Waiting with Hope

It all began with Mary, a young teen who was engaged to be married. As with many soon-to-be-married girls, her whole life lay out before her, only she didn't understand how exciting it would be. 

I won't presume to describe her emotions after the angel Gabriel told her, "The Lord is with you...You will conceive and give birth to a son and you are to call him Jesus." How did this young girl respond? "I am the Lord's servant, may your word to me be fulfilled." (Luke 1:28,31,38) This blind faith was stunning, and from one so young.

Now, the waiting began. How many times have we faced unexpected changes to our plans? Like the letter from the bank demanding we pay up now, or that threatening note from the IRS stating they want to talk. How about the diagnosis, the pink-slip...and on? What were our reactions? God knew these things were coming, just like He knew Mary's future. Do we react at all like Mary did? Do we acknowledge He is in control, do we believe in a Jesus, a Hope we can cling to? 

As we continue waiting during Advent, let’s examine our lives. Instead of deciding which New Year's resolution to embrace for a few days, let's pray about one word for 2020 to remind us of Jesus. Let's use our one word to grow us spiritually closer to God by searching for it each time we read from our Bibles. Dig deep into that special Word and let it speak to our waiting hearts.

My Word for 2020 is Trust and Proverbs 3:5-6 and the scriptures God will begin using to instill this discipline into my heart.

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Romans 12:9-16

Blind Side

1 John 3:16-20

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%203%3A16-20&version=NIV;NLT;MSG

 

 

¹⁶ This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.      MSG

 

One of my favorite movies is Blind Side. It’s the story of a wealthy white couple that adopts an adolescent black boy who is from a very poor and repressive background. Before being befriended by this family, his odds of ever overcoming his life circumstances were virtually zero.

 

The adoptive family went out of their way to help this young man who was homeless, by first providing him a place to stay for the night and eventually adopting him as a part of the family. The bottom line was that someone noticed him, believed in him, loved him and sacrificed for him.

 

Jesus spoke about this kind of love when he said, “love your neighbor as yourself”. He then explained through the story of the Good Samaritan, that our “neighbor” is defined as anyone in need that we are aware of. He doesn’t give us any disclaimers to justify excluding anyone.

 

^18-20 My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living, truly living, in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.     MSG

 

Henry David Thoreau wrote, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to the grave with the song still in them." How depressing; but when you show love to another person, you are affirming their dignity; their value; their purpose for living, and at the same time affirming your own.

 

What would you be willing to sacrifice for a homeless adolescent? For someone leading a

life of quiet desperation? For the guy who cut you off in traffic? For the person who stepped over you to get the promotion instead of you? For the prostitute on the street? For the sexual offender in your neighborhood?

 

Who is your neighbor?

 

 

 

1 John 3:16-20

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. (1 John 3:16)

Yesterday we learned about how much God loved us when He created the earth with everything that is in it and gave it to us.  Today's text is also about God's love, the love God had for us when He gave us His only Son as a sacrifice for sin.  Jesus gave up His life so that we could keep ours.  

That is powerful stuff.  That is powerful love too.  Is there someone you would die for?  I can honestly say yes to that question, but most likely it will never happen, I will never have to prove it to anyone.  But the text for today doesn't let me off the hook that easily.

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:18)

There are many ways to exhibit love; many ways to live our faith and share our lives and love.  Our love has to be more than words, or "a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal" (1 Corinthians 13:1).  We have to put our love into action by sharing of ourselves, our possessions, by helping someone who needs a hand, by being Jesus to our neighbor.  This is love in action.

Read the 1 John 3:16-20 text at Biblegateway.com