Wednesday, December 5, 2012 -- Advent Week 1 -- Walking In The Light Of The Lord
Wednesday December 5, 2012
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem. The Lord will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore.
Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord! For the Lord has rejected his people, the descendants of Jacob, because they have filled their land with practices from the East and with sorcerers, as the Philistines do. They have made alliances with pagans. Israel is full of silver and gold; there is no end to its treasures. Their land is full of warhorses; there is no end to its chariots. Their land is full of idols; the people worship things they have made with their own hands. So now they will be humbled, and all will be brought low—do not forgive them. Crawl into caves in the rocks. Hide in the dust from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty. Human pride will be brought down, and human arrogance will be humbled. Only the Lord will be exalted on that day of judgment. (Isaiah 2:5-11 NLT)
Jesus came to earth from heaven to show us how much God loves us and to teach us, in a very practical way, how to live as sons and daughters of God. In our unsafe environment, Jesus comes to us with a vision for a life of peace and justice centered in humility and truth.
Sounds familiar doesn't it? We see this both in the news and in the lives of people close to us. Perhaps we even find this in our own hearts. Some of us felt the effects of the anger and frustration of others when we were young and, as a result, when we grew up, reacted to difficulties with our own rage based in bitterness and fear. As adults we find ourselves trapped in dysfunctional circumstances over and over again. We are desperate for companionship and support and so we wander in and out of violent co-dependent relationships because for a time we feel we have power or we can be in control. As if our personal circumstances weren't broken enough, we add to them each day by focusing on television programs where sitcoms, as well as the newscasts, are full of dialogue that is centered in disputes, accusations, and treacherous motives. We live in a time of chaos of the heart as well as chaos in events around us.
Today's advent invitation comes with strength and gentleness: leave the fighting and come to the place where God is. Leave the self-centered perspective of things that create problems and let Jesus teach us new ways of loving God and loving our neighbour as ourselves.
Let's humbly follow Jesus who left heaven to come to this sin-darkened world so that we would follow Him, in truth and light, all the way to heaven.
Let's humbly follow Jesus who left heaven to come to this sin-darkened world so that we would follow Him, in truth and light, all the way to heaven.
Audio for Wednesday, December 5, 2012 -- Advent Week 1 -- Walking In The Light Of The Lord
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