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.

Let There Be Light 1st Sunday in Advent Read: Genesis 1:1-5

“God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.” Genesis 1:4 (NIV-UK) Watching TV one evening after dinner, suddenly everything went dark – the power went off. What is the first thing we all went to look for? Torches, candles and matches to bring light to the darkness. I don’t mind the darkness when I am sleeping, but when I am awake, I don’t like the dark. There is something scary of not being able to see what is around. The first thing that God created on the first day was light. Everything was dark and it was formless, but God wanted more… so ‘light’ was created and God said that the light was good. Light is necessary for making all of God’s creative works visible and makes life possible.

Even creatures that live in the nighttime adapt to ‘see’ in the dark. Both day and night belong to the Lord. But it is the light that brings life. I found a quote about light from the National Geographic: “Light reveals the world to us. Body and soul crave it. Light sets our biological clocks. It triggers in our brains the sensations of colour. Light feeds us, supplying the energy for plants to grow. It inspires us with special effects like rainbows and sunsets. Light gives us life-changing tools, from incandescent bulbs to lasers and fibre optics. Scientists don’t fully understand what light is or what it can do.

They just know it will illuminate our future.” But within the darkness before light, we read that already God’s Spirit was ‘hovering’, ready for action as soon as God spoke the words. When you feel that you are in the dark physically or figuratively, know that God’s Spirit is there ‘hovering’ to care for you and lead you into the light. Before light was created everything was a void; dark and deep.

Then in Revelation 21:1, 25, in the end times, God tells us there will be no more darkness and no more deepness – God will illuminate everything. This Advent season remember that God is there bringing you His light and order into your life. God is at work in your life… and sometimes you get to see it! Prayer: My Heavenly Father, all you had to do was speak the words to bring life and light into the world. Light my life this Advent season to see you at work in and through me. Use me to bring light to others.

Amen