Advent Devotional / Jesse Tree day 4: The Ark and the Door

After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.
Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground.
But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark.
He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark.
When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.
He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.
Genesis 8:6-12


Wednesday: Noah's Ark

Bible Reading: Genesis 6:11-22; 8:6-12

Jesse Tree Symbol: Dove over water (go to Jesse Tree ornaments)

The story of Noah, the ark, the animals, the flood and the rainbow is one that most children are familiar with. There are many different aspects of this story that can be taught to draw comparisons to the person of Jesus Christ. I would like to highlight just one. 

God was greatly disappointed with the entire human race, save one man...Noah. God knew what He planned to do, destroy all living creatures, yet He prepared a way of escape...a door. 

"Put a door in the side of the ark" Genesis 6:16 and that was the door that Noah, his family and all the animals passed through. There was no other way in, only one door. 

"And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood...And after seven days the floodwaters came on the earth...Then the Lord shut him in." Genesis 7:7, 10, 16. It seems that the door to the ark stayed open for seven days before the Lord shut it. Seven days when those around Noah could have listened to his warnings and entered the ark. But they didn't and they died.

Today a door stands open as well. But this time, that door has been standing open for more that 2,000 years. That door is Jesus Christ. 

"I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved," John 10:9. God knew that there would be a second judgment of the earth, but this time by fire (2 Peter 3:7). And just as God had Noah build an ark as a means of salvation from the flood, God prepared Himself, in Jesus Christ, as a means of salvation for all mankind. 

The Bible makes it clear that we are “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Nothing we can do can save us from our sin and its consequence of eternal separation from God. But the Bible also tells us that "If we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead, we will be saved" (Romans 10:9). It is “by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). 

Nothing we can do will save us from our sin—salvation is all from God. Nothing Noah did could save him from the flood unless he followed God's instructions to build the ark and then walked through that door. Just like Noah, our responsibility is to go through the doorway (Jesus), and God will save us.

You can follow the Jesse Tree lesson with a Christmas carol or two. 

When you are finished each day, you might want to talk about how Christmas is about giving much more than getting. One way that your family can give is through their daily prayers. This is a good time to pray for a specific country or for a group of people who do not know about Jesus. Two great websites to help you do this are:

Unreached of the Day

Operation World  go to Featured Nation and click on Country Profile

May this Christmas season be a time when each of us draw nearer to Christ and help our children do the same. God bless you!

Jesse Tree Day 3: Doubting God's Goodness and the First Sin

"And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them…So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken." Genesis 3:21, 23

Tuesday: The First Sin

Bible Reading: Genesis 3:1-24

Jesse Tree symbol: forbidden fruit 

(go to Jesse Tree ornaments)

As a child I would hear this story and think to myself.."I wouldn't have eaten that fruit." It was hard for me to grasp my sinful nature.

It wasn't until I became an adult and a mother that I began to fully grasp my sinful nature and realized that I would have eaten that fruit. The fruit represented willful disobedience to God's commands. I make the same choice Adam and Eve made every time I choose to disobey the Lord because I want do to things my way.

When the devil spoke to Eve, he was trying to get her to doubt God's good intentions towards her: "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'" Gen. 3:1. He wanted her to disbelieve God's wisdom. Do we do that today? Do our children?

Do your children question your rules? Do they sometimes think they could find a better way to do something? Do they trust in your wisdom all the time? Unfortunately, the answer is probably no, especially as they grow older. Yet, God has said: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." Ephesians 6:1 and "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord."  Read Colossians 3:20. Discussing this with them may help them to see their sinful tendencies and their need for Jesus.

You can follow the Jesse Tree lesson with a Christmas carol or two. 

When you are finished each day, you might want to talk about how Christmas is about giving much more than getting. One way that your family can give is through their daily prayers. This is a good time to pray for a specific country or for a group of people who do not know about Jesus. Two great websites to help you do this are:

Unreached of the Day

Operation World  go to Featured Nation and click on Country Profile

May this Christmas season be a time when each of us draw nearer to Christ and help our children do the same. God bless you!

Jesse Tree Day 2 - Creation

And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so.
God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Genesis 1:24-28

Monday: Creation

Bible reading: all of Genesis 1 or just Genesis 1:24-28

Symbol: land God created (go to Jesse Tree ornaments)

God created a world of peace and harmony...a beautiful world with no sin. He created man in His image, making us different from the animals. We can have relationships, we have intellect, we have creativity, we were given stewardship of the earth...a good time to talk to your children about what makes us unique and what it means to be created in the image of God. You might also point out that we are not animals, as some would like to say. You might have them compare the differences between us and animals. 

You can follow the Jesse Tree lesson with a Christmas carol or two. 

When you are finished each day, you might want to talk about how Christmas is about giving much more than getting. One way that your family can give is through their daily prayers. This is a good time to pray for a specific country or for a group of people who do not know about Jesus. Two great websites to help you do this are:

Unreached of the Day

Operation World  go to Featured Nation and click on Country Profile

May this Christmas season be a time when each of us draw nearer to Christ and help our children do the same. God bless you!

Advent Begins with the Jesse Tree

"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord--

and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. 

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 

but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. 

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

Isaiah 11:1-5

Today, December 1, marks the first day in Advent...a time when we prepare our hearts and minds for the upcoming celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Many families may read a weekly devotion and sing Christmas carols. Some may use an advent wreath or an advent calendar to anticipate Christmas. The Jesse Tree is another way to help your family think about and focus on the birth of Christ.

The Jesse Tree comes from Isaiah 11:1: "A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots." It is a way to tell the story of God in the Old Testament, and to connect the Advent Season with the faithfulness of God across 4,000 years of history. The Branch is a Biblical sign of newness out of discouragement, which became a way to talk about the expected Messiah: "The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land." Jeremiah 23:5 

A Jesse Tree does not require much work or time. You can use a real tree, a tree drawn on a piece of poster board, a tree you make yourself with craft supplies or it can be a banner. Each day you will read to your child(ren) a Scripture passage and talk about its meaning in relation to the coming of Christ and God's promises. Then your child(ren) will color an ornament to hang on the tree. The ornaments can be found at the below websites or you can have your children draw a picture of their own.

I plan to have a Jesse Tree devotion with my children beginning today. I plan to blog about each day's Jesse Tree message so if you like, you can return to this blog each day to find out the Scripture reading, some thoughts on its meaning and the symbol.

Here are some websites where you can find more information and black-n-white drawings of the daily symbols:

The Jesse Tree: Celebration of Advent

Jesse Tree ornaments

The Jesse Tree
Fancy Jesse Tree ornaments

Below is today's Jesse Tree reading: 

Monday: The Jesse Tree 

Bible reading: Isaiah 11:1-10 and 1 Samuel 16:1-13 

Symbol: a tree  (go to Jesse Tree ornaments)

Jesse was the father of David, beginning a line of descendants that will lead to Jesus, the Messiah. The tree represents Jesus...the branch springing from the root of Jesse. You can introduce the Jesse Tree to your children at this time, telling them its meaning and purpose.

You can follow the Jesse Tree lesson with a Christmas carol or two. 

When you are finished each day, you might want to talk about how Christmas is about giving much more than getting. One way that your family can give is through their daily prayers. This might be a good time to pray for a specific country or for a group of people who do not know about Jesus. Two great websites to help you do this are:

Unreached of the Day

Operation World  go to Featured Nation and click on Country Profile

May this Christmas season be a time when each of us draw nearer to Christ and help our children do the same. God bless you!

The Love of Jesus

"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge"  Ephesians 3:17-19

The love of Jesus has width. You can see how wide a river is by noticing how much it covers over. God's river of love is so wide that it covers over my sin, and it covers over every circumstance of my life, so that all things work together for good. When I doubt His forgiveness or His providence, I am narrowing the mighty river of God's love. His love is as wide as the world: For God so loved the world (John 3:16)

" There will be more in heaven than we expect to see there by a long way; and there will be some there with whom we had very little comfortable fellowship on earth who had fellowship with Christ, and who are therefore taken to dwell with him for ever." (Charles Spurgeon)

The love of Jesus has length. When considering the length of God's love, ask yourself "When did the love of God start towards me? How long will it continue?" These truths measure the length of God's love. Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3)

The love of Jesus has depth. Philippians 2:7-8 tell us how deep the love of Jesus goes: but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. You can't go lower than the death of the cross, and that is how deep the love of Jesus is for us.

The love of Jesus has height. To see the height of God's love, ask yourself, "How high does it lift me?" It lifts me to heavenly places where I am seated with Christ. He has faised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6).

Can we really comprehend the width and length and depth and height of God's love? To come to any understanding of the dimensions of God's love, we must come to the cross. The cross pointed in four ways, essentially in every direction, because …

- God's love is wide enough to include every person.
- God's love is long enough to last through all eternity.
- God's love is deep enough to reach the worst sinner.
- God's love is high enough to take us to heaven.

(commentary from pastor David Guzik)

One Church in Christ

"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."  Ephesians 2:19-22

What a beautiful picture of the church of Jesus Christ. We are not a building, a denomination, a people group, nationality or nation...we are all part of the family of God. God the Father chose us, Jesus  Christ bought us through His sacrifice on the cross and the Holy Spirit dwells is us.

"There is nothing as noble as the Church, seeing that it is the temple of God.

There is nothing so worthy of reverence, seeing God that dwells in it.

There is nothing so ancient, since the patriarchs and prophets worked to building it.

There is nothing so solid, since Jesus Christ is the foundation of it.

There is nothing so high, since it reaches as high as to the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

There is nothing so perfect and well proportioned, since the Holy Spirit is the architect.

There is nothing more beautiful, because it is adorned with building stones of every age, every place, every people; from the highest kings to the lowest peasants; with the most brilliant scientists and the simplest believers.

There is nothing more spacious, since it is spread over the whole earth, and takes in all who have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

There is nothing so Divine, since it is a living building, animated and inhabited by the Holy Spirit." Adam Clarke

As I was reading this I was reminded of the beautiful hymn, The Church's One Foundation by Samuel Stone and Samuel Wesley (1800s). Here are the lyrics:

1.     The church's one foundation
is Jesus Christ her Lord;
she is his new creation
by water and the Word.
From heaven he came and sought her
to be his holy bride;
with his own blood he bought her,
and for her life he died.

2. Elect from every nation,
yet one o'er all the earth;
her charter of salvation,
one Lord, one faith, one birth;
one holy name she blesses,
partakes one holy food,
and to one hope she presses,
with every grace endued.

3. Though with a scornful wonder
we see her sore oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder,
by heresies distressed,
yet saints their watch are keeping;
their cry goes up, "How long?"
And soon the night of weeping
shall be the morn of song.

4. Mid toil and tribulation,
and tumult of her war,
she waits the consummation
of peace forevermore;
till, with the vision glorious,
her longing eyes are blest,
and the great church victorious
shall be the church at rest.

5. Yet she on earth hath union
with God the Three in One,
and mystic sweet communion
with those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
like them, the meek and lowly,
on high may dwell with thee.

Prayer is the Best Thermometer

"Prayer is probably the best thermometer you will ever have to measure your growth in Christ. It drives all that is truly spiritual, both in our churches and personal lives." K.P. Yohannan

As I spend more time with the Lord, my time in prayer to Him increases. How can we expect to know God, to understand His Word, to know the path He wants us to take in life if we don't spend time communicating with Him in prayer? I know that often times it can be difficult to pray. We close our eyes and then wonder what to say. Yes, prayer comes easily when things are going wrong in our lives...when a loved one is sick, when we are facing financial challenges or when we are in some type of danger. But what about when everything is going well? Why do we often find it hard to pray?

I think it's partly because we have the wrong view of prayer. We look at prayer as a way to get what we want...healing, a better job, a husband/wife/children, safety, security, comfort. But asking the Lord for things is only part of it.

Intimacy with the Lord really grows when we focus on more than just asking for things from God. We need to focus on praising Him in our prayers. Use Scripture to praise Him for His wonderful qualities. Here is a sheet you can print out that lists some of the attributes of God (holy, just, wise, eternal...) with key verses to pray Attributes of God prayer sheet 

We also need to be thankful. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells us to: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Giving thanks for everything is both pleasing to the Lord and reminds us of all He has done for us. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp is a wonderful book about what it means to live a life of thanksgiving. She challenges her readers to spend the next year writing down 1,000 things to thank God for. It may seem daunting but if you write down daily at least 5 things you are thankful for you will be amazed at how your love for the Lord grows.

Intimacy with the Lord is so amazing and rewarding yet it won't happen without prayer. "The awful truth, whether we admit it or not, is that we don't pray because in our hearts we don't think we need God. We don't know how to pray because true prayer can only originate form a life emptied of self-sufficiency." K. P. Yohannan