Advent Meditation Week 2

December 11: Mark 1:1-3

• Does is ever seem like you are “crying in the wilderness” when you are trying to witness to family and friends? Don’t despair. They are lost in the wilderness of sin, and lost people get confused. Keep “preparing the way of the Lord” for them. Your life and witness can “make a straight path” from their heart to Jesus. Pray for them.

Mark 1:1-3English Standard Version (ESV)

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.[a]

2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,[b]

“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way,
3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
    ‘Prepare[c] the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight,’”

Advent Meditation Week 2

December 10: John 1:9-18

• “The Word became flesh.” Reflect for a moment on the incarnation (being made into flesh). The eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, sinlessly perfect Son become human so that you could become a child of God. Wow!!

• Jesus was full of grace and truth. Is it easier for you to give grace to people or challenge them with the truth? Humbly pray for the capacity to do both this Christmas.

John 1:9-18English Standard Version (ESV)

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own,[a] and his own people[b] did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son[c] from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.[d] 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God,[e] who is at the Father's side,[f] he has made him known.

Advent Meditation Week 2

December 9: John 1:1-8

• “The Word” refers to Jesus. What do these verses teach about His nature? Do you think of Jesus as mostly human, mostly God or fully both? What difference does it make? (Google “Council of Nicea” to learn how the early church struggled with and resolved this issue.)

• How has Jesus brought life to you? How has Jesus replaced darkness with light in your life? Ask Jesus to help you reflect his light to others this Christmas.

John 1:1-8English Standard Version (ESV)

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life,[a] and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

Advent Meditation Week 2

December 8: Malachi 3:1-6

• How is the work of Christ in the life of a Christian like soap and a refiner’s fire?

•  How has Jesus done that in your life? How well does v. 5 describe our prevailing culture? What does v. 5 say about how we should deal with immigrants and refugees in our country? 

Malachi 3:1-6English Standard Version (ESV)

3 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.[a] 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

Robbing God

6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

Advent Meditation Week 2

December 7: Micah 5:2-5a

• This prophecy was given over 700 years before Jesus was born. What did the Jews think it meant? See Matthew 2:1-8 & John 7:42. 

• What do these verses reveal about the coming Messiah? 

• How would a “shepherd king” differ from other kings? What will characterize the reign of Christ? Are you experiencing this promise? 

Micah 5:2-5English Standard Version (ESV)

2 [a] But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
    one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
    from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time
    when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
    to the people of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
    to the ends of the earth.
5 And he shall be their peace.

When the Assyrian comes into our land
    and treads in our palaces,
then we will raise against him seven shepherds
    and eight princes of men;

Advent Meditation Week 2

December 6: Zechariah 6:12-13

• Who is “the branch”? Compare Isaiah 11:1 and Jer. 23:5.

• How does v. 13 relate to the description of Jesus in Heb. 4:14-16 & 8:1? How and why does Jesus merge the roles of priest and king? What will characterize the relationship between church and state in Jesus’ ultimate reign (v. 13)? 

• Have you received Jesus’ peace? See John 14:27.

Zechariah 6:12-13English Standard Version (ESV)

12 And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. 13 It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there[a] shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’

Advent Meditation Week 2

December 5: Isaiah 11:1-10

• This prophecy was given over 700 years before Jesus was born. In what ways did Jesus fulfill these prophecies during his earthly ministry? In what ways are these prophecies yet to be fulfilled?

• How will Jesus’ kingdom be different from all current governments including the United States? Pray for His kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

Isaiah 11:1-10English Standard Version (ESV)

The Righteous Reign of the Branch

  11 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

 6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
    and a little child shall lead them.
 7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
 9 They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

 10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.