Advent Devotion – Day 19

Here with us
By Deb Flores

I just learned that the niece of my friend was killed in a car accident yesterday. She was her parents’ only child, and a mother of three. As I sit here, stunned, my mind instinctively turns to our scripture readings for this day of Advent, which I’ve been meditating on for a few days. One of the themes that jump out at me is the steadfastness of God. Even in the middle of the raw, consuming pain of losing a loved one, there is a nugget of hope. When everything is stripped away, and we have nothing left, we still have God and God is enough.

People die, relationships are temporary, acclaim is fleeting, wealth is transient. Powerful civilizations have risen and fallen, knowledge has been replaced, and theories have been overturned. Only God is constant. Only God is here for us. Here with us. Emmanuel.

Even our sin couldn’t keep God from us. Our righteous and holy God, whose fellowship with us was broken, found a way to bridge the gap our willfulness had opened. The bridge was fully human and fully God. Makes sense for a bridge, doesn’t it?

The eternal Son, one third of the Trinity, stepped down from heavenly realms, covered his glory with a human body and did for us what we could never do for ourselves: restored our fellowship with God.

I think all our human fears can be distilled down to one drop. The pain we feel over the losses we suffer have roots in our deepest fear of being alone, of being without God. No wonder the angels’ message was: FEAR NOT. God is with us. Forever and ever. Amen.

Today’s Readings – Psalm 24, 29, 8, 84, Gen 3:8-15, Rev 12:1-10, John 3:16-21

Advent devotions – Day 3

By Deb Flores

Readings
Psalms 5, 6, 10, 11
Amos 3: 1-11
2 Peter 1: 12-21
Matthew 21: 12-22

Wants vs. Needs. A big debate. We want to go to a certain restaurant. We want the kids to stop whining. We want to find a certain book under the Christmas tree. But what is it that we need? Or long for?

Human needs are universal. Food. Shelter. Love. But transcending that, we all need our lives to have meaning. We long for justice, mercy, acceptance. We strive to teach our children the lessons that transcend time; the truths that need to be carried to each succeeding generation. The greatest truth of all: we need a Savior. Someone with the compassion to forgive us and the power to transform our lives. Someone so radical and glorious that when we meet him, our lives will change forever.

The children of Israel longed for such a champion. And despite all appearances to the contrary, God heard every sigh. At times it seemed as though he had forgotten them, and yet they continued to teach their children that God cares about the fatherless and the oppressed; that he is still in his holy temple, on his heavenly throne. And all the time, the prophets promised that the Messiah would be worth the wait.

And yet, when he came, at the perfect time, many people were so focused on their wants that they missed him. Trusted too much in their own abilities. Overlooked the light dispelling the darkness.

2 Peter 1:19 tells us that the day is dawning and the morning star is rising in our hearts. God fleshed out the morning star and he walked among us, healing the blind and the lame. Evicting the money-changers from the synagogue. Pretty much turning life upside down. Which is precisely what we need, as our own efforts are feeble, at best.

Perhaps your Christmas list includes the latest self-help best-seller. Or you already know what New Year’s resolution you want to make. Just be careful not to overlook the mightiest force in the universe. The power of God wrapped in rags. Mercy lying in a manger. Longing for us just as acutely as we long for him.