God Speaks
The Beginning of a New Era: First from a Human Perspective, Then from a Heavenly Perspective
Verse of the Day: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.” (Luke 1:68 NIV 2011)
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We Respond
Luke 1
Reflection: The gospel according to Luke was written by a physician and the only gentile writer of the New Testament. His attention to detail and focus on the marginalized in the culture of that day adds a richness to his recounting of Jesus’s life that other gospels do not address. This chapter of 80 verses could be divided into several sections: author’s introduction (verses 1-4), Zacharias’ encounter with an angel (5-23), Elizabeth’s response to her pregnancy (24-25), the angel’s announcement to Mary (26-38), Mary’s response including the Magnificat (39-56), the birth of John the Baptist (57-66), and Zacharias’ prophecy (67-80).
Prayer: Dear God who created human beings and chooses to use us, flawed as we are, to accomplish Your good and loving purposes, please help Your followers to investigate and be assured of the truth of all we have been taught about Jesus and Your great love expressed through Him. Thank You for blessing Zacharias and Elizabeth in enabling them to parent John the baptizer and forerunner of Jesus. However You choose to speak to us, may we respond in faith like Mary not skeptically like Zacharias. Like Elizabeth, may we continually thank You for taking away our disgrace, whatever it is. Lord, I can do no better than to repeat Mary’s prayer back to You applying its thankfulness and praise to my situation. The same goes for Zacharias’ prophecy. Please fulfill it in this time in history for the glory of Your great name. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, which one of these He wants you to work on or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will read Mary’s prayer of praise aloud and ask God to help me to have that kind of alignment with His will, regardless of my circumstances.
- I will read Zacharias’ prophecy aloud and ask God to fulfill it in this day and time.
- I will ask God how He wants me to act on these prayers and then do what He says.
- I will encourage others in the ways God is directing them as Elizabeth did with both Mary and Zacharias.
John 1
Reflection: This chapter implies the question, “Who is Jesus?” It was answered with several terms or declarations by various people: the Word, life, light, glory, grace and truth, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the one on whom the Holy Spirit came and remained, the Chosen one of God, Rabbi (Teacher), the Christ (Messiah), the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about, the Son of God, and King of Israel. The Word as the Apostle John uses it here is Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, God the Son. He is God’s living explanation of Himself to mankind. “Christ” is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah.” The Jewish people had been anticipating the coming of Messiah since the time of Moses. In this chapter, we are told how John the Baptist testified of Jesus. It also tells how Jesus called Andrew, Simon (Peter), Philip, Nathanael, (and presumably John) to be some of His closest followers.
Prayer: Dear great and awesome triune God, thank You that “In the beginning Jesus already existed. Jesus was with You, Lord God, and Jesus was God. Jesus existed in the beginning with You. You created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. Jesus gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”* Thank You for this great truth. Thank You, Jesus, for being life, light, glory, grace and truth, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the one on whom the Holy Spirit came and remained, the Chosen one of God, Rabbi (Teacher), the Christ (Messiah), the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about, the Son of God, and King of Israel. You are not only these things to the world in general, but You are also each of them to me personally. I declare that there is nothing (no thing or person or circumstance) that can extinguish Your love-light-life in and for me. I trust You, Lord Jesus, to work everything out for Your glory and my ultimate good. Help me to stay close to You as these early disciples did. Help me, too, to tell other people about You as John the Baptist, Andrew, and Philip did. May all Your followers bring glory to God. AMEN
* an adaptation of John 1:1-5 The New Living Translation
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, which one of these He wants you to work on or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will take significant time to contemplate each of the names and descriptive terms for Jesus listed above.
- I will pray each of these terms aloud as a way of praising Jesus, God the Son.
- I will write out who Jesus is to me and why I think this way.
- I will tell someone specific what I have been thinking about Jesus and the difference He has and is making in my life.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.