Optimism for Day 10 of Advent

Photo by Robert Tudor on Unsplash

 

Isaiah 41:14-20, NRSVU

Do not fear, you worm Jacob,

    you maggot Israel!
I will help you, says the Lord;
    your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
I will make of you a threshing sledge,
    sharp, new, and having teeth;
you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,
    and you shall make the hills like chaff.
You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away,
    and the tempest shall scatter them.
Then you shall rejoice in the Lord;
    in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.

When the poor and needy seek water,
    and there is none,
    and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the Lord will answer them,
    I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
I will open rivers on the bare heights
    and fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water
    and the dry land springs of water.
I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
    the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive;
I will set in the desert the cypress,
    the plane and the pine together,
so that all may see and know,
    all may consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
    the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Fountain of Life

“For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” – Psalm 36:9

One of the first lighthouses ever built, certainly one of the most famous, was the Lighthouse of Alexandria in 280 BC. Situated on the Egyptian island of Pharos, it was at one time thought to be the tallest structure on earth at 383 - 440 feet. Many lives were rescued because of its existence.

Its purpose was the same as that of all lighthouses: to warn ships away from dangerous shores and guide them in the night.

No ship’s captain ever complained about a lighthouse getting in his way or inconveniencing him in his journey. Many a lighthouse has saved many a life.

James 1:17 says,

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Man-made lighthouses point us to the reality of God’s gracious willingness to warn us and guide us because He loves us. He desires life for us and in His light we see light.

Philippians 2:15 says,

“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.”

Not only does God provide light for our journey, but He appoints us as His people to shine in a dark world where there are many unseen dangers and unmarked shores. By taking this stewardship of light seriously, the church and its people have helped to lead many a lost ship and crew into a harbor of safety.

What could be a greater blessing than to be in God’s light and, in that light, to see light. Surely, it is a fountain of life.

Summer is Nigh

  … ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. -Luke 21:30-31

Springtime is a precursor of summer. Every flower and bud encourage us to wait a little longer.

Vacation is coming. Soon there will be picnics and trips to the coast, long days by the pool, lazy nights on a hammock, and all the wonderful tastes and smells of summer.

At least that is the summer of our dreams.

We don’t think about mosquitoes and perspiration, stepping on bees and humidity. Did someone forget to tell the boss that summertime is one long vacation? Maybe this is a god time for a reality check.

Maybe it isn’t. Maybe this is a time better spent experiencing the swelling excitement of spring and the anticipation of summer fantasies inasmuch as they remind us of a far more fulfilling and assured blessed hope.

Jesus used the illustration of budding spring to remind us of our future hope. It is the hope of the redemption of the whole earth, and endless summer with no humidity and no parasites. It is the hope of the end of evil and the reign of righteousness. It is the hope of His coming and His coming Kingdom of peace.

The lion will lie down with the lamb.

Swords will be beaten into plowshares.

We will sing a new song.

No eye has seen what God has prepared. Nor ear has heard it. No tongue has confessed it. The Kingdom of God is nigh at hand and we have no concept of how wonderful it is going to be. This is our blessed hope, beloved. Let the excitement build; let the chimes ring; let every voice be lifted up in praise to Him. He comes in glory! He comes to reign! Hallelujah! The King is coming!

Putting Out the Spirit’s Fire

Quench not the Spirit. - 1 Thessalonians 5:19

Not everyone is comfortable with the raging fire of God in the midst of His people. You cannot be neutral about fire. It is not a passive religious sentiment. It is out-of-control, destructive, and threatening from a human standpoint. But from God’s vantage point, it is controlled, regenerating, and life-affirming. We are frightened by it sometimes, because we don’t know where it is going. But if it is truly God’s fire, we don’t need to know. If we trust God, we can trust His fire.

There have always been those who would quench the Spirit. We see Him as unpredictable and impulsive. Yet, He is the one in our lives who leads us to God-ordained outcomes and produces the fruit of self-control. We look at Spirit empowered people and often judge them as unbalanced. Yet it is the Holy Spirit who knocks away the false props of our lives so that we can find true balance in Him.

We are sometimes embarrassed by the unbridled enthusiasm and unrestrained exuberance of new believers. Paul instructs us not to quench the Spirit in their lives. God is able to bring people to maturity and smooth over the rough edges of their character. Rather than dousing their fire, we ought to be throwing on more kindling and long-burning logs.

Quench not the Spirit in your own life through sin, bitterness, self-interest, or neglect. When God is at work, you will always feel slightly on edge. Learn to celebrate that and you will find yourself being weaned from false security and comfort onto the deeper nourishment of His peace that passes understanding. Quench not the Spirit.

Romans 15:14-21, NRSVU

I myself feel confident about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. Nevertheless, on some points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast of my work for God. For I will not be so bold as to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written,

“Those who have never been told of him shall see,
    and those who have never heard of him shall understand.”