soul: read a good book (Isaiah’s prophecies are good starts). 

Infant holy, infant lowly, for His bed a cattle stall;
Oxen lowing, Little knowing Christ the babe is Lord of all.
Swift are winging angels singing, noels ringing, tidings bringing.
Christ the babe is Lord of all. (PH #37- Polish Carol translated 1925)

12/4/12- Christmas and children

Tuesday- December 4

Hosea 11:1-4; 8-9 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.  The more I^* called them, the more they went from me;^* they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and offering incense to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my^* arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love.  I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks.^* I bent down to them and fed them. How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel?... My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.

Christmas comes alive in the eyes of children.  My heart melts hearing a little one sing “Away in a Manager” or watching them wonder at all the candles in church on Christmas Eve. I remember my boys searching the night sky for Santa and putting reindeer food on our lawn. It is hard as an adult to remember that we are God’s children and He rejoices in our wonder at His goodness and glory.  He is moved to see us re-experience the joy of His Son’s birth in the manager each Christmas. The prophet Hosea captured our Heavenly Father’s compassion, care, and love for us.  He speaks of the nation of Israel as a beloved toddler learning to walk with help of His daddy’s strong hand. He speaks of God delighting in kissing an infant’s cheeks and bending down to feed a young child, tenderly caring for their every need. But the child rebels and behaves worse than any toddler having a tantrum.  So too we sin and chase after the idols we form for ourselves and repay the loving-kindness of God with our own willful actions that can only harm us. But God’s love never fails.  God mourns over His rebellious children and cries “How can I give you up!” Instead of the punishment we deserve, God allows our sins to punish Him! He secures our salvation when we could not do so ourselves and despite our mistreatment of Him. The ultimate demonstration of love begins in the manger in Bethlehem. We are truly beloved children of the Most High! ^*

Prayer: As you delivered your people and your Son out of Egypt, deliver me from my trouble this day, Lord.  Not because I deserve it, but because of your great love, save me from my tribulations.

Application: Name one time that God has helped or delivered you in the last ten years. Try to encourage one person today with your hope.

I the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry.  All who dwell in deepest sin, My hand will save.
I who made the stars of night, I will make their darkness bright, Who will bear my light to them, whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I Lord?  I have heard you calling in the night. 
I will go Lord, if you lead me.  I will hold your people in my heart.  (PH #515- Daniel Schutte 1981)

12-3-12- 2 Cor, 3:1-6 Letters at Advent

Monday- December 3

II Corinthians 3:1-6 - Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? You yourselves are our letter, written on our^* hearts, to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ towards God. Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

I worry that we as a culture send so few letters anymore.  Carefully stored away with other treasures is the correspondence my husband and I have had throughout the years, faded letters from my father and grandparents who now live in heaven, and even a copy of a letter my great-great-grandfather wrote his father as he served in the Confederate army during the last days of the war.  How can my boys court the type of girls I want them to marry via text message! Letters are precious –in fact, much of our New Testament is letters that were so valued by the churches that received them that we read them almost 2000 years later. In one of these letters, Paul writes that the members of the Corinthian church are like “letters from Christ…written with the spirit of the living God…on human hearts.”  One of the most wonderful parts of our Christmas celebrations is Christmas cards.  It is such a joy to hear from far-away friends this time of year.  But as we go about our celebrations, let us remember that we too are walking letters, Christmas cards from Christ who has written with His Spirit on our hearts. Let us spread his joy and peace as we are “read” by others as they see our actions and our attitudes. May everyone see that Christ has given us life!

Prayer: Make me a love letter to the world around me, O Lord.  Open me up to share your grace and love.

Application: Today- write just one letter to a loved one, and wish them a Merry Christmas.

Go tell it on the mountain, Over the hills and everywhere!
Go tell it on the mountain- that Jesus Christ is born!
(PH #29 spiritual)

By Rev. Tracie Stewart

12/2/12- God's Coming brings Hope

Sunday- December 2

Psalm 33:22 - Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.

Hope can be a hard thing to come by sometimes. Christmas 2002 was a time I felt a bit hopeless.  My body was exhausted and I faced open heart surgery right after Christmas.  Every holiday task was tainted by the voice of doubt and fear asking, “What if this is the last time you do this with your family?”  I had two boys, 5 and 2, and I wanted years of Christmases with them - and their children. Christmas Eve morning I went to the hospital for final tests and was having a huge pity party. My best friend called to wish me “Merry Christmas.” When I complained she laughed, “Guess God didn’t much want to be in that filthy barn tonight either.  There are some things you just have to do!  But because He did that, you’re okay either way – and so are your boys!” Hope, joy, peace, and love flooded the rest of that Christmas. Christmas is not about perfection in this life –it is about the perfection that is to come. Christmas is about joy in the worst of circumstances and peace despite all the terrors this world holds. Christmas begins the journey to the cross that ends with an empty tomb and gives us certain hope that the sin, evil, and death will never triumph!  This is the scripture verse I chose that Christmas for my tombstone – a cry of certain hope and defiance against my worst fears. They are also a powerful expression of God’s action in coming to earth to save us from our sins and a wonderful prayer to have on our lips until He comes again in glory.

Prayer: Let your steadfast love, be poured on me, my family, my church, my community, my country, Lord. Give me grace to put my hope in you this advent.

Application: Think how God’s coming in a “filthy barn” can give us strength and hope. 

Once in Royal David’s City, stood a lowly cattle shed, Where a mother laid her baby in a manger for His bed.
Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ her little child.
He came down to earth from heaven who is God and Lord of all; And His shelter was a stable, And His cradle was a stall.
With the poor, oppressed and lowly, lived on earth our Savior holy. (PH #49- Cecil Frances Alexander 1848)

Devotion by Tracie Stewart

Advent Eve- 12/1/12

<sup>The generous will themselves be blessed,    for they share their food with the poor. (Prov. 22:9)

41</sup> But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. (Jesus' words- Matthew 11:41)

(Policeman giving shoes to homeless man in NYC).  

Thoughts: On advent eve, perhaps it is good to think about helping the needy. Today at our church there is a toy drive in memory of Justin Pepper, a young 11 year old who died in a car wreck five years ago.  Justin gave his birthday presents to the needy children of Thornwell Home for Children.  Now hundreds of people bring toys for the needy kids.
    There are so many needs in our world today.  It takes faith to believe that when we are generous to others we will be blessed by God.  

Prayer: Help me to be kind to others as you have been kind to me.  

11/30/12- Advent and Waiting

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Thoughts: In our culture, waiting and resting are bad things.  Yet they are reminders that we are not there yet.  As we prepare for advent (Sunday), we need to remember that one of the themes of advent is waiting on God to come- as Mary did, as the whole world did, as we do.
    In heaven there will not be lines- only circles.  In heaven there will not be lack of patience, because we do not run out of time, and we see (finally clearly) that all time and eternity is in God's hands.  
    Here our bodies are forced to rest- to sleep as a sign of our finitude, and a bit of humility to our pride.  Sabbath is broken in a rebellion against our ability to wait, to rest, to spend time with family and God.  In heaven we see Sabbath is much more important than our idea of work and productivity- which apart from God's glory- has no eternal importance.  
    So wait on the Lord.  When you are going through the trials, pains, and griefs of life-- wait on Him.  

Prayer: Help me to wait on you, O Lord.  Give me confidence to wait on you.