Category: Advent

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Deuteronomy 10:17b “He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed.”

Think of a time when you were in a normal, day to day situation but then something out of the ordinary occurs. For example, maybe you were grocery shopping, and right when you turned a corner you discovered a homeless person with a few bills fisted in one hand as he feverishly looked over the prices on the shelf to see how much could be purchased. Or maybe you were out for a walk and you saw a young mother screaming at her child for jumping in a small puddle of water.

When these kinds of unexpected or unplanned events occur in our lives, there are often few options. On the one hand, you can gain a sudden interest in your shoes and keep your eyes downward as you walk past. On another hand, you can make eye contact, pray to see the extraordinary beauty within them, and find a way to speak with them and bless them.

To love others in the way God loves us is to do the latter. It’s to see all people without partiality. To show them they are worthy of love. 

READING & PRAYERS:

     DEUTERONOMY 10:17-19 (also read the commentary notes in your Study Bible of choice.)

QUESTION: In what ways can you prepare yourself to more regularly and actively “love the strangers” you come across?

DIGGING DEEPER: Begin keeping count of how many strangers you run into on a daily basis. What changes may you need to make to begin seeing them and interacting with them in a way that says, “I see you. God loves you.”? 

Take a Step: Practice listening to God by utilizing the One Minute Pause app at least twice a day.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I’m beginning to realize that even though it may be unrealistic for me to pause and interact with every person I come across each day, it is realistic for me to pause and interact with some of them. Provide me with wisdom, grace, and mercy to share Your love with others and to not show partiality. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

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Matthew 5:43-44 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

In his book Everybody Always, Bob Goff writes, “I think Jesus meant something different when He said ‘enemies.’ He meant we should love the people we don’t understand. The ones we disagree with. The ones who are flat wrong about more than a couple of things.”

You may not currently believe you have any enemies. But what about the people you don’t understand? The ones you disagree with? The ones who, from your perspective, are flat wrong about more than a couple of things? 

This mixes up the passage a bit, doesn’t it? It indicates that Jesus is saying, “Love — I mean really love those who see the world differently than you.” Who are the people who look, think, live, believe, or behave differently? Those who have a different perspective on something you care deeply about? Do you talk negatively about them to others, or think negatively about them? What does Living in Love look like with them? 

READING & PRAYERS:

     MATTHEW 5:43-44, JOHN 13:34-35 (also read the commentary notes in your Study Bible of choice.)

QUESTION: Write down at least five indications of what it would look like to live in love toward somebody who looks, thinks, lives, believes, or behaves very differently from you. 

DIGGING DEEPER: Jesus regularly interacted in love toward those who look, think, live, believe, and/or behave differently than Himself. Consider digging through the Scriptures and write down some of the ways Jesus loved others who were different. Some helpful passages may include Romans 5:8, Luke 6:31-38, Luke 15:1-32, Luke 7:36-50, John 4:1-54

Take a Step: Practice listening to God by utilizing the One Minute Pause app at least twice a day.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, when I pause to confess the many ways Jesus expressed love for those very different from Himself — a samaritan woman living in adultery, a roman military officer, and more — I’m truly astounded by His mercy and grace. Continue to lead and guide me in such a way that others see this level of mercy and grace in me. Amen. 

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1 Corinthians 13:2 …[if I] can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

Read this verse again slowly. Especially the last three words – I am nothing. Sometimes it’s difficult for scholars to appropriately translate a word from ancient Greek into modern English. But this isn’t one of those occasions. The word here is easily translated as nothing or not a thing. 

Here, the Holy Spirit was instilling within Paul a profound sense of wisdom. A person can do a lot of good things. She can go to school and become extremely well educated. She can grow in faith and believe that God can and will work in wondrous ways. But if she does so with a heart devoid of love…she is nothing. 

In the Emotionally Healthy Discipleship Course, Peter Scazzero notes a similar observation through Jesus’ teaching of the good samaritan. Scazzero writes, “For Jesus, our love for God is measured by the degree to which we love others.” 

READING & PRAYERS:

     1 CORINTHIANS 13:1-13, LUKE 10:25-37, JOHN 13:34 (also read the commentary notes in your Study Bible of choice.)

QUESTION: How do you understand the words I am nothing at the end of 1 Corinthians 13:2? 

DIGGING DEEPER: Prayerfully consider the level of your love for God. If it’s true that the measure of your love for God is measured by the degree to which you love others, what is your current level of love for God? Is there anybody you currently do not love? What would it look like to begin loving them? 

Take a Step: Practice listening to God by utilizing the One Minute Pause app at least twice a day.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I recognize there are some people in my life who may not be my enemies, but I would not say I love them well. Continue to instill within me a heart for others, including those who see the world differently than myself. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

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John 3:16 is the most recognizable verse in Western civilization today, and it’s possible it’s the most recognizable worldwide. Yet sadly, some read this verse and question, “I recognize that ‘God loved the world’…but does that mean He loved me so much…?” Have you ever wrestled with a similar question? 

If you have, know that you’re not alone. Perhaps the greatest of human longings is the longing to be loved. As such, it’s fitting that many struggle, questioning whether they really are loved by God Himself. 

While doubts such as these may be common, this doesn’t mean they’re healthy. Indeed, such doubts are rooted primarily in fear. Those who struggle with these kinds of thoughts have an internal fear that they’re not good enough or not worthy enough or not significant enough or not _______ enough for God to love them. 

But the Gospel declares that God’s love for you really is this deep. God loved you so much, that he gave his one and only Son, so that you who believe in him will not perish but have eternal life.

READING & PRAYERS:

     JOHN 3:16  (also read the commentary notes in your Study Bible of choice.)

QUESTION: Embrace a few moments of silence and listen to the whisper of God telling you how much He loves you.

DIGGING DEEPER: “It is one thing, as a child, to be told your father loves you. You believe him. You take him at his word. But it is another thing, unutterably more real, to be swept up in his embrace, to feel the warmth, to hear his beating heart within his chest, to instantly know the protective grip of his arms. It’s one thing to hear he loves you; it’s another thing to feel his love. This is the glorious work of the Spirit.”Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly

What thoughts, fears, and/or concerns are trying to blockade you from receiving the love of God? 

What steps may need to be taken to remove this blockade so you can freely experience and receive the love of God? 

Take a Step: Practice listening to God by utilizing the One Minute Pause app at least twice a day.

PRAYER: Today, consider blocking out some extra time to receive the love of God. 

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John 15:10-11 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Sadly, some people see their relationship with God as transactional. “If I choose to follow Jesus, He will make my life better.” Or, “God will reward me when I follow His commands and punish me when I don’t.” But this isn’t the Gospel. 

Your relationship with God ought not be viewed as a transaction. Instead, it ought to be viewed as an opportunity. Jesus was regularly inviting people to follow Him into a way of life that works. He did not say, “Follow my commands, or else!” What He said was, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love…and my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” 

Today, consider what it would be like to experience the joy of God within you. Or maybe you don’t need to consider it, and can instead discover the ways you’re already experiencing the joy of God in you. 

READING & PRAYERS:

     JOHN 15:11, ROMANS 15:13 (also read the commentary notes in your Study Bible of choice.)

QUESTION: Are there any ways in which you see your relationship with God as transactional? Confess these areas of your life to God.

DIGGING DEEPER: Jesus is inviting you into a way of life that works. Think of an area of your life which is not working well for you (or others) at this time. What steps may Jesus be inviting you to take — or what may He be inviting you to surrender — so you can more fully begin to experience a way of life that works? 

Take a Step: Practice listening to God by utilizing the One Minute Pause app at least twice a day.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, forgive me for the times in which I see my relationship with you as transactional — the times when I expect You to do something for me because of something I’ve done for You. May I grow in recognizing that this isn’t how our relationship works. Instead, You are trying to help me experience a way of life that works. Help me today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is with you…He will take great delight in you…[he] will rejoice over you with singing.”

The above verse is one worthy of ongoing meditation. This short book in the Old Testament written by the prophet Zephaniah begins with God pronouncing judgment upon His people for their wicked ways. But later, there’s a significant shift. Better days are coming. Days in which God will rejoice over His people with singing. 

The ancient Hebrew word translated “rejoice” in this verse finds it root in another word which is often understood as “to circle around” in a state of joy. Another way to say it is that in His excitement and profound joy for His people, God will dance around them. 

Picture in your mind for a moment that this is how God sees you. You are His child. You are His friend. He is ridiculously in love with you. In fact, He’s so excited about you He desires to express that excitement by dancing around you. Now, picture in your mind how you may begin to see others as He sees them. What would it look like for you to express a high level of joy toward others.  

READING & PRAYERS:

     PHILIPPIANS 1:3-5, ZEPHANIAH 3:17 (also read the commentary notes in your Study Bible of choice.)

QUESTION: In what ways do you find it difficult to express joy toward others? How may God be inviting you to be joyful in and toward others? 

DIGGING DEEPER: Each time you interact with somebody today, silently pray that God would reveal to you a way you can express joy toward them about who they are and how much they’re loved. 

Take a Step: Practice listening to God by utilizing the One Minute Pause app at least twice a day.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, the thought of You circling or dancing around me in joy is something I cannot even imagine. Similarly, me finding and expressing that level of joy toward others is unimaginable. So today I simply pray that the unimaginable would become imaginable. Lead me to more fully see that all people have been created by You, in Your imagine, and for Your glory. And may this truth lead me to express joy toward them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Luke 1:46-47 My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

In Luke chapter 1, Mary sings a heartfelt song of worship to God. An angel from God has visited and declared that she has been chosen to give birth to Jesus. Shortly afterward, Mary visits her close relative Elizabeth who – thanks to the Holy Spirit within her – declares to Mary that she is blessed and the child she carries is blessed. Mary cannot hold back her joy and expresses it in song. 

Clearly, Mary had reason to be joyful. But later in the New Testament, Peter indicates that all followers of Jesus can experience this level of joy. He writes, Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy (1 Peter 1:8).

These passages are not at odds with one another. Mary expresses her joy in song, while Peter notes that, because of our faith in Christ, our joy is so profound it’s difficult to come up with words or actions to express our joy. 

READING & PRAYERS:

     LUKE 1:46-48, 1 PETER 1:8 (also read the commentary notes in your Study Bible of choice.)

QUESTION: Mary’s song reveals that she could not hold back her joy. What, if anything, is holding you back from experiencing or expressing joy in a similar way? 

DIGGING DEEPER: Peter writes that you …are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. Write out some of the ways you are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. If you struggle to think of some, spend some time in prayer asking God to reveal to you where He is working in your life. Afterward, express joy to Him for all the ways He’s at work in your life! 

Take a Step: Practice listening to God by utilizing the One Minute Pause app at least twice a day.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I recognize that when I consider what may be holding me back from expressing joy, one possible answer is that I’m fearful to allow myself to be joyful. I’m fearful that if I experience and express joy, something bad will happen that will remove that feeling. Lead me to change my thinking so I can experience and express real joy. Amen. 

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Isaiah 65:19 I will rejoice…and take delight in my people.

There’s no getting around it, life can be difficult. But this doesn’t mean we ought to live in a perpetual state of discouragement, disappointment, or isolation. In fact, we miss a significant theme in the Scriptures when we gloss over passages in which God Himself was joyful, and/or passages in which God encouraged His people to celebrate and be joyful. 

In the Old Testament, there were many Festivals in which God commanded His people to celebrate and be joyful. In the New Testament, Paul, Peter and others regularly write about their own joy as well as encouraging the people of God to be joyful.

The pattern seems clear. In the same way followers of Jesus ought not dismiss moments of sadness, grief, or other difficult emotions, we ought not dismiss opportunities to practice and experience real joy. 

As you begin a new week, take some time to consider whether you have been dismissing opportunities to practice and experience real joy. 

READING & PRAYERS:

     ISAIAH 65:19 (also read the commentary notes in your Study Bible of choice.)

QUESTION: How would you define joy? When is the last time you experienced a high level of joy in your life? 

DIGGING DEEPER: A synonym for joy is to delight in something. Consider, who or what are some things you delight in? What are some specific ways in which these people or things bring you delight? Is there anything you can do to increase the number of opportunities you have to experience delight in your life? 

Take a Step: Practice listening to God by utilizing the One Minute Pause app at least twice a day.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I confess that I can grow in taking purposeful opportunities to delight in something or in someone. As I begin this new week, help me to keep the words joy and delight at the forefront of my mind and spirit. Lead me to discover – or rediscover — people, places, and activities which lead to real joy and delight. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

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