Skip to main content

Day 10, IN you

Advent means "arrival, coming", and in it we celebrate, and anticipate, the coming of Jesus.  Here's something to think about:  Jesus came INTO our world - the incarnation means "Immanuel", God is with us;  but also Jesus comes INTO our lives - personally. 
Mary experienced this.  Jesus was born through her.  She carried Jesus "in" her; but at the same time, Jesus came into the world "for" her too.

 Luke 1:30-31,
30  And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
Luke 1:34-35
34  And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”  35  the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 

If the incarnation means anything, it means Christ comes "into" our world to be "in" us.  Mary is carrying in her womb - a son - and, his name is "Yahweh saves".  Then Gabriel says to her...it will happen as the Holy Spirit comes upon you and God's power makes it happen.

What God told Gabriel to tell Mary is a physical description brought about by the supernatural power of God.  That same thing is also what happens to us in coming to Christ.  God comes "in".  It's just two letters, a preposition, but one that aptly describes the beauty of Christ for us.  He comes to live IN us.

John 14:18-20
18  “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
20  In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

Ephesians 3:14-17
14  For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ...that he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  17  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,



Colossians 1:27
27  To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.




Mary begins the process.  Jesus grew in Mary until he came out.  It is not different today. 
Can we understand this?  Jesus is to grow in us, and keep coming out of us.  We live with this promise and power - Christ in us.  Mary carried him physically, but each of us can experience Christ at work "In us".

Is it true?  Paul says "yes". 
Galatians 2:20
20  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 

My friends, there is nothing more beautiful than to walk through any day with the one who has loved us from eternity past and will continue to love us into eternity future.

Peace

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday, Day 25: Christmas Eve - God Loves Us (So We Can Relax)

For Kids: There’s a lot of things we have to do each day. Get up from our sleep, Get dressed, Eat Breakfast, Get ready for School, Listen to the teacher, play with friends, eat our lunch, and after it’s all done, go back home. There’s time to play, Then we eat our supper… And eventually we have to get ready for bed and go to sleep! And then we do it all over again the next day. Sometimes there’s a vacation - like right now - and we get more time to play, to have fun and not have to do work at school. Our parents are good at helping us know what time it is and what we need to do next – even when we don’t want to move on to the next thing.  God is also good at helping us know what time it is, and what is next.  He doesn’t shout at us, or yell, or even scream…he does it peacefully, quietly.  He wants us to understand that he does it, most of all, for us. Christmas can be quite busy and there’s lots of things going on at once…but let us not forg
Post a Comment
Read more

The Tabernacle

The readings today are Exodus 36, 37, 38 I wanted to post some pictures of what these various parts of the Tabernacle looked like. It's not the easiest read in the world, but if you persevere through it, you can get a picture of all the different pieces that made up the tabernacle. It is a replica of the various parts of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness: First thing in the chapter listed is the outside of the tabernacle which consisted of curtains tied together and put on cross bars through loops. Next at the beginning of 37 is the table and lampstand: Also, the altar of incense: And, the altar for the burnt offering which was in the courtyard: Finally, the courtyard which made it all come together: Hope that helps with what it might have all looked like. Most importantly, this was their "place" of worship they were building. I hope you have a great day of worship. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
1 comment
Read more

The difference between defending and explaining

The news of recent has focused the suffering of Christians in the middle east who have been martyred for their faith in Christ at the hands of Islamic Terrorists. Through the centuries many Christians have lost their lives as a result of their faith. For us, who live in America, there is little chance that we would have this happen here - but it's entirely possibly that terrorism will strike out at Christians sometime.  But, for many Christians in the western world - especially here in the U.S. - being a Christians who believes God's word there is a form of persecution that is defined by words like "ostracized", "passed over", "ridiculed", and more. What do we do in the face of opposition to faith? When the Apostle Peter writes to the early believers who are undergoing great pressure, even persecution for their faith in Jesus, he gives them this charge. 1 Peter 3:8-18 8  Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly lov
1 comment
Read more