DAY 29

A NONTHORNY SUBJECT

Christmas day has arrived.  I hope that wherever you find yourself that you will embrace the gift of joy that we celebrate on this day.  Joy is not simply a feeling we have but a person who has us.  Our joy is in Christ and our life lived in him.

In the song “Joy to the World,” there is the phrase, “No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground.”  This is a very fitting phrase for a Christmas song.  It brings to my mind the curse that God pronounced on Adam and all mankind.  In Genesis 3:17-18, God curses Adam saying,

 And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.

 After the dust settles from all of your Christmas festivities, remember the very specific reason we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  He came to turn this curse and death on its ear.  His birth marked the beginning of the end for death and the curse.  We eagerly wait this Christmas for our Lord’s second advent when he will bring to completion what he began on his first advent.

This Christmas Day, remember that Christ came to reverse the curse!

JOY TO THE WORLD

Joy to the world! The Lord is come
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room

And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing

Joy to the world! the Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods
Rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy

No more let sins and sorrows grow
Nor thorns infest the ground
He comes to make
His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found
Far as the curse is found
Far as, far as the curse is found

He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love
And wonders of His love
And wonders and wonders of His love

 

DAY 28

 LOVE’S PURE LIGHT

“Silent Night” is probably one of the most known and recognized Christmas carols.  I think many like this song because of the peaceful atmosphere that it creates.  With quiet music, dim lights, and candle your busy life cannot help but slow down.

The second stanza states, “Son of God, love’s pure light.” Love is one of the most abused words today.  Everyone has a definition of what love means.  If you truly want to know what love is, you must go to its source.  Our human efforts at love are always tainted by the fallen state that we live in but Jesus is the source of pure love because he is God.

1 John 4:7-12 states,

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

This Advent season, let us go back to school and learn once again what love is from its source.

 

SILENT NIGHT

Silent night, Holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin, mother and child
Holy infant, tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, Holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord at thy birth
Jesus, Lord at thy birth.

Silent night, Holy night
Shepherds quake, at the sight
Glories stream from heaven above
Heavenly, hosts sing Hallelujah.
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born.

DAY 27

 LONGING FOR HOME

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is one of my favorite Christmas songs.  The words and music always create in me a longing for home.  Home, not being a geographical point on a map, but home, the place I was made for.  As long as we are in this world we are aliens.  Jesus himself became for us an alien in this world so that he could make the way for us to get home.  In the meantime, here we wait living in exile in a foreign land.

1 Peter 20:10-12 declares,

Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

This Advent season, let this song wash over your heart, mind, and soul and create in you a longing for our true home.  In this celebration of Christ’s first advent we eagerly anticipate his second.

O COME, O COME, EMMANUEL

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory o’er the grave.
Rejoice!  Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Dayspring, from on high,
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Adonai, Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times didst give the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

DAY 24

 EVERY TRIBE, LANGUAGE, PEOPLE, AND NATION

“The First Noel” recalls for us a bit about the shepherds and the wisemen and their place in the birth narrative of Jesus.  In the second to last stanza it reminds us of the posture that the wisemen took when they found the Christ child.  They fell “reverently upon their knee.”  But we do not simply remember the posture they took.  The song challenges us to do likewise.  The final stanza says,

 

Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord
That hath made Heaven and earth of nought
And with his blood mankind has bought.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

We, like the wisemen, should have an attitude of worship when we come before Christ.  They knew that this was no ordinary child.  Indeed, he was not.  It was through him that all was created.  And it is by his blood that he has purchased his creation again for himself.  Revelation 5:9 declares about Jesus, the Lamb of God,

And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
    from every tribe and language and people and nation,

 This Advent season, remember that Jesus came to purchase people from every tribe, language, people, and nation.

THE FIRST NOEL

The First Noel, the Angels did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay
In fields where they lay keeping their sheep
On a cold winter’s night that was so deep.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

They looked up and saw a star
Shining in the East beyond them far
And to the earth it gave great light
And so it continued both day and night.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

And by the light of that same star
Three Wise men came from country far
To seek for a King was their intent
And to follow the star wherever it went.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

This star drew nigh to the northwest
O’er Bethlehem it took its rest
And there it did both Pause and stay
Right o’er the place where Jesus lay.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

Then entered in those Wise men three
Full reverently upon their knee
And offered there in His presence
Their gold and myrrh and frankincense.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord
That hath made Heaven and earth of nought
And with his blood mankind has bought.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

DAY 23

TAKE THE CURE

It is hard for me to say which Christmas song is my favorite, but “0 Holy Night” is definitely in the top 10.  It has great lyrics and wonderful music.  It takes a singer with the ability to sing a wide range to do the song justice.  I like to sing it but do not do it justice.

You cannot help seeing, as you look around in the world, the mammoth evils our world faces.  Oppression is one of those evils.  If you line up 10 people, you will get 10 opinions about what needs to happen to end oppression in its various forms and degrees.

When we come to Jesus, there are varying opinions about who his is.  But the Word of God is clear.  He is the Messiah that was foretold generations before.  He is the Savior come to save the world.  In Matthew 1:21, Joseph is being spoken to in a vision by an angel.  The angel declares what the Messiah’s name will be.  He says, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”  Jesus’ very name communicated who he is and what he would do.  He came to save us from our sins.

Sin is rebellion against God.  All evil in the world is a result of that rebellion.  Jesus came to bring a rebellious world back into harmony with the Father.  Jesus is the only one who can do this.  He is the only one that can bring to an end evils in the world like oppression.  The last stanza of this carol declares, “Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.  And in his name all oppression shall cease.” It is in his powerful name that all oppression will end.

So why, after 2,000 years since his birth, is there so much evil in the world?  I think that G. K, Chesterton puts it well when he says, “The Christian idea has not be tried and found wanting.  It has be found difficult; and left untried.”  If the cure is rejected, healing cannot happen.  The cure, Jesus Christ, must be accepted.  Then, and only then, can the healing begin.

This Advent season accept the cure.

 

O HOLY NIGHT!

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O’er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

 

DAY 22

DELIVERER AND RENEWER

It is an interesting question.  “Mary did you know?”  Did she really know what Jesus would do?  The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced in Luke 1:28-35

And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”  But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 

And to Joseph, the angel gave this message as found in Matthew 1:20-21,

“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

So both Mary and Joseph had been given insight into who Jesus was and what he would become for mankind, but I think they probably did not understand the full extent of God’s plan.  I think they did understand that God had a plan and that he was using them in that plan.  There are so much paradoxes in the birth of Jesus.  Things that make us stop and say, “How can that possibly be?”  How can a virgin become pregnant?  How can the Creator step into his creation?  How can holy God enter into a world that is unholy?  How can an infinite God be born into finite flesh?  One of the questions that the song “Mary Did You Know” askes is, “Did you know that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?  This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.”  This question and statement get at an amazing reality.  God chose Mary for an incredible privilege.  She was the one through whom his Son would enter into the world.  But at the end of the day, Mary had the same need that all of us do.  We need to be made new.  We need to be delivered.

This reminds me that there is no great act of service or devotion that I can do for God that will win my way into his eternal presence.  Christ came to accomplish something for mankind that we could not do on our own.  God wanted to restore our relationship with him and so it was necessary for us that Christ must enter into the world that he had created.

This advent season, let us remember that Jesus entered into the world that he created to deliver us and make us new.

 

MARY DID YOU KNOW

by Mark Lowry (lyrics) and Buddy Greene (music)

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God?

Mary did you know..

The blind will see.
The deaf will hear.
The dead will live again.
The lame will leap.
The dumb will speak
The praises of The Lamb.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb?
The sleeping Child you’re holding is the great “I am”

DAY 21

COME, SEE, ADORE!

The refrain in “Angels We Have Heard on High” is “Gloria, in excelsis Deo!”  This phrase is from Latin and means, “Glory to God in the highest.”  This song remembers the angelic visitation of the shepherds.  This phrase was part of the message the angels brought to the shepherds as recorded for us in Luke 2:14,

“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

The shepherds invite us to come to see what the angels announced to them.

Come to Bethlehem and see
Christ Whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee,
Christ the Lord, the newborn King.

They invite us to come and see.  Then once we have done that.  We are invited to come and adore on bended knee.  How many times have you heard the announcement of the angels?  Does the message reach your ears?  What is your reaction when you hear the message?  The message of the song calls us to come and adore on bended knee.  No matter how many times we hear the message, it should lead us to worship Christ the Lord.

This Advent season, come, see, and adore him on bended knee.

 

ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH

Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o’er the plains,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains.

• Refrain:
  Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
  Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heavenly song?

Come to Bethlehem and see
Christ Whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee,
Christ the Lord, the newborn King.

See Him in a manger laid,
Whom the choirs of angels praise;
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
While our hearts in love we raise.

 

DAY 20

CITIZENSHIP

Many believers are concerned about the state of Christmas.  Each year, secularist expunge more and more of Christ from the holiday.  We are told we must now say, “Seasons Greetings,” lest we offend other people’s religious or nonreligious sensibilities.  Schools now take a winter a break and not a Christmas break.  The call from many Christians is that we need to put Christ back in Christmas.  If that is truly what we are fighting for, then the battle is lost.  Christ was not born into the world to be relegated to a holiday.  He was born into the world so that he could come to dwell in the hearts of those who would believe.

“O Come All Ye Faithful” is a call to the faithful to come and give adoration to Christ the Lord.  The world does not need a holiday with Christ in it.  It needs to come and adore the One born of the virgin, the Son of God.  This song is a call to the “citizens of heaven above” to come and adore him.  Paul says in Philippians 3:20-21

  “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

 I cannot control how people celebrate this holiday we call Christmas, but I can control how I celebrate it.  I will heed the call of the song and “come and adore him, Christ the Lord.”   He is my Savior and my citizenship is in his kingdom.  There I heed his call.

This Advent season, remember that your citizenship is above.  Come and adore the King!

 

Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful

 Oh, come, all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant!
Oh, come ye, oh, come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold him
Born the king of angels:
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord.

Highest, most holy,
Light of light eternal,
Born of a virgin,
A mortal he comes;
Son of the Father
Now in flesh appearing!
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord.

Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God
In the highest:
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord.

Yea, Lord, we greet thee,
Born this happy morning;
Jesus, to thee be glory given!
Word of the Father,
Now in flesh appearing!
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord.