Advent: The coming joy

The thong of his sandal He raises the poor from the dust, And lifts the needy from the ash heap. Psalm 113:7   Read John 1:25—27 I love the words of John, ‘I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.’ I love it because Jesus for his part had words about John:…

Advent: The messenger of God

Under the new name Be lifted up, O ancient doors! That the king of glory may come in. Psalm 24:9   Read Isaiah 62:10—12 If the children of Israel, the people of Judah, had been sitting morose, exiled from their promised land, and had run through what the prophets had said, they could have heard…

Advent: The messenger of God

So much more Happy if with my latest breath I might but gasp his name. Charles Wesley   Read 2 Timothy 4:5—8 Apart from those in intolerable despair or unbearable pain, even when I have sat with people old and frail and bedridden; even when they are full of living, vibrant faith; even when they…

Advent: The messenger of God

The place for the redeemed Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, And righteousness will look down from the sky. Psalm 85:11   Read Hosea 14:5—9 So this is why I have planted a garden! Why I am caught by the sparkle in the dew, the blossoms and the shooting plants. Fragrance! Why I sniff…

Advent: The messenger of God

The testimony of John To declare your steadfast love in the morning, And your faithfulness by night. Psalm 92:2   Read John 5:31—36 It has been good to learn, in fact it’s liberating to learn, that when I give praise to another it does not hurt me a bit. When I really honour someone else…

Advent: The messenger of the Lord

A new name Be strong, and let your heart take courage, All you who wait for the Lord. Psalm 31:24   Read Luke 1:57—63 Choosing a name for a child: who is he? Who is she? This one is John, ‘God’s gracious gift.’ Of course he is God’s gift. He was unexpected. But tell that…

Advent: The messenger of the Lord

Search me, O God Search me, O God, and know my heart; Test me and know my thoughts. Psalm 139:23   Read Luke 1:13—17 How to express the central challenge I find in this reading? Here is a childless couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth, promised a son. Most couples I know will say, at the prospect…

Advent: The coming Saviour

My dream. God’s promise The water that I will give will become in them A spring of water gushing up to eternal life. John 4:14   Read Isaiah 35:1—7 Every doctor or physician who looks at a decrepit body must wish for it to be vibrant with life, seeing, hearing, leaping, singing. Every farmer looking…

Advent: The coming Saviour

The Beginning that is the End I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, The beginning and the end. Revelation 22:13   Read Revelation 1:4—8 He is yet to be revealed. At least to those who do not believe him. I see him by faith. I know him as freedom from…

Advent: The coming Saviour

Your dwelling place My soul longs, indeed it faints For the courts of the Lord. Psalm 84:2   Read Haggai 2:5—9 The efforts to rebuild the broken-down Temple in Jerusalem were pretty feeble in Haggai’s eyes, nothing like the splendour needed for the House of the Lord. This night I can begin where Haggai stood…