Jesus, Light of the World (12-11-12)

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Advent Devotional, "Jesus, Light of the World," for preparing to light the third Advent Candle, the Good News candle.)

Luke 2: 36-38
"Today we will look at one more example, of a woman who shared the good news of the gospel of Christ with others.  Her name is Anna, and there is much we can learn from her in these three short verses.

Anna was the female counterpart of the prophets of her day.  There were future spiritual events that she knew in her spirit because of her gift of prophecy, which came from God.  The prophetic messages that God had given her always pointed to just one major event:  the redemption of her city, Jerusalem.

Her life had not been an easy one.  She had found the one true love of her life and married him, but she became a widow just seven years into her marriage.  Now she was a much older woman, eighty-four to be exact, and she had never remarried.  She was committed to the Lord her God alone, and she never stopped offering prayers and fasts over the things her God had told her.  Night and day she prayed.  Often she fasted as she waited on God.  Her eyes were not only fixed on God, her hope was in the good news that had been most assuredly promised to her people.  She waited and prayed and fasted for the Redemption of Jerusalem.

On this particular day she was where she had been every day since her husband had died.  She was in the temple offering her prayers again, that the Redemption might come to Jerusalem.  All of a sudden she heard the familiar voice of her kindred spirit, Simeon, praying aloud.  Anna looked up and saw him speaking to a woman she did not recognize.  The beautiful young woman was holding a tiny infant in her arms, but her eyes were locked on Simeon.

'Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise (resurrection) of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed, and a sword will pierce even your own soul, to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.'

Anna's spirit leapt within her, and she jumped up from her bowed position of prayer and ran up to Simeon and the woman with the Baby.  Through her tears, she began to give thanks to her God for showing her the Light, the Redemption of Israel.  Out of her mouth spilled the prophecies that had been her hope for so many years.  A crowd gathered quickly to hear the words of this faithful woman, for they too had been waiting and watching, wondering when and if the Redemption of Jerusalem might come.

Like Anna, we have experienced the presence of the Redeemer in our own lives and hearts.  Jesus, our Light, is our hope, the One in whom we trust.  There are those around us as well who are looking for the Redeemer.  They have no hope.  They have no one that they can fully trust and rely upon.  God is calling us all to bring the good news to the lost by speaking more about Him to those who are in our midst.  Will you be found to be faithful in sharing your Hope with this lost and dying world this Christmas?  If we would be bow ourselves to the Lord each morning, asking Him to put one hopeless person in our pathway, He will be faithful to do that according to His perfect plan.  If we prepare our hearts to minister, and God prepares a heart to receive the good news, then we can trust Him to accomplish all that He said He would.  Let's open our hearts to Him, through waiting, praying, and even fasting in His presence, so that He will open our eyes to see the need of Christ in the people we come in contact with.  They are all around us."

What Are You Looking At?

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Numbers 13: 25-33

"What are you looking at, My Precious One?  What is it that you see that is making you draw back from the things I am calling you to do?  Do you see that what you are seeing is not what I see?  Your spiritual vision is both blurry and OUT OF FOCUS!

His words to me are like a daggers to my heart.  I long to follow My Lord where He leads me, but I am finding, right now, that my gaze seems to fall, far too often,  on the giants of my life.  While I am sure that God is able to do the "exceedingly abundant works" in and through me, my thoughts are consumed with what a "grasshopper" I am among my perceived giants.  While seeing my giants I am becoming more fully aware that what my weak eyes behold is not at all what God sees.

The Hebrews had the same problem.  It was time to enter into the land that God had promised them, but instead of believing that that land would be good for them as God had told them, and obeying His call to take the land as their own, they came up with their own "brilliant" idea.  Instead of entering in as an army of 603,550 able-bodied warriors (more than 1/2 a million!), as Numbers 1:46 records, the great plan of the people was to send in 12 men . . . 12 men!  Twelve men versus a half-million men with the Ark of the Covenant, the very Presence of God, leading the way!  Their 12 men brought their unbelief back from the Promised Land, but now it was in full bloom.  Though they had seen the great blessings of the land, the only thing that they truly were looking at were the giant men of the land.  Everything else was out of focus, but to them, the giants were the sharp image that was engraved on their unbelieving minds.  And they brought that picture into clear focus for all of the Hebrews.

"Why didn't they believe what I had already told them?  Why did they choose unbelief instead of faith?  They were afraid!  Don't you see that you are doing the same thing?  I have called you to a ministry, and I have shown you what the ministry will be.  Will you now come up with your own plan of attack that comes from a place of fear, a place that forgets or disbelieves Me and all I have let you see?"

Again, His painful questions penetrate my heart at just the place that my fear resides.  As I contemplate what He is saying to me, I am beginning to see with His eyes my own fear of the unknown, what my "entering in" is to look like, what the exact plan is to be when I cross into the borders, and the deadly "what if I fail?".   These are my giants that are holding me back, the biggest one being  my need to know the blueprint of His plan.  This is fear cloaked in control.

I don't know where this quote came from, but it has been taped to my bathroom mirror for several years now.  It has ministered to me on several occasions, especially during my book-writing days, but this morning it is an empowered banner that beckons me back to faith. His call to me is to step away from my own unbelief, to fall on my knees, and surrender all my "plans" and all my "giants"  to Him in faith that He will accomplish what He has said He will do.  I pray it is as much of a  blessing to you today as it is to me.

"Never give up on anything God has told you to believe for; never quit doing anything He has clearly shown you to do.  Your diligence will pay off with a blessing from God."

"Now, go My Precious One, and see what I see.  Focus on that!  'For I know the plans I have for you . . . plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope!'"  (Jeremiah 29:11)

THE RESURRECTED LIFE -- Day 6

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Day 6:  Simeon  (Luke 2: 25-35)

How long Simeon had waited.  For his whole life he had been waiting!  In his wait he had been transformed into a holy man.  Two words described him accurately—righteous and devout.

Many years had been spent learning as much about his God as was humanly possible.  He never missed going to temple, where he sat under great scholars who interpreted the Scripture in a way that he could understand.  Simeon had learned so much through the ancient fathers of the promise, and the prophets’ words had taught him to be watching constantly for Israel’s consolation—the Holy One, the Messiah.  Because of his deep longing for God and his desire to know Him, Simeon had found favor with God, a favor that not many men had experienced.  This favor had produced a Power working in his life that he didn’t completely understand, but he had certainly learned to depend on it.  This Power had clearly spoken to him a message of hope—that he would not die until he had seen with his own eyes the very Messiah he knew was coming.  From that day on, Simeon’s hope in seeing Messiah was the foundation of all that his life entailed.  It was his only focus.

One day that same Power urged him with great persuasion to go immediately to the temple.  Long ago Simeon had learned to obey that powerful inner Voice, and he made haste to go to the temple at once.  Upon arriving, he contemplated the message of the Voice.  Why was it so necessary for him to be at the temple right now?  Anticipation filled him as he waited for God’s revelation on the matter.  And then the most  amazing thing happened!  In walked a man and his wife carrying a baby swaddled in linen cloths.  As his eyes landed on the infant, he knew at once!  This is the One!  Messiah has come!  Taking the babe in his arms, he blessed God for the fulfillment of His faithful promises.  Salvation had come to earth, a Light for the Gentiles and the glory of Israel.

Is the hope of seeing Jesus the motivation of all you do?  How much time are you willing to invest in studying God’s Word to know Him?  Are you attending studies on a regular basis where you can be instructed about God and the things of God?  Are you hearing and responding in obedience to the inner voice of the Spirit? What does your walk reveal?