Inside the Tree Trimming...3rd Sunday

Advent 2013. 

Praying...

Reading...

Psalm 77

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled...”  (Luke 1:38 NIV)

Another translation, JBP, shows this to say "...let it be as you say.."

Praying....

In response to trusting in Him...this day. 

Be sure and water your tree. 

Christmas Blessings,

-ao

Inside the Tree Trimming…a cry for help

 

Advent 2013.

Zechariah went into the temple of the Lord…then, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense (he was to be burning incense). When Zechariah saw him, he was afraid.

READ SCRIPTURE: Luke 1:11-13

“Don’t be afraid….your prayer has been heard…”

Do not fear. It’s the theme, over and over again – when God shows up, when His angels appear….when He encounters man…rather, when man encounters His presence – Fear resides. Yet, repeatedly, the response from Him: Do. Not. Fear.

“…Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” –Joshua 1:9 NIV

The angel told Zechariah….your prayer has been heard. Your prayer? I would imagine there were many prayers (thanks to Walt Wangerin’s Preparing for Jesus for this insight) over the years. Many prayers for children, for love, for marriage…for confession and doubts. Prayers for others. Prayer, for the wonder of God and His mystery – or perhaps the lack of it all. Prayers, just like  mine. Just like yours. For all that life seems to throw my way.

Your prayers have been heard. Every single prayer…He hears.

What have I prayed for? Christmas gifts? Christmas? People? Myself? Friends and family? Love? Money? …so many things that I have lifted up'; regardless of motive, God heard my cry.

He hears your cry.

Praying…for Christmas, for Messiah…for my own Passover! My salvation. He comes….He comes as the Rescuer – for all of it. Am I preparing for this celebration…this incredible and joyous event called the birth of Christ, for…me!!?

It’s the most beautiful story ever told – it has been told for thousands of years – it was foretold and came to be. It’s His Promise. He promised His gift:  His rescue. I wonder, do you need to be rescued?

READ SCRIPTURE:  Luke 1:24-25

His favor. He has shown his favor…and taken away disgrace. Christmas, the favor of God…removing our disgrace, our wrong, our Sin.

When have you been disgraced? Been in need…and were forced to endure things out of your control. To endure that which you would not have chosen…

Look! He comes…Christmas is nearing!

I know a man whom has endured much in his life…he has seen life take turns he never saw coming. He hoped his life would be considered a success, he hoped his family would respect his decisions, he attempted to lead his family as best he could for the time he had. However, his cards played out a bit differently. Instead of polished and clean, his world became scuffed and messy – other things became priority instead of his family, his finances became a three-headed dragon, and his world turned upside down. I often think of him as miserable and lonely – I love him dearly….yet he is one of the most lonely, misunderstood and on-the-run people I know. Been in need, backed in a corner – yet escaped only to still run – there is no true escape…only running, only fear, only this need that exists within you and me!

This man needs rescue…just like I do. We need Jesus equally as much – we need rescued. After all, it’s Christmas – the baby, born to give me Life and Life-eternal….His coming is near! May I be in tune with my own heart, my own reality and my own desires.

Christmas carols, holiday coffee creamers and a hurried lifestyle seems to resound as December 25 ever so beautifully approaches on our calendars. Will you sing? Will you partake and eat and drink of the love of God? Will you slow your pace…standing to wait and watch for what He is up to within you? I hope we will…

Take some time to sit with the Lord. Offer up your prayers. Respond in any way you feel needed today.

Christmas Blessings,

-ao

Inside the tree trimming…Christmas 2nd Sunday

 

Advent 2013.

READ SCRIPTURE

Luke 1:1-7; 11-17

A clear picture…to know with certainty. That is the picture of intent painted by Luke, the good dr. (writer of the gospel Luke)

To observe the ordinances of God…to be without blame. That seems quite a task. A task seems like a job, a job feels like work – work seems like labor and labor doesn’t usually get associate with anything positive other than paying a debt and labor is owed….or paid; it is due. Yes, that’s it….the debt is due. It’s Christmas…we are celebrating the fact that God entered the world through the virgin, Mary. It was Mary who put on a labor of love….she carried the Lord…she birthed Jesus Christ. She encountered His angel, His Spirit, and His call on her life…(so that He would enter our world and pay our debt) Yet, so did her cousin, Elizabeth. It was Elizabeth…whom would become pregnant by Zechariah – through something miraculous, of the Lord, in her old age…and his old age – this notion was forgotten and dismissed by most, themselves included; that they were “barren” and no longer able to become pregnant.

I wonder if you know what it feels like to be forgotten, dismissed, thought less of…and simply…no longer?

This baby, cousins with the baby to be born of the virgin Mary, would “make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:17 NIV) This baby would be the one to help turn the hearts of man toward the acts and love of God! Zechariah and Elizabeth, we are told, observed the commands and the ordinances of God. They were obedient. They were faithful. Yet God had something in store for all of them….for all of us. He was continuing the motion of putting on His most prized and most powerful display of His pursuit of you and me:  Christmas.

When the angel of the Lord told Zechariah he was to father a child…he was in disbelief. He was frozen scared at the sight…and at the thought. Fearful. Frozen. I wonder, when have you been frozen at the wonder of God? Frozen…at what He might have been…or still is…up to within you? What is it, that God, is UP TO…in you?

As we wait…and watch Christmas unfold…what is about to happen, here within me, within you – over all of time? Will you soak in this Christmas story? Will you allow it to become personal and real….more than ribbons and strands of tape. More than wrapping and cards in the mail….more than kettle corn and candies:  It’s Christmas!

Read slowly, as in a prayer, Psalm 130.

A prayer. Lord, I long for You, your touch, your healing…your presence. There it is…I long for your Presence. I believe that is the point. We long for your Presence…..before this season we are embarking on….we are looking back at the 400 years of your silence. (between end of Old Testament and His entrance into the world…)

Silence.

And then…..You broke the silence.

Allow me (us) to listen, to watch, and prepare our hearts to ready ourselves for You. Maybe that REALLY means – would You ready us for You? We need You. I need You.

Blessings,

-ao

Inside the Tree Trimming…a phone call & a baby!

 

Advent 2013.

A friend of mine called late last night; his wife was going into labor. Her water had just broke…they were heading to the hospital. His call was a bit more specific than just the ‘good news’ – it was to ask if we could watch his son…to come over and take care of business as they rushed to the hospital to have their brand new baby!

I didn’t answer my phone. It was late, my phone lives on vibrate and at night these days, it lives under my pillow. Again, my phone shows another means of my friend communicating: a text message at 1:51 a.m. – again, at 3:32 a.m.

A cry out? A call for help? But, where was I…?

READ SCRIPTURE

Luke 12:35-40

Am I ready to be watchful? Am I ready to lean in….to listen internally – at the sound of the heartbeat of God?

I wonder, what is it, that God is calling me (you) to? Are we waiting for this baby…to be born that our lives would forever be changed? What reminder….what phone call or text message or ring tone is needed to job my brain? Yours?

Am I thinking of His coming….remembering His deeds; the true stories of His past, present and all-that-will-come-to-be??

For a moment, think of a road sign. This sign has an arrow pointing up, ^

The up arrow also has an arrow that shows a right turn…like an exit ramp off the freeway. (something like this one)

^->

This off-ramp sign is a an exit strategy. It’s His offer to you…to me. He comes, it’s Christmas! For all those times when what we are doing is not life-giving and we continue on the road…we continue to pursue what we think we want, we further a relationship, we push a little harder, we stay the course of what does not bring us true satisfaction…yet if we take a minute to look back, perhaps we can recall a time when He has provided a means of escape: freedom. He provides an off-ramp; we have passed by many exits…yet we kept our foot on the gas…and kept driving, kept pushing, maybe you wanted to leave that scenario but didn’t feel you could…maybe you can recall when you knew what was happening was not good, was not healthy, yet you ran yourself through the ringer anyways?

READ SCRIPTURE: 1 CORINTHIANS 10:13

This IS His offer…an off-ramp from ourselves, our permanent condition – Jesus became a baby to offer me life! Life in Him.

What is He calling me (you) to? Am I thinking of His coming…of His deeds and all His true stories?  Am I considering all that ever was…all that ever will and is to come? Perhaps I am not….but maybe I am wondering what all this has to do with me. Mostly, yes, about me.

Christmas…happened for “me”. (fill in your name)

As you hang the garland and tape the bows…may your decorations be like a robe of the Christmas Glory we remember and celebrate – may we ask God to enrich not only our hearts & lives but our homes as well.

Let us remember. Let us watch…let us prepare.

Prayer and response. A time to journal your thoughts to God…

Blessings of Christmas,

-ao

Day 2. Christmas…inside the tree trimming

 

Advent 2013

Day 2. The Passover…

Asking the Lord to speak to your heart…open up about YOU, as you are…even now.

This morning, I read Exodus 12.(READ EXODUS 12)

From “The Advent Party”, Buddy says, “Who is this God? What is He doing? Does He really know me? Does God think that these old stories fit into my life?”

What is it about Passover? About Christmas…about me? and Jesus? and the Cross…

God, the Father, provided an escape…a route to Himself; for His people. For all who had the blood of the lamb (sacrificed) painted across the lintel of the doorpost, the death angel would pass over that home…ultimately, that the people would be set free. There that word is, again. FREE. To be set free. To be rescued. To be saved. Redeemed. Made anew….as time has unfolded and our ways that are not life-giving nor freedom retaining…they show up time and time again and give way to something other in our lives. It isn’t of God. It cannot be. Yet, if we are willing to peel back this curtain, rather, if we are willing to watch God in his majestic production of love and truth – He is the one peeling back the curtain!! He sends His Son for me, for you. That this baby would be born…to be the Rescuer, and take upon Himself all our Sin, so that we might gain access to God!

That the curtain separating me from the presence of the Lord…well, that it would be torn in two and I might gain access to God. That I might have an opportunity to experience life in paradise, in the heavens, in the Holy presence of the Creator. You see, Christmas is so much more than wreaths and ornaments. So much more than feasts and sausage balls. Christmas is the Gospel.

Are you willing to stand in front of the mirror and take a look? What is it in your life that is in need of rescue?

Are you enslaved to something? Probably so, perhaps it can be named…now.

If God offered His people, then…and now, an exodus…a route to freedom, life better than imagined (John 10:10) – what life is it that you desire?

What are you drawn to about Christmas?

One of my favorite facts about the Christmas tree is it’s pointings. It points…to God. It points…to Heaven. It points…to a Creator. It points…to something deeper. Something deeper in me. Something deeper…in you? As the ornaments are hung, as the star settles in atop your family’s tree – take another look…both at this Christmas and in the mirror.

God, what are you up to?

Gratitude…does it abound? Am I in a wild goose chase? What season am I really in…?

Pray. Read. Pray. (our daily rhythm)

Blessings,

-ao