A new year

My dear one, 

I think of you on this eve of the new year. My heart continues to pray for you, even when I don't know the words to use. 

I plan to pick back up with more consistent writing in the days to come. This holiday season, stressful though it has been as I am visiting family, has given me some time to "re-boot," and I have been feeding on a particular theme in Scripture that has given me strength to face 2015! More on that soon...

For now, I wish you a blessed year, and I save my midnight kiss for you.

All my love, 
Your Evenstar

Heidelberg Catechism Week 52

127. Q. What does the sixth request mean? A. "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one" means, By ourselves we are too weak to hold our own even for a moment. And our sworn enemies - the devil, the world, and our own flesh - never stop attacking us. And so, Lord, uphold us and make us strong with the strength of Your Holy Spirit, so that we may not go down to defeat in this spiritual struggle, but may firmly resist our enemies until we finally win the complete victory.

128. Q. What does your conclusion to this prayer mean? A. "For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever" means, We have made all these requests of You because, as our all-powerful King, You not only want to, but are able to give us all that is good; and because Your holy name, and not we ourselves, should receive all the praise, forever.

129. Q. What does that little word "Amen" express? A. "Amen" means, This is sure to be! It is even more sure that God listens to my prayer, than that I really desire what I pray for.

My reflections on the reading from the book...

DeYoung: "God loves it when we pray, because sincere, honest prayer in Jesus' name shows two of the most essential virtues in a Christian: humility and trust." 

"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:15-16). 

"God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Cor. 10:13). That "way to escape" is not freedom from temptation, but victory in temptation. The apostle Paul knew this deliverance, and he saw it to be a continuing deliverance: "The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heaven kingdom: to Whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (2 Tim. 4:18). And one day we will be completely delivered from the presence of all sin and evil!

Thine is the kingdom – Thy kingdom come!
Praise ye the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!

Thine is the power – Thy will be done!
Praise ye the Lord, Who over all things so wondrously reigneth!

Thine is the glory – Hallowed be Thy name!
Praise ye the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!

"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." (Jude 24-25)

Heidelberg Catechism Week 51

126. Q. What does the fifth request mean? A. "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" means, Because of Christ's blood, do not hold against us, poor sinners that we are, any of the sins we do or the evil that constantly clings to us. Forgive us just as we are fully determined, as evidence of Your grace in us, to forgive our neighbors.

My reflections on the reading from the book...

DeYoung: "Forgiveness means our sins are no longer counted against us and we no longer count the sins of those who have hurt us."

Unwillingness to extend forgiveness to those who have wronged me is a sin that I must confess and repent of, if I sense it creeping into my life – because it hinders my fellowship with God! The parable of the unmerciful servant (Matt. 18:23-35) tells of one who refused to demonstrate to others the same forgiveness and kindness that he himself had received. This parable underscores the vital link between God's forgiveness of us and our own forgiving spirit. If I am unable to forgive others, I should look closely at my relationship with the Lord! 

May I treat others as the Lord has treated me – with forgiveness and grace! "Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Eph. 4:32). It is through my Christlike attitude of forgiveness that I point others to the Saviour!

It's no fairy tale...

What little girl doesn't dream of being a princess? I believe that such a "fairy-tale wish" for a prince to choose her, pursue her, sweep her off her feet, make her his own, pledge to her his life, give her his kingdom, is fundamentally a God-given desire. However, that longing cannot be ultimately fulfilled in an earthly spouse, but rather by the Heavenly Bridegroom, the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of waiting impatiently for a modern-day "knight-in-shining-armor" to arrive on the scene and make me his bride, I am called to eagerly anticipate the coming of Christ to join His bride, the Church. He has established a kingdom, and He is preparing for me a dwelling-place and a marriage feast. By uniting with the other members of His Church, I testify that He has purchased me and cleansed me with His blood, and declared me His beautiful and chosen one. This season of Advent, I eagerly read and re-read His messages of love and seek for ways to honor that love. I turn my focus to the idea of waiting, anticipating, preparing myself for His coming and the consummation of blessings that are already mine.

John Piper: "[God] may be . . . graciously and tenderly frustrating you with life that is not centered on Christ and filling you with longings and desires that can't find their satisfaction in what this world offers, but only in the God-man."

Heidelberg Catechism Week 50

125. Q. What does the fourth request mean? A. "Give us today our daily bread" means, Do take care of all our physical needs so that we come to know that You are the only source of everything good, and that neither our work and worry nor Your gifts can do us any good without Your blessings. And so help us to give up our trust in creatures and to put trust in You alone.

My reflections on the reading from the book...

DeYoung: "The simple act of getting on our knees... is the surest sign of our humility and dependence on God. There may be many reasons for our prayerlessness - time management, busyness, lack of concentration - but most fundamentally, we ask not because we think we need not... Prayerlessness is an expression of our meager confidence in God's ability to provide and of our strong confidence in our ability to take care of ourselves without God's help."

It is no accident that the Lord's Prayer opens with petitions concerning God Himself (His glory, kingdom, and will), before turning to personal needs. This order reflects the priorities we must maintain in our thinking and our praying. In fact, this sixth chapter of Matthew ends with the reminder to "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness," and THEN "all these things shall be added unto you" (verse 33).

Yet we are indeed invited to make our everyday material needs known to our Heavenly Father. We acknowledge that we come to the throne of grace empty-handed, dependent upon our Jehovah-Jireh, the God who provides. When we read Abraham's confident statement to Isaac, "My son, God will provide himself a lamb" (Gen. 22:8), we look ahead to the time when Christ, the Lamb of God, became God's provision for us – the perfect Substitute and Sacrifice.

Exodus 16 records for us how our faithful God sustained Israel each day with manna in the wilderness. Through this miracle, the people learned lessons about daily dependence and trust. The Lord desires for us to exhibit the same attitude as we look to Him in faith to provide everything we need: from physical nourishment and strength, to the salvation of our souls! Let us sing with the Psalmist, "The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing" (Ps. 145:15-16).

Advent longings

"Celebrating Advent means being able to wait. Waiting is an art that our impatient age has forgotten. It wants to break open the ripe fruit when it has hardly finished planting the shoot. But all too often greedy eyes are only deceived; the fruit that seemed so precious is still green on the inside, and disrespectful hands ungratefully toss aside what has so disappointed them. Whoever does not know the austere blessedness of waiting—that is, of hopefully doing without—will never experience the full blessing of fulfillment. Those who do not know how it feels to struggle anxiously with the deepest questions of life, of their life, and to patiently look forward with anticipation until the truth is revealed, cannot even dream of the splendour of the moment in which clarity is illuminated for them... For the greatest, most profound, tenderest things in the world, we must wait. It happens not here in a storm but according to the divine laws of sprouting, growing, and becoming... Not everyone can wait: neither the sated nor the satisfied nor those without respect can wait. The only ones who can wait are people who carry restlessness around with them and people who look up with reverence to the greatest in the world. Thus Advent can be celebrated only by those whose souls give them no peace, who know that there poor and incomplete, and who sense something of the greatness that is supposed to come, before which they can only bow in humble timidity, waiting until he inclines himself toward us—the Holy One himself, God in the child in the manger."
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"If there is a longing in your heart this Advent for something that the world has not been able to satisfy, might not this longing be God's Christmas gift preparing you to see Christ as consolation and redemption...?" 

— John Piper

Heidelberg Catechism Week 49

124. Q. What does the third request mean? A. "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" means, Help us and all people to reject our own wills and to obey Your will without any back talk. Your will alone is good. Help us one and all to carry out the work we are called to, as willingly and faithfully as the angels in heaven.

My reflections on the reading from the book...

DeYoung: "When we pray 'Your will be done,' we are confessing our confidence that God knows best, that His plans are good, that His way is always the right way." 

George Muller, a servant of the Lord known for his perseverance in prayer, provides us with some valuable counsel:

1. Be slow to take new steps in the Lord's service, or in your business, or in your families: weigh everything well; weigh all in the light of the Holy Scriptures and in the fear of God.
2. Seek to have no will of your own, in order to ascertain the mind of God, regarding any steps you propose taking, so that you can honestly say you are willing to do the will of God, if He will only please to instruct you.
3. But when you have found out what the will of God is, seek for His help, and seek it earnestly, perseveringly, patiently, believingly, expectantly; and you will surely in His own time and way obtain it.

Thou sweet beloved will of God,
My anchor ground, my fortress hill,
My spirit's silent, fair abode,
In Thee I hide me, and am still.

O Will that willest good alone,
Lead Thou the way, Thou guidest best;
A little child, I follow on,
And trusting, lean upon Thy breast.

O lightest burden, sweetest yoke!
It lifts, it bears my happy soul;
It giveth wings to this poor heart;
My freedom is Thy grand control.

Upon God's will I lay me down,
As child upon its mother's breast;
No silken couch, nor softest bed,
Could ever give me such deep rest.

Thou wonderful, grand will, my God,
With triumph now I make it mine;
And faith shall cry a joyous "Yes!"
To ev'ry dear command of Thine. 

(Gerhard Tersteegen, stanzas 1-2, & Jean S. Pigott, stanzas 3-5)

Stumps and branches

"Out of the stump of David's family will grow a shoot - yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root" (Isaiah 11:1). What hope in this promise of the Saviour!

I too am a lifeless stump, longing for a tender shoot of hope. I wait for love, I yearn for companionship. But God calls me to notice new life in another area - He points to the work His Spirit is doing in my heart to enable me to see the love He has for me, the companionship He provides, the joy and satisfaction only He can give.

As I sit by my newly decorated Christmas tree and listen to Advent music centuries old, I wish I could share these beautiful moments with a kindred spirit. And then my heart whispers, "You are not alone. Immanuel!" Words of deep consolation - God with me!