Advent 2022: Wrestling With God

We are excited to share with you this week’s devotional written by our own Judi Morrison. As we focus on Advent through the lens of family, we hope this devotional encourages your faith.

They sat at the table reminiscing, two girls enjoying one another’s company as they sipped their afternoon cocoa. The room was dim, unlit by lamps, surrendering slowly to afternoon shadows. As the sun sank behind the mountains, they recalled shared memories of holidays and times spent together. It was the quiet hour…the hush of the day. The table had long been cleared from lunch and dinner was just beginning to be thought of in the kitchen. It would be a meal of leftovers reheated from the Thanksgiving feast, a no fuss meal. The two sat in stillness, their voices low, remembering, holding onto the quiet.

The girls are cousins and two of my granddaughters, ages 6 and 7. I love that already they share memories. I am grateful they love and enjoy one another. I am grateful that they know they are loved by their parents and siblings, and by the greater family that includes cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. I am grateful that their hearts are tender toward one another. I am thankful they have already begun to know the comfortable pleasure of a quiet conversation.

To belong to one another is one of the great blessings of a loving family, to know that whatever the circumstance, whatever one’s mood, in joy, in sorrow, in shame, or fear, with family, there is sanctuary.

Family is our starting place; sometimes it is wonderful, sometimes miserable, always imperfect. It is the context wherein we begin to question who we are, where we fit, and how to make sense of life. However clearly or unclearly we discern our value as individuals by learning our place within our families of origin, each one of us needs to realize the astounding truth that we are invited to be part of God’s family. It is in His family that we can, without fear, allow ourselves to be known, loved, forgiven. Within the milieu of God’s unconditional love and grace, we are free to let go of defenses, accept our weaknesses, and grow in the freedom of humility and kindness.  It is with Him that we are safe, cherished, delighted in, and it is within the Church we learn how to include and embrace one another as co-members of the Family of God.

Psalm 68 tells us:

Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
    extol him who rides on the clouds;
    rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
    is God in his holy dwelling.
God sets the lonely in families,
    he leads out the prisoners with singing.

 CrossView Church, we are God’s family. You are welcome here. You belong here. You are loved.

Our prayer for you this Christmas season is that you will grow in understanding that the God of Creation, the Savior whose birth we celebrate,  is the One who welcomes you and calls you His own.

Advent 2022 - A Family Story

This weeks devotional is entitled, “Someday I Will Go Home” and is written by our very own Char Seawell. As we focus on Advent through the lens of family, we hope this devotion encourages your faith.

Someday we are all going home. Not to the address that is listed on our driver’s license or to the place of our childhood memories, but to the place that is etched in our souls from before birth...our place of deepest longing.

I am reminded of this while walking yesterday on a trail that meandered along a nature preserve at low tide.

As we rested on a bench along the trail listening to the spring birds, a woman passed us, her feet crunching in the gravel. Many yards behind her, a husky young man followed with a shuffling gate. His voice cried out to her, the deep voice of a man with the soul of a four year old. “Mama... mama... HOME.” He was focused on her form in front of him and his voice became increasingly insistent. “Mama...HOME!”

Suddenly he noticed us and said something we could not make out. He approached, put his fingers together in a pretend gun and, like a little boy at play, made shooting noises. We smiled, he broke into a face splitting grin, and then, turning towards mom, called out again. “Mama…home,” shuffling after her.

We rose to complete our walk and followed some distance behind, assuming they were headed to the same parking lot. Suddenly, she turned and came towards us. From a distance we heard her son cry out with great joy, “Me...Home!” and saw his pace quicken and his shoulders lift.

As he approached, his steps were lighter and his soul seemed happy. “Home! Home! Home!” He almost sang the words. “Home!”

As we passed, I stopped before him. “You won,” I said and put my hands up for a high five. His hands leapt into the air, and he gleefully slapped my hands. His faced glowed with joy.

“Home!”

Then he looked at me and he spread his arms open, his gaze inviting a bear hug. When I reached back, he pulled me close and tight, and I could feel his absolute abandonment to the feeling of gratitude he felt in his heart. He was going home.

He looked at my husband and again spread his arms wide open. Another bear hug ensued, and then he turned to me again for a second hug, this time patting my back. He pulled away and looked me straight in the eye, his face aglow, “Home.”

Mom looked at us and then her son. “You need to thank them for letting you hug them,” she admonished. He looked at me and hugged again. “He loves hugging,” she explained, though we had guessed as much.

I glanced back after they had walked away, watching their two forms disappear on the trail.

So it will be with us someday.

We walk this trail, this life, following a Heavenly parent, calling out from the deepest place of our souls for home. We follow footsteps that guide us in our heart’s cry for peace and rest. We grow weary and unsure if the journey will ever end.

But our journey, like all journeys, will end. Whatever marker on the path is destined for us, we will reach it. And when the time comes for the end of mine, I want to meet it with the joy of the young man on the trail today. I want to experience the overflowing of my heart for having my deepest desires met and open my arms wide to the fullness of an embrace that will welcome me there.

I want to feel my soul’s deepest longing for a home that transcends my earthly experience satisfied at last.

And someday I will.

King David Series: An Ending Conversation

This week’s devotion is entitled “A Holy Inactivity” and is an excerpt from The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. From Renovare: “Broth­er Lawrence of the Res­ur­rec­tion (c. 1614 – 12 Feb­ru­ary 1691) served as a lay broth­er in a Carmelite monastery in Paris. Chris­tians com­mon­ly remem­ber him for the inti­ma­cy he expressed con­cern­ing his rela­tion­ship to God as record­ed in a book com­piled after his death, the clas­sic Chris­t­ian text, The Prac­tice of the Pres­ence of God.”

I have ceased all forms of devo­tion and set prayers except those to which my state requires. I make it my pri­or­i­ty to per­se­vere in His holy pres­ence, where­in I main­tain a sim­ple atten­tion and a fond regard for God, which I may call an actu­al pres­ence of God. Or, to put it anoth­er way, it is an habit­u­al, silent, and pri­vate con­ver­sa­tion of the soul with God. This gives me much joy and con­tent­ment. In short, I am sure, beyond all doubt, that my soul has been with God above these past thir­ty years. I pass over many things that I may not be tedious to you.

Yet, I think it is appro­pri­ate to tell you how I per­ceive myself before God, whom I behold as my King. I con­sid­er myself as the most wretched of men. I am full of faults, flaws, and weak­ness­es, and have com­mit­ted all sorts of crimes against his King. Touched with a sen­si­ble regret I con­fess all my wicked­ness to Him. I ask His for­give­ness. I aban­don myself in His hands that He may do what He pleas­es with me.

My King is full of mer­cy and good­ness. Far from chastis­ing me, He embraces me with love. He makes me eat at His table. He serves me with His own hands and gives me the key to His trea­sures. He con­vers­es and delights Him­self with me inces­sant­ly, in a thou­sand and a thou­sand ways. And He treats me in all respects as His favorite. In this way I con­sid­er myself con­tin­u­al­ly in His holy presence.

My most usu­al method is this sim­ple atten­tion, an affec­tion­ate regard for God to whom I find myself often attached with greater sweet­ness and delight than that of an infant at the moth­er’s breast. To choose an expres­sion, I would call this state the bosom of God, for the inex­press­ible sweet­ness which I taste and expe­ri­ence there. If, at any time, my thoughts wan­der from it from neces­si­ty or infir­mi­ty, I am present­ly recalled by inward emo­tions so charm­ing and deli­cious that I can­not find words to describe them. Please reflect on my great wretched­ness, of which you are ful­ly informed, rather than on the great favors God does one as unwor­thy and ungrate­ful as I am.

As for my set hours of prayer, they are sim­ply a con­tin­u­a­tion of the same exer­cise. Some­times I con­sid­er myself as a stone before a carv­er, where­of He is to make a stat­ue. Pre­sent­ing myself thus before God, I desire Him to make His per­fect image in my soul and ren­der me entire­ly like Him­self. At oth­er times, when I apply myself to prayer, I feel all my spir­it lift­ed up with­out any care or effort on my part. This often con­tin­ues as if it was sus­pend­ed yet firm­ly fixed in God like a cen­ter or place of rest.

I know that some charge this state with inac­tiv­i­ty, delu­sion, and self-love. I con­fess that it is a holy inac­tiv­i­ty. And it would be a hap­py self-love if the soul, in that state, were capa­ble of it. But while the soul is in this repose, she can­not be dis­turbed by the kinds of things to which she was for­mer­ly accus­tomed. The things that the soul used to depend on would now hin­der rather than assist her.

Yet, I can­not see how this could be called imag­i­na­tion or delu­sion because the soul which enjoys God in this way wants noth­ing but Him. If this is delu­sion, then only God can rem­e­dy it. Let Him do what He pleas­es with me. I desire only Him and to be whol­ly devot­ed to Him.

Excerpt­ed from The Prac­tice of the Pres­ence of God by Broth­er Lawrence of the Res­ur­rec­tion, ​“Sec­ond Let­ter” (in the pub­lic domain via Project Guten­berg).

King David Series: Fully Alive

This weeks devotion is entitled, “David Was Dancing Before the Lord” and is written by Pastor Wayne Monbleau. Wayne is a pastor, counselor, teacher and radio host based on the east cost. We hope this devotion encourages your faith.

“David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.” - 2 Samuel 6:14-15

This is the account of the ark of the covenant being brought into Jerusalem, and David was leading as a minister to the Lord, not as a king of Israel.

“David was wearing a linen ephod,” which was a priest’s most simple garment, meaning this was the identity David chose to display before the people of Israel on this very special occasion.

David could have come with all the pomp of kingship. But instead, David came as a humble minister to the lord, showing Israel Who the True King of his life was.

In David’s mind and heart, he “was dancing before the Lord,” meaning that David was beholding the Lord, and not so much the scene around him.

When we minister to the Lord, we are blessed to enter God’s presence where it is all about our Lord; Who He is, His glory, and ourselves only as dedicated priests in His presence.

What a beautiful picture this was of how David loved God and had God first in his life. David wasn’t even thinking about how he looked to people because He was looking at God. He was beholding the Lord and he saw himself in God’s sight as he danced in exultation as a priest in His presence, rejoicing in and desiring to please His Lord.

This is the true leadership model the body of Christ so needs today; people who will wear their identity as priests and their devotion to Christ first, for the entire body of Christ to see.

This is true kingship manifestation, when God’s people see themselves first in relationship to Him, our King, with His sovereignty over us and our blessed yielded priestly discipleship to Him, so that Jesus may be strongly known amongst His own and proclaimed to this world.

In your heart today, be clothed with the simple linen ephod of a priest, and let your true identity come forth, as a beloved child of God in Jesus’ name, ministering (and dancing) as a priest to your Lord in His blessed presence. Hallelujah!

King David Series: The Goal of the Gospel

This weeks devotion is entitled, “Altars of Worship and the Mercies of God” and is written by Dan Wilt. Dan is a member of the Seedbed team. He has decades experience as a pastor, worship leader, teacher, and leader of creatives across the globe.

CONSIDER THIS

There are marked moments in our lifetimes, indelibly and internally etched in a Christian’s memory, where we can each say with confidence: “God did this for me, and I was forever changed.”

I like to imagine that each of us has a number of internal altars where, upon remembering a personal, transformative moment, we have the opportunity to kneel to give thanks again and again. Perhaps we built an internal altar when we experienced a moment of great success, a time when circumstances flowed in our favor and a deep sense of communion with God’s Spirit was made all the sweeter by an advantageous result. 

There are other moments, however, like those that preceded Psalm 51 in the life of David, where an internal altar was built because we experienced utter, divine rescue. And that rescue was not from an outward enemy—that rescue was fromourselves. We were headed in one direction, full and strong, and by the mercy of God, the Spirit brought revelation through our pain, our suffering, or as a sovereign gift of divine mercy. We were diverted from a path that led to death (Prov. 14:12), and we are so grateful that we were.

You may have some of those moments in your own life, and are visiting your internal altar of thanks even now. I know that I do. Feel free to pause here, and to sing a song of praise with me.

Psalm 51 is David’s song of praise. It’s a powerful, remarkable external expression of how grateful David was for the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who entered the chaos he had caused and saved him from himself. We know the story. David had sinned with Bathsheba. He had her husband Uriah murdered. He weaved a tangled web, and was using his power to justify it, fix it, and ultimately, to hide it under a rug. He lacked accountability; he was the top of the food chain. Now, on the same track as all the other queens and kings of his time, he was headed toward their fate, following unbridled lusts toward a hell of one’s own making.

But one thing set David apart from all the others. David had the Holy Spirit at work in his life. David had a covenant with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob running through his mind and heart. David had the worship habits of his people ingraining truth into his dispositions and habits. David belonged to God—and the Spirit was making sure he didn’t completely forget who he was and whose he was. The Spirit saw the chaos coming, and out of sheer mercy, stepped in to make something good out of it (Rom. 8:28). Nathan the prophet steps in, speaks by the Spirit, and David chooses to repent. Psalm 51 is the outer altar he builds for the inward altar of remembrance that is now set permanently in his soul.

Pray David’s deep and enduring awakening prayer as your own today: “Do not . . . take your Holy Spirit from me.” David was unwilling to go on without God’s abiding presence searching his life, scanning his heart to expose wicked ways that lead to chaos and death, leading him into ways that are everlasting (Ps. 139:23-24). The Holy Spirit does this for us as well. 

Do not take your Holy Spirit from me, O God. Your presence is life to me.

King David: Special Guest Mark Morrison

 
 

Every so often, we will have a guest speaker at CrossView Church. We are so grateful for the gifted women and men that serve the Lord through teaching the word. This week we hear from Pastor Mark Morrison. Pastor Mark serves as the director of Shepherd Ministries. You can find out more information about Shepherd Ministries here.

Usually, when we have a guest speaker, we will not have a weekly devotion. We encourage you to watch the message again at some point throughout the week and listen to the discussion podcast.

Blessings on you and your week.

Pastor Kyle

Freedom Sunday: Special Guest Kevin Austin

 
 

Every so often, we will have a guest speaker at CrossView Church. We are so grateful for the gifted women and men that serve the Lord through teaching the word. This week we hear from Pastor Kevin Austin. Pastor Kevin serves Director of the Set Free Movement. The Set Free Movement works to mobilize faith communities, financial partners, and all segments of society towards ending human trafficking and creating new futures through community-based action. You can find out more information about The Set Free Movement by clicking here.

Usually, when we have a guest speaker, we will not have a weekly devotion. We encourage you to watch the message again at some point throughout the week and listen to the discussion podcast.

Blessings on you and your week.

Pastor Kyle

King David: Surprising Love

This weeks devotion is entitled, “Mephibosheth’s Example” and is written by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. We hope this devotion encourages your faith.

Mephibosheth was not an attractive guest at the royal table; yet he had an open invitation because King David could see in his face the features of the beloved Jonathan. Like Mephibosheth, we may exclaim to the King of Glory, “What is Your servant, that You should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” But still the Lord invites us to share intimately with Him, because He sees in our countenances the remembrance of His dearly-beloved Jesus.

It is on account of Jesus that the Lord’s people are dear to God. Such is the love that the Father bears to His only begotten that for His sake He raises His lowly brothers and sisters from poverty and exile to enjoy the king’s court, noble rank, and royal provision. Their deformity shall not rob them of their privileges. Lameness is no bar to sonship; the disabled is as much the heir as if he could run like a gazelle.

Our ability to enter may be impaired but not our right of entry. A king’s table is a noble hiding-place for lame legs, and at the gospel feast we learn to rejoice in infirmities because the power of Christ rests upon us. Yet serious disability may spoil the journey of the best-loved saints. Here is one feasted by David, and yet so lame in both his feet that he could not go up with the king when he fled from the city and was therefore maligned and injured by his servant. Lord, help the lame to leap like the hart, and satisfy all Your people with the bread of Your table!

King David: God’s Promise Through Us

This weeks devotion is entitled “Commentary on 2 Samuel 7:1-11,16” and is written by Casey Thornburgh Sigmon. Casey is an Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship and Director of Contextual Education at Saint Paul School of Theology in Leawood, Kansas. We hope this devotion encourages your faith.

A new king has a grand idea to build a fancy temple for God. But God has other ideas for David.

An emerging monarchy

First and 2 Samuel speak to Israel’s transition period from “a loose federation of tribes” to “an emerging monarchy.”1 As scholar Bruce C. Birch makes clear in his introduction to these books of the Hebrew Bible, the thesis is that God is “at work in these turbulent times.”2

King David is coming off of a high note in chapter 6: the return of the ark of God to Jerusalem under his leadership. This event marks the beginning of a theologically legitimized Davidic monarchy. Saul’s reign is over. The people have a center of power, both political and theological. God’s presence, symbolized by the ark, returns and remains through this Davidic dynasty.

Then why does God seem to challenge King David about notions of God’s presence in our pericope for today?

David wants to take God’s house to the next level 

Our pericope opens with “the king settled in his house” and resting from trials and tribulation. But in his palace, David is unsettled about something.

That something? The house for the ark of God. Is a tent good enough of a home for the Lord who has delivered Israel through turbulent times? This God deserves a temple.

David runs to his seer, the prophet Nathan. Without skipping a beat, Nathan affirms David’s vision for a more permanent home for the ark. “Go, and do all that you have in mind.”

But then God has words with Nathan in the night. Nathan, the go-between of God and David, will be tasked with bringing King David back down to earth.

David, unable to discern the will and way of God because he only sees things from his point of view.

God doesn’t need a fancy house built of stone. God needs a people built by God.

The tension is when we project our needs onto God. God, through Nathan, reminds David of who and how God is—omnipresent, not tied down to one place, not a genie in a bottle, not so high and mighty to refuse presence in a humble tent.

This anamnestic move punctuates the Hebrew Scriptures at transitional moments. It is also the way in which the psalms sing of who and how God is. Before King David rushes to secure a dwelling place in the seat of political power, God reminds David that no such thing is required. Ark, exile, pasture, tent, God has been and will be with David and Israel. This is the covenant God makes in chapter 7.

Verse 7 is a playful image for preachers: God walking in all the places the tribes of Israel walked. God in the shoes of Israel when enslaved by Pharaoh. God in the shoes of Israel as they ran on dry ground through a parted Red Sea…When did I ever demand a temple from you? I go where you go. I am with you. No matter what happenstance or setting.

God takes David’s house to the next level instead

But God also sees that Israel needs a place, a home. Israel needs refuge from enemies, ground to cultivate, roots to grow. This is the plot twist in verse 11: “You will not build me a house,” replied the Lord, “I shall build you a house.”3

And the house that God builds is not a house in the sense of four walls either. In time, another meaning for the Hebrew word for house, bayit, will come to the fore: “dynasty”. Through the Davidic line, God dwells. God’s grace extends beyond what is shown to David and through a family line. And we know who is to come in that line: Jesus. Ultimately it is God who takes this covenant to the next level when God becomes present in human flesh as Jesus Christ. And we are heirs of this promise. God dwells with us and through us as we journey through turbulent times and when we dance in joyful processions.

God doesn’t need us to build a fancy new dwelling. God wants to build us.

Maybe what we need to overhear in this pericope are these words to David and the reminder that God does not need us to take anything to the next level when we have so little energy, time, or technological know-how to give. Rather, we need to slow down and let God build us—dwell in us—in humble, simple, ordinary ways.

King David: The Power to Serve

This weeks devotion is entitled, “Servant Leadership: The Most Important Thing” and is written by Gabe Lawson serves as the Pastor of Discipleship and Care at First Alliance Church in Lexington, KY. He also serves as a chaplain in the US Air Force Reserves and is an ordained minister in the Christian & Missionary Alliance. We hope this devotion encourages your faith.

Once upon a time, when I was in 8th grade, my church was having a time of prayer. They invited all the young people who had just returned from a mission trip to be available to pray for others. While there, one of the pastors of the church—someone for whom I had great respect and admiration—came up to me and said, “Hi, Gabe, would you pray for me?” Astounded, I thought, you want me to pray for you?  That doesn’t sound right. This pastor who I really looked up to came to me, an awkward, goofy 12 year old, for prayer.

This memory reminds me of when Jesus told his disciples he was going to wash their feet (John 13). Peter had much the same response I had when my pastor came to me for prayer. Peter responded, “Jesus you want to wash my feet?  No way!” But Jesus insisted on humbling himself and serving his disciples in this very lowly manner and showing us what true servant leadership is all about.

This is the Jesus who has turned water into wine and healed the roman official’s son with just a word. This is the Jesus who fed thousands upon thousands by the sea of Galilee with a few loaves and fish, and healed the blind and the lame. This is the Jesus who the disciples saw walk on water, for crying out loud! This is the Jesus who went to the tomb of a man dead four days, calling out to him. The dead man came staggering out of the grave still shrouded in burial clothes.

And this same Jesus laid down his clean outer garments, put on a towel, and stooped to do the unclean, menial work of the lowest of servants.

After Jesus washes their feet, he challenges his disciples to go out and do the same. Jesus tells them, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet (John 13:14.)” Leadership like this takes true humility, flowing out of deep love of God and a rich understanding of mission.

Jesus challenges us to follow his example.

It is easy to get bogged down in all the tasks that need to get done. If you’re like me, I far too often find myself so task oriented that I forget the most important task of all—serving people in meaningful, practical ways. Servant leadership requires us to be intentional, looking for ways to put others above ourselves. We set the example for others in service to follow. It’s all in the simple things, like carving out time to visit, writing a personal note, helping someone move, taking someone a meal, or even asking a goofy twelve-year-old kid for prayer.

When we intentionally put others above ourselves, we are actively living out the Gospel, walking in obedience, and following in the footsteps of Jesus.  It’s the most important work we can do.

King David: A Faith That Grows

This weeks devotion is entitled” A Longer Stride and Larger Embrace” and is written by Eugene Peterson. It is an excerpt from his book, Leap Over the Wall. We hope this devotion encourages your faith.

A LONGER STRIDE AND A LARGER EMBRACE

In wrapping up the story of the capture of Jerusalem and its establishment as the City of David, 2 Samuel offers this wonderful phrase: "And David became greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of hosts, was with him" (2 Sam. 5:10). Another way to translate the Hebrew phrase halok 'gado/ is that David proceeded from that moment with "a longer stride and a larger embrace."

The phrase "greater and greater" signals David's maturity. The David story isn't a mere accumulation of incidents, one after the other, isolated anecdotes shaped by whatever circumstances prevailed at the time. No, it's a story of growth, each detail of the story assimilated into the next, David more David now than ever. This doesn't always happen, of course-either to David or to us. In fact, it sometimes seems that it doesn't happen very often. Change can diminish us; it can cut us off from our roots; it can panic us so that we abandon our past. Why is it that so many look back on childhood and youth as the best years? Why do so many try to perpetuate the infantile and the adolescent in their bodies and dress and actions?

But change can also be a catalyst for growth. It can stimulate developing, deepening, lengthening, enlarging our lives becoming more, not less. And that's what the narrator calls attention to in David at this moment. Not David embittered by the long hostility of Saul; not David narrowed into an obsessive paranoia against the Philistines; not David reduced to a compulsive regard for his own interests; not David lazily living off the reputation of his youthful achievements; not David sidetracked into wilderness love affairs. No. Rather, all that conflict and hostility, all those blessings and wonders, all that hate and love metabolized into a holy life, a life robust in God and prayer and obedience. He lengthened his stride; he enlarged his embrace.

He lengthened his stride. He did the unexpected when he took Jerusalem. This was avoided territory. No one else ventured into this den of superstition and ghost stories. Nobody had seen Jerusalem as a strategic site. But David did. He also saw the evil parodies of his faith and the cruel mockeries of the disabled as a blemish on the landscape of the promised land, the holy land. In indignation he took a giant step into Jerusalem and destroyed the caricatures of his ancestors Jacob and Isaac rigged up on the walls of Jerusalem. Instead of mincing around these abominations, David confronted them. As often happens, the very thing that reduces immaturity to neurotic timidity is exposed by maturity as Wizard-of-Oz fakery.

And David enlarged his embrace. He included more and more people under his rule and in his love. He gathered all God's children, not just those who had been on his side, helping him out through the difficult years. Maturity translated into generosity, into reaching out to make peace with the northern tribes. David didn't use his newly acquired strength and authority to destroy or denigrate others. He gathered and integrated and led.

When we grow, in contrast to merely change, we venture into new territory and include more people in our lives serve more and love more. Our culture is filled with change; it's poor in growth. New things, models, developments, opportunities are announced, breathlessly, every hour. But instead of becoming ingredients in a long and wise growth, they simply replace. The previous is discarded and the immediate stuck in--until, bored by the novelty, we run after the next fad. Men and women drawn always to the new never grow up. God's way is growth, not change. Organic is a key image. Nothing from our past is thrown out with the garbage; it's all composted and assimilated into a growing life. And nothing--no "moral," no "principle"- is tacked on from the outside. David at thirty-seven was more than he was at seventeen-more praise, saner counsel, deeper love. More himself. More his God-given and God-glorifying humanity. A longer stride, a larger embrace.

King David: Listening to God

Today’s devotion is called “Abigail: An Old Testament Type-of-Christ” and is written by Heather Celoria. Heather is an ordained minister and Master of Divinity student at Asbury Theological Seminary. Her work in ministry flows from a deep desire for transformative intimacy with God and others, and includes healing prayer and mentoring for those seeking to develop their spiritual gifts and callings.

In our meeting last night, we read the story of Abigail in the Old Testament in 1 Samuel 25. As it was being read I was struck by something I had never noticed. Abigail is a type and shadow of Christ in this story. 

This story is one of my favorites as an example of women who were honored in the Old Testament. Often, the church peddles a romanticized and chivalrous ideal (which has no foundation in Scripture) to encourage women to be submissive, quiet, dependent, and careful not to make waves. Particularly within a marriage, many churches teach that women should submit to the decisions of their husbands, even if the husband is making very wrong decisions. Women are encouraged that if they will submit and pray, God will honor this and intervene on their behalf. God may, of course, but often this type of response leads to more problems including domestic violence and abuse.

In contrast to what the world’s cultures may say—and in the Old Testament where women lived in a world that had far less equality than exists today—Scripture honors women who were anything but quiet, fearful, submissive, or weak when it comes to discerning the will of God and obeying Him. God consistently honors their boldness, not in being aggressive toward men or others, but in their wisdom and obedience to God.

In this story, Abigail is a wife of a man named Nabal who is foolish (his name actually means fool) and whose rash behavior has caused David to come with 400 men to destroy his household. When a servant tells Abigail what is happening, she immediately goes into action without consulting or telling Nabal, who we learn is most likely too drunk to think clearly. Her efforts saved the household from destruction because she understands the ways of God more than Nabal does. She so impresses God and David that her evil husband becomes ill and dies, and David makes her his wife.

In fact, David praises her for her good judgment. Her actions not only honor God and save her own household, but David recognizes that her wisdom saved him from spilling blood in revenge. He realizes this would have led to negative consequences for him as well.

I encourage you to read this story, because it is a great message to women who may be suffering domestic violence or other abuse. Women need to understand that God can and does honor them for their courage in doing the right thing for their households.

But, back to the main news here that Abigail seems to be an Old Testament type of Christ. As the story was read, I kept seeing images that I had never noticed before:

– Abigail comes riding a donkey

– She presents an offering for Nabal’s trespass (sin sacrifice)

– She asks David to let the blame for the offense fall on her alone (substitutionary guilt)

– She prophecies about David’s reign (declaring the kingdom)

– She is a peacemaker

– She washes the feet of David’s servants

I’d never noticed this before and thought it was really interesting to see that God included a woman in scripture as a type of Christ. I’ll be looking in other stories of women to see if there are more images like this. I was encouraged that, once again, God includes and honors women in His redemptive plans.

King David: Anger and Fear

The devotion today is an excerpt from the book The Making of a Man of God: Lessons from the Life of David by Alan Redpath (link to the book listed below in the weekly resources. We hope this encourages your faith.

“David is now looking at God through the threatening clouds of opposition and trouble, instead of looking down at circumstances through the rainbow of God’s love. It is very easy to lose 20-20 spiritual vision. It is easy to develop a spiritual squint, to see things in the wrong perspective, and to start to panic. But how does it all begin? How do you think it began in David’s life?

I would apply New Testament truth to this Old Testament picture. It is not enough to receive the anointing of the Spirit of God once; He must abide. “The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you…abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have [not fear] confidence” (1 John 2:27–28). When the Lord Jesus was baptized the Spirit descended and remained on Him, we read in John 1:33.

What was the cause of this man’s panic when he was in the will of God, but surrounded by bewildering circumstances? Could it have been the same as ours is so often in similar surroundings, that we have relied too much on past experience? Have you neglected the daily renewal of God’s grace and power in your life? When God thrusts us out into some uncertainty and problem to test our faith, do you think that is why faith is overcome by fear and begins to shrivel up? Do you ask Him daily with hunger of heart and soul for a new anointing of the Spirit for the needs of the day? Does the Lord look down and see you deeply in love with your heavenly Father, deeply concerned that day by day you might do His will, or are you relying upon the experience of bygone days?

Has God heard from you the cry of a hungry soul that recognizes its need for daily grace? Or are you teaching, preaching, witnessing, serving, and banking upon the experience of twenty years ago when you met God for the first time? Oh, what emptiness of heart there is today in so many Christians! No wonder fear comes in through the door and faith goes out through the window!.

Reliance upon past blessings is not enough. Coming to the house of God for comfort, without being willing to face up to doubts and fears and unbelief and admitting them to be sin, is not enough. If God has put you into some dark places and into some trials, it is not to drive you into sin, but to deliver you by your daily, repeated surrender and commitment to His will as you abide in Him. He wants to be your living Savior today, not merely the God who met you years and years ago.

When you are living by faith through the darkness of circumstances, other people become aware of the radiance and sweetness of your life, and they are truly blessed.

David changed his behavior, but in spite of it his heart was fixed upon God. In the awful anguish of those hours that took him from Gibeah to Nob, from Nob to Gath, from Gath to feigned insanity, when he thought that the torch of his life was going out and the purpose of God was frustrated forever, he just stretched out a feeble hand and caught hold of the hand of his God. Here, in effect, is his testimony, pleading to us out of the darkness of his own experience, “I beg of you, from what I have proved, taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Ps. 34:8).

Isn’t the patience and mercy of God toward His people beyond our understanding? If you have allowed fears and doubts to overcome your faith because you have relied on past experience, then just lift up the hands of faith to God. With a hungry heart look up to Him, for if you cry to the Lord now, He will save you out of all your fears.

King David: Depending on God

This week we want to share with you a devotion written by Timothy Tennet entitled, “Great David’s Greater Son, Jesus Christ.” Timothy C. Tennent is the President of Asbury Theological Seminary and a Professor of Global Christianity. We hope this devotion encourages your faith.

David Represents God’s True Kingship

Throughout the Old Testament, characters had to make a number of important choices which the people of God had to make as well: Adam’s choice to obey God’s voice and submit to God’s rule or to take of the fruit, assert his own rule, and try to be like God; Abraham’s choice to follow in the pattern of the world, settle down, and make a name for himself, or to become a pilgrim for the Lord and let God make his name great; Moses’ choice to attempt deliverance in his own strength or to wait on God to equip him. Likewise for Israel, Saul and David became symbols of two very different types. Saul is the anti-king, representing all the ways we assert our own rule over God’s rule; David represents the true kingship of God’s righteous rule and reign. Saul represents human strength; he was literally a head taller than any of the other men, handsome, physically strong, self-confident, and impressive to look at. David was the picture of human frailty; the youngest in his family, small, a child, and a shepherd. Saul trusted in his own strength rather than in God. He directly disobeyed God’s command to destroy the Amalekites completely and kept some of their animals for a sacrifice. When he got impatient waiting for Samuel to come, he made the sacrifice himself in direct disobedience to the separation of kingly and priestly functions. David, by contrast, knew his own weakness and therefore trusted in the Lord. Saul did not have a repentant heart that was sensitive to the Lord’s rebuke. Even after Samuel confronted him, he cared only for maintaining his image before the elders of Israel (1 Sam. 15:30). David, meanwhile, was a man after God’s own heart who, even in his sinful mistakes, was quick to repent and ask forgiveness.

When Samuel anoints David as king, we notice that he is from Bethlehem, of the tribe of Judah. He is chosen from among his seven older brothers, to the astonishment of his father, Jesse, and the prophet Samuel. Rejecting the tall, physically impressive sons, God reminds Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height. . . . The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). David is chosen for that heart which God desired and for that character which would set him apart as Israel’s greatest king.

Early on, David’s character is revealed in a way that dramatically contrasts with Saul. Saul was interested in settling down, making his own name great, and building his own kingdom. David, in contrast, when confronted by Goliath, revealed his trust in God’s word and God’s faithfulness. Throughout the encounter, he was more interested in God’s honor and God’s glory than his own name or honor.

Remember that it took Moses forty years in the wilderness of Midian to learn that his greatest provision was God’s name (“I Am” has sent you), God’s authority (staff), and God’s word (God gave him the words to speak). David, it seems, understood those basic lessons even as a young person. He declared to Goliath, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (1 Sam. 17:45). David exemplifies one who trusts in God’s name, God’s authority, and God’s word.

After David consolidated his rule over Israel, and the ark of the covenant was brought to Jerusalem, the Lord spoke to David, saying, “The Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. . . . Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2 Sam. 7:11b–12, 16). From this promise developed the messianic expectation that the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah, and specifically from the line of David and the town of Bethlehem. This becomes part of Israel’s hope, as demonstrated in texts such as Psalm 132:11, Micah 5:2, and Isaiah 9:6–7. Even in the midst of judgment and exile, when the lofty cedars of Lebanon were felled and the forests cut low, Isaiah reminded the people that a shoot would come up from the stump of Jesse. When Gabriel appears to Mary in Luke 1:32–33, he says of Jesus: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

This is why one of the most important titles of Jesus in the New Testament is “Son of David.” Jesus Christ is great David’s greater Son. In Psalm 110, David even recognized that his son would be greater than he was by calling his son “Lord.” David ruled an earthly throne; Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father. David won many earthly battles; Jesus won the cosmic battle against the powers of Satan. David was but a reflection of God’s kingly rule; Jesus is the embodiment of the kingdom. David was a man after God’s own heart; Jesus is the very heart of God Himself. Jesus is the perfect embodiment of the righteous rule and reign of God. Today, we can praise Him and proclaim Him King. We can declare that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:10–11)! We can prophetically see that one day, the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever (Rev. 11:15). One of the great joys we have as Christians is that we can look in the back of the book and know who wins! We know the final outcome! Jesus is Lord. The Lion of the tribe of Judah rules and reigns over the universe. To Him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever. Hallelujah!

David, royal king who led God’s people to great vict’ries won;
Jesus, sovereign King of all kings—Hail, great David’s greater Son!

Relentless Joy: Pastor Holly Moe

This week’s devotion is from J.D. Walt and is entitled Mondays and the Will of God. J.D. Walt is the founder of Seedbed and the former Dean of Chapel at Asbury Theological Seminary. We hope this devotion encourages your faith.

1 Kings 17:7–11 (NIV)

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”

CONSIDER THIS

Elijah is having a real Monday here in the Karith Ravine. 

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

So God sent him to the ravine to drink from the brook and the brook dried up. Here’s another interesting feature of the word ravine. Ravine comes from a French word which means a violent rush of water. It seems a far cry from a dried up brook. This Karith Ravine is like a river bed with no river. Remembering our last journey, it seems a far cry from our declaration concerning  Ezekiel’s river: Everywhere the river flows everything will live. (see Ezekiel 47). 

Isn’t that the nature of this life—one season the river is flooding its banks and the next it’s a dried up ravine? There is a deep lesson to be discerned from this. Paul shows us the shape of it when he says, 

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:12–13)

This is the way—from glory to glory—from the rushing river to the dried up ravine. 

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

I appreciate the shift in translation here. This verse has typically been rendered to say, “I can do all things.” This enabled the text to be hitched up to all manner of personal success and prosperity agendas. Jesus is not interested in helping us do “all things.” He is interested in us becoming the kind of people who can do “all this.” “All this,” of course, means learning to flourish in doing the will of God regardless of external circumstances. 

This is the way—from glory to glory—whereby we become weaned off of all other inferior sources of strength, ranging from ego strength to substance abuse. Great souls are only forged in the fires of hardship, struggle, and suffering. And here’s the bottom line: hardship, struggle, and suffering will come to everyone at one time or another in life. How you handle them determines who you become. Will we navigate them “through him who gives me strength,” or through other sources that give us strength that turns out not to be strength at all? Remember this. What got you here won’t get you there. 

Keep in mind, we are not looking at a day in the life of Elijah here. This is more than a bad Monday. We are looking at a span of years. This drought went on for three years. More than that, however, we are looking at a complex movement of the delivering judgment and mercy of almighty God for an entire nation. Though one would never imagine it if they dropped in on this Monday, Elijah is playing a key part in this unfolding drama. And it must seem very discouraging to him to wake up to a dried up brook. There is, though, a bit of good news. 

Then the word of the Lord came to him:

If you can call this good news:

“Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.”

He must have thought, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” First ravens. Now a widow! What is this? Elijah does not know where this is headed. He does not know the end result. He does not know the bigger plan. He only knows the next step. Most importantly, he knows God and he has learned to hear God’s voice. That’s what we are after, knowing Jesus more and learning to hear his voice. 

This is the way—from glory to glory. 

THE PRAYER

Abba Father, we are weary of building the strengths that are not really strength. We are weary of self reliance. We are also weary of a cynical stoicism that just grits our teeth and bears it. We want the deep contentment of soul no matter the circumstances. It is the dried up brook on Monday morning and the presentation of a widow as the solution that puzzles us. Holy Spirit, train our spirits to lean in anyway, to just do it, because we have already said yes to you. We thank you for this wilderness training even though we didn’t really sign up for it. And we trust the bigger plan and how you are making us part of something we cannot yet even comprehend. Praying in Jesus’ name, amen. 

THE QUESTION

How are you interpreting your circumstances at this point in your life? How are you dealing with them? Are you running out of the old strength? How are you learning to hear from Jesus? 

For the Awakening,
J.D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com

Resources:

Relentless Joy: Guest Speaker - Pastor Kevin Austin

 
 

Every so often, we will have a guest speaker at CrossView Church. We are so grateful for the gifted women and men that serve the Lord through teaching the word. This week we hear from Pastor Kevin Austin. Pastor Kevin serves Director of the Set Free Movement. The Set Free Movement works to mobilize faith communities, financial partners, and all segments of society towards ending human trafficking and creating new futures through community-based action. You can find out more information about The Set Free Movement by clicking here.

Usually, when we have a guest speaker, we will not have a weekly devotion. We encourage you to watch the message again at some point throughout the week and listen to the discussion podcast.

Blessings on you and your week.

Pastor Kyle

Relentless Joy: Guest Speaker - Pastor Mark Morrison

 
 

Every so often, we will have a guest speaker at CrossView Church. We are so grateful for the gifted women and men that serve the Lord through teaching the word. This week we hear from Pastor Mark Morrison. Pastor Mark serves as the director of Shepherd Ministries. You can find out more information about Shepherd Ministries here.

Usually, when we have a guest speaker, we will not have a weekly devotion. We encourage you to watch the message again at some point throughout the week and listen to the discussion podcast.

Blessings on you and your week.

Pastor Kyle

Relentless Joy: Humility and Joy

This weeks devotion is an excerpt from “With Jesus in the Upper Room” by Maxie Dunnam. Maxie D. Dunnam is the former president and chancellor of Asbury Theological Seminary. He is now Senior Pastor Emeritus and Executive Director of CCGlobal at Christ United Methodist Church in Memphis.

CONSIDER THIS

There is true humility and there is affected humility. Look at the contrast between Jesus and Peter. When Jesus came to Peter to wash his feet, Peter resisted: “Lord, do not wash my feet” (author’s paraphrase). I’m sure there was real sincerity in that. But sincerity and humility are not the same.

Peter was struggling in his relationship with Jesus, struggling with his own life, struggling with what was going on because things were not turning out as he thought they might when he left his fishing boat and followed this itinerant preacher. And he certainly didn’t understand what Jesus was doing. He couldn’t understand why Jesus was deliberately taking the position of a servant, so he acted humbly and backed away from Jesus because he didn’t want his leader washing his feet. It was a kind of affected humility.

But not the humility expressed by Jesus. The humble know who they are. Jesus knew who He was; Peter did not yet know who he was. In our culture, it is easy to have distorted notions about humility. We think of it as a kind of cowering, taking a backseat kind of style. In our most mistaken notions, we stereotype the humble person as being without strength, allowing people to take advantage of them, and staying in the shadow. That’s not true humility.

A father made this confession. Every night he would bring work home from the office;
lots of work, work he would begin doing right after the evening meal. One night his son
asked him why he brought all this work home. He explained, probably too adult-like, that
he was a very busy person, his job was demanding, and he just had more work to do than
he could get done at the office.

I like what the little boy said. From his world, and the way they did it at school, he asked, “Well, in that case, why don’t they put you in a slower group?”

Is anything more needed—to know who we are and, thus, to be genuinely humble? This means knowing our weaknesses, as well as our strengths. Perhaps more than anything else the humble not only know they are vulnerable, they know their Source of power. They live from the inside out, not the outside in. The humble have power, but the power is not so much in them as through them.

I’m not a baseball fan, but I relish sports stories of perspective and power, of humility and greatness. One of my favorite stories speaks to this issue of humility, of living from the inside out, not the outside in.

After the Dodgers won the Pennant in 1988, they gave their star pitcher, Orel Hershiser, a three-year contract for 7.7 million dollars. Though I have real problems with that sort of price tag on sports stars, it does say that Hershiser was a phenomenal player.

In Game Two of that series, Hershiser was pitching. He got two doubles and a single at bat, as many hits and more total bases than he allowed the competing team. He ran the bases like Jackie Robinson, and shut out Oakland 6–0.

Then came the fifth and final game. Folks wondered if Hershiser was going to make it again. He had to talk his manager into letting him stay in when he got into trouble in the eighth inning. He went on to win the series by winning that final game 5–2.

What fans remembered for a long time, though, was watching Hershiser on television on the bench in the top half of an inning, leaning back, mouth wide open, singing to himself that last night. It wasn’t until later on that we learned exactly what he was doing.

He was singing to himself two songs: The Doxology—“Praise God from whom all blessings flow . . .”—and a contemporary Christian tune by the late Keith Green called “Rushing Wind.” A line in that song goes: “Rushing wind, blow through this temple, blowing out the dust within.”1

Hershiser said he wanted to cleanse his mind of all the clutter of the world in that moment, to block out the pressure, and concentrate on the game at hand. This was a convincing picture of living from the inside out, not the outside in. As with Jesus, so with Hershiser and us, when we know who we are, we know our Source of power.

Relentless Joy: Suffering and Joy

This week we want to share with you a devotion written by Casey Page Culbreth entitled, “Suffering and Hope.” Casey Page Culbreth is a worship pastor at Grace Church in Cape Coral, Florida.

CONSIDER THIS

My dad has dementia. My family found out about it three years ago and we have been walking together through the progression of this disease ever since. I’m an only child and my biggest fear has always been losing my parents. I’m watching my greatest fear come true with my dad, little bit by little bit.

This past year we had to have a conversation with dad about the need for him not to drive anymore. I was surprised to find myself leading the conversation. I was the one to ask my father, my authority, to give away the last vestige of his independence.

I tried to be positive throughout the conversation and dad was also trying to handle it with grace. The only one crying was my mother. But afterwards, when I said goodbye and hit the end button (we were talking on Skype since I live far away), this numb mix of sadness, anger, and disbelief came over me. I walked like a zombie to my bedroom and got ready for bed.

It wasn’t until later, as I was trying to go to sleep, that the tears came. I began to heave deep groans that I couldn’t stop. I started to yell at the empty room, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

In that moment, I desperately needed to feel God’s presence. I needed to hear him tell me that he was here, that there was hope for my dad and for my family. But I felt nothing and heard nothing. The lack of that felt assurance that my Abba was with me hurt just as much as the reality of slowly losing my father.

Our sufferings bend us low with our faces hard pressed toward the ground.

We all have leprous sores somewhere that give us such pain.

We cry out to God with the Israelites,

Oh that you would burst from the heavens and come down!

These kinds of cries are Advent cries. Advent is the season to allow ourselves to heave, to scream, to cry over our own lives and in solidarity with the screams and cries of the world.

The leper in the Gospel of Luke was near death, simply existing in the last stages of his disease. Perhaps he had lost the assurance that God was with him like I had as I cried over my father.

But that wasn’t the end of his story . . . and it’s not the end of mine…and it’s not the end of yours.

God did come down…and he walked with his own dusty feet into this man’s valley of death.

Oh, that you would burst through the heavens and come down!

Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!”

I don’t always feel that God is with me. I can often despair that perhaps he is not. At the same time, there are moments when I encounter such sparks of unexpected beauty. In these moments, exultant joy overflows within me as I remember that I am the beloved and that God is truly here.

Relentless Joy: A Foundation For Joy

This week we want to share with you a devotion written by Matt LeRoy entitled, “Joy to the World (Or How to Write a Better Song).” Matt LeRoy is the co-pastor of Love Chapel Hill Church. We hope this devotion encourages your faith.

Philippians 2:6-11
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God as something to be grasped;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

CONSIDER THIS

One of the first songs of this season is the anthem, “Joy to the World.” Originally intended to be a song about the Second Coming of Jesus, subsequent generations adopted it as the theme song of his first coming at Christmas. This classic was penned by the prolific hymn writer Isaac Watts, one of more than 700 works created by Watts in worship of Jesus. When he was a young man, he frequently complained about the music he was experiencing in church. He called it boring, hard to sing, and lacking true heart-level zeal. Finally, his father challenged him to stop complaining and do something about it. If you don’t like it, change it. Write a better song.

And indeed he did. 700 times over.

While “Joy to the World” is one of the first songs of this season, scholars believe that today’s passage from Paul’s letter to the Philippians is one of the first songs of the Church. It is quoted in this letter as if it is a hymn or poem familiar to the hearers, an early form of liturgy expressing worship of the Word made flesh. Notice the pattern carved out in the lines. They begin with Jesus in the highest possible place, naming him as being in very nature God. Then, he steps into our story, making his descent into flesh and cross and grave. Then the grand pivot as he is raised up once again in resurrection and exalted glory above all things. This is the Great Reversal of humanity’s story. On the one hand, we knew harmony with God in the Garden, but that wasn’t enough. We grasped after equality with him. Jesus, on the other hand, being in very nature God did not consider equality with God as something to be grasped. We were convinced to make something of ourselves. Jesus made himself nothing. While our sin follows a trajectory of fall and brokenness and death, his death pioneers resurrection and healing and life.

In the Garden, sin silenced the melody.
In Advent, Jesus writes a better song.

And we get swept up in it. We hear the Lord himself rejoicing and singing over us, and we start to pick up the melody again, learning the rhythm, feeling out our part. We join the better song and sing out the anthem of the first Advent and the Advent yet to come, “Joy to world! The Lord is Come. Let Earth receive her King.”

AND THE WORD BECAME FLESH AND MADE HIS DWELLING AMONG US.