desiring God … listening, waiting
Tuesday, December 24, 2024 Christmas Eve (click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures) Poetry from above Christmas scripture showers us with words as well as music: Mary’s Magnificat, Simeon’s Song, and today there is Zechariah’s priestly, historic, fatherly hymn of praise: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; for he...
Posted on Dec 23, 2024
Monday, December 23, 2024 (click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures) Chesterton at Christmas Thus says the Lord God: Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me. And then suddenly there will come to the temple … yes, he is coming, but who will endure the day of...
Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 22, 2024 (click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures) Confidence Bethlehem-Ephrathah. Too small, but from you shall come forth. What is this confidence that small things so often possess? They are indomitable. They never give up. They win. They are alive in all the right ways. This...
Saturday of the Third Week of Advent, December 21, 2024 (click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures) Sabbath Hark! My lover! Here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills. The Seventh-Day Adventists have made Saturday their Sunday. For other reasons, members of this church live some of the longest...
Friday, December 20, 2024 (click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures) Bethlehem I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord! King Ahaz of Judah is afraid of the surrounding nations, which have banded together to attack him. He will make a pact with them to save his skin. Isaiah demands...
Thursday, December 19, 2024 (click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures) Grandpa There was a certain man from Zorah, of the clan of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren and had borne no children. An angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Though...
Wednesday, December 18, 2024 (click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures) Family The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has...
Tuesday, December 17, 2024 (click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures) Genealogy The book of genealogy of Jesus Christ. It starts with Abraham, this list of men ending with Joseph the husband of Mary, and “of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.” Written perhaps for the Jews, Matthew the...
Monday, December 16, 2024 (click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures) Balaam Just to get this story straight. Balaam’s ass is a most famous animal, first of all because this donkey was carrying Balaam to curse the Israelites and saw an angel and refused to budge. Donkeys are like that anyway, but...
Third Sunday of Advent, December 15, 2024 (click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures) Prepare In spite of all I’m doing, my being is getting more quiet. Advent’s Holy Spirit is seeping in. The call of Gabriel to Mary and Elizabeth and their magnificent songs with each other, alongside the silence eventually...
