Often, Jesus gets shut out during Christmas. Imagine I planned a party for you and invited many  people.  Everyone  brings lots  of  gifts,
and the invitees trade presents with one another — and you get nothing.

That’s Christmas. We give gifts to everyone but Jesus. But let’s be honest, what do you give the God who has everything?

Actually, Jesus doesn’t have everything. There are four things He doesn’t have unless you give them to Him this Christmas:

Give him your trust. Faith is a voluntary matter. Jesus doesn’t have your trust unless you give it to Him. He will never force it.

Make Jesus first place in your life. If anything or anyone other than Jesus holds first place in your life, it’s an idol. This Christmas, choose to make Jesus first in your finances, interests, relationships, and schedule — and even in your troubles.

Give Jesus your heart. Your heart is what you love, what you value, and what you care about most. Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:34). One important way you give Jesus your heart this Christmas is by giving your resources to His work. Jesus doesn’t need your money, but He wants what it represents — your heart.

Bring other people to Jesus. God wants a family more than anything else this Christmas. He wants children who choose to love and trust Him. It is the reason we celebrate Christmas. Invite someone to Jesus this Christmas. Tell someone about what Jesus has done in your life.

The Bible tells us that the Wise Men didn’t give Jesus their leftovers when they visited Him on the first Christmas but instead gave three very significant and valuable gifts: “They bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their gifts and gave him treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:11)

As you give Jesus your trust, make Him first in your life, give what you value to His work, and bring other people to Him, you’re giving Him gifts far more valuable than the ones the Wise Men brought. So tell Jesus “happy birthday” this Christmas. Give Him your best.

For your Reflection
•    Why do you think giving a gift to Jesus is thought of so little during the Christmas season?
•    What do you think it means to put Jesus first in your troubles?
•    Which of the gifts mentioned in the reflection do you want to commit to giving to Jesus this Christmas?          (RICK WARREN)

Week  4

Waiting in Servanthood with Mary…
Luke 1.26-40

A young woman, Mary, who lived in the village of Nazareth was engaged to a carpenter. He was not wealthy or well known, but Joseph was a good man. She was preparing for the wedding—and was engaged in hopes for home, family, security . . . until the angel Gabriel knocked at her door.

“Peace be with you!” he says.
(What is God’s peace like, she wonders. Why is my heart pounding so?)

“The Lord is with you and has greatly blessed you. Don’t be afraid! You will conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus.”
(Jesus? in me? how?)

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you,”  And Mary replies:
“Yes, I am the Lord’s servant . . .

Her engagement to the carpenter and her hopes are all at risk as she journeys into the hills of Judah, to calm the pounding of her spirit in the house of Elizabeth. When we say, “Yes, Lord; I am your servant,” our lives will never be the same again. For Jesus will be born in us, His Spirit will overshadow us, and we will give birth to God’s Kingdom in the stable of this world.

Reflection
As you look back on your life, reflect on the Gabriel moments. What word did God speak to you? Who are the persons who have created safe space for you to speak and to explore the Word, the birthing? Where is saying “Yes, Lord” taking you?

Lord,
I believe my life is touched by You,
that You want something for me and of me.
Give me ears to hear You, eyes to see the
tracing of Your finger, and
a heart quickened by the motions of Your Spirit.

Week  3

Waiting for Guidance with Joseph…
Matthew 1:18-25; 2:13-15, 19-23

He was a carpenter, and able to read plans for building ploughs, houses, carts. And he was engaged to be married, and making plans for the wedding, their house, and their life together. But now Mary was pregnant . . .

A SCANDAL in the eyes of the town folk and the Law. Joseph’s reason kept him on the side of the town and the Law; his goodness guarded her life, thus he decided to leave her quietly (because it wasn’t his child she was carrying). Joseph was a good man, obedient to the Law until his obedience was shattered by a dream! Now he wasn’t used to reading dreams–visions of the night which evaporate like mist in the clear light of day. Carpenter’s plans are concrete, square, touchable, predictable. The dream troubled his goodness, his safety, his respectability:

THE SCANDEL WAS EMMANUEL: GOD WITH US!
Joseph repented of his obedience to the Law, took Mary within his embrace, and with her, the Christ-Child, JESUS. He thought he had embraced the unborn, but now his life is held and directed by the tiny Child—

THE MIGHTY GOD, THE PRINCE OF PEACE…
Now he became a refugee, his life guided by dreams.  He thought he would build safe houses, but now he is protector of Mary and the Child, a safe presence for God in the violent darkness of the world guided by dreams given by God.

Reflection
How are you allowing Jesus to embrace and direct your life? What risk is God calling you to embrace? Who is God for you as you respond to the dreams God has placed within you?

Christ, Savior of all life, You come to us always.
Welcoming You in the silence of our days,
in the beauty of creation, in the hours of
great combat within, in knowing that
You will be with us in every situation, always,
in our nights, welcoming You . . .

Zechariah was born into a family of priests whose family tree was rooted in soil 1200 years old, and whose tap-root was Aaron, brother of Moses. Tradition had nurtured, pruned, and shaped his lot in life since birth; and his work as priest was scheduled by lot.

When his lot came, Zechariah stood alone at the altar of incense in the holy place to pray for the people. But in his heart he carried another prayer–a longing he had voiced over and again. Somehow the pain of waiting had become dulled by doubt, and even though he said the words, his heart hid from the God who did not seem to listen . . . and so Zechariah was not ready for God’s answer–or the birth announcement Gabriel carried from God.

God leads his servant into silence—

a desert pregnant with the struggle of re-visioning—

learning to see as God sees;

embracing the birthing.

For Zechariah enters the silence as a priest who stands alone to speak to God for the people; but he emerges as a prophet who sits among the people of his community to speak for God.

Reflection

What is your lot in life? As you sit alone and listen, what are the longings of your heart? If God answered the prayer of your heart, what would you need to encounter and surrender within yourself?

I AM SILENT . . . AND EXPECTANT

How silently, how silently,

the wondrous Gift is given.

I would be silent now, Lord, and expectant…

that I may receive the gift I need,

so I may become the gift others need.

Week  1

Waiting with Emptiness with Elizabeth…
Luke 1: 5-7, 24-25, 39-66

For long, long years Elizabeth had been obedient but remained barren.

Now she is elderly, but shamed by her neighbors because she is without child.

The lonely hours and days carve deep spaces in her soul. Not allowing anger and bitterness to trap her heart, Elizabeth learns to sit in the pain of that space, and thus the table of compassion and hospitality is spread within her.

When God answers her prayers, her solitude blossoms into a safe space—
for Zechariah and his silence,
for the new life within Elizabeth,
for Mary, a young woman needing refuge,
for her neighbors, and the forming of community …

as they celebrate together the naming of John.

Reflection
What emptiness do you bring into this quiet space? Feel welcomed, safe, heard. Who are the Elizabeths who are helping you to recognize and name the sign of God within you?

Holy Spirit,
Spirit of the Living God,
You breathe in us on all that is
inadequate and fragile.
You make living water spring even
from our hurts themselves.
And through You, the valley of tears
becomes a place of wellsprings.

Developing a discipline of gratitude is essential for us as we grow in our knowledge of God and our experience of Him. Perhaps thinking of gratitude as a spiritual discipline is a new idea for you. Growing and continuing in our spiritual formation means that we need to continue to expand our thinking of what spiritual disciplines are. There is the discipline of surrender, the discipline of listening, the discipline of denying self, the discipline of waiting. And there is the discipline of gratitude.

Why is the discipline of gratitude so important? Why must I cultivate this disposition in my life? Gratitude is an interactive spiral between a giver and a receiver. It recognizes that a gift has been given. It recognizes a favor done by someone for us. Gratitude is also a response to that gift. We thank the giver with an expression of appreciation. A gesture of gratitude completes the circle and lets the loving act flow from giver to receiver and then back to the giver again.

Such an exchange opens us up to another exchange. The gesture of thanks moves both the giver and receiver to another level. In realizing that God showers us with gifts, we also recognize our dependence on God. We admit our weakness and allow Him to fill us. Having received from Him a blessing and a gift we acknowledge His goodness, His love for us, and His grace by responding with gratitude.

God is the Giver and we are the thanks-givers. The circle is complete and it allows us to open yet a deeper part of our life where there is weakness and we acknowledge our dependence on God. God meets us at that point with another blessing and gift. His grace and help come into our lives. We recognize that He has met us and blessed us. We know that it is a gift of grace that He has brought into our lives, so we respond again with gratitude, praise, trust and faith. The circle is complete and the spiral of our life and experience with God continues to deepen and widen. Life begins to change, not because the circumstances are easier or less demanding, but because we begin to see them in a new light.

The life and discipline of gratitude is one reason why King David could write Psalms of magnificent praise in the midst of very difficult times in his life. King David experienced God in a deeper and life-giving way through the discipline of gratitude. A disposition of gratitude is important for us to develop too.

It’s a discipline that is different from what appears to me to be more active ones. Bible study is something I do. Prayer is something I do. Fasting is something I do. Giving is something I do. But gratitude is something that I am. It is the difference between doing and being.                        (JAY SIVITS)