Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“Hark! Your watchmen raise a cry, together they shout for joy, for they see directly, before their eyes, the Lord restoring Zion.” –Isaiah 52:8 “Mary” Christmas! Alleluia! Christ our Savior is born. On this Christmas morning many throughout the world have almost nothing and live in abject poverty. They live in conditions similar to the first Christmas. There is no room for them in the inn (Lk 2:7). Yet there is room for all of us in the kingdom of the Christ-Child. We may be rejected by man and despised by the world, but no one who comes to Jesus...

“The Lord of hosts has this to say.” –2 Samuel 7:8 The Lord wants to talk to us about His coming this Christmas. He will talk to us through His Word and through prophets like Nathan, Zechariah, John the Baptizer, and Mary. But will we be able to hear the Lord, even if He whispers to us? (see 1 Kgs 19:12) Prior to receiving Nathan’s prophecy that the Davidic dynasty would last forever, David focused His attention on building a house for the Lord (2 Sm 7:2). If we seek first God’s kingdom (see Mt 6:33) and devote our lives...

“Who will endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears?” –Malachi 3:2 Almost everyone believes in preparing for Christmas. But are we preparing the way of the Lord (Lk 3:4) or the way of the world? The Lord calls us to make gigantic changes in our ways. Priorities as big as mountains in our lives should be leveled. Our valleys, depressions, pits, and ruts are also to be leveled. As crooked as our hearts are (see Jer 17:9), Jesus wants them straightened. As rough as our edges are, they must be smoothed. The Lord is...

“The bows of the mighty are broken.” –1 Samuel 2:4 Jesus “is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted” (Lk 2:34, RNAB). He was crucified because He was believed to be advocating a revolution, although His kingdom was not of this world (Jn 18:36). Even before He was born, Mary, His mother, prophesied: “He has deposed the mighty from their thrones and raised the lowly to high places. The hungry He has given every good thing, while the rich He has sent empty away” (Lk 1:52-53). Shortly after...

“You have found favor with God.” –Luke 1:30 Isaiah, the prophet, said that Ahaz was wearying God (Is 7:13). The writer of Genesis said that we grieved God by our sins and caused Him to regret ever having made us (Gn 6:5-6). Attributing emotion to God the Father is an anthropomorphism. We project our feelings onto Him, although He, being a Spirit, doesn’t have feelings as we do. However, God became man. Now He has a body with all the feelings that go with it. God the Son now literally is wearied and grieved. By our sins, we’ve been able...