Monday, December 8, 2008

Third Week of Advent, by Dr. Jim Savage

(Isaiah 35:1-10) Third Week of Advent

The prophet calls upon the deep imagination of God's people to watch patiently for signs of change. In the dark season of exile, life signs have seemed dormant, dried up, and closed off. But in a new season of light, like spring after winter, life signs will break through for all who have held fast patiently through the darkness. This is a text about what will be, about what shall be, for those who patiently watch for and trust God's restoring care for them, even after a bitter, hard season.

Reread this passage from Isaiah, but do so slowly, patiently. Take your time with the text and read it with expectation that it holds a word of life for you to see, like the first crocus bloom in early spring. Which particular verse catches your attention? Write it down and sit with that one verse or part of a verse. Be patient. What does it call forth from you? What does it touch in your life?

Simply be in patient prayer.

Thank You, Lord, for the Hope of freedom. May we lift up our feeble hands this very day to You in praise and worship. Strengthen our faint hearts as we wait in the darkness...now beginning to turn to dawning. The hour draws nearer to Your coming.....With expectation we wait patiently for Your glory to shine forth on us. We read in the Word of the Day of the Lord prophesied by Isaiah. It will be a wild, hilarious day of seeing and hearing, of leaping and dancing and shouting and singing. No staid, inhibited praises there. The earth, too, will open its mouth with joy and drink and become a garden like the first morning of earth.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus! We need Your Light to shine on us Now.

Thank You, Loving God. Thank You, Christ Jesus. Thank You, Holy Spirit. AMEN. In Christ, Jim

Friday, December 5, 2008

"By the oaks of Mamre" by Dr. Jim Savage

Genesis 18:1-15

This visitation by God in the guise of three strangers is among the most obscure and intriguing tales in the Abrahamic cycle. Extending hospitality to his guests, Abraham prepares a feast. Overhearing their prediction of her giving birth to a son, Sarah falls over on the tent floor in laughter-----still disbelieving the promise because, given her old age, pregnancy would be impossible.


Sarah gives us permission to worship God with our laughter when ours is an uncertain future.
In face of the incredulity of God's promises as we wait and wait, she offers comic relief. Up to this point the whole story of faith and obedience has been serious business. But here at a leisurely tent-side meal in the company of a God we can barely recognize, we are invited to laugh.


Sarah will in due time bear a son, and she will name him Isaac, which means "Laughter." (The Renovare' Spiritual Formation Bible)

It seems neither Abraham or Sarah exhibit much faith, focusing instead on the improbability of the promise being fulfilled.


Maybe the answer lies in what God saw in their hearts. He looks at our hearts......


They laughed at God..... maybe God laughed also with them..... He knew the end of the story..... All would laugh with Sarah in joy when God fulfills His promise.

AFFIRMATION: Let Go, Let God


I pray, releasing all doubt and concern about my own life or the lives of my loved ones.
I seek Divine Guidance and direction...... I am letting go and letting the Activity of God show me the Way.
In this Powerful release, I sweep away all worries, troubles, and concerns-----even those I might have been holding on to for a time.
Turning all over to God in prayer, I am fully Aware that we are All in the care and keeping of God.
Thank You, Loving God. Thank You, Christ Jesus. Thank You, Holy Spirit. Amen. May it be so.

Shalom,
Jim