Lillie Ammann's Blog, page 48

Devotion for Tuesday after Advent 2

There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’” For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. ~ John 1: 9-18

One of my favorite passages of Scripture, this so beautifully describes the glory of God, the Son and the Father. He brought us grace and truth, and He lit the whole world, but the world rejected Him. Jesus shows us God; He is God Incarnate. He came into the world to shine light into dark places, but the world preferred to stay in the dark, away from the light. Those of us who recognize the Light He makes children of God. He chooses us and shines His glory upon us and blankets us in His love. Let us stay in the light of His glory!

Father God, thank You for making us Your children through Your Son Jesus Christ. Let us live in the Light of Christ. In His name. Amen.

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Devotion for Monday after Advent 2

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. ~ John 1:1-8

This is one of my all-time favorite passages of Scripture. Jesus Himself is the Word—He was with God in the beginning, and He is God. We usually think of God the Father as the Creator, but the entire Trinity created the world and everything in it. Nothing was created apart from Jesus the Son. His beginning wasn’t when He was born in Bethlehem—He has no beginning and no end, just like the Father, just like the Holy Spirit. He is the Light of the World, yet the world doesn’t know Him. The world doesn’t recognize His Light because the world doesn’t even know it’s filled with darkness—especially today, when sin is celebrated and the only thing to be condemned is failure to tolerate diverse sins. The world is a dark place that rejects the Light that can save it.

Lord God, thank You that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God. Thank You that You sent Jesus, the Son, into the world to save it. Forgive us for our blindness to His Light. Open our eyes, Lord, and let us see the Light. Let us feel its warmth, and let us seek it out, running from the dark. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Devotion for the Second Sunday in Advent

“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

“Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts. “For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. ~ Malachi 3:1-6

Those of us who love God long for the day of the Lord, when Jesus will return to earth in triumph to take reign over the whole world. For those who have not been redeemed by the blood of Christ, the day of the Lord will lead to eternal punishment. Now is the time to turn to God and accept the cleansing He offers through the Blood of the Lamb.

Lord, I want to welcome Jesus with joy when He comes again. You never change, You are always just, and You will punish evildoers. Father, forgive me that I am an evildoer. Thank You that Jesus has paid the penalty for me on the cross, and in Your eyes I am pure because of Jesus’s purity. Empower me by the Holy Spirit to live in a manner worthy of my calling. In the name of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever and ever, world without end. Amen.

Devotion for Saturday after Advent 1

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Too little to be among the clans of Judah,

From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.

His goings forth are from long ago,

From the days of eternity.”

Therefore He will give them up until the time

When she who is in labor has borne a child.

Then the remainder of His brethren

Will return to the sons of Israel. ~ Micah 5:2-3

Long, long before it happened, the Lord shared His plan for the redemption of the world through His prophets. Only God could have orchestrated Jesus being born in Bethlehem. Caesar Augustus thought he came up with the idea of the census, requiring everyone to return to the city of his heritage. Yet God had planned thousands of years before to place Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem at exactly the right time. God wanted Jesus to be born in a nondescript place of little importance, though we would expect the King of the Universe to be born in a luxurious palace.

Lord God, I am amazed at Your incredible planning. You can tell Your people through Your prophets of something to happen millennia in the future, then plant an idea in the mind of an earthly ruler and motivate him to issue a decree. All so Jesus could be born precisely where You wanted Him to be born—a tiny place considered of little worth by worldly standards. I stand in awe of You, Lord, and thank You. In the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Amen.

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Devotion for Friday after Advent 1

I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever;

To all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth.

For I have said, “Lovingkindness will be built up forever;

In the heavens You will establish Your faithfulness.”

“I have made a covenant with My chosen;

I have sworn to David My servant,

I will establish your seed forever

And build up your throne to all generations.” ~ Psalm 89:1-4

God is always faithful, and what He says He will do, He does. He said He would place the seed of David on the throne forever and ever, and He will. We don’t know when that reign will start, but one day Jesus will appear in the clouds to judge the world. Those who don’t follow Him will burn forever in the lake of fire, and those who love and serve Him and accept Him as their Lord will reign will Him in the new heaven and the new earth.

Lord, I know You keep Your promises. You are the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. What You said will come to pass. I look for the day when Jesus will return. Maranatha, Lord Jesus. Come quickly! Amen.

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Devotion for Thursday after Advent 1

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. This is according to all that you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ The Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. ~ Deuteronomy 18:15-19

Moses predicted a prophet like him thousands of years before Jesus came to earth. This prophet will speak God’s words, and for anyone who will not listen God “will require it of him.” The New International Version says God “will call to account” anyone who does not listen. Other translations say “personally hold responsible” or “personally deal with” or “hold accountable.” Whichever version we read, the bottom line is that we have to answer to God for whether or not we listened to Jesus. The Bible tells us that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. Those who wait until it is required, though, will be dealt with in an eternal lake of fire. Those who bow to Him and confess Him now will spend eternity with the Lord.

Lord God, I bow to Jesus and confess that He is Lord of all. He is my personal Savior and Lord, and He is the Lord of the universe. Thank You that those of us who confess Him now with spend eternity with You. In His name. Amen.

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Devotion for Wednesday after Advent 1

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,

“Do not fear, Abram,

I am a shield to you;

Your reward shall be very great.”

Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. ~ Genesis 15:1-6

Abraham (Abram) was already old when God promised him an heir—an heir that unknown to Abraham would be the beginning of the human lineage of the Savior of the World. He had already decided that his servant would be his heir, but God told him he would have a son of his own body. Abraham took God at His word, even though Abraham and Sarah were too old to have a child by natural means. Abraham knew that God could supernaturally give him a son, and he believed that God would do so. Would we believe something that seemed so preposterous? Abraham did—and God considered Abraham righteous because he believed. God judges us by what we believe. I want to be reckoned righteous because I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the God and the Savior of the world.

Lord, we can never be righteous on our own, but You reckon us righteous by our belief. We are cleansed by the blood of Christ and counted righteous for believing in Him. Thank You, Father God. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Devotion for Tuesday after Advent 1

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

Cursed are you more than all cattle,

And more than every beast of the field;

On your belly you will go,

And dust you will eat

All the days of your life;

And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her seed;

He shall bruise you on the head,

And you shall bruise him on the heel.” ~ Genesis 3:8-15

God gave Adam and Eve everything they needed. All they had to do was to obey His commandment not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They could eat freely of every kind of fruit, vegetable, grain, and herb—everything except one single tree. Yet when the serpent tempted Eve, she took the fruit and ate and enticed Adam to do the same. Then when God confronted them, they passed the blame—Eve blamed the snake and Adam blamed Eve. Their sin, like our sin today, came from wanting to be like God—wanting to know what God knew. If we are content to be the creations, the beloved servants, of the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, holy God, we avoid sin. But the introduction of sin into the world created the need for a Savior.

Thank You, Lord, that one day Jesus will come again to judge the world. Those who have rejected Him will be cast into the lake of fire, but those who love Him will reign with Him in glory forever and ever. We will no longer be burdened with sin or its consequences but will spend our day praising and worshipping our triune God. Maranatha, Lord Jesus! In His name. Amen.

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Devotion for Monday after Advent 1

How lovely on the mountains

Are the feet of him who brings good news,

Who announces peace

And brings good news of happiness,

Who announces salvation,

And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,

They shout joyfully together;

For they will see with their own eyes

When the Lord restores Zion.

Break forth, shout joyfully together,

You waste places of Jerusalem;

For the Lord has comforted His people,

He has redeemed Jerusalem. ~ Isaiah 52:7-9

The feet of him who brings good news are lovely; other translations say beautiful. We usually don’t think of feet as being beautiful, and we would be more apt to consider the lips or face of someone bringing good news to be beautiful than their feet. Everything about us is lovely when we share the Good News of the Gospel. Our beauty comes from the message we deliver (and perhaps where we go to deliver it)—not from our own efforts. During this Advent season, let us share not only the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Lord, but also His glorious return.

Lord God, send my feet upon the mountain to take the Good News of our Savior to everyone who needs to hear it. Help me to share directly with those I know and meet and motivate me to support those who go where my feet cannot go. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

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Devotion for the First Sunday in Advent

“Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.

“Speak kindly to Jerusalem;

And call out to her, that her warfare has ended,

That her iniquity has been removed,

That she has received of the Lord’s hand

Double for all her sins.”

A voice is calling,

“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;

Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

“Let every valley be lifted up,

And every mountain and hill be made low;

And let the rough ground become a plain,

And the rugged terrain a broad valley;

Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,

And all flesh will see it together;

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” ~ Isaiah 40:1-5

Jesus came to earth as a tiny baby more than 2000 years ago, but He will come again in glory as a conquering king to rule the world in all His great majesty and power. We should be preparing a way for Him in our own hearts, and we should be telling everyone we know about Him. So often we hesitate to say anything that might offend someone. It’s better to offend today than for those we love to see His glory only to find they won’t be with Him in His glorious kingdom.

Lord, open my lips to tell everyone I know about Jesus. When He comes in all His glory, let everyone I love be with Him forever and ever in His eternal kingdom. In His name. Amen.