BUT NOW...

PSALM 31:16 (ABP)
God, I'm looking for a big smile from you. Your love is insuppressible so save me from this ordeal.

EPHESIANS 5:8 (MSG)
You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Our lives were once defined by the fear that comes with living in darkness but now we know God's love and live in the light of Christ.

PRAYER
God, you have broken through the darkness barrier on our behalf. Thank you for smiling on us. Forgive us for failing to recognize the extent of the light you've given to us because we continue to bury our heads in the sand. Help me to grow in the knowledge and experience of your love so that your light shines through me. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

GOD'S INVOLVEMENT

The 3rd Sunday of Advent

PROVERBS 5:21 (MSG)
Mark well that GOD doesn’t miss a move you make;
he’s aware of every step you take.

LUKE 1:38 (CEV)
Mary said, “I am the Lord's servant! Let it happen as you have said.”

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Our assignment is to align ourselves with what God is doing; for he is deeply involved in all that happens in the world and in our lives.

PRAYER
God, your mothering care flows through the witness and heart of Mary. May I, like her, also profess, "Let it be with me according to your word." I want to learn from her today and to trust your stewardship of my life, that I may do your will by letting the life of Christ be born through me. Amen. (Daily Texts, Ground Up Grace edition)

THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

THE FUTURE

ISAIAH 66:22 (CEV)
I also promise that you will always have descendants and will never be forgotten, just as the new heavens and the new earth that I create will last forever.

MATTHEW 8:11-12 (MSG)
This man is the vanguard of many outsiders who will soon be coming from all directions—streaming in from the east, pouring in from the west, sitting down at God’s kingdom banquet alongside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then those who grew up ‘in the faith’ but had no faith will find themselves out in the cold, outsiders to grace and wondering what happened.”

SUMMARY SENTENCE
God's grand future is more than we can imagine with stable places for the insiders and the outsiders.

PRAYER
Gracious God, as you restore heaven and earth you are turning it into a warm and welcoming place for all who will accept your grace. I acknowledge that my understanding of the future is small-minded and unimaginative. Help me to grasp the bigness of your grace. I'm not only going to savor the welcome but I'm going to help others find an honored place at your table. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

FACING OPPOSITION AND SUFFERING

ISAIAH 53:4 (MSG)

But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—

our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.

We thought he brought it on himself,

that God was punishing him for his own failures. But...

HEBREWS 12:3 (MSG)

When you find yourselves flagging in your faith,

go over that story again, item by item, 

that long litany of hostility he plowed through. 

That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

SUMMARY SENTENCE
When you face any kind of pushback let the suffering of Christ motivate you to press on in faithful living.

PRAYER
Faithful God, you've seen and endured it all. You've allowed yourself to experience affliction and rejection for our sake. We can't possibly grasp all that you've gone through but we flinch every time someone says a mean word to us. We allow the opposition to eat at us. Help us to find strength in an ongoing awareness of your faithful suffering. I'm going to let your faithfulness through Christ Jesus shape my faithfulness. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.