Devotional
Taking back Christmas
Isa 9:2, 6&7
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Taking back Christmas - Isa 9:2, 6&7

The People walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the lands of the shadow of death a light has dawned.  (Isa. 9:2 NIV)

 Norman Sawchuck and Rueben P. Job  in “A Guide to Prayer for all who seek God” write,

”Advent marks the beginning of the church year and lays before

us the pathway of faith for the year ahead.  Advent initiates

once again remembering, retelling, and celebrating the whole

drama of God's Revelation.

 
Four weeks is the limit to this season that declares the truth

about a God whose love and resourcefulness have no limits.

"Advent" has its roots in the Latin word "adventus," or

coming. This season proclaims the coming of Christ in the

Birth of Jesus, in the Word and Spirit, and in the final

victory when God's kingdom shall be complete.

 

Our privilege as Christians is to receive the gracious gift

of God's presence in Christ.  Our task is to prepare for His

Coming, so that we will not miss life's greatest gift.”

 
The Advent Season 2005 is upon us.  Already the rush and bustle of the season has begun.  We are busy preparing our gifts for family and friends as an expression of our love.  Christmas is a wonderful time of the year.

.

The Advent Season focus on the gifts that Jesus brings to us.  We take back Christmas by celebrating the spiritual meaning of the event and discover anew the spiritual truth of the coming of Jesus into our world as God’s gift of love to us.  This year accept the gifts that Jesus brings and share His love with others.

 

Taking back Christmas must be intentional on our part.  It challenges us to rewrite our schedules to reflect the true meaning of the event.  As the year draws to a close, family schedules and personal agendas fill with engagements, programs, parties and annual obligations.  The carol “Silent Night” could not have been written at the end of the twentieth century.  The title evokes a peace and stillness we can only imagine.

 

To reclaim Christmas we need to draw close to God who became flesh and lived amongst us.  It is difficult to harmonize meditation and car pooling.  How do we carve out moments of quiet and worship and open ourselves to God’s Presence?  Perhaps we have to lower our sights from hours spent around hearths, Christmas trees, decorated halls and festivities to schedule quiet times when the family can sit together and contemplate what Christmas is all about.

 

The first theme of Advent is Hope.  It is the first gift that Jesus brings to us.  It is a bright light in a dark world. (Isa 9:2, 6&7)  We continue to hope in God’s promise that Christ will come again to fill our world with love, joy and peace.

 

Prayer

 

Heavenly Father, speak to my heart during this season as you spoke to your prophets.  Remind me again of the journey you call me to make and the work you would have me to do.

 

I am your servant, O Lord.  Speak to me in this holy season and turn my eyes to watch for your coming.

  

About the Author
 
Pastor Earl Batstone has pastored for more than forty years.  He retired as General Superintendent of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Nfld in 2002. He and his wife Lily are presently active in Short Term Missionary work. They reside in Paradise, Newfoundland and may be reached at: earlbatstone@nl.rogers.com

 

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Accountability

Genesis 3:17
Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life..
 
Genesis 4:10
And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground
 
Genesis 9:5
"Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man.
 
Genesis 16:5
Then Sarai said to Abram, "My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The LORD judge between you and me."
 
Deuteronomy 23:21
When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the LORD your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you.
 
1 Samuel 15:26
 But Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel."
 
2 Chronicles 24:20
Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, "Thus says God: 'Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He also has forsaken you.'"
 
Ecclesiastes 11:9
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; Walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your eyes; But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.
 
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.
 
Ezekiel 18:20
"The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
 
Ezekiel 18:30
"Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways," says the Lord GOD. "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.
 
Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
 
Matthew 5:19
Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
 
Matthew 12:36
"But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
 
Matthew 18:23
"Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
 
Matthew 22:12-14
"So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. "Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' "For many are called, but few are chosen.
 
Matthew 25:31-46
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. "And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 'for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 'I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 'When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 'Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 'for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 'I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' "Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' "Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.:
 
Matthew 27:22-25
Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all said to him, "Let Him be crucified Then the governor said, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they cried out all the more, saying, "Let Him be crucified!" When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it." And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."
 
Mark 6:11
"And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment than for that city!"
 
Luke 12:2-3
For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. "Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.
 
Luke 16:2
So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'.
 
John 5:28-29
Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice "and come forth--those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
 
John 12:48
"He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.
 
Acts 10:42
"And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.
 
Acts 17:31
"because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."
 
Romans 2:16
in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
 
Romans 14:10-12
But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: "As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
 
1 Corinthians 3:8
Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
 
1 Corinthians 3:13
each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is.
 
1 Corinthians 4:1-2
Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
 
2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
 
Hebrews 13:17
Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
 
James 2:10
or whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
 
1 Peter 4:5
They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
 
Jude 1:14-15
Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, "to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."
 
Revelation 2:23
"I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.
 
Revelation 20:12-13
And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.