Advent Devotion (Day 1) - To Us a Child is Born

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6

Today is the first day of Advent. The four weeks of Advent, which end on Christmas day, are a time to pause amidst the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season and reflect on what this time is about. It's so easy to put up the decorations, listen to the carols, shop and wrap the presents and attend the parties and school plays, yet not really focus in on the reason we celebrate Christmas.

Jesus is the Reason. That may sound trite and a bit overused but it's the truth. God our creator, the maker of the universe, did not stay in Heaven. He did not create this world and us and then leave to watch from afar. Instead, He left His majesty, His incredible power and glory, the thousands upon thousands of angels worshipping Him, His throne on high and somehow, somehow, embodied Himself in a young woman's womb. Took on flesh and bone, blood vessels and nerve endings, ears, eyes and a mouth, and was born as a human baby.

Why...why would God do this? Because He loves us. Because He wants each person He created to know the awesome truth that they are loved. That they are not alone on this earth. That there is a plan for life, a plan for eternity. That there is a God in Heaven who knows their name and who cares about each day that they live.

He became a baby, a child, an adopted son. For those who know Him as Lord He is Wonderful, the best Counselor ever, the only Mighty Lord worthy of worship and adoration, the Everlasting Father because through the Trinity, God the Son and God the Father are one and...the Prince of Peace.

I pray that during these next four weeks you will take a moment and ask the Lord Jesus to help you see Him as He really is. May this advent season be a time when you see the face of God in the face of a baby and know that there is nothing that God would not do for you in order to bring you with Him to Heaven for eternity.

Squanto - A Special Instrument of God

As Thanksgiving approaches I'd like to share the true story of Squanto...the Native American who helped the Pilgrims survive that first year. 

Historical accounts of Squanto's life vary, but historians believe that around 1608, more than a decade before the Pilgrims arrived, a group of English traders sailed to what is today Plymouth, Massachusetts. When the trusting Wampanoag Indians came out to trade, the traders took them prisoner, transported them to Spain, and sold them into slavery. It was an unimaginable horror.

But God had an amazing plan for one of the captured Indians, a boy named Squanto.

Squanto was bought by a well-meaning Spanish monk, who treated him well and taught him the Christian faith. Squanto eventually made his way to England and worked in the stables of a man named John Slaney. Slaney sympathized with Squanto's desire to return home, and he promised to put the Indian on the first vessel bound for America.

It wasn't until 1619, ten years after Squanto was first kidnapped, that a ship was found. Finally, after a decade of exile and heartbreak, Squanto was on his way home.

But when he arrived in Massachusetts, more heartbreak awaited him. An epidemic had wiped out Squanto's entire village.

We can only imagine what must have gone through Squanto's mind. Why had God allowed him to return home, against all odds, only to find his loved ones dead?

A year later, the answer came. A shipload of English families arrived and settled on the very land once occupied by Squanto's people. Squanto went to meet them, greeting the startled Pilgrims in English.

According to the diary of Pilgrim Governor William Bradford, Squanto "became a special instrument sent of God for [our] good . . . He showed [us] how to plant [our] corn, where to take fish and to procure other commodities . . . and was also [our] pilot to bring [us] to unknown places for [our] profit, and never left [us] till he died."

When Squanto lay dying of fever, Bradford wrote that their Indian friend "desir[ed] the Governor to pray for him, that he might go to the Englishmen's God in heaven." Squanto bequeathed his possessions to the Pilgrims "as remembrances of his love."

Who but God could so miraculously convert a lonely Indian and then use him to save a struggling band of Englishmen? It is reminiscent of the biblical story of Joseph, who was also sold into slavery, and whom God likewise used as a special instrument for good.

Happy Easter - Come Lord Jesus!!!

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Revelation 21:1-4

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
Revelation 22:20-21 

Revelation is a confusing book, but, in the words of theologian Craig Hill, it can be summed up in two words: God Wins! Believers in Jesus Christ can look with joy and anticipation to the future, when our risen Lord joins heaven and earth together. We know, with the certainty of a promise from Jesus Himself, that the glorious, amazing day described in Revelation 21:1-4 will someday come true. Every tear will be wiped away and we will finally live as God created us to live, totally within His will, reaching our full potential. Our prayer, "Come, Lord Jesus!" is a cry that that day comes soon! 

But it is also a cry for today. Our work now is to bring glimmers of this future glory to our present reality. We can only do this with the help of our living, risen Lord. As Christians, our task is to cry out, "Come, Lord Jesus!" at the face of injustice, poverty, heartbreak and anguish, and together with Christ reach out to offer righteousness, relief, solace and grace. Jesus asks to be invited into every place where His kingdom has yet to be realized, even the depths of our hearts. Come, Lord Jesus! 

Prayer: Thank you for Easter! Thank you that you rose from the grave! Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven! Come, Lord Jesus! In Your precious name I pray, Amen

* This devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 39) - Sacred Moments

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Luke 24:28-32 

These two disciples (Cleopas who was Jesus' uncle, the brother of Joseph, and another disciple) came so close to missing Jesus! As they traveled to an inconsequential town, they chanced upon a stranger. After a compelling conversation, the stranger began to hurry on His way. It was only because of their strong urging that He stayed behind with them. They had no idea that they were about to witness a sacred moment. As Jesus broke the bread, they were able to recognize Him for the first time that entire day. The stories were true! Jesus had risen from the dead!!! As quickly as they comprehended the miracle before them, Jesus vanished, leaving them astounded. 

Isn't that how we often encounter the risen Lord in our lives? Sacred moments come upon us in unexpected places and times. Epiphanies and revelations catch us unaware, and as quickly as we recognize the presence of the Lord, the commonplace closes in again. God's presence is real, but elusive, always at the edge of our vision. Yet as fleeting as that moment was for the disciples,they would never be the same. Whenever we encounter Jesus in our lives, it is our personal Easter experience. When we recognize the living Christ, we are compelled to cry out with the disciples, "The Lord is risen indeed!"

Prayer: Lord Jesus, bless me with Easter moments, when I encounter Your presence in my life. I can't imagine a life lived without You. You are my Lord, my Savior, my Best Friend. In Your name I pray, Amen. 

*This devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Good Friday) - His Great Love for Us

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,  for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was the Son of God.” When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Luke 23:44-49 

After examining Jesus' last words in the Gospel of Matthew, today we read the Gospel of Luke. At first glance, they seem very different. Matthew's account is a cry of despair and abandonment, whereas Luke's version shows us Jesus' great trust in God and submission to His will. Yet both of them contain quotes from Psalms, so each psalm should be examined in its entirety to understand fully what Jesus was saying. Luke's quote is from Psalm 31:5. Psalm 31, like Matthew's Psalm 22, is a cry for rescue from persecution that ultimately turns to praise. Like Matthew's account, Jesus' death cry holds the promise of hallelujahs to come. 

Yet Luke's story asks us to linger a moment at the foot of the cross. A soldier who had mocked Him realized at the moment of His death that Jesus was righteous - not just merely innocent but loved by God. Imagine the shock and fear he must have felt when he realized what he had just done! Where could one who had just murdered the Son of God find hope and mercy? The beautiful old hymn says it best. Beneath the cross of Jesus is where we are all confronted with "the wonder of redeeming love and my unworthiness." 

Prayer: Lord, keep me at the foot of Your cross, aware of the incredible gift of Your love to me, a sinner. Help me to see anew, this Good Friday, the awesome wonder of what You did for me. May I be eternally grateful and never ashamed of You. I love You Jesus. In Your name I pray, Amen.

*This devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink