Daily Devotional from Pastor Mary 12-20-23

Intro: For our Advent season this year, I have chosen to enjoy the Jesse Tree by sharing a 24-day practice to prepare us for the celebration of Christ’s birth; the event we celebrate and honor at Christmas. From the root of Jesse’s stump, we will discover or rediscover the people in the family Tree of Jesus Messiah who were instrumental in bringing the presence of God near to us in order to revive the Spirit-led family of faith. With each day’s reading, we will add a new symbol—an ornament—to our family tree.

Today, is day twenty of our journey and our symbol is the Grasshopper.

While I was baking cookies, Monday, our sixteen-month-old granddaughter, Amana, came over to stay for a few hours with us while her parents worked. She became fascinated with the old metal measuring spoons I was using that had belonged to my grandmother. So, after I was done with them, I handed the spoons to Amana. Seconds later when I turned to check on her she did not have the measuring spoons in her hand. I looked everywhere around us for the spoons. Lost. Sometimes when we are looking for something we lost, it can be right in front of us and we still do not see it.

Yesterday, we got reacquainted with Zechariah, the elderly Temple priest, and his startling encounter with Gabriel—the angel who delivered a message of hope, peace, and joy in the coming of Messiah. The angel proclaimed that Zechariah and Elizabeth [Mary’s maternal aunt] would have a son late in life; they were to name him, John. All of this came to pass as the angel had said because God was writing John’s Story to introduce His Son—the Savior for the world.

In our passage today, John is grown and knows his mission to serve the purposes of God as a messenger to call people to repentance. John lives in a prepared state—even in the wilderness—and he readily proclaims his message about God’s faithfulness to the covenant He made with Israel to send a Redeemer. The Kingdom of God is at hand and John is a living parable of repentance. He separates himself from the hypocrisy of the corrupt and defiled—the Jewish leaders who prefer their flowing robes, prestige, and palaces. However, John never exalts himself; rather, he points the lost to the coming holy One who can deliver them from evil and cleanse them from the filth of the world. Jesus Messiah open their eyes to the reality of the spiritual Kingdom right in front of them, so they can find their Way back in relationship to God.

The symbol of the Grasshopper [a special kind of locust] reminds us John the Baptist’s message is of great importance; it prepares us for spiritual change. John’s diet of locust and wild honey reminds us he lived off the land, but was sustained and led by God’s Spirit. John’s message prepares the Way for you and me. Sin blinds us, so we must turn from it by turning toward God. Evil may try to eat our spiritual “lunch” [destroy our hope, peace, and joy], but the grace of God will sustain the obedient ones and fulfill the purpose He has for our lives. Just keep walking by faith!

Isaiah 40:3 NLT Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting,
“Clear the way through the wilderness
for the Lord!
Make a straight highway through the wasteland
for our God!

Malachi 3:1 NLT The Coming Day of Judgment
1 “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me [Messiah]. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Malachi 4:5 NLT
5 “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives.

Mark 1:1-8 NLT John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1 This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. It began 2 just as the prophet Isaiah had written:
“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
and he will prepare your way.
3
He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
Clear the road for him!’”

4 This messenger was John the Baptist. He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 5 All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. 6 His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.

7 John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!”

Matthew 11:5-15 NLT 5 The blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” 6 And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.”

7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? 8 Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people with expensive clothes live in palaces. 9 Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. 10 John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say,

‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
and he will prepare your way before you.’

11 “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is! 12 And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people [violent forces] are attacking it. 13 For before John came, all the prophets and the law of Moses looked forward to this present time. 14 And if you are willing to accept what I say, he is Elijah, the one the prophets said would come. 15 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!

John 1:19-23 NLT The Testimony of John the Baptist
19 This was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Temple assistants from Jerusalem to ask John, “Who are you?” 20 He came right out and said, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 “Well then, who are you?” they asked. “Are you Elijah?”
“No,” he replied.
“Are you the Prophet we are expecting?”
“No.”
22 “Then who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“I am a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Clear the way for the Lord’s coming!’”

Prayer: Lord, thank you for coming to save us. We were the lost and now we are the found. Please continue to open our blind eyes to the provision of grace in front of us each day. Help us Holy Spirit to obediently follow you into provision. Satan has no power to destroy what your Word has put into motion. Therefore, we turn to praise, clear the sin from our lives, and live the gospel message. In Jesus’ name. Amen.