Daily Devotion for December 5, 2015
Prayers
Scripture
Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
Something a bit different for our “Saturday Oldie” this week.The video quality of this is poor, but well worth it.
Morning Prayer of (St.) Thérèse of Lisieux
O my God! I offer Thee all my actions of this day for the intentions and for the glory of Christ Jesus. I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart, my every thought, my simplest works, by uniting them to His infinite merits; and I wish to make reparation for my sins by casting them into the furnace of His Merciful Love.
O my God! I ask of Thee for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to fulfill perfectly Thy Holy Will, to accept for love of Thee the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in heaven for all Eternity.
For Contentment
Heavenly Father, I have spent my life constantly wanting more. Let me be content. If I am having trouble paying my bills, let me look to those who live in cardboard shacks without clean water; if my vision is poor, let me help the blind; if my mobility is impaired, let me visit a prison filled with those who can walk and run; if I envy the young, let me pray for those who were killed by their mothers in the womb.
I too often look to those who have something I do not, or more of something I want; let me give thanks for the great bounty you have showered upon me, oh Lord, remembering in my envy and pain that all I have is a gift from you. In the name of Christ I pray,
Meditation
[Let me be content.]
Doxology
And now let me go forth praising you, O Lord, with all my heart, telling of all your wonders, with my words and in my actions. I will be glad and rejoice in you this day. I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.
A Clever Trick
The supreme trick of Old Scratch is to have us so busy decorating, preparing food, practicing music and cleaning in preparation for the feast of Christmas that we actually miss the coming of Christ. Hurt feelings, anger, impatience, injured egos — the list of clouds that busyness creates to blind us to the birth can be long, but it is familiar to us all.
Edward Hays, A Pilgrim’s Almanac
Isaiah 12 (ESV)
The Coming of Christ
You will say in that day:
The Prophet Isaiah
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.
“Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day:
“Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.
“Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
Notes on the Scripture
If you have read Isaiah 11, you will see that this chapter is clearly a song of joy at the birth of Christ. The first words, “in that day”, are a continuation of the preceding chapter, which describe the birth of a saviour from the root of Jesse. Isaiah 11:10 actually begins this passage: "In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.”
The degree to which Isaiah anticipates the fundamental doctrine of Christianity is astonishing. His notion that the “nations will rally” to God and that the Messiah will “make known to the nations what He has done” are contrary to Jewish thought. Israel (including Judah) is living under the first covenant of Abraham and Moses, which provides that God will bless, not the people of the world, but the descendants of Abraham. And the nations hardly rallied to their message. Joshua and the other great vehicles of the Jewish accession of Canaan bought it with blood and slaughter, not by conversion and incorporation.
Isaiah even uses the important Christian metaphor of water, as the vehicle or symbol of receiving salvation. He does not describe salvation by following the Law (although he certainly chides Israel for its sins), but rather, describes a means by which God's anger for sin might be turned away.
