Advent Devotion (Day 8) - Do Not Fear

The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.” – Luke 1:30-31

"Fear. One of the enemy’s most popular weapons that he uses against us. Worry, anxiety, fear…can overwhelm us with a thick shadow of darkness, controlling our every move and decision.
So much crazy going on around us today - wars, conflicts, persecution, violence, crime, natural disasters, terrorism, economic uncertainty, unemployment, divisions, disease, death. We fear for our children’s future, we fear for our families, we fear for our financial future, we fear for our safety. The list goes on…long." Debbie McDaniel

So how do we combat this fear? By turning to God's Word. Just as the angel said to Mary...do not fear, God tells us in His Word, "Do Not Fear". By focusing on these words of life, of truth, we can change our mindset. Soaking them in, over and over, and praying them out loud, will slowly begin to replace the familiar thoughts of fear and anxiety. There’s nothing magical about words and verses, but there is power through them, because they’re God’s words. 

"His words are “life” words, soothing to our soul, calming to our spirits, giving power to our days.  

It’s not always easy, and it often comes down to a choice: 

Choosing not to allow fear and anxiety to control your life. 

Choosing to guard your heart. 

Choosing to focus your mind on what is truth in the midst of uncertain times.

We might still feel afraid, but we can believe that God is with us. We may not be in control, but we can trust the One who is. We may not know the future, but we can know the God who does." Debbie McDaniel  

Christmas Devotion (Day 6) - Daniel in Babylon

Read Daniel 2 

Numbers 24:17 - I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. 

When the Jews were conquered by Babylon, about five hundred years before Jesus was born, they were removed from their homes and moved to this unfamiliar land they had never seen. They were removed from the temple which had become the center of their identity.

Of the royal family, one of the young men who was taken was Daniel. While many of the other people just complained about their captivity, Daniel determined not to forsake all he had been taught about God. Against threat of punishment and even death, he stayed true to the Lord. God blessed him by giving him the wisdom to interpret the king’s nightmare-dreams, and the king honored Daniel by giving him an amazing job – Daniel became the leader of all the wise men of this country. And because Babylon was the greatest country in the world at this time, the wise men of other countries also came to Babylon to learn – from Daniel.

Because Daniel had studied the Scriptures, he knew the prophecy God had given in our verse above. To these wise men who studied the stars to understand what was written there, Daniel would have given these words so they could be looking for the King who would be coming.

*What have you learned from the Bible that you have been able to teach to someone else?

Advent Devotion (Day 7) - Difficult Faith

“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” – Luke 1:45

Difficult faith...it is often asked of a follower of the Lord. God makes a promise and asks us to believe it but some of these promises are hard to believe:

Noah - build a boat for 100 years because I'm going to send a flood across the whole earth
Abraham - your wife Sarah is well past child-bearing age and has never had children but look to the skies...I'm going to give you descendents more numerous than the stars
Joseph - I know you are a slave, in prison, forgotten by everyone, but I've not forgotten you
Moses - You are 80 years old and an outcast from Egypt but I am going to send you to the most powerful leader on earth and make it possible for you to lead the Jews out of slavery
David - Pick up that rock and sling because you will prevail over Goliath
Daniel- walk into the lion's den because I will be with you

All these examples and so many more throughout the Bible and history show God making a promise which is hard to believe, hard to hold onto because it's fulfillment doesn't make sense. The odds seem so stacked up against the promise ever being fulfilled. But the person steps out in faith and believes that God is bigger than their mind, bigger than the circumstances. This is difficult faith.

Maybe the most difficult promise to believe is Mary's.
Mary - you are carrying God in your womb...trust me and believe this truth

And she did! She believed and she is called blessed. Happy, filled with joy, filled with the assurance that God is in control and will fulfill His promise no matter the circumstances. And He did!

Christmas Devotion (Day 5) - Sin and Curse

Read Jeremiah 22:18-30

Jeremiah 22:30 - Thus says the LORD: Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah.
No matter what we do, or how we fail God, His plan will never fail. Satan had, time after time, tried to stop God’s promises from being fulfilled concerning the coming Messiah. All the evil people in Noah’s time could not defeat God’s plan. Now, the terrible, willful sin of one man could not stop it either. But neither could God overlook the sin of this man just to make His promise come true. Jeconiah’s punishment had to stand, and God sealed it as a curse on his father, Jehoiakim: he should be called childless. This means God would not count Jeconiah as being a valid king of the Jews.

Yet, in Matthew 1:11-12, Jeconiah is named in the lineage of Jesus. Did God break His word? Was Jesus’ kingly line more important than cursing this man’s sin? The answer to both questions is no. God always keeps His promises, and sin is always punished – either through Jesus’ death on the cross, or by God’s discipline in our lives. There would always be consequences to Jeconiah’s sin – his blood would not be part of the heritage of the Messiah, but repentance placed him in Joseph’s bloodline. Through Joseph, Jeconiah could be the adoptive ancestor of Jesus.

*What sin that you have committed do you wonder if God could ever forgive?

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Advent Devotion (Day 6) - The Ultimate Rescue Mission

When God created this world, created us, everything was good. Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with God. The Bible tells us that God actually met them and communicated with them each and every day in the Garden of Eden. There was no separation, no guilt, no shame. But then...they wanted more. They wanted to be like God. They wanted the one thing God said they could not have. And they sinned and thus ended that perfect relationship.

But what was the first thing God did after that sin? As Adam and Eve were hiding from God, fully aware of their sinfulness, ashamed of their nakedness...God called out to them. He didn't turn His back on them...give them the silent treatment. Instead He went looking for them, seeking after them...because He still loved them.

And for the next few thousand years God continued to seek after them through the prophets, through miracles like the Exodus from Egypt, through judgments and restorations. Yet, that wasn't enough. From the very beginning God knew that He would have to go on a personal rescue mission to save the people He created, the people He loved. To save them from their sins and the rightful judgment that those sins deserved...eternal separation from Him in Hell.

That rescue mission started with a baby in a manger. “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” – Matthew 1:21

You see, man has tried time and time again, through every other religion in the world, to save himself. Enough good deeds, enough sacrifices, enough acts in the name of God. But nothing, nothing that man does can buy salvation for him. Why?  Because all of our good deeds can never outweigh the sin nature that we are born with.

Only One who knew no sin, who was perfect in every way, could step in for us. Jesus actually became sin on that cross. He took on all the punishment that the Lord could give for every one one of our sins. And He did it willingly. He did it in love. And He did it for all time. Jesus is our rescuer!

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12

Christmas Devotion (Day 4) - God Chooses a Family

Read 2 Samuel 7

2 Samuel 7:16 - And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.

Even though David was far from being a perfect man, God called him a “man after My own heart” – because David always returned to God for forgiveness with a heart determined to follow God. David wanted very much to be a Godly king to his people. He wanted to lead the people back into true worship of God, something they had left many times over the years.

One of David’s plans was to build a permanent temple in place of the Tabernacle tent God had designed for the nation while they were in the wilderness. David asked permission from God to build this temple. How many of us would simply have gone ahead and built it, rather than asking God for permission? God told him no, he could not build it because he was a warrior-king and had killed a lot of people. 

Then God encouraged David, promising David He would build an eternal “house” for him; David’s family would never lack a man to sit on the throne. David understood what this promise meant, because no human family could ever guarantee a son would always be there. David knew this promise meant the Messiah would be born of his family.

*What kind of blessing have you missed because you ran ahead of God?

Advent Devotion (Day 5) - When Reputation Dies

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this: an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” ...When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.   Matthew 1:18-20, 24

Joseph had a decision to make. Would he believe the angel, obey God and destroy his reputation or would he take the easier road...divorce Mary quietly, give in to his human nature and put the problem behind him? The angel tells him not to be afraid but he is! He knows that few if any of his friends will believe this story. Would Mary's own family even believe her? 

He knows that if he follows through, most everyone will believe that his wife was unfaithful and that this baby was not really his son. Does he want to deal with this sort of shame, this sort of reputation, probably for the rest of his life? 

"Sometimes the implication of listening to the voice of God is that we ruin our reputation in the public square. Loving God involves surrendering ourselves to God in heart, soul, mind, strength - and reputation. The minute we turn exclusively to the Lord to find our true identity is the day reputation dies.

Joseph turns to God. Joseph learns that who he is before God (his identity) is more important that who he is in the circle of his pious friends (his reputation)." Scot McKnight

Most of us, as we follow Jesus, will come to this crossroads at least once in our life. Do we obey God even though the road ahead is uncertain, our reputation is on the line and people may not understand us or think poorly of us, or do we play it safe, go along with the crowd, ignore the voice of God in our heart? 

We most likely will not be visited by an angel, as Joseph was, to encourage our obedience. But...we do have something he didn't have. We have the Holy Spirit living in our heart. He will strengthen us to choose obedience if we will ask. And when all is said and done, isn't God's opinion of us more important than man's?