Category: Devotions

Praying the song of Simeon

Luke 2: 25-29 “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

²⁹ ‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace…’

 

So what does Luke tell us about this man?

He is righteous, he’s a good man to have around, you can count on him, dependable, walked with God, he chose wisely.

He is devout, he’s a devoted to God kind of man, someone who served God, who gave his life to Him and the work of God.

He embraced the suffering of Israel and their desperate need for a Messiah to come and strengthen the people, ‘comfort my people’ would have been his prayer.

 

What else?

Oh yes!! The Holy Spirit was on him. Such beautiful words. It is all that matters. Already on this first day of 2019 I have heard of people being thought not qualified enough or experienced enough. Friends, the only thing that matters, above all else, is this one thing. You can have all the degrees possible and years of experience and yet not have this one thing. Is the Holy Spirit on you?

 

What happened?

The Holy Spirit orchestrated this meeting. No one had noticed Jesus other than he was a baby with his parents being presented as the Law of Moses required. He’s at the right time in the right place. The Holy Spirit opened his eyes to see Jesus.

 

What was the effect on Simeon?

He had now seen an answer to his many years of praying. This was the one thing he wanted to see before he died. He had seen it.

 

Here is my prayer:    

 

Sovereign Lord, Master of my life,

I commit my ways before you. I commit to living right and to being devoted in all my ways to serving you. I choose to work for you with all my soul, strength, heart and mind.

I live amongst people who need Jesus. They are blind and lost, they are in chains and trapped behind prison doors of addiction and brokenness. Comfort these people. Come Lord Jesus Come.

Start in me! Come on me! I need your presence. I desire you. I have nothing without the Holy Spirit being on me. I wait for you.

There is one thing I need to see and that is your work in my life. Speak to me, move me to the place you want me to be. I want to be where you want me to be. Open my eyes to see Jesus. Open my eyes to see what you are doing. Let me see what others miss or dismiss.

This is my life goal, this is what I want to see before I die. Come Lord. In your Sovereignty let it be.

Amen

When you can’t afford the offering.

Luke 2: 22-27

When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord’), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: ‘a pair of doves or two young pigeons’.

 

After the birth of a child the mother became unclean according to the Jewish custom and couldn’t be permitted to worship at the Temple or even be seen in public.

If the child was a boy this would last for 40 days and for a girl it would be 80 days.

After this time the parents would have to purchase the sacrificial lamb or birds in order to be clean again. The birds were for the poor people’s offering, which Joseph and Mary at that time were.

Can you imagine what was going on in the minds of these parents knowing they could not afford the lamb? That they had to bring a poor man’s sacrifice?

Mary had given birth to the Son of God, the Christ and he deserved a better offering than they could bring.

Joseph and Mary would never have bought a pair of cheap birds for the sacrifice if they could have afforded more.

However, I see a different picture. I see this couple walking to the temple carrying the Lamb of God in their arms. Their lamb was more superior to all the other lambs.

You see, if you are carrying His presence then you might not have what others have, but you certainly have all that is needed.

It is important for us to read ahead.

V25-27. “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts.”

V38 “She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she (Anna) gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”

So picture this: on that day we have 2 poor parents carrying the Lamb of God into the Temple and they meet 2 old people, Simeon who is concerned with the comforting of suffering Israel and Anna who knows first-hand how the people were longing for their redemption and a Saviour to come.

So Luke is clearly showing us what is important. Can you see it yet?

Poor Joseph and Mary … carrying the lamb of God.

Suffering Simeon … who had the Holy Spirit on him, who received from Him and was moved by Him.

Longing for change Anna … a worshipper.

Today however you describe your situation and circumstance:

The question is are you carrying His presence?

You may be poor but are you carrying His presence?

You may be suffering but are you carrying His presence?

You may be longing for change but are you carrying His presence?

You may be well on in years but are you carrying His presence?

The list continues and you fill it in. Your life is not perfect by any means but are you carrying His presence?

This incredible world-changing story tells us that life may not look like what people had expected. There may be suffering and difficulties. But this story can become your story. Here are 4 people of different ages gathered around a little baby. This baby is for all ages. Immanuel. God with Us. As we end this year make that commitment to learn to host Him and to know that hosting Him is all that is needed.

Mohel: The man who circumcised Jesus

Luke 2: 21

On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

 

The traditional Church have a celebration on January 1^st called, the Feast of the Circumcision. It is a reminder of how Mary and Joseph from the beginning were determined to bring Jesus up in the way of Jehovah. They were not disobedient to the Law of Moses which clearly stated that the boy needed to be circumcised on the 8^th day after his birth (Lev 12:3). He was a child of the covenant of Abraham whose blessing was for the nations. They were not disobedient either to the angel who had instructed Mary to name her son Jesus (1:31). Jesus was also for the nations, for all people, the Saviour, Christ the Lord.

This morning I ponder this simple verse. Jesus, name above all names, God incarnate, Saviour to the world who has his penis cut. How can this be in the same verse? How can the holy and the perfect be mentioned in such earthy practices? We are thankful that it is for it shows the humanity of Jesus.

But I want to know about the man who made the cut. Who took the blade and brought the first shedding of the blood of Jesus? In ancient times it would be the father but not by the time of Joseph, he would have taken his son with Mary to a special rabbi, to a Mohel, they still operate today. They would have paid this man to perform this important ceremony.

Mohel’s never make it into the nativity plays even though this man appeared well before the gold, frankincense and myrrh did. But who was he? Did he ever meet the man Jesus? Was he there at the shedding of the blood of Jesus on the cross?

We have to assume the following:

When Mohel cut Jesus, it was one of hundreds maybe thousands that he had done. Jesus was just one of many.

Mohel didn’t see any connection in this procedure and the baby’s death.

Mohel had no idea Jesus was special, that He was the Messiah.

As blood poured from the genital organ of Jesus and as he gave instructions to Mary how to keep it clean so that it would heal quickly and well, Mohel was blind to the sacredness of that moment.

We would not judge Mohel for his blindness.

But what about our blindness to the sacred?

When we gather to worship in churches is what we see too casual that we miss the importance? We focus on one thing but miss the whole thing. The music is too long, loud, too contemporary, too traditional, quiet and too short. It is too human and we have become blinded to what is in front of us.

When we are with people, they are too human so that we miss the fact that they are eternal beings, we have become blind.

We must be discipled to hold the earthy and the special together at the same time, heaven and earth, let us never lose the wonder in our world.

 

 

God incarnated into the normal

Luke 2:8-20

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by … Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s …” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child …”

Would we have recognised Him?

Do we now?

v17 “When they had seen him …”

The Message says “Seeing was believing”

There was more pomp and circumstance in the fields of the hill outside Bethlehem than on the Saviour Christ the Lord.

It was like the social media advert about the Church service coming up didn’t actually at first sight match up to all the stupendous promises.

There was no gold, frankincense and myrrh. That would not happen till maybe two years later when the baby is referred to as a child and when the child is not in a manger but in a house.

There was no message. There was no music.

There were signs of poverty.

The baby was just a baby. He didn’t wink or give the thumbs up sign.

But Zechariah says we should not despise the day of small things.

God’s work is done “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit”.

A frightening thought this might be, but you and I may have been one of those who went and said “That’s not God.” We may have been a tad disappointed.

Can you believe that what you see in your church are the hallmarks of God?

Maybe in your church there isn’t a lot of powerful demonstrations of the heavenlies as on that Bethlehem hillside, maybe it is just ‘normal’ and maybe your faith in God is just normal.

But don’t turn away from what you describe as normal because God could well be there, hidden and humble, meek and mild but ready …!

Search for what God wants you to have

Luke 2:8-20

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

v16 in the Amplified it says ‘by searching found’

The shepherds searched for Jesus.

Are you still a pilgrim?

Do you still pant like a deer for the water?

The shepherds were willing and they were persistent.

• Be willing

This might seem strange to you, but God does want you to have good times and good experiences.

He wants you to run a good race, Galatians 5:7

He wants you to do good works, Ephesians 2:10

He has good gifts for you James 1:17

He is good 1 Peter 2:3

He wants you to have good health 3 John 2

But it is not all one way. He wants you to be willing to have what He wants to give you. He wants your partnership.

Mary had a visit by the angel, but she had to be willing, “May it be to me as you have said.”

The shepherds weren’t presented with Jesus nor were they picked up and dumped into the manger scene.

God won’t force you to have good things for your life. He won’t deliver them without your full participation and He won’t drag you into them either.

• Be persistent

What could stop you? It could be distraction, discouragement and disappointment.

Don’t think they ran into Bethlehem with an A-Z map and all they had to do was find Manger Street.

May be they tried every cowshed in Bethlehem before they found the one with a baby in it, for that is the meaning of the word ‘search’.

What has tried to stop you this week?

What is it going to take for you to seek God until you find Him?

Speed up!

The shepherds got to the right place because they were able to keep in step with the moment.

Luke 2:8-20

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

The Amplified says ‘they went with haste’ and the Message ‘they left, running’. There are times when going slow and taking your time is not an option. We must:

• Take our opportunities

The shepherds were never commanded to go, they were given the opportunity. What if they had put off today what they could do today?

We need to learn to be as obedient to the opportunity as the command.

– Take the opportunity to give

Proverbs 3:28 Do not say to your neighbour, “Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow”– when you now have it with you.

– Take the opportunity to encourage

Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

– Take the opportunity to respond to God

Hebrews 3:7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.

• Know our priorities

The angel of the Lord suddenly reorganised their priorities.

The sheep were their priority and it still was but now they knew what was the most important priority.

Some people would have said ‘right let’s take all the sheep with us to Bethlehem, because we have got to keep working!’

What do you need to stop doing so that you can become more effective? What do you have to delegate?

• Use the momentum of the moment

Whether it be a ‘great company of the heavenly host’ or a ‘star in the east’, ‘a burning bush experience’ or a ‘light from heaven on the Damascus Road’. For you, maybe it is a challenge from someone you trust. Maybe it is an experience of God’s presence as you listened to that worship cd.

In every ‘God-moment’ there is a momentum that needs to be used there and then.

May our prayer be that in 2019 we can realign our lives and respond to the moments God graciously gives us to get to where he wants us, with speed!

Nearby is not nearly enough

Luke 2:8-20

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

These shepherds did not know (until they were told) how near they were to the place God had for them.

There are people waking today saying, “I was just so close. I was nearly there, but I missed out!” There can be no greater frustration, no greater regret than being so close, so near to all God has for you and knowing it.

As we approach the end of this year I want to ask, what did it take for these shepherds to move from nearby to a place where they would be envied for generations? This is what I will be focusing on the next few days.

More importantly what is it going to take for us to get to where we could be in God?

What good is nearby?

Nearby is for commentators, for people who know the theory, who can talk a good talk, but nearby is not ‘there’.

Nearby can be caring for sacrificial animals which all point to a coming Messiah and yet isn’t close enough to be with the Lamb who had been born.

What good is nearby?

What good is it for a Church to be doing well? What does ‘doing well’ mean? Is it numbers? Finances? Ministries? Buildings filled at events? It is possible to ‘do well’ and not have seen Christ the Lord. These are never arrival points. These are signs of the Spirit, we are nearby, but there is still some distance between us and the presence of Christ the Lord.

Let’s make nearby our enemy. Nearby is not nearly enough.

He came

Luke 2:1-7

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

At a time when world leaders were flexing their muscles, Jesus came.

At a time of Empires and World powers such as Syria, Jesus came.

At a time when people were being forced to comply to rules of control, Jesus came.

At a time of mass movements of people, Jesus came.

At a time of personal, hidden and difficult life-stories, Jesus came and was the centre of one of them.

It could have been 2018. It could still be!

The world is noisy and God quietly moves in.

The world is distracted and God slips in unnoticed.

There is nothing that can stop Him.

No walls that He can’t break down or mountains He can’t take down.

To come to us.

Unto us a child is born.

Luke 1:80

“And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.”

The wilderness years are not where you are destined for but where you grow to move into your destiny.

The wilderness years are hidden years where the public don’t see you nor know you are there.

The wilderness years can be lived in, you can find a way to dwell there.

The wilderness years are the time when nothing much grows, except you.

The wilderness years don’t shrink you but enlarge you.

The wilderness years don’t weaken you but strengthen you.

The wilderness years will come to an end, they are temporary.

The wilderness years are essential.

The wilderness years are for people like Joseph, Moses, Elijah, David, Job and Paul.

So if you are in a wilderness you will know you are not the first to be there and not the last.

Praying the Benedictus 12

Luke 1: 79 “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven …

to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

The reason Jesus was born was because God wanted to guide us into the place of peace.

It is a peace that cost Jesus His life.

It is a peace because sins are forgiven.

It is a peace of knowing there is no separation from God.

It is a peace that comes from our friendship with God.

It is a peace that can never be taken away once it has been given.

It is an eternal peace.

Today we do not wake up in darkness and under death’s shadow.

That is not us.

But we align ourselves with what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:6

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness, ‘made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”

It is never over for us because of the eternal light which will always shine through our lives.

We face trouble but the light is shining through our troubles.

We approach the darkness of people’s lives and the light brightens their perspectives.

Death does its best to cast its fear but the shadows flee because of the light.

This is our peace and it is our message.

This is our song and our Benedictus.

Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel.

 

Prayer

My eternal Peace

I Praise the God of Israel and the God of my heart who has come and changed my life.

You have given me what the world only offers to give but never delivers.

You have given me peace.

No matter how dark it becomes your light shines strong and bright.

Let the light of Christ be seen in my face today.

I cast the shadows away as your light shines from within.

You are the light of the world and the light of my world for all eternity.

And this is my eternal Benedictus.

Amen