Today’s scripture: Matthew 1:1-2 and Genesis 12:1-9 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message)

As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.

My thoughts (Keith Phillips):

“. . . and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (verse 3b). Here is the promise of the Messiah to Jesus’ ancestor, Abraham.

It’s queer how promises are fulfilled. Abram was a nobody, as far as we know, in a strange land. (Where is Haran?) And out of nowhere God speaks to this guy, making all sorts of conditional promises. God promised that Abram would be the father of a great nation, that the land he was journeying to would belong to his descendants, and that whoever blessed him and his family would be blessed. Plus, of course, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.“ The condition was that Abram and wife must leave their home and go “to the land that I will show you” (verse1b).

I can’t guess what Abram imagined these promises would look like when fulfilled. I’m sure it didn’t include seeing Jews and Muslims (his descendants) at each others’ throats for centuries. Nor could it have included a clear picture of the Son of God become a human being in order to bring love and salvation to all humanity.

Oftentimes, especially when dealing with God, the fulfillment of a promise is far from our expectation of the promise fulfilled. When we allow God the freedom to deliver on the promise, God blesses us with much more than we imagined.

I have two Palestinian oil lamps that remind me of that. The older, simpler lamp is about 3600 years old, roughly from the time of Abram. The other one is Herodian, from just before the time of Jesus. If the simpler lamp were the promise of light for the future, who would have anticipated its fulfillment would look like the fancier, more complex lamp?

I tend to think that’s the way it is with God and God’s promises. We think we know what it will look like when it is fulfilled, but the truth is that often it’s so much better, so much more. And I am so grateful for that.

Thought for the day: Lord, you have blessed me and the world I touch in amazing ways, ways I could not have imagined. Thank you. And, keep up the good work!

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.

My thoughts (Tammy Mills):

Advent (from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming”) is a liturgical season of the Christian church, the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus. It begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve. Advent marks the beginning of the Liturgical year.

Each Monday during Advent, Be Still and Know will explore some of the themes of the season.

It was exactly this time last year I was waiting expectantly for my third child to arrive — my own personal Advent.

I remember well the days of December, 2007. Every day I wondered when my child would be born! Every day I did things to prepare for the baby’s birth — everything from practice “hospital runs” to taking birthing classes to calling my partner every 15 minutes to see if it was time yet! I like to think Mary had some of the same feelings. Perhaps she and Elizabeth waited and prepared together for the birth of their sons. Last December was a powerful time of expectant waiting.

It is that time of expectant waiting that we celebrate and remember during the season of Advent. For me, Advent reminds me to open my spirit to light, to hope and to surprises! It is easy for me to get so caught up in the routine of everyday, that I forget to expect miracles, expect light, and expect surprises. Advent 2008 is a time to open ourselves and to prepare our hearts for the “surprise” that our soul desires.

Each Sunday, as candles are lit in Advent wreaths all over the world, we have the opportunity to pause and prepare our soul for the gift of light, the gift of hope, the gift of peace, the gift of love, and the gift of joy. I pray the light of each candle awakens my Advent spirit, and yours, too! Advent calls us to wait and prepare for the amazing gift that comes at the end of Advent.

Thought for the day: What are you doing during Advent to prepare your soul for the coming gift?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

The Archives can be found in the blue sidebars, below, and you can search by topic, author, or date. If you’re reading this via email or an rss reader, you’ll need to visit the site to see the archives.

Sunshine On My Shoulders by David Squire
Monday, November 24

Try To Remember by Steve Adams
Tuesday, November 25

Martha, Martha, Martha! by David Squire
Wednesday, November 26

ThanksGIVING by Mark Shoup
Thursday, November 27

Why Thank God? by Theresa Benson
Friday, November 28

As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me in this passage? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.

My thoughts (Theresa Benson):

I wish I could say I don’t struggle with making time to be grateful to God for all the good things I have. But in the last few months, as I’ve reflected on my spiritual journey and my relationship with God, I have realized I’m more apt to whisper “Whew, thank you God” after I make a green light when I’m running late than I am to spend time in prayer sincerely thanking the Creator for all the amazing gifts I’ve been given.

As I reflect on where I’ve come from and where I’m headed, I have struggled with an attitude of gratitude to God. There’s a part of me that still stubbornly asserts that I am the one who has worked hard to get where I am in my career, I am the one who has pulled up roots four times to move with my job and make new connections, I am the one who had to overcome a difficult childhood, I did it, me me me.

But is that really true? Did I really accomplish these things in a vacuum?

We’ve spent a lot of time in the past weeks talking about our concepts of God. In examining my own God-concept, I realize I have assigned a number of personality traits from adults in my childhood, to God — even though the traits have no basis in the Bible or in my actual experience with God.

There were dysfunctional, emotionally hurting adults, not God, in my childhood who needed my constant praise and gratitude in order to feel validated. When I would succeed in school or extra curricular activities, it was these same adults who took credit for my hard work and achievement, and only then gave me the love and affection I desperately longed for. And if I didn’t achieve, wasn’t the best, or should I forget to be grateful, in those painful moments, the things I held dear, including the illusion of a safe and loving home, would be stripped away.

It’s no wonder that as an adult, I struggle with an attitude of gratitude. Based on my experiences in childhood and adolescence, I’m afraid of God — if I’m not grateful enough, He’ll put me “in check” by taking away the things I hold dear to “teach me a lesson”. On the other hand, I’m resentful that I have to say “thank you” for the things I feel I worked hard to accomplish, because I don’t want God to “take the credit”.

So why thank God?

Not because God needs it — God isn’t self-centered. God doesn’t withdraw love, kindness, and eternal abundance until we’ve given enough flattery and praise. God is good all the time. In opening our hearts to gratitude, and giving God thanks and praise, we open our souls so God can come in and experience this goodness with us, in the same way God came in to the Temple that day to be with His people.

Thought for the day: Today, I’ll open my soul a little more to God by being grateful.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to start, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.

My thoughts (Mark Shoup):

I recently read the book Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger as part of a class I’m taking. I’ve never thought of myself as rich, and having been out of work for the last year because of a back injury, I certainly don’t now.

But I tell you, compared to about 2 billion people around the world, I am unbelievably wealthy. While millions have no shoes, I can wear a different pair each day of the week. While millions have to walk to get anywhere, I have a bike and a car, and can afford taxi or bus fare if it comes to that. While millions don’t own a single book, and might not even have the opportunity to learn to read, I have hundreds of books. While a billion or more people go hungry for lack of even rice and clean water to prepare it, I have so much that I have to go on a diet to lose weight.

Am I thankful for all I have? Of course I am! God has given me more than I need, and certainly more than I deserve. I am thankful beyond words. But I also feel something else. I feel ashamed.

I’m ashamed that my country flaunts its consumerism while we give so little to people around the world who need it the most. Did you know that our percentage of charitable giving was higher during the great depression than it is now? I’m ashamed that our country will spend $651 billion (to date) on a war when so many of our own people go without adequate healthcare. (FYI, $651 billion is enough to provide over 289 million children with health care for one year!) I’m personally ashamed that I have accumulated more than one television, computer and stereo, but have never committed to the relatively minor $24 a month it would take to sponsor a Christian Children’s Fund child.

So this Thanksgiving season, instead of just thanking God for all that I’ve been given, I’m going to begin using some of my excess to change the great inequality that exists between me and much of the rest of the world. If my surplus can’t be given directly to help someone, than maybe I can sell it and use the proceeds to help folks whose need is greater than my own. And going forward, I’m going to aggressively resist the urge to accumulate more than I need.

Instead of indulgence, I will take joy in knowing that I’m making someone else’s life a little bit better. And soon, maybe I’ll even be able to sponsor a CCF child!

Thought for the day: Am I blessed, or spoiled? Is accumulating and stockpiling a proper response to God’s blessings?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me in this passage? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.

My thoughts (David Squire):

I’m definitely a Martha when it comes to having guests in my home. I want things to be perfect — the house spotless, the dogs well-behaved, and the food as good as I can make it. That’s my duty as a host, right?

But then I hear what Jesus says. “She has chosen the better part.” And something in my gut tells me He’s right. The food and the house and all the rest are not the point of it all.

I’ve always thought that Jesus was telling Martha to come listen to Him. After all, she had the Son of God in her living room! Stop fussing with the pot roast!

But I wonder if He meant “the better part” a bit more broadly. I think Jesus came to show us how to live — to draw us away from the mundane details of this life that beat us down, and to call us up to things that are higher, things that are eternal.

Jesus spent His whole ministry showing us that the point of our life here is to take care of each other. Maybe he was telling Martha, “I love what you’re doing for Me, hon, but really, it’s not the most important thing! Come spend some time with Me, that’s what I really want. And spend some time with your sister, too. Share this experience — it will bring you closer together.”

Thought for the day: As I participate in my Thanksgiving rituals, I’m going to remember to focus on what’s eternal — the people God has placed around me.

If you’d like to read more Thanksgiving-themed Be Still, check out the Thanksgiving category link.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to start, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.

My thoughts (Steve Adams):

It’s the very first word of this passage that strikes me as being deceptively important — remember. We think of the word as being strictly the ability to recall, but I think God was asking the readers of Malachi to do something much bigger than simply recalling what Moses decreed. Likewise, God calls us to something more comprehensive than simply remembering the truths we’ve learned.

For example, I remember that I intended to make a budget for this month, but I nevertheless went out and overspent. Or, I made a budget, but still overspent. Or, I remembered to set my alarm for 6:30 am, but, when 6:30 arrived, the bed felt so good that I couldn’t resist sleeping for another hour. The hunger to overspend or oversleep are just two of the countless urges we are confronted with.

Life is full of examples of humankind’s struggle to attain self-control — the person who can’t resist overeating when there’s lots of good food in the refrigerator; the person who can’t resist drinking too much when they’re at the party; the person who can’t resist coldly criticizing a mutual acquaintance when sitting with a group of gossipers; even the person who can’t resist a sexual encounter even though they have pledged fidelity to their spouse.

When we fall to temptations like these, have we truly remembered? I don’t think so — not, at least, in the way God desires us to. God wants us to remember with our whole heart and soul; to the comprehensive, holistic extent that we’ll do what we know is right, even when that requires us to forsake what we’d rather do. When that happens, we have integrity. For Christians, I think this means trusting God that we will have an abundance of pleasure when we stay on the sacred path laid out before us.

Now, let’s be honest! When we’re truly being tempted, our idea of pleasure may not be the same as God’s! It’s at those times, though, that we need to remember that, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God’s ways higher than our ways, and God’s thoughts higher than our thoughts!

Thought for the day: Lord Jesus, help me internalize the standards you set for me, so that when enticement and opportunity meet, I’ll have the self-control to choose the high road.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.