Do You Feel The Comfort Of The Holy Spirit In The Hope Of the Season?
Good Morning Friends,
It is time to prepare for Christmas. It is not time to panic. It is time for our hearts to rediscover the blessing. It is time to share the words of God to the least, the last and the lost. It is time, God says, to gently remind people, perhaps even in song, of the promises of Christmas. So go to the Moorings Presbyterian Church website. Click on multimedia and listen to our lessons given in music yesterday. Do You Feel The Comfort Of The Holy Spirit In The Hope Of The Season?
Scripture: Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.
Isaiah 40:1-8 (NRSV)
“And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Luke 1:31-33 (NRSV)
Message: The work of John the Baptist is foretold in today’s scripture from Isaiah and the scripture from Luke sets out the promise given to Mary. They both relate to the Christmas story. The work of Christ permeates both messages. At first reading, the passage from Isaiah seems like a story about a construction project…But it is not about that or even the building of the Roman roads though the conquered lands in which Jesus lived. No, it really is more about the image of how God proposes to conquer our hearts. It is the story of the gradual preparation, the raising up of our hearts to receive Jesus. And in Mary it is done with a promise that like Isaiah lays out the strategic battle plans for the coming of the Christ child. It is the story of building a highway to revival…rank on rank we march, raised up though a time of refreshing, renewing, restoring and a time of rejoicing as well as repenting. It is the hope of a Kingdom here on earth that rules our hearts. Here we are leveled by the law of love. Here we are to bring comfort to others during their time of confusion so they might focus on the future. Raised up in the spiritual realm we learn to become dependent on God and learn that the promise is not just for heaven but for earth as well. So this season we are to prepare our hearts for the reign of Christ. We are to practice the songs, practice the playing. We are as we did yesterday prepare the lessons and the messages of glad tidings. It is time to get ready for Christmas. It is time to be connected at the crossroads of His pardon…His presence…his permanence…his power and his promise. So take comfort today as we all prepare. It is time to get ready for Christmas…to welcome Jesus into our hearts and remember the promises to Mary.
Pray we have hope in the promises to come as well as those fulfilled. Pray we connect Jesus’ first coming to the second. Pray that we see the world with wonder. Pray that we see the world though a child’s eyes again. Pray that we turn the lights on to shine in the darkness. Pray that we rediscover the blessing of giving. Pray that we learn to love as Christ loves. Pray that we practice each day walking with God. Pray that by God’s grace and His eternal hope, our hearts are prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give a reason for the season…for the hope we find in Christmas. Pray we rejoice in the promise of a child. Pray we rejoice in the promise of a growing light in our lives. Pray we find hope in the promises of Christ. Pray we are comforted knowing what God has done. Pray we praise God for sending His Son to die for our sins. Pray we prepare for Jesus’ return.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 