Advent: Thursday, December 14, 2006

Sorry for no blogging yesterday. I had a touch of a stomach bug and it knocked me down most of yesterday morning.

Old Testament Lesson

Isaiah 7:1-9

King Ahaz sees all these troubles coming, he sees all these nations conspiring against his country, and he is rightly worried. When we are charged to take care of someone or called to lead something, and we see things beyond our control going wrong, it worries us, it scares us, it greatly troubles us.

Isaiah comes to him today with a message from God. Stand firm. If you do not stand upon your faith, you have nothing to stand on. God is at work, God has a plan, God is always doing something. Stand upon. Do not stand upon what you think you can do or what your plans are. Stand firm upon God, stand firm upon your faith. He is working. Trust in Him. As the Word says, we walk by faith, not by sight. Today, may faith open your eyes so that you can see what God is doing.

New Testament Lesson

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

We see in this text that Satan uses all powers of deception to fool and trick those that do not believe. That is why we must always be aware, always looking, always examining, always testing. Satan is the father of lies, and we must make sure as well that we are not buying his lies. We must make that we are listening to God's voice, not to his.

There are always voices coming at us from every side, and they are not all from God. That is why we must spend time with God, listening to His voice, so that we will know it when we need to hear. Unless we spend time with Him, we will not be able to hear Him. Today, listen to His voice, and know that He is calling you to something great today.

Gospel Lesson

Luke 22:1-13

Two things jumped out at me when I was reading this. First it was the day when the Passover lamb was the to be sacrificed. Now, we then to think of this as talking about the Passover and the meal that Jesus and His disciples where getting ready to eat. But, there is something deeper going on. What was Jesus, but the lamb that was slayed for before the foundations of the world (Revelation 13:8). This was the day that was set aside for our salvation.

And this ties into the second thought. God's plan was at work, and the disciples found everything prepared as they needed it. Friends, God's plan is beyond you and me. It is great than us. It is working in ways that we can never fully understand. But, it is at work for our salvation, and the salvation of the world. Today, let us look around for what God is doing. And let us join in His great plan of salvation.