Advent III
December 18, 2019
During Advent, instead of writing a regular GHPL, I’ll be providing a short devotion that focuses on our own preparedness for the arrival of the King and for the New Year that is soon upon us.
Despite all its traditions and trappings, Christmas boils down to the simplicity of a baby in a manger.
As we direct our attention toward celebrating this unique birth, let’s also attend to Paul’s words of caution to the church in Corinth: “…I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Co 11:3 NASB). Can we carve out time from Christmas traditions and trappings for personal worship that anchors us to a simple and pure devotion to Christ? Here is a suggestion for worship from a 1999 Vineyard Music album called Hungry: Jesus, Be the Centre.
Disciples Peter, John and James saw the transfigured, glorious Jesus. At that time, a cloud overshadowed them, and the Father spoke to them out of the cloud saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” (Luke 9:34-35). The Greek word for “overshadowed” (episkiazo*) is also used in Luke 1:35 when Gabriel tells Mary, a virgin, that the Holy Spirit will overshadow her, and the baby she conceives will be called the Son of God.
Let’s pray that in our simple and pure devotion to Christ,
- the power of the Most High would overshadow us,
- that we would “listen to” (obey) Jesus’ command to be His witnesses to all people, and
- that Muslims would have the same privilege and blessing we have of knowing Jesus as the Son of God.
Every blessing in your simple devotion to Christ, and Merry Christmas!
* Click on the link to hear the pronunciation.