Advent, Day 6

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1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
Maria Boccia

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody” (vs. 11-12).

In this season of Advent, we anticipate commemorating the birth of Jesus, the infinite, Almighty God becoming a small, helpless baby. When we think of Jesus, we often focus on his divinity, and on his divine mission of redemption which restores our peace with God. But this season reminds us that the God-man came into the world in the ordinary way, and grew in wisdom and stature in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52) in the ordinary way. He reminds us that living an ordinary life to the glory of God is a worthy ambition.

Our society worships celebrity. Our society worships material success. A poll of young people found that over 40% would rather be a personal assistant to a celebrity than the CEO of a major corporation, the president of Yale or Harvard or a U.S. senator. Sometimes we Christians can also get caught up in this focus on celebrity and material success. But Paul says here that living an ordinary life to the glory of God and doing our work with integrity is pleasing to God. The God-man himself spent most of his life living an ordinary life to the glory of God, starting with his birth.

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Advent, Day 5

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1 Thessalonians 3:1-13
Jeffrey Arthurs

The Road Cutter and Puppies

As we wait for the second Advent, Scripture tells us Satan prowls like a lion, or in the context of this passage, he is a “road cutter.” That term comes from 1 Thessalonians 2:18: “Satan hindered us.” The term “hinder” was originally a military term meaning to “chop” or “cut.” In the ancient world, retreating armies would chop up the road behind them to hinder the advancing army. That’s what Satan does. He hinders the advancement of the gospel by destroying the testimony of the messengers, by causing disunity and by persecuting the witnesses; and that can turn us into “puppies.” The word for “unsettled” in 3:3 was used to describe the wriggling and shaking of puppies. No wonder the apostle thanks God that his dear people in Thessalonica were standing firm (vs. 8), and no wonder he prays that God would strengthen their hearts (vs. 13). As Satan tries to delay, hinder and stop the spread of the gospel, may you be strengthened, and may you be blameless and holy in the presence of God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again (vs. 13).

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Advent, Day 4

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1 Thessalonians 2:13-20
Alan Myatt

For centuries the people of Israel awaited the arrival of their Messiah with joyful expectation. Yet when he finally came, it was to a world filled with hostility. Many received him, but many others did not. Paul reminds the Thessalonians the persecution they are suffering is not unlike that experienced by Jesus himself. Everywhere the gospel goes there are those who oppose it. But Paul’s purpose is to encourage, by pointing out that the power of God prevails. It prevails in the transformed and redeemed lives of those who receive his word. Unlike their persecutors, they are not motivated by jealousy and sin. They are no longer under the wrath of God. They have been brought into the fellowship of love which causes Paul to rejoice and eagerly desire to see them face-to-face.

We too live in an age that is growing increasingly hostile to the gospel. Around the world Christians suffer grave persecution. Even in America there is growing intolerance of those who adhere to the truths of Scripture. But the power of God manifested in his Word remains as powerful today as in the days of the apostles. It changes our lives, and it has the power to transform those with whom we share it. And this gives us cause for rejoicing just as Paul rejoiced in the Thessalonians. As we see lives changed and prayers answered, we have confidence in the final triumph of the Lord. Let us share the good news with boldness!

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Advent, Day 3

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Psalm 5
Jeffrey J. Niehaus

Psalm 5 is what scholars call a lament, with what they call wisdom elements intermixed. The poet approaches God in prayer with his “lament” (“consider my sighing,” “listen to my cry for help”) which includes the fact that he has “enemies” (vs. 8) who cannot “be trusted,” whose “heart is filled with destruction,” whose “throat is an open grave” and who “speak deceit” with their tongue (vs. 9). David wants God to deal with his enemies, but before he asks God to do so, he builds his case before God.

He begins by establishing certain facts about God. First, God is the poet’s king and his God. If he were not David’s king and God, David could not presume to hope for his aid. Second, God is approachable. If he were not approachable, there would be no point to the prayer, “In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice.” Third, God is righteous–he takes no pleasure in evil; the wicked cannot dwell with him, he hates liars and destroys them; he abhors the bloodthirsty (vs. 4-6). By contrast, David can hope for God’s help and favorable judgment: God has, by his mercy, enabled David to worship the Lord in his “house” (i.e., temple), and ask that the Lord will guide him in righteousness (vs. 7-8).

Once these facts are established–once the suppliant has built his case against his foes and for himself–he can call upon God to act according to his nature, which has been established in the preceding verses. David calls upon God, then, to “declare them guilty [and] banish them for their many sins.” He can ask God to do so because he has established that God is righteous and abhors, and judges, evil. He can also ask God to “spread [his] protection” over those who take refuge in him and love his name (name meaning, in the OT and ancient Near East, the essential nature, or character– hence, those who “love [God’s] name” love God for who he really is).

David can conclude with an avowal of confidence in God, who, being righteous, blesses the righteous and protects them (“You surround them with your favor as with a shield,” vs. 12). David began with a lament, but the wisdom that affirms God’s nature has enabled him to make a confident plea.

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Advent, Day 2

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Isaiah 1:10-20
Carol M. Kaminski

Eight hundred years before the Advent of the Messiah, the prophet Isaiah is called to live among God’s people, whom he describes as rebellious and stubborn. They are a sinful nation; a people weighed down by iniquity; they are an offspring of evildoers. The prophet even likens God’s people to Sodom and Gomorrah. These are dark days indeed–full of gloom and despair as the prophet exposes in painstaking detail the extent of Israel’s waywardness. Yet amidst this backdrop of darkness and faithlessness described so poignantly by Isaiah in the opening chapters, this same prophet a few chapters later speaks of a time when those who walk in darkness will see a great light. This light will shine forth in the darkness. Those who are in anguish will be filled with gladness and rejoicing. Hope for this glorious restoration is to be found most profoundly in a child who will be born. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The son to be born will reign on the throne of David. This king will establish righteousness and justice–precisely what is needed in a dark land. Let us rejoice this Advent season–for the child promised by Isaiah has been born. His light has come and shone into the darkness. This child born to us according to God’s plan of old is indeed our hope. He is the one who turns our gloom into rejoicing. Let us give thanks to God for the gift of his beloved Son.

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Advent, Day 1

PSALM 146
Ryan M. Reeves

The Christian life is summed up in this short psalm. 5 Praise, confession, conviction, comfort, exhortation– 6 all of these sprout up from the soil of Psalm 146. 7 The author begins in a posture of praise and worship, a 8 worship that includes creating melodies and spiritual songs 9 to the Lord. He then moves to the confession that God is, 10 as our Christian creeds echo, “Maker of heaven and earth.”

But the heart of Psalm 146 is what flows out of this prayerful confession. “Do not trust human leaders,” he says, “for there is no deliverance from them.” The shock we receive from this harsh exhortation is matched only by the fact that it applies to all human authorities. The psalmist does not have in mind only pagan rulers, but his own kin as well. The limitations of human authority are a result of their being finite, human, frail–they offer hope for a brief moment and then crumble. Even those rulers who shroud themselves in an aura of godliness are unable to bring deliverance, for their “breath” (ruah) will soon stop and the powerful will return to the dust of the earth.

Our hopes, our prayers, our longings for the Lord to fix this broken and sinful world must rest in the “one who keeps faith forever.”

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Advent

Friends,

As Advent season has begun, I thought it would be fun to post Advent devotionals here every day. Members of Gordon-Conwell’s faculty have written a collection of wonderful Advent devotionals that began on Sunday, November 28 and continue until December 25. These are the devotionals I will be posting here. If you’d like to receive a daily email with that day’s specific devotion, you can sign up (for free!) here: Journey to the Manger

Jon and I are taking time each day to think through Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Advent devotional called God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas. It is such a refreshing and challenging reminder of what Christ’s birth means to us, but also what his second coming SHOULD mean to us. It’s another great Advent devotional that I would highly recommend.

I look forward to celebrating the Advent with you!