Christian Reflection and Prayer

Scripture:
 
Isaiah 2:1-5
 
2 In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house
    will be the highest of all—
    the most important place on earth.
It will be raised above the other hills,
    and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.
3 People from many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the house of Jacob’s God.
There he will teach us his ways,
    and we will walk in his paths.”
For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion;
    his word will go out from Jerusalem.
4 The Lord will mediate between nations
    and will settle international disputes.
They will hammer their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer fight against nation,
    nor train for war anymore.
5 Come, descendants of Jacob,
    let us walk in the light of the Lord!
 
 
Where's Gran?" I asked. "She went to church," Dad replied.
Church? On Christmas? We didn't attend church when I was
a child. I knew friends who did, and I'd even go on vacation
Bible school with one of them. But I didn't know people went
to church on Christmas day. I mean it was Christmas after all-
presence, food, and PJs all day.
 
Later the front door opened and Gran walked in. When I caught
her eye, she smiled at me, joy radiating from her face.
 
Isaiah is seeing the Lords Temple established as the highest
of mountains, exalted above the hills and all the nations
streaming to it (v.2). God intended Jerusalem to be a glorious
beacon calling all nations to him.
 
God calls us to live in such a way that others are drawn to him too.
The image of Gran walking in the door from church with that
glowing smile is still with me. She gave me a glimpse of Christ
that Christmas morning.
 
Prayer:
Father; let others see you in me. Amen
 
(The Covenant Home Alter, author Belinda Thee)

(Day 8 of Advent)

Scripture:

Read Genesis 3:1-19. TEXT: He shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise His heal (see Genesis 3:15).

Adam and Eve adored God, loved each other, and
enjoyed perfect harmony with all God's creatures. God
set only one limit on them: He commanded them not to
eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil. Created in God's image they already knew all there
was to know about "good." Their loving Father wanted to
spare them from learning about evil.

Sadly, evil had already reared its ugly head in heaven.
One of God's holy angels turned against Him and led
many fellow angels to rise up in rebellion. Unable to
defeat God, Satan turned to destroy the humans God
loved. He took the form of a serpent and in great cunning
and deceit convinced Eve she would become like God if
she ate the forbidden fruit. Adam was there and saw
through the deceit. Unfortunately, instead of protecting
his beloved wife, he watched her eat; then he took the
fruit from her hand and ate it himself.

This simple act of disobedience shattered the perfect
peace of creation, filling it with famine and plague,
suffering, disease and death. At the same time it
plunged Adam and Eve and all of their descendants into
sin and death. Every day we see the fruits of their
disobedience: crime, violence and war.

God had every right and reason to condemn lost
mankind, wipe us off the face of His earth, and start
again. Instead, He came up with a rescue plan centered
on His Son becoming one of Adam and Eve's offspring: a
Man who would destroy Satan's work and remove the
curse on mankind.

THE PRAYER:

Holy Father, each of us deserves nothing but Your wrath
and punishment for our sinfulness. Yet in mercy You
planned to send Your own Son to save us. For His sake
forgive our sins, and fill us with Your perfect peace. In
Jesus' Name. Amen

(Lutheran Hour Ministries)

(Day 7 of Advent)

Scripture:

Read Genesis 2:4-23.

TEXT: The Lord God formed the man of dust from the
ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,
and the man became a living creature (Genesis 2:7).

Reflection:

"All things were made through Him, and without Him
nothing was made that has been made" (John 1:3).
The Son of God rejoiced in the beautiful world that
was made through Him: the rugged mountains, green
hills and lush valleys, the gently flowing streams, the
winding rivers, the deep, blue lakes, and the spacious
oceans. He reveled in the amazing beauty of flowers,
plants and trees that spread through His forests and
meadows. He relished the birds soaring across the
skies, the fish teeming through the waters, and the
animals covering the land.

But to reach its full potential it needed humanity's
touch. So God formed Adam from the dust of the
earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
 Adam and Eve bore the image of God: perfect and
holy, gentle, loving and good. They were full of
creativity and passion, and they enjoyed a perfect
balance of emotional and mental health. They were
here to improve God's world-to tend and keep it, to
prune it, and make it more fruitful and beautiful.

God intended us to pass the days of our life in this
perfect paradise where sickness, suffering and death
were to be unknown. Sadly, because of their
disobedience that paradise was lost. But because of
the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
we can be confident this creation will be restored to
an eternal, perfect paradise when He returns on the
Last Day.

THE PRAYER:

Holy Lord, You created a paradise and the perfect
people to tend and keep it. Thank You for coming to
our fallen world to restore us by Your birth, death and
resurrection. Come quickly to restore us and Your
creation. Amen.

(Lutheran Hour Ministries)