Archive for the ‘ Love ’ Category
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”
Luke 2:9-10, ESV
The love of God is found in Christ and seeing that the first pronouncement of His coming going to dirty shepherds. All are welcome to the God who became part of His creation to save it.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Luke 2:7, ESV
God showed His love by sending Jesus to become human like us, and He knew need and loss like the rest of us. We have a God who understands what wr go through, because of His love.
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:21, ESV
God’s love is shown in Jesus becoming a human, through childbirth, to save us from our sins.
I enjoy the Christmas season. I enjoy celebrating Advent.
The first week of Advent can be found here.
The second week of Advent can be found here.
The third week of Advent can be found here.
The fourth week of Advent is traditionally seen as being a time for looking at love. This year, I am using some of the readings from the Revised Common Lectionary.
Let’s get into (a slightly longer devotional for)
Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Micah 5:2-5a, CSB
you are small among the clans of Judah;
one will come from you
to be ruler over Israel for me.
His origin is from antiquity,
from ancient times.
Therefore, Israel will be abandoned until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of the ruler’s brothers will return
to the people of Israel.
He will stand and shepherd them
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majestic name of the Lord his God.
They will live securely,
for then his greatness will extend
to the ends of the earth.
He will be their peace.
God revealed that The Messiah would be born in the town of Bethlehem after a period of silence from God. But this Messiah would be the King of Israel and His fame and rule would go around the world, bringing peace and hope. We can see the love of God in this King being a loving shepherd, and there is evidence of this being God Himself based on His being born yet also “from antiquity.”
Listen, Shepherd of Israel,
Psalm 80:1-7, CSB
who leads Joseph like a flock;
you who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
shine on Ephraim,
Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Rally your power and come to save us.
Restore us, God;
make your face shine on us,
so that we may be saved.
Lord God of Armies,
how long will you be angry
with your people’s prayers?
You fed them the bread of tears
and gave them a full measure[a]
of tears to drink.
You put us at odds with our neighbors;
our enemies mock us.
Restore us, God of Armies;
make your face shine on us, so that we may be saved.
The writer of Psalm 80 shows us that this King is God, the God of angel armies who sits above the cherubim. He will restore His people through forgiveness and salvation as their loving shepherd.
Therefore, as he was coming into the world, he said:
Hebrews 10:5-10, CSB
You did not desire sacrifice and offering,
but you prepared a body for me.
You did not delight
in whole burnt offerings and sin offerings.
Then I said, “See—
it is written about me
in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, God.”
After he says above, You did not desire or delight in sacrifices and offerings, whole burnt offerings and sin offerings (which are offered according to the law), he then says, See, I have come to do your will.[b] He takes away the first to establish the second. By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.
The writer of Hebrews then quotes Psalm 40 to show that this Shepherd King is also a Priest who does God’s will to make a new covenant of salvation from sin. God Himself is our Shepherd King and High Priest who became a human to save us from our sin.
“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her!”
Luke 1:45, CSB
Mary believed that God had chosen her to bring this Priestly Shepherd King into the world.
Now, we are called to believe that God came to us through her, that Jesus came to save us from our sin, and that He loves us enough to have taken our shame upon Himself.
“If you love me, you will keep my commands.”
John 14:15, CSB
We are now called to love the world in the same way. If we love our God, we will lay down our very lives to proclaim His love to a lost and hurting world, giving them the hope of eternity in the joy and peace of Christ.
Lord, we thank You for the love that saves us. By the power of the Holy Spirit, please guide us in Your love to share the hope of Christ, to live in the peace of Christ, and to discover the joy we have in Christ. Thank You for loving us. Thank You for coming for us. Thank You for promising to come for us again. Thank You, Jesus, our Immanuel.
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior”
Luke 1:46-47, ESV
We find joy in Christ, and it comes in knowing He has saved us from sin and filled us with the Holy Spirit. Let us rejoice with our Immanuel.
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
1 John 3:16, ESV
God has given us peace through Christ by revealing His love through the cross, and we share that peace and love by doing the same in His name for others to see His love and find that peace.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
John 13:34, ESV
God has given us peace through Christ by revealing His love through the cross, and now we carry that peace by loving His Church with the same sacrificial love He showed us.
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Matthew 22:37, ESV
God has given us peace through Christ by revealing His love through the cross, so we find this peace when we love God with our whole being.
For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.
John 3:34-35, ESV
God has given us peace through Christ, and they send the Holy Spirit to guide us to believe in Christ and have this peace overflowing.
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8, ESV
God has given us His peace through Christ, restoring the relationship lost in the Garden, because He loves us.
a simple man of God 