11 words till Christmas... faith...

With 11 days until Christmas...
by faith... I hear the word faith...
as the next word of Christmas...

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen;

it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

Hebrews 11:1 NLT

Faith... confidence in what we hope for...

assurance... certainty... about what we do not see...

Faith... it's how I'm approaching these 12 days of Advent writing...

hope in Him... to speak and provide...

assurance... of words to come... ones yet unseen...

Faith... a Christmas word...

Mary... by faith... took the word of Gabriel...

regarding the news of expectancy he shared with her...

And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?"

And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you,

therefore the child to be born will be called holy --- the Son of God. ..."

Luke 1:34-35 ESV

...and Mary gave a faith-full response...

And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord;

let it be to me according to your word."

Luke 1:38 ESV

I wonder if she felt the Spirit come upon her...?

did she sense the power of the Most High overshadowing...?

the Unseen... doing His work...?

Faith...

Joseph... when faced with a pregnant fiance...

received the dream... by faith...

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.

When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together

she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph,

being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her

quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord

appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David,

do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived

in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call

his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

Matthew 1:18-22 ESV

In the Hebrew culture... an engagement was a binding contract...

even though not yet married... the couple considered husband and wife...

legal proceedings had to take place to break an engagement... a divorce required...

Joseph responded to this dream... this message... with faith...

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him:

he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son.

And he called his name Jesus.

Matthew 1:24-25 ESV

There was no evidence... nothing tangible...

to prove to Joseph Mary's pregnancy was divine...

but he had assurance... of what was... unseen...

Faith...

The magi... by faith... followed a star...

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king,

behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who

has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose

and have come to worship him."

Matthew 2:1-2 ESV

These wise men were from the east...

they were not Jews... but Gentiles...

They were scholars in their country...

and in their study of the stars...

they saw a sign of a newborn King...

In these days... there was no news service...

no Twitter... or tweets...

no Facebook... or instant messaging...

no radio... no TV...

The magi... saw... discerned...

packed up gifts... and traveled far...

to worship... the Unseen King...

Faith...

Faith has power to make hopes reality...

convince us of things unseen...

A loved one responded to my question...

It's been the same for two years... why do you think anything will change...?

In the moment... I had no answer... just stunned by his...

but later... in the quiet... the answer rose from my heart...

Hope... that's why I believe things will change...

Hope in the Unseen's work...

Hope in His response to my prayers...

Hope in His promise...

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all,

how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Romans 8:32 ESV

Where is your faith instilling hope this Christmas...?

What unseen reality... do you need to nurture with faith...?

Christmas is a season of faith...

accepting... rejoicing over... God made flesh...

a Babe in a manger...

the Hope of the world...

all... by... faith...

The Journey Readings: Week 40... and the Lord your God...

The wanderings of The Journey... through Genesis... Exodus... Numbers... Deuteronomy... highlight a reality I knew... but haven't really appreciated its magnitude...

He is the Lord your God...

The timing of the Israelites' exodus from captivity in Egypt was in God's hands... and based on the fullness of sin of those whose land they would be given...

God told Abraham...

"... In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here,

for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."

Genesis 15:16

God... the God of pagans... a gracious God waiting for their sin to reach its full measure before executing judgment... implying they had time to turn and be saved... if they acknowledged their true God...

Deuteronomy is God's preparation of the Israelites to enter the Promised Land... Moses sharing His Words with His people...

Chapter 28... filled with blessings... and curses... warns the Israelites regarding their possession of the Promised Land... and their responsibility to obey their God...

All these curses will come upon you and shall pursue you

and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you do not obey

the voice of the Lord your God...

Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness 

of [mind and] heart [in gratitude] for the abundance of all

[with which He had blessed you]...

Deuteronomy 28:45, 47 Amp

Being entrenched in a culture of relativism... and individuals being told they define their own truth based on what they believe... it's hard to wrap your mind around a God... who is God...

He is the Lord our God.... whether we obey or disobey... whether we believe or disbelieve... 

He is the Lord our God...

He is the God of the Buddhists... and God of the Muslims...

He is the God of Buddha... and of Mohammed...

He is the God of Americans... and God of the Nigerians...

He is God of the Lutherans... and God of the Presbyterians...

He is God of the Israelis... and God of the Palestinians...

He is the God of the atheists... and God of the Mennonites...

He is the Lord our God...

No matter who you are... or what you believe... the Lord our God... is your God...

The Mighty One, God the Lord,

speaks and summons the earth

from the rising of the sun to its setting.

Psalm 50:1 ESV

We have a Sovereign Creator... and He is the Lord your God... no matter who you are...

How does this reality effect your view...? of the world...? of others...?

Now that you know who He is... how should you respond...?

This journey... walking through His Word with Him... continues to increase knowledge... and understanding... 

What might you learn this week...? if you began to walk along...?

This week's readings...

Monday                  Deuteronomy 29-30

Tuesday                  Deuteronomy 31:1-29

Wednesday             Deuteronomy 31:30 - 32:52

Thursday                Deuteronomy 33-34

Friday                     Joshua 1-2

following after Christ...

The church of Jesus Christ stands before God vicariously by following after Christ under the cross. God is a God of bearing. The Son of God bore our flesh, and for that reason he bore the cross; he bore all our sins and through his bearing achieved reconciliation. So too are disciples called to be bearers.

---Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I Want to Live These Days with You 

This morning's Bonhoeffer sent me back to the devotional read last evening...

It is the experience of genuine grief that prepares for joy.

You see? The disciples approached the Resurrection from their bereavement. For them the death was first, and the death was all. Easter, then, was an explosion of Newness, a marvelous splitting of heaven indeed. But for us, who return backward into the past, the Resurrection comes first, and through it we view a death which is, therefore, less consuming, less horrible, even less real. We miss the disciples' terrible, wonderful preparation.

---Walter Wangerin Jr., Reliving the Passion

How are we... to follow after...? after Christ's ministry on earth...? after His life... death... resurrection... behind us in history...?

How can we ever hope to experience that same loss of Him... as the first disciples...? bear the full impact of real time betrayal... loss... crucifixion...? an unknown future...?

How can we experience even a glimpse of the wonder... awe... joy... of resurrection... in our following after Christ...?

Suffering... grieving... loss...
Suffering the humility of repentance... truly looking at who we are apart from Him...
Suffering the crucifixion of self... denying our own logic and understanding for His...
Suffering obedience...loving our enemies... blessing those who curse us... praying for our abusers... a laying down of ego...
Suffering through fasting... putting aside our wants for His...

And the joy...?
It only comes in the wake of suffering...
His resurrection... into our lives of death and sin...
His Word of love... to our lost souls...
His forgiveness and grace... the filling of our spirit by His...

Following after Christ...

How do you make it real...?

I want to know Christ ---

yes, to know the power of his resurrection

and participation in his suffering,

becoming like him in his death

and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection

from the dead.

Philippians 3:10-11 NIV

real... firmed up... reality...

Then on that same first day of the week, when it was evening, though the disciples were behind closed doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace to you!

John 20:19 Amp

This verse... this incident... where the resurrected Jesus... walks through a solid door... enters the room without turning a knob... has always challenged my understanding...

Doors... in this world are... SOLID... and the only things that pass through without opening them are... less than solid... gas... spirit... ghost...

So to consider Jesus... flesh and blood... walking into the upper room... without the use of a doorknob... has been hard to reconcile in my mind... (not to mention the whole Ascension... and standing at the right hand of God thing...) until today...

The current treadmill read... which has me spinning... set the reality of what happened more firmly than I ever could...

When Christ rose, He rose in the flesh. He was no ghost, and yet He walked through walls. The walls were the ghosts, and so are we.

--- N.D. Wilson, Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl 

And with these words... many truths I knew... melded into understanding...

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,

but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary,

but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV

These are a shadow of the things to come,

but the substance belongs to Christ.

Colossians 2:17 ESV

The law is only a shadow 

of the the good things that are coming ---

not the realities themselves.

Hebrews 10:1 NIV

Jesus... perfected through suffering... now reveals the world... for the facade... shadow... that it truly is... by walking through a door...

The supernatural world... the unseen... the eternal... God's Kingdom... has always been the place of reality... and Jesus made the Way for us... to enter in...

I'm struck by the reason... the disciples hid behind that door... FEAR...

From lack of faith... and understanding... they hid in FEAR... and I remember an acronym... revealing fear for what it is... 

False... Evidence... Appearing... Real...

Even this teaching... feels more real... and why fear of the Lord is the only fear to embrace... because He's the only One that's truly REAL...

Now don't get me wrong... I'm not going all Scientology on you here... or implying that only the spiritual matters and not the flesh... we are creatures of flesh... and can only live out Truth in flesh... just like Jesus...

And in this flesh... we have fears... only God tells us to be courageous... because we can trust Him with REALITY... 

The things we fear often do not flesh out... but even when they do... it is not a surprise to Him... nothing is... and from it He will bring real good... and real glory... just like He did with Jesus...

Forgive me... if this sounds like babbling...

It's always a struggle... to fit spiritual truths... into mere mortal words... thus the reason for the Word becoming flesh... and dwelling among us...

Father God... thank You... for continuing to teach and reveal Your Truth... and firming up... the truth of reality... for me... Help me to live in reality... and not be led astray by lies... and incongruent shadows... trying to pass themselves off as real...

[Note: To those who are worried about my grip on reality... I'm off to clean my really dirty bathroom...]