Isaiah 9:6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
I’m thinking of Jesus bringing peace in two contexts today. Remember Simon and Garfunkel’s song “7 O’Clock News”? It was released in 1966. Have we made any progress since then? Any efforts I can make toward peace in the world, like joining the “Stop the War” demonstration in Pittsburgh this afternoon, seem so tiny. Yet I can join you and you can join me in praying for men to open their hearts to the Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 25:9 (Isaiah 46:3-4, Malachi 4:2, Romans 5:10-11, Hebrews 4:15, 16, 2 Peter 1:1) In that day the people will proclaim, “This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the Lord, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings.”
Trust isn’t easy, especially when we’ve been betrayed. When someone we have trusted has not just disappointed us, but has deliberately hurt us for their own ends. Because the Three-in-One God understands this, Jesus came, to experience in a body what betrayal is. That’s why we can go to him to find mercy and grace in our time of need. This is our God, not a being far off, but one who draws near, in compassion and full understanding. With healing in his wings.
Galatians 4:4 (Isaiah 9:6) But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.
I didn’t know until now that Noel means “born of God.” Did you? Unto us a child is born … The incredible mystery of the incarnation. God made man, born, living, and dying in our fractured, messy world. “The visible image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15).
When she was 13, Karis imagined what it would be like to be a pregnant teenager, bearing God’s Son. We ran across this story while sorting through her things and made it into a booklet. Several who have read it have told me that for them now, “this is how it happened.”
If you would like a copy of Mary’s Diary, let me know! debrakornfield@gmail.com
Isaiah 33:21, 24 (Ephesians 1:19-20, Hebrews 1:3) The Lord will be our Mighty One. He will be like a wide river of protection that no enemy can cross, that no ship can sail upon.
Jesus’s love would mean less uncoupled from his power to act on behalf of his beloved, and his authority over everything in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). Listen to the author of Hebrews: The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command (1:3).
I need this word today, as I grapple with the severity of my brother-in-law Bill’s injuries from being hit by a car while riding his bike. Only the Lord has the power to sustain Bill and his family against the enemies of despair, anxiety, and depression. Please pray with us for Jesus’s mighty power to prevail against these enemies. Thank you.
Bill’s first check-up x-rays yesterday, two weeks after surgery to insert a rod to secure the two fragments of his tibia considered worth trying to save.This is a guy who normally rides his bike 15-30 miles daily.His left foot also suffered several broken bones.
In what way today do you need to see Jesus’s power at work?
When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Holy One, your Savior. … Do not be afraid, for I am with you (Isaiah 43:2-5).
1 Timothy 6:15 (Isaiah 32:1, Revelation 17:14, 19:16) For at just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords.
Handel and Isaac Watts and Chris Tomlin say it better than I could.
Isaiah 54:5 (Acts 3:25) For the Lord is the God of all the earth.
I’ve been invited to write a chapter for a book on patriotism. Perhaps because I was born and grew up in Guatemala, have lived in several countries and have visited many others, when I think of patriotism, I first think of Jesus saying the Gospel would preached to every nation.
The Lord is God of all the earth, with sons and daughters in every country who are my brothers and sisters. This makes every war feel to me like a civil war. Does this impact my sense of patriotism? Of course, it does. One day the “artificial” boundaries between countries that matter so much to the world today will no longer divide us. Advent helps us anticipate that day.
Isaiah 40:28-29 (9:6, Genesis 21:33) Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.
There are several worship songs on the theme of Everlasting Father. I chose this one because it invokes Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son—which in turn reminds me of Rembrandt’s painting.
In the novel I’ve just submitted for publication, Facing the Faeries 1906, there is a “homecoming” chapter in which one of the characters, who has lived as an orphan, discovers he is loved and cherished by family. Thus, today’s theme is particularly moving for me. So many of us have lived “fatherless.” The Everlasting Father invites us home.
Matthew 12:17-21 (Isaiah 42:1-4) This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning Jesus: “Look at my Servant whom I have chosen. He is my Beloved, who pleases me. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public. He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally he will cause justice to be victorious. And his name will be the hope of all the world.
I love this description of Jesus, bringing justice with the gentleness that comes with true strength, a love song the Father sings over his son, whom he sees and profoundly knows. It’s a glimpse into the tender affection shared by the Trinity from before time—a relationship that we, incredibly, are invited into.
Isaiah 51:7, 12 Listen to me, you who know right from wrong, you who cherish my law in your hearts. Do not be afraid of people’s scorn, nor fear their insults.… I, yes, I, am the one who comforts you. So why are you afraid of mere humans, who wither like the grass and disappear?
People-pleasing gets a bad rap. Here’s the first definition that popped up when I googled “people pleaser”: “Generally, it describes a person who consistently strives to please others, often sacrificing their own wants or needs in the process.” The Medical News Today article goes on to discuss signs, risks, and how to stop.
Shutterstock: Ariya J
So I wonder, how does this perspective—people-pleasing is a bad thing that we should stop—line up with Scriptures like John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep”? And 1 John 3:16, “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters”?
Isaiah 50:4-5, 10 The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will. The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me, and I have listened. … If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God.
Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God.
This will be a busy week. For you, too?
That’s why I had to lie in bed long enough this morning to be still and listen to the Lord, to reflect on the looong list of blessings he has poured into my life (including a wonderful trip to eastern PA and New Jersey to visit beloved friends–we got home last night). Long enough to verbalize that I want to walk through this week with joy and thankfulness instead of stress.
Focused listening isn’t always easy. The last post, I made two confessions. Here’s another:
Sometimes when my husband is talking to me at length about his day, the people he has talked with, the plans he has made with them, the conundrums he faces, I let my own thoughts and concerns distract me.
Later, when he references a prior conversation, I may have only a vague idea of what he’s talking about.
Does this matter? It certainly does when he is asking for my perspective on a situation he believes I already understand because of what he has explained to me before. If I’m to give him any kind of useful feedback, I have to admit my failure to listen and request another explanation—not optimal for him or for me. Or for finding a solution to whatever the current dilemma may be.
How often do I treat God the same way? Let my mind be so busy with my own “stuff” that I fail to hear what he wants to say to me.
A lovely counselor, teacher, and pray-er name Leanne Payne (you can find her books on the internet) used to say, “Listen to the word of love God is always speaking to you.”
My experience bears this out. God is always communicating with us. Are we stopping to listen? Have we learned to quiet our own thoughts enough to hear his still, small voice?
Lying in bed after I wake up in the morning, to hear God’s voice in the stillness, has become a habit. It anchors me into his love. It doesn’t take the place of my “quiet time,” when I read Scripture and pray. Rather, it allows me to benefit from what he has to say to me, without concern yet for what I want to say to him. This focused listening usually results in deep gratitude.
Granted, I have many advantages: an “empty nest”—no children needing my attention early in the morning. No job where I need to punch a clock. No longer the need to get up to check vital signs, administer IV antibiotics, TPN, and fluids, change dressings, attend to hygiene, and drive Karis to the hospital by 6:30 a.m. for clinic. And because I naturally wake up around 5:00, I feel the “right” to spend these moments in bed just listening.
You may not have any of these luxuries.
But unless we figure out some way to make space for stillness in our busy lives (driving to work? cleaning house? taking a walk? taking a few minutes after the kids are in bed?), we miss so much of what the Lord wants to say, to encourage us, to give us clarity about our struggles, to remind us that HE is sovereign, not us. He’s got the whole world in HIS hands. He can dispel anxiety and darkness in our souls with his rays of hope and peace and thankfulness—if we’re still in his presence long enough!
Debra Kornfield 