Good Morning Friends,
It is no always easy to love and to seek Jesus and the way of forgiveness and repentance, but Advent is a good time like Lent to grow in the way Jesus offers. It is a good time to reflect on the meaning of Christian joy and the hope joy brings in our work of sharing the good news. It is a great time to contemplate our relationship with Jesus and what a gift our friendship has been and continues to be. It is a great time for us to experience the birth of Gospel joy… to proclaim Gospel joy… to learn to rejoice as we really begin to realize that God has come to be with us encouraging us to cultivate the fruit of Gospel joy. We just need to say yes to the invitation to discover that Jesus, the great hope of mankind, is with us and we are his contemporary disciples. Today we explore the incarnational reality in which we are to share. Today we look at a great mystery of why of all the ways God could have come into this world, that the choice was one of humility. And so, we consider Jesus’ return and the mystery that His Kingdom has come and will come and is still to come even as we ask, Will The Baptism And Fire Of The Holy Spirit Change Us?
Scripture: In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'” Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Matthew 3:1-12 (NRSV)
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name”;
Romans 15:4-9 (NRSV)
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.
Isaiah 11:1-10 (NRSV)
Message: Imagine what the world would be like if God, in the person of Jesus Christ, had never come to earth fully human and fully divine. That’s right…no Christmas. But that is just the beginning of what a pit we would be in without Jesus as an intermediary. Gone would be the amazing music as Bach, Beethoven, and Handel. So too for many of our universities and hospitals. This work would not have existed without people who had hearts inspired and filled with compassion in the hope of a better world all because of their experience of a joyous Jesus experienced in the Holy Spirit. We do not usually think of Jesus as joyous, but he was filled to overflowing with joy. This young plant, this sprout from the stump of Jesse and King David was to be rejected even before He was born yet still loved enough to give us the power of the Holy Spirit and the process of Fire to refine us. He was to be recognized with joy and hope even by a child in the womb. Jesus is a game changer from the beginning. There is a lot of pain associated with the story, but also joy and hope. Maybe it is why Jesus came as a child like we came. The prophecy of a sprout out of the stump of Jesse… a promise of a time of justice… a time of grace…the hope of a new King who would excel in our every lack is exacted in a surprising way that took those who would stop him off guard. Maybe that is why we are drawn to new life and the joy of a little child. Maybe this is how we are to experience the light of the world…the Holy Spirit and its Fire of Baptism in a life changed.
And So, it takes patience and persistence to fully experience growth in the faith and believe in the mystery. There is a lot of pain associated with the story, but also joy and hope. One has to be all in the story. Maybe that is why was Isaiah was so hopeful. Maybe that is why oppressed people sing and not just cry out in lament. Maybe it is why we too should we be joyous, and Spirit filled with the Season of Advent. But here is the thing, to be victorious and be drawn to new life with the hope of peace, we need to be in and do everything we do through the power of the Spirit. John the Baptist came preaching that the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit was coming. Not only would He baptize with the Spirit but with Fire. We, as disciples of Christ, need to seek after and be baptized with the Holy Spirit and Fire in us to have the boldness and commitment to speak the truth with love and repent. Only the power of the Holy Spirit can make us bold enough so that our words motivate others. So, we, as Christians, must have the Holy Spirit if we want to have power and boldness to witness, to preach and to minister to the lost. Also, we need the Holy Spirit baptism to be filled with the Spirit of God and to have a closer walk with God. This Advent we must allow Jesus to breathe the Holy Spirit upon us to give us the breath of spiritual life in Him. That is why when it comes to discipleship and repentance, we should be more concerned about the orientation of our hearts and lives than about our outward appearances. We have a choice, and it is between humility and hypocrisy. The only true antidote for our sin is grace which is designed to be manifested in our response to love God and one another. So, the orientation of our lives toward the Holy Spirit is a far greater indicator of the true discipleship of which Jesus speaks.
Pray that we rejoice in the hope of Jesus and in the promise of peace. Pray we experience the hope of the Father revealed through the Son.
Pray this Advent season, that Jesus brings us nearer to his mystery and the way of humility. Pray the Lord give us the meekness of a sprout in the hope of grace. Pray we experience the gift of a new day and a new life. Pray we realize that God has come to be with us encouraging us to cultivate the fruit of Gospel joy and the Word made flesh. Pray we persistent in seeking to experience the gift of a new day and a new life in Jesus. Pray the Holy Spirit prepare our hearts to seek God to be manifest within us. Pray the Fire of the Holy Spirit melts the hearts of stone of sinners in our midst and turn them, into a unified heart seeking God. Pray we are not our own stumbling block. Pray we repent, love and are changed.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 