Author: Heather Davis

Not in Darkness

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
1 Thessalonians 5:4-6

Oh what a great reminder this was to me on days that I am tempted to be a little lazy, spiritually speaking! It was also a great encouragement at this time when the days seem to darken around me.  Each new day seems to bring more horrifying news from other countries as well as from my own: Christians brothers and sisters being beheaded, being run from their homes, being tortured or imprisoned. Sex trafficking, not only overseas but in a community so close in proximity to my own that I am tempted to make my preteen girls hold my hands in public.

So much darkness… so many reminders to take to heart Ephesians 5:15-16; to walk wisely and make the best use of our time because the days are evil. It takes only a small level of spiritual discernment to realize that the days we live in truly are evil. And they will grow worse.

But take courage, believers! Though the darkness may loom on our horizon, though it may someday even surround us and press in on all sides, it will not overwhelm us. We may one day soon — perhaps much sooner than we would like — be called to put away our pleasures and our comforts and take part in the sufferings of our Lord in earnest as many of our brethren worldwide are already doing.  Even so, we are not of the darkness, though we may find ourselves neck-deep in it.

For we who are in Christ have this hope: in our darkest hour, we know that the Light is coming and indeed is already within us. Though we may weep in the gloom of night, we know that joy will come with the morning. We know that our King will return  and this time in the full force and might of His majesty.  Though we do not know the day nor the hour,  though we know it will come as suddenly as a thief in the night, that Day will not surprise us, my brothers and sisters, for we expect it.

We know that it will come. And we have His own reassurance that we can read the signs of the times just as surely as we can know the signs that summer is near (see Matthew 24). We are given this time, right now, to prepare our hearts and our families for that eventuality. For even if His coming is delayed beyond the span of our expected lifetimes, we still do not know the hour our own lives will be required of us.

Either way — whether we live to see the Lord’s return or we meet Him before that wonderful and somber Day, let us purpose to be ready, to prepare our children, to not only speak of His goodness and worth, but to live as if we believe it so that others may come to know Him, too. Let us see the signs and eagerly anticipate His coming, but let us not wait idly. Let us walk in the good works our Father has prepared in advance for us to do; rightly handling the Word of truth, preaching the good news, and being found ready in season and out of season.   Even if we are not taken by surprise, let us resolve not to rest lightly knowing that those around us may be.

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
James 5:7-8

On Love

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Brothers and sisters, I have a confession to make. I have not been loving all of you well.  This morning, as I read the words of our Savior in John 13:34-35, I found myself utterly convicted, for I have been incriminated in offering a stingy, self-serving version of love. I have repented to God; I now repent before all of you. Instead of living entirely for Him, I have been guilty of reserving some parts of life for myself.

I have not always been patient nor kind with you, my friends. Instead of sharing in your joy when some boon comes your way, I have often secretly harbored envy. From time to time, I have boasted of my meager successes in the spiritual realm and failed to credit God with what is truly His work and not my own. I have been guilty of conceit, of standing firmly for my own opinions rather than standing upon God’s truth alone. I have rudely interrupted you in our conversations. I have responded with irritation when I felt unwell or when my plans were diverted and have resented it when I have been inconvenienced.

Not since becoming a follower of Christ have I knowingly rejoiced in wrongdoing, but neither have I always rejoiced in the truth — especially when the truth was one that highlighted my own pride, discontent, or foolishness. I have not always borne all trials with a cheerful and simple faith in my God. I have not always believed the best in others; I have not always  trusted the goodness of God in difficult situations; nor have I endured well the mistreatment, whether genuine or perceived, of others.

In these ways, my sin is against you, my brothers, and against the world for not living a life that accentuates the immeasurable worth, purity, and plentiful provision of my God. However, these sins are most grievously cast against Him, for it is His name that is profaned and His glory that is masked by my failure to share with others the joy of His enduring and undeserved love.  When I complain, it is His rightful praise that is eclipsed by my grumblings.

Ultimately, while He is awakening with me a deeper, more genuine, and passionate love for my fellow believers, it is He Himself who lays claim to my most fervent zeal and adoration. For Him, I will lay down my life if required. I will not compromise the hard-and-fast truths my Savior died for nor disagree with Him on the definition of good or evil in the name of what the world passes off as “love” nor for fear of being branded as “hateful.”

I will love you, friends, whether you know the Lord or not, but I will not bend the truth to placate you. That is not love. I have no wish to share with you a feeble, twisted substitute or mollify you, but for us together to experience His infinite love that looks beyond what is comfortable or fashionable here and now to the eternal welfare of the soul.

In love, I hope that you will join me on this journey of prayerful and Spirit-led searching, of asking the Light of the world to shine into the darkest and most secret places of our hearts, and of agreeing to fling out the refuse when He lovingly exposes it. In love, I hope that we can learn truly to no longer live for ourselves, but for Him, to love one another as He has loved us, and by our lives to set an example of love, faith, and purity.  In love, let us live a life of worship and praise, joyfully proclaiming the steadfast love of our wondrous and merciful God!

I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. . . What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD. . .
Psalms 116:1-2, 12-13

 

A Whole Sacrifice

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Romans 8:18

Today, I am on my eleventh day of a program known as the Whole 30. This program is basically a 30-day elimination diet where the participant removes all forms of sweetener (yes, even stevia), all grains, all legumes, all dairy, and pretty much all processed anything from the daily intake with no cheating and no “slips.” There are specific guidelines on how to balance proteins, fats, and veggies with each meal and for pre- and post-workout.  It’s kind of like a dietary boot camp.

The experience so far has made me think a lot about sacrifice for probably fairly obvious reasons (especially taking into consideration that I am the only one of a family of five doing it!). Though no stranger to dietary sacrifice, I admit that I hesitated to take on this particular plan, but that was mere laziness — not wanting to put so much thought, effort, time, money, etc. into my own meals so that my poor family would not be held hostage to the program.  Now on my eleventh day, I find that I am already feeling some positive effects. My sleep has been deep. I am feeling a little less run-down and have a little more energy to spare.

While eating differently, I have thought much on what the Christ calls us to sacrifice.  He calls us to die to ourselves, to take up our cross daily.  He speaks of turning the other cheek when struck, of giving the modern-day equivalent of the shirt off our back to the one who takes our coat,  of feeding and giving drink to our enemies and praying for them. He tells us to give freely to those who ask of us and not to demand our possessions back if taken.

Jesus held a destitute widow up as a role model for giving all the money she had to the service of God.  He is not unclear in stating that the one who grasps and jockeys for position or acclaim will find themselves in last place while the one who serves without seeking credit will find themselves exalted. He, Himself, set an example by washing the feet of His followers so that we would know there is no task too menial or degrading for any who bear His name to do, not to mention giving His life as a ransom even for a reprobate like myself who deserved no mercy.  For those of us who are His, we are not even to esteem our very lives overmuch, but be willing to lay them down for His Kingdom’s sake or for a brother.

In short, He calls us to sacrifice in every way imaginable.

What challenges me and gets those rusty ol’ wheels turning is this: I believe that there is a very real possibility that the Lord will return soon; if not in my own lifetime, then in that of my children.  Of course, I cannot know this, but what I do know is that I am not alone in this belief. Not by a long shot.  Regardless of whether this collective sense is true or not, the fact remains that He will come again — and not a single, solitary one of us knows when. It could be a thousand years. Or it could be before we finish this sentence.

With that in mind, what exactly is too much to sacrifice for His sake? What price too great to pay for a little while, here and now, for the wonder of Eternity in His presence? Is there any mortal and passing thing too great that it cannot be laid aside for love of our Savior?

I think that all it really takes is willingness. Take this Whole 30, for instance. I promise you that if I can do it, you can too. I am not particularly gifted with fantastic restraint or self-mastery. Temptation is no less tempting for me than anyone else.  I am merely willing to give it my all; it is only for thirty days.  Already, there is a reward in place, and one that will likely increase when it’s all over.

If I think of Eternity in that light, it simplifies all things. Everything in my life — homeschooling, money trouble, sacrifices made to obey God’s will — all of it is only a lifetime. It seems long, but it is oh-so-brief in the face of a span of time so tremendous that our minds cannot but faintly scratch at it.   Whatever it is He is calling us to give up, we need only be willing. He will handle the rest. And I assure you that even in the darkest situation, His presence is a reward that will start to happen as we sacrificially obey. And it is sure to increase when it’s all over.

What are you holding that He is calling you to let go?

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Romans 12:1

Freedom in Forgiveness

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
Psalms 51:4

**I encourage you to read all of Psalm 51 today before reading further.**

The first time I truly grasped the sentiment penned by David in Psalm 51: 4 was also the first time I tasted the freedom that Christ died to provide.  But first, I experienced a heart-rending grief; the kind of grief that produced repentance, leading me to a salvation without regret (2 Cor. 7:10).

In all honestly, my heart was not crushed until I truly began to fathom Who God is and to love Him.  Naturally, I also had to understand what sin was before I could understand the need to repent. Still, until I truly revered Him, all my understanding of sin was merely intellectual assent. Not until my love for God caused me grief at the damage my sin (even the “tiny,” private ones) did between us did I experience the searing pain of a “broken and contrite heart.”  Once I did, I could share in David’s heart-felt plea: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.” (Psalms 51:1).

If my sorrow over sin was crushing because of my love and appreciation for the mercy of God, how much more intense was the joy when I comprehended the forgiveness of God through the sacrifice of the Son! How much more passionately do I now worship Him and how ardent my praise and elation at  the undeserved pardon I have received now that He has made me aware of sin’s cost  — and of His own willingness to pay it!]

What a deterrent that has been to me in my struggles against sin, and how closely do I share David’s sorrow on those sad occasions when I again cloak my heart in deception and take up the deadly ways of the old, worldly self. How strongly I now desire to grow so close to my Lord that the temptations of this world appear stale and tasteless!

As if that priceless freedom from sin borne of a repentant heart wasn’t enough, I also found embedded within the concept a second, almost secret freedom; a freedom in my relationships to others. I found that I was able to forgive more freely not only because of the forgiveness that had been extended to me, but also because of the simple fact that the sin of others has nothing to do with me.

And that, my friends, is where this useful freedom lies. I learned that if sin can be committed against God alone, than I am free to allow God alone to deal with that sin. Even if I am hurt as a consequence, all I need to do is take my pain to God and allow Him to heal it.  I cannot claim retribution for sins committed against me for the simple fact that sin cannot be committed against me.

This does not mean I do not recognize sin: adultery is adultery whether it is in action or thought; lying is lying, thievery is thievery, and so on.   Nor does it mean that I am never hurt by others. However by understanding that if I am stolen from, the sin is actually committed against God, well…  I suppose I find it easier to let go of my grievance when I know that the transgressor is in far more just and stern hands that my own.

At such times,  I now feel sorrow for the transgressor;  now that I can take myself out of the equation, so to speak.  There is no sin which affects me that is worse than any I have committed and afflicted others by; I am a fellow transgressor. And so, instead of anger against a slight, when my mind is rightly focused on the God of my Salvation I find I am freed to pray that the person who hurt me will also experience the grief of their sin, the cleansing pain of repentance, and the joy of being restored to a right relationship with the Almighty God.

Then, perhaps, we can both lift up our voices in praise!

On Bridles and Leashes

~ Heather Davis ~ 5 Comments

Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.
Psalms 32:9

I have very little experience with horses, but this verse rings true to me nonetheless. What I do have is a dog that I absolutely adore. Actually, I have two dogs but one if them is squarely my dog.

When she was a puppy,  she would only sleep in the crate if it was positioned where she could see me in the bed. If I leave through the downstairs door, she is often found waiting for me on the top stair when I return.

YumiWaiting004

Her crate days are long over, and while she has branched out a little and often ventures into rooms I am not present in, she does still, for the most part, follow me like… well, like a puppy dog.  She is an excellent companion. I trust her around children and rarely have trouble getting her to obey promptly.

Unless, that is, she sees a squirrel.

I don’t know what it is, but the bouncy little guys trigger something deep in her doggy brain that nothing else does and she is prone to dart after one when she spots it.

And so, on our frequent walks together I use a leash.  When she was younger, she would strain against the leash at the enticing vision of one of the little rodents fitfully searching for its winter hoard. Age and many miles of experience walking on a lead has tempered her interest, and now she only acknowledges them with a perk of the ears… or sometimes not at all.

Even so,  I keep that leash on when we walk. She has proved in the past that she needs it, and I am aware of dangers that do not enter her canine consciousness.  I confess I have envied the occasional hiker I’ve seen whose dog trots faithfully, leash-free, at his heels, but I am not yet willing to risk my dog’s safety with such heady freedom as that. Someday, perhaps, but for now I have seen enough interest sparked by a scurrying squirrel to keep my dog tethered on our excursions.

It is the same with us…  Some of us have learned that our God is so good, so  wholly trustworthy, and so incomprehensibly wise that we will eagerly follow His footsteps on the narrow path. That isn’t to say we might not look around or hesitate, but we come at his bidding and regain our place at His side with little fuss.

I long to be like that, and by God’s grace I truly believe that someday, He will bring my training to just such a point. I strongly desire to be more eagerly responsive to His quiet calls, more mindful of where He steps, less tempted to wander away at the slightest diversion; in short, to fix my eyes on my Master alone as we walk along.

However, I confess that I am by no means as close a follower as I ought to be. I am not yet to a point where I never require a “bit and bridle.” What I have learned, however, is not to strain against such apparatus when God attires me in it. As I have grown more trusting of Him, grown to love Him more and more, I notice the bit and bridle less, in part because I fight them less. 

More often these days,  my eyes are fixed on Him and we have taken some few little adventures together where I walk free, bound only by adoration for my King. Even so, I know that any moment I demonstrate a need for His restraint, He will promptly provide it. 

Because He is a perfect Father, He will give us each the measure of discipline we deserve. If we need a bridle to keep us from straying, He will  supply it. Should we need a rod applied in discipline, He will apply it as vigorously as the situation requires to curb our error and bring us back into the safety of His presence.

Make no mistake — if we need correction of any sort, correction we shall have– not because He is a tyrant, but for our welfare,  to keep us from wandering into danger. Because He loves us and in His infinite wisdom, knows dangers our created minds cannot fathom.  Because He is good.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psalms 23:4

 

Joy Anyway

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”
Psalms 16:1-2

I am very weary today. It has been a challenging few weeks with bad news coming from many directions — friends and family afflicted with sickness both rare and mundane, tragic deaths, financial difficulties, and marital strife. There is a veritable sea of suffering all around.

On a milder level, the students in my little home academy are struggling under the weight of the general sense of blah that pervades the post-Christmas winters in our part of the country. The grey and gloomy days, the brief hours of daylight, and the contrast of the dreary days following so closely the former holiday cheer all congeal into a rather sluggish mass of disconsolate attitudes and sibling relations.

However, none of this gets to me for long. Oh, I admit, I have my moments. Believe me, I am far from perfect, nor have I yet attained the goal of the upward call in Christ!  But what I do have is another year of spiritual training under my belt; a deeper understanding of the goodness and sovereignty of my God and a more intimate communion with Him that lightens the burden of external circumstances.

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
Psalms 16:5-6

In my fourth decade of life, I am finally beginning to put some meat on the bones of my faith.  For the first time, the burden of compassion for suffering loved ones is not overwhelming to me.

Why? Because the lines for me have fallen in pleasant places. My life is not free from conflict; my homeschool is not full of eager, willing students clambering over themselves to excel in a passion of educational ecstasy.  My heart is not unaffected by the pain of those around me.  My peace exists in spite of these things. I know that all of these trials are temporary.  My God, however, is eternal; and it is in Him alone that I find my comfort and strength to go on.

I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. . .

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.  Psalms 16:8-9, 11

I pray that you, too, will find your joy in the Lord today no matter what is going on around you.

Choose Life — Part 2

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday, we looked at the choice God presented humankind with: a choice between life and death. Seems simple, right? Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case.

Though this choice is presented repeatedly in the Bible in various ways  (and since this is a blog post and not a novel), I want to mention only one more. This was at the time Jesus walked the earth, and He had just delivered a very controversial message, “Eat My flesh and drink My blood.” Many in the crowd were disgusted and turned away from Him on that day.

So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,”
John 6:67-68

Peter was not a perfect man, but he did know that there really was no choice, not for him. So many left that day because they did not honestly believe. Perhaps they followed Jesus because they were entertained by His miracles or were just caught up in the excitement or novelty of His astounding ministry… who knows? For whatever reason, they missed the chance to know the Lord for Himself, see His goodness. They did not know the Father well enough to recognize the Son.

Still today, we are offered this choice and there is only one Way that leads to life — the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Jesus the Christ. But this Way is not easy. Jesus’ teachings are often difficult. He calls us to believe that any suffering we endure now will be worth it in eternity, an act of trust that seem insane to our human understanding.

He calls us to be shunned as fools for the sake of His Word, to stand firm on unpopular teachings even in the face of mockery and physical harm. He calls us to live as wanderers on this planet, not growing too fond of any worldly thing but instead holding tightly to His eternal love, even when that invisible asset is all we have.

He calls us to believe that the path much of the world walks leads to death, though it may look sunny and cheerful from where we stand. He calls us to walk a more narrow path that appears fraught with danger; He assures us it leads to life nonetheless.

He calls us to so much that is beyond our own knowledge because He wants us to trust that His eternal knowledge is greater than ours. He calls us to choose, and all the while He is pleading with us, “Choose life!”

If you can read this, it is not too late to choose. Choose Jesus. Choose life.

Choose Life — Part One

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. . .  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:9, 16-17

Did you catch that? At the very dawn of human history, there was not yet the vast gulf of sin between man and God, but there was a choice. The first couple was given a garden to tend, a garden planted by their Creator in which there was plentiful fruit that was both “pleasant to the sight” and “good for food”

Two trees are mentioned by name: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is important to note that God did not forbid the couple to eat from the tree of life; He merely made the tree of knowledge off-limits.

Though they could have chosen to ingest life,  the first couple decided instead to blaze a trail to the one forbidden thing in all of creation. They chose to feed their pride, believing the devil’s claim that eating of the forbidden tree would make them “like God.”

The first thing to die was their innocence and they felt  something new — shame. The slow decay had set in and their bodies would one day follow in death.

Centuries later,  Moses stood before the people he had led out of slavery and gave them one final admonition before his death. He, too, had chosen to blaze his own path rather than comply with the Lord’s command, and so he would not lead the people into the Promised Land. The people themselves have just spent 40 years wandering in the desert because they had more confidence in their own, frail understanding than in the God who had parted a sea for them. But the time to enter the land was near. Among Moses’ final words to the people was this heartfelt plea:

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days….”
Deuteronomy 30:19-20a

There it is again, the same choice God had given Adam. This time God was explicit, “Choose life!” I encourage you to backtrack and read the verses previous to these closing statements. God has laid out a very clear, very specific plan for the people. If they will obey, if they will keep up their end of the covenant, blessings will abound.

But He leaves them with the choice to rebel… the choice to decide for themselves what is good and bad, what is right and wrong. They swore to do so, but sadly it wasn’t long before they wandered away from the reliable path He had laid so clearly before them.

Today, I want us to take a look at our own choices. Are we trusting God fully? Have we chosen to give Him Lordship over every element of our lives, even when it seems better to us to do things another way? Are we choosing to drink deeply and be satisfied with the water of life He has given us — the very Word of God? Or are we allowing our culture to press us into its service, putting off intimacy with God until things settle down?

Are we setting our minds on the flesh, which is death, or on the Spirit of God, which is life? (see Romans 8).

Tomorrow, we will look at the ultimate choice.

 

 

What Christmas Means to Me

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

I have a very close friend who is adamant that all the ways we celebrate Christmas have nothing to do with Christ Himself. To be honest, she’s right. Snow and evergreen trees, lights and packages, red and white, tinsel and eggnog truly have nothing to do with the humble birth of Yeshua, nor do we have any idea what day of the year He was actually born on.

For some time, I let this thought color my Christmas festivities and cast shadows of doubt on my celebratory mood. I felt a deep guilt that I did not spend His birthday celebration giving to Him exclusively. However, the more I have ruminated, the more I have grown to realize that as a Christian, His birth is indeed a cause for celebration. And it doesn’t matter when I celebrate; one somewhat arbitrary winter holiday date does not make a difference either way. The thing is, the longer I have walked with the Lord, the more difficult I find it to separate anything I do from thoughts of Him. I am obsessed, you might say, and while I can never repay His gift with my efforts,  I can give Him my whole mind, heart, and soul and let Him direct my steps both on Christmas and on every other day of the year.

I have been thinking lately about the many times in the Old Testament where God directed the Jewish nation to set up memorial stones, tangible objects both to help them remember and to spur discussion with their children about some act of deliverance or rescue God had performed for the nation. How, you ask, does this relate to Christmas? Well, while the outward, worldly part of the celebration of Christmas may have nothing to do with Jesus at all, just as a stone is merely a stone, nonetheless for me, the whole Christmas season is a sort of memorial stone: a time of year that I set aside to intentionally study the Word specifically for the purpose of meditating on what it means to have Immanuel: God with us.

You see, for me, Christmas is really about Christ. I find it a useful exercise to use December as a time to ponder the unfathomable humility of the Almighty Creator of the universe, the uncontainable God of all, clothing himself in the very stuff of His creation and humbling Himself as a human baby who had to learn to walk, to talk, to focus His eyes — all for the love of sinners like me. I am invariably abased by such reflections and find myself falling more deeply in love with this Savoir who laid aside His infinite nature for a few decades to clothe Himself in the finite fabric of His own creation, to walk in the dust, and to eventually be tortured, maimed, and nailed to a tree — a tree that He created by nails cast from metal He designed — and to hang dying there, spat upon and rejected by the very sin-twisted bits of creation He fashioned after His own image, those whom He loved enough to offer Himself as ransom and rescue.

Evergreen trees may have nothing to do with Jesus, but seeing the tree every day in December makes me think of the other tree with hacked-off branches that He was hung upon like some gruesome ornament, a callous and hateful display of Rome’s might to the subjugated Jewish people and an undeniable expression of His own words: “Greater love has no one than this; that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

Twinkling lights may have little to do with the Son of man, but when I see them, I am reminded that the Light of the world came willingly into the darkness, a direct invasion of enemy occupied territory as a sort of special forces seek and rescue mission.

The gifts and wrapping may bear no resemblance to Christ, but with each gift I give, I am reminded of the one Gift I can never repay nor the Giver that I cannot out-give.

With each present I wrap, I recall that He was first wrapped in swaddling cloths and later wrapped in a shroud — the very shroud of shame and disgrace that I deserve to wear. And as I watch the children tear off the wrapping paper on Christmas morning, I cannot help but remember that He threw off the wrapping of that shroud on that glorious day when He rose again.
It is my prayer for you, dearest, that you will find more of the Lord in your Christmas and in every day of the year to come. May His love pierce you and animate you, separating completely the old self and crucifying it so that the new self in Christ can live freely, fully led by the Spirit of Life. May His life surge within your heart, may your mind be fully wrapped up in thoughts of Him, and may His love lead you to deeper commitment and love for God, to greater acts of selflessness and sacrifice toward others, and to longer and more intimate conversations with Him. May your whole being thirst for the Living Water and hunger for the Bread of Life, and may you long for more and more of Him and His Word.

Merry Christmas!

Advent

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. . . On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Revelation 19:11-13, 16

What is your favorite Christmas carol? I admit I have many favorites, but high on that list is “Joy to the World.” I love that the simple lyrics of this hymn capture perfectly what the season of Advent is all about. For though we often think of  Advent as a time of looking back to the birth of our Savior,  it is also, as the song expresses, a time of looking ahead to the future redemption of a world now held captive by the curse of sin.

As I sing this hymn — or more often out of respect for those around me, as I listen — I feel a sense of connection to my brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the ages. I imagine the wonder and joy felt by the shepherds as they witnessed the angelic announcement of the Messiah’s birth so many years ago. I also feel a surge of anticipation,  envisioning the future jubilation for those who are still awake to behold the victorious return of the King.

In the first stanza of the carol I seem to hear an echo of the angel’s proclamation to the shepherds that they would find a Savior born in the city of David who was “Christ Kurious” as it was put in Greek; a babe who was both the long-awaited Messiah and the supreme authority. In short, the shepherds were told they would find a newborn in Bethlehem who was the future Deliverer King.  What elation must those men have felt as they went to see for themselves this newborn King?

In the hymn, too, there is also a glimpse of that future time when the Lord will come again in victory as King of kings and Lord of lords — that moment when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess His sovereignty.

Here is where I find the only blot of disquiet in my inner revelry, this reminder that someday all will acknowledge Him.  On one hand, I yearn to witness that awesome moment when the Lord claims His own and takes the nations in hand, bringing an end to all that is horrid and hopeless. On the other hand, my heart aches for those to whom this event will be a wretched one and full of terror.  C. S. Lewis frames my dilemma well in his book, Mere Christianity:

“When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else – something it never entered your head to conceive – comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing; it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realised it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last for ever. We must take it or leave it.”

So my dears, I pray that you have already chosen to cast your lot in with the Messiah. I pray that you, too, will  be filled with the joy of the first Advent and will be able to heartily embrace the unspeakable joy of the Advent to come.

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**For further study, look up the lyrics to Joy to the World  here, and look for hints of both Advents within it. As a springboard you can check out Romans 8:19-23, Psalm 96:8-13, Psalm 98:6-9, Luke 19:40, Revelation 7:15-17, and Revelation 21:1-5.   What other verses does the hymn bring to mind? **