Photo by...Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
In my first year of high school, Australia converted to decimal currency and Simon and Garfunkel released the song, “I am a rock”. While everyone in Australia was working together to adjust to the new currency the song spoke of going it alone. “I am a rock. I am an island.”
It’s a sad song about being hurt and withdrawing into isolation in order to avoid any more pain.
We’ve had some experiences of isolation this year and depending on our nature we’ve either enjoyed or hated those times.
Our God is into community. God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in a divine community of love and because we’re made in the image of God we’re also made for community.
The Christian faith in particular and life in general aren’t meant to be solo adventures. Even those with an introverted nature need others. We all need community.
Paul describes the community in terms of a body with many different and varied parts in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. The different parts of the body need each other and when they work together the body functions properly.
The beauty of this image and situation is found in the love and support we give and receive in the community. There are times when we desperately need the support of a loving community and there are times when we provide the support to members of the community.
This ‘strange’ year has highlighted the need for community. We need to care for each other and look out for each other.
It’s great to know God is always doing his best for us. It’s also clear our sisters and brothers are gifts from God. God often helps us through the community. God bless you with all the help you need and with all the strength you need to help others.
1st Wednesday in Advent Read: Psalm 18:25-32 “You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.” Psalm 18:28 (NIV)
How much we take for granted in our technologically advanced world! After my grandmother passed away in 1978, my father gave me the oil lamp that had been sitting on her sideboard and had been used for many years as the ‘Sunday’ lamp. It was the lamp that had been given to them for their wedding in 1926. It was called the ‘Sunday’ lamp as that was the only time it was used. When we got married, I decided to get this lamp working again as it had been unused for many years. Firstly, it needed to be cleaned from dust and any soot. We needed to find a chimney and some wicks (double wicked) and then had to find some oil that didn’t smoke.
Finally, we got it burning and used it as our ‘Sunday’ lamp, until children came. We read about lamps in the Bible and how we are to keep our lamps burning. As I said earlier, we take a lot for granted. Turning on a light switch in no way relates to the work it takes to maintain and keep a lamp usable. Depending on the type of oil used, the lamp chimney needs constant cleaning from the soot. If it is not cleaned and the wick trimmed, seeing and reading by its light is extremely difficult. In Psalm 18 we read about all the work God does in keeping our lamps shining bright. He is faithful to us.
He shows Himself as blameless and pure and perfect, so we know that He is the one to follow. He tells us His stories and shows us His love. He protects us from the evil around us. God does all this to help our light shine. This brings us out of darkness and into His incredible light. God did all the work through Jesus in sending His Son to earth and be the light to follow. Jesus is the way, the truth and the light! Rely on God to keep your lamp burning, lighting your way through each day. Prayer: Lord God, you have done all the work to bring me into your amazing love and presented me with unfailing grace and peace. Help me keep my lamp burning for you to share and light the way for others. Amen.
The Lord’s Blessing 1st Tuesday in Advent Read: Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you”.
Numbers 6:25 (NIV)
Rising out of the desert and towering over the Indian village is a high mountain. Only the very strong can climb it, so all the boys of the village were eager to try. One day the chief said, “Now, boys, today you may try to climb the mountain. Each of you go as far as you can. When you are too tired to go on, come back. But I want each of you to bring me a twig from the place where you turned back.”
Very soon a boy came puffing back with a piece of cactus. The chief smiled. “My boy, you did not even reach the foot of the mountain. Cactus is a desert flower.” Later a second boy returned with a twig of sagebrush. “Well, at least you reached the foot of the mountain.” The next boy came back with a cottonwood twig. “Good! You climbed as far as the springs.” Another boy came back with some buckthorn. “You were really climbing. You got up to the first slide rock.” An hour afterward, one boy came back with a branch of pine. To him the chief said, “Good! You made three-quarters of the climb.”
The sun was low in the sky when the last boy returned. His hands were empty, but his face was shining. He said, “Father, there were no trees where I was. I saw no twigs, but I saw a shining sea.” Now the old chief’s face glowed too. “I knew it! When I looked at your face, I knew it. You have been to the top. You needed no twig to tell me. It is written in your eyes. You alone, my boy, have seen the glory and the peace of the mountain.”
[Story by Catherine Marshall] The very same thing happens to you and to me when we have been with our Father in Heaven and have talked to Him in prayer and felt His presence in our hearts. It shows on our faces. It shines in our eyes. Keep climbing! We show God’s shining face when we know Him – this is His blessing to us. Prayer: Thank you for blessing me with your peace and love. Thank you that you shine your face on me and in turn my face shines to others showing your love. Amen.
Light to Guide 1st Monday in Advent Light to Guide 1st Monday in Advent Read: Exodus 13:21-22
“By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light,” Exodus 13:21a (NIV) Fireflies are incredible little insects. I first came across them while camping one summer with my family in Pennsylvania. The little firefly causes a light to glow in its body through a chemical reaction called bioluminescence, which is primarily used to attract the male of the species. Our children had fun catching them in their hands and seeing the glow that shone through their fingers. It was a small bright light that then lit up the darkness and they ran around chasing and following these tiny lights. The people of Israel had left slavery in Egypt and were being led by Moses to the Promised Land.
The people having lived in Egypt knew all the Egyptian gods but didn’t have a personal relationship yet with the true God of Heaven and Earth. To help the people and Moses know that the God of Israel was with them leading and guiding them and never leaving them, God promised to have a pillar of cloud by day for them to see and follow and a pillar of fire by night to light their way in the darkness. It was a visible sign of God’s presence among His people, and it never left them. In Bible pictures we see a huge fire and a huge cloud, but we are not told how big.
But even a small light in the darkness is enough to follow. Even a small light, like a firefly, takes away the darkness and allows us to see and follow! The Bible is filled with the figurative language of Jesus being the ‘light of the world’. It illustrates to us that knowing Jesus and His Father God is to never live in darkness. Knowing Him and His love we are always able to see where we are going.
He lights our way and guides us through our lives – like Moses and the Israelites – God’s presence leads us finally to the Promised Land of Heaven. Follow the guiding light of God through knowing His love in the Bible. Prayer: Lord, you lead me through so many dark places of my life. Light up the way so that I can follow you in all I do. May I always follow your guiding light. Amen.