A Signal for The Nations December 5

There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea. Isaiah 11:9

You have revealed them to the childlike. Luke 10:21

Piety

Lord, the earth is so filled with knowledge. Yet the world remains so ignorant of your love and your word and your works. Fill us with your love O Lord and we will sing with joy! Amen.

Study

The old formula for speech-giving was:

• Tell the audience what you're going to tell them. • Tell them. • Tell them what you told them.

It is a tried and true method. That is how the Bible is built. In the Hebrew Bible we have prophets like Isaiah sending us word about what will happen. Then we have Jesus’ life and his actual words to study. Then we have the evangelists recounting what happened in Jesus’ life.

The Bible is not a buried treasure. Jesus warns us not to hide the lamp in a bushel. Instead, place it like a shining city on a hillside, high up so everyone may notice.

God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit really want us to “get it,” to understand. All three persons of the Trinity go to great lengths and effort to teach us the core messages of the Bible. They work the issues like a good professor who wants you to understand calculus, or behavioral statistics or biochemistry or contract law. God boils tough concepts down to Ten Commandments. Then to two commandments. Then to one Great Commandment. All this to make it easier for us to understand what God reveals.

If that’s not enough, rather than make it hard for us to understand, God sends prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah ahead with the core message of what will happen.

A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, A Spirit of counsel and of strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD. Isaiah

We have to pay attention with childlike simplicity because many people have been exposed to the Word yet missed its importance. As Luke related in Chapter 10, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

Knowledge will flow, not like the isolated tree in the Garden of Eden, but it will flow all over like the oceans that cover the earth like the seas.

In this time of preparation and anticipation, we have to be careful not to miss the signals sent to the nations. Be open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Use the gifts that you have been given freely.

Action

More actions to consider from the Advent Calendar on the Simple Living.org web site.
http://www.simpleliving.org/indexoth.php?place=archives/XB/XB2000AdvCal.php

Day 2: Dec. 4 - 2. Change celebrations. They're role models for what we'd like the rest of life to be. Extravagant or simple? Many of them damage our Earth and promote reckless spending. Instead, focus on joy, relationships and meaning. Help: “To Celebrate” or “Treasury of Celebrations,” “Unplug the Christmas Machine.”

Day 3: Dec. 5 - 3. Tend to our spiritual health. Pray, meditate, spiritualize life. These are the values supporting our efforts. Without a strong religious foundation, our changes will be meaningless.