December 11: count up

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.

So today it just an awesome date, 11th of December (12) in the year of our Lord 2013, aka 11.12.13!
We count down the days to Christmas, but how often do we count up the days of God's patience? Every day, we are told, God's mercies are new. Each day that Jesus hasn't returned is another day to proclaim and repent and believe and escape judgement. What if instead of getting reading for a remembrance day we got ready for the Lords return?

"How long, o Lord?" is cried out in the Psalms quite a few times.** It's a challenge to know what the author is asking for. It teaches me a few things though. Firstly, that we all go through tough times in which we wish it was over. Secondly, that it's okay to ask why and how long the ordeal will last. Thirdly, God doesn't mind hearing that question asked. He's big enough to have his own timing and plans and yet listen to our small but valid and important voices cry out for help, wisdom, aid, comfort and so many other things. Maybe we feel like David in Psalm 13 who asks how long God's face will be turned from him. Maybe we feel rather that God's anger is upon us and we'll never see peace and blessing. Maybe we feel that others are trying to destroy us and can't work out why God would allow that for so long if he really cared. They're all important questions, and they're all allowed to be asked.

The disciples liked to ask questions of Jesus too. They wanted to know when he would return, he said:

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."***

Those are scary words! And sometimes I'd rather not read them. But if Jesus is who he says he was, then I have to trust that what he says is true. There will be a judgement day, He has warned us of that, a day when Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead. But that day is not this day! :D
Today, we can hear these words and prepare ourselves for the day of the Lord's return.

How can we be ready for something that we don't know when it will come? Jesus told a few parables about that actually, they often ended with "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour."****

*Psalm 13:5-6
** 8 times in the Psalms (NIV) "how long, lord' is used
***Matthew 24:36-39
****Matthew 25:13

december 10: joy to the world

Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.*

Joy to the World, the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,

And Heaven and nature sing..**

John the baptist appeared in the wilderness proclaiming a message of repentance and forgiveness of sins through baptism. people from all Judea can to the river Jordan to be baptized by him, confessing their sins. he told the crowds, "one greater than I is coming whom I am not worthy to even untie his shoes. I baptize with water but he will baptize with the holy spirit."***

What an awesome and strange message; here is this random man wearing camels hair and eating locusts and honey, who draws great crowds. Yet he says he is nothing. Who is this man who will come after? how much greater? will he be the promised king, the one who will defeat all our enemies?

The good news of Christmas brought joy to so many who were witnesses of the event. The shepherds rejoiced, the wise men were filled with joy, the angels sang praises to God, Mary treasured up these things. The message was one of joy. But what is joy? I have recently finished reading C.S.Lewis "Surprised by Joy" and delighted in his description of how joy comes to us and awakes in us a desire to know it, but in looking at it, that thing loses it's beauty, mystery and thus joy. The only way to really enjoy joy, he writes is to look for the source of all joy, God and in doing so recognize joy as just the out-workings of His marvelous creation. When we see joy as a means rather than an end, it is possible to truly relish and enjoy it!

Joy. A small word with such a big punch! And how can we even know if we've felt it or understand how to keep feeling it? It is desirable to feel joy of course! Maybe Jesus' own words can remind us to be joyful not in what is before us now, but joyful in hope.****

Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.*****

Sometimes we struggle to see the joy in life, to look beyond the current situation. But Jesus is right, there is great joy to which to celebrate that often comes after great pain. Jesus knows that the world is broken and suffering contractions, and he also assures us that that pain and grief that we now experience will turn to joy at the return of Jesus!

We not only rejoice at God becoming man 2000 years ago during Christmas, but also look forward with joyful hope to when he will return.

*Psalm 47:1
**Joy to the World, lyrics by Isaac Watts in 1719
***Paraphrase of Mark 1:4-8
****Romans 12:12*****John 16:19-21

december 9: hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.*

What news get's you rushing to tell someone? How many people do you tell? Where? How? I know a lot of us now use facebook as the way to share news. I excitedly told facebook my plans for next year this week. And have since been sharing with friends and family as I have seen them. but a lot of the time we share silly things with little though or meaning, sensational to grab attention in the sea of posts. i like talking about myself (most people enjoy talking about themselves) we just have different ways of sharing, or different amounts. some people talk about feelings while others talk about experiences, some about opinions others about what they're currently learning.

What things do we share with special enthusiasm? If we have got something for free? If we have achieved something? The shepherds who were out watching there flocks by night, after they heard the news about from the angel they rushed to see if it was true, they found baby Jesus lying in the manger as the angel said.

'When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.'**

If you see something amazing, you want to share it! You take a picture, you tell your friends. The shepherds were no different, they had seen something amazing; a child who was the promised Messiah. They couldn't help being glad and rejoicing, and sharing this wonderful news with everyone around them!

The shepherds were told to not be afraid, that news would bring great joy was coming; that God's peace was at hand. God is the God of Hope. He gives us reason to look forward, to rejoice, to feel peace. Knowing that God will bring justice, restore the broken world to all that it was intended to be, to set us free from the burden of sin and death. I know that for me, I don't often share the best thing I have got for free; God's forgiveness. 

I pray that I, and you, my readers, may be willed with joy and peace in believing so that we may abound in hope in the power of the Holy Spirit.

*Romans 15:13**Luke 2:17-20