The Captivating Woman

Designed with purpose.

Peace: Isaiah 7:14

“All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).”

– Isaiah 7:14

When do you say peace reigns in your heart?

Once there was a young man that approached an old sage (a wise person). The young man wanted to know the real meaning of peace. The wise man showed him two beautiful paintings. One canvas was of a calm lake; it reflected the lofty mountains all around it and the blue sky with soft and cottony clouds above the lake. The man thought it was an impeccable image of peace.

Then the other painting was shown to him.

It had mountains too, but craggy and barren. Overhead was an angry sky. Rain was falling and lightning frolicking. On the side of the mountain was a waterfall and behind it was a crack in the rock where a mother bird had built her nest. In the midst of a furious weather and gushing water, the mother bird sat on her nest in perfect peace.

What a beautiful portrait of peace!

The mother bird knew there was a storm, and there was raging water. However, she also knew she was hidden in the cleft of the rock; that no matter how the wind howled and water fell, she was safe and protected.

Peace is not the absence of troubles or challenges. Peace is a calm assurance that in the midst of storm, there is shelter.

In Isaiah 7, King Ahaz was faced with a challenge. “Two smoldering stubs of firewood” had joined forces and plotted his ruin. The Bible stated that because of this information, “the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.” Then the Lord sent the prophet Isaiah to King Ahaz to encourage him, to let him know that none of his enemies’ plan will happen nor take place.

The Lord even gave him a sign, a promise, “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him ‘Immanuel.’”

Immanuel means “God with us”.

The advent of Immanuel is the coming of the Author of Peace. We need not look for peace anywhere because where Immanuel is, God is and therefore, peace is.

When the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) is present, peace is no longer elusive. It is no more merely a vague or abstract idea; rather, it is concrete, real and tangible. Peace is not the absence of difficulties; it is the presence of the One greater than our problems because “God with us” is peace with us!

So, when does peace reign in our hearts?

It is when our hearts have opened to the coming of Immanuel; allow Him to reside and rule there. He never promised that life would be easy. But He assured that His peace would guard our hearts. He said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you” (John 14:27). As we celebrate the coming of Immanuel this season, may we also delight in the Prince of Peace’s promised peace.

Peace: Luke 3:1-22, 1 Peter 3:10-12

“It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the Roman emperor. Pontius Pilate was governor over Judea; Herod Antipas was ruler over Galilee; his brother Philip was ruler over Iturea and Traconitis; Lysanias was ruler over Abilene. Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness. Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him! The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level. The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth. And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.'” When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, “You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.” The crowds asked, “What should we do?” John replied, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.” Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, “Teacher, what should we do?” He replied, “Collect no more taxes than the government requires.” “What should we do?” asked some soldiers. John replied, “Don’t extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay.” Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah.  John answered their questions by saying, “I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.” John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to the people. John also publicly criticized Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for many other wrongs he had done. So Herod put John in prison, adding this sin to his many others. One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” – Luke 3:1-22

“For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.” – 1 Peter 3:10-12

There is always a preparation that precedes a work of God.

Areas of our lives sometimes must go through a massive restructuring or they sometimes go through small precise remodels. In either way, there is a preparation that comes before hand.

Take the time to ask yourself: How can I continue to prepare for the work that the Lord wants to do in this time? How am I preparing the way for the Lord in my life?

When we prepare ourselves, we position ourselves to receive what God has for us.

One of the biggest things God wants to give us and surround us with is peace. Peace is something that we all desire and need. Lack of peace is evident in our lives. It can lead to disturbance in our sleep, varied thought patterns, wavering emotions, inability to focus just to name a few.

This is stress.

Stress in our lives is the exact opposite of what God’s peace. It’s important for us in our relationships with Christ to recognize when we have a lack of peace. The sooner we recognize the lack of peace the quicker we can come back the the peace of the Lord. The quicker we can come back to the fullness of what God has for us. Just as the lack of peace is evident in our lives so the is the peace of the Lord in our lives.

1 Peter 3 tells us to “seek peace and pursue it.” It is part of our lives in Christ to pursue the glorious peace that He has for us. It’s easy for us to become distracted, for our focus to be on something else, for us to be fooled by schemes of the enemy. The beauty in it all is that we have victory over all distractions and deviations. We have full and permanent access to our King who gives us “peace that surpasses all understanding” Philippians 4:7.  Philippians also tells us that this peace “will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

When we pursue peace we receive the blessing of God protecting us from the distractions and deviations that would try to trouble our minds and our hearts.

Hymn: Comfort, Comfort Ye My People

Welcome to week 2 of Advent. This week our theme is peace. Our prayer for today and for the end of this week’s devotional is to experience peace is a new way or for the first time. Our hope is that peace will fill your hearts to overflow into your relationships.

Comfort, Comfort Ye My People
words by: Johannes Olearius & Geistliche Singe-Kunst

Comfort, comfort ye my people,
Speak ye peace, thus saith our God;
Comfort those who sit in darkness,
Mourning ‘neath their sorrows’ load;
Speak ye to Jerusalem
Of the peace that waits for them,
Tell her that her sins I cover,
And her warfare now is over.

Yea, her sins our God will pardon,
Blotting out each dark misdeed;
All that well deserved His anger
He will no more see nor heed.
She hath suffer’d many a day,
Now her griefs have passed away,
God will change her pining sadness
Into ever-springing gladness.

For Elijah’s voice is crying
In the desert far and near,
Bidding all men to repentance,
Since the kingdom now is here.
Oh that warning cry obey,
Now prepare for God a way;
Let the valleys rise to meet Him,
And the hills bow down to greet Him.

Make ye straight what long was crooked,
Make the rougher places plain,
Let your hearts be true and humble,
As befits His holy reign;
For the glory of the Lord
Now o’er earth is shed abroad,
And all flesh shall fee the token
That His Word is never broken.

Hope: Lamentations 3:21-23

Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:21-23

A few weeks ago, Holy Yoga, a Christian yoga organization, posted this caption on Instagram:

 “Do you know there are two types of hope, and each are incredibly different? There is “worldly hope”, the kind of heart and mind that says, “I hope this works out”, or “I hope He comes through”. And then there is “Biblical hope”, the kind of hope found throughout God’s Word that calls the believer to steadfast and unwavering faith in God and His promises. This is the hope that says, ‘I know in whom my hope lies and I know He is coming through for me.'”

Yes! I love this because it’s so true and it’s so important to have these distinct definitions. The way we talk about hope is often more about wishing. It expresses our feelings about something, not the reality of what actually is. This is not the type of hope God offers us!

When we talk about putting our hope in God, we’re not talking about wishing He’ll come through for us, we’re talking about knowing that he will. And how do we know? There’s a quote that I love from Thomas Smail about Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion. He says, “The Father that Jesus address in the garden is the one that he has known all his life and found to be bountiful in his provision, reliable in his promises and utterly faithful in his love. He can obey the will that sends him to the cross, with hope and expectation because it is the will of Abba whose love has been so proved that it can now be trusted so fully by being obeyed so completely. This is not legal obedience driven by commandment, but trusting response to known love.”

Similarly, the hope we have in God is a “response to known love”.

It’s a response to his faithfulness. I mess up a lot. But I can put my hope in God because time and time again I have seen him not give up on me, and love me and use me anyway. I can start to trust Him because His love is something proven, it’s something known. He is faithful, even when we are not.

Notice that God’s proven love doesn’t lead to a plan with no suffering in it; for Jesus, it lead to the cross. Suffering doesn’t negate God’s goodness. But because we have seen God’s goodness in the past, we can have confidence (i.e. hope!) that His plan will ultimately be for good. God is utterly faithful.

The other day I was blindsided by some difficult bible verses which made me question things. Suddenly, I lost hope. But this quote by Elisabeth Elliot came up; “Of one thing I am perfectly sure: God’s story never ends with ‘ashes.’” We may not know what the future looks like, but we can know the God in charge of it and He doesn’t do ending with ashes.

Let’s practice gratitude (even if we aren’t very good at it). If we don’t remind ourselves of God’s love and faithfulness, we can easily forget that that we’ve even experienced them. And without this certainty of God’s character, our hope can grow thin. If it already has, then remember Romans 5:8 – God loved us so much while we were still sinners that he died for us.

Are we putting our hope in stuff other than God, wishing for it to give us what we need, instead of putting our hope in God, knowing He will come through?

Hope: Isaiah 40:31

“… but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grown weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Isaiah 40:31

Have you ever gotten super discouraged during the holiday season? Well, if you said yes then I’d tell you, I’m right there with ya girl!

The holidays, especially the advent season, can be exhausting. School, work, kids, presents, decorations, Christmas parties, cooking, baking, family, church events, and volunteering are just a few of the things that set us over the edge during what is supposed to be the most joyous season of the year!

Amidst this discouragement however, have you ever felt beyond that? Have you ever felt hopeless?

I know, I know, hopeless? During the holiday season?! That’s blasphemy to say but I’ll be the first person to tell you that yes, indeed, I have felt completely hopeless during the holiday season.

In the middle of the hustle and bustle I cant help but worry about this and freak out about that. I get discouraged when plans get changed and anxious and uncomfortable when parties last longer than they should. I begin to feel inadequate and, eventually, the hopelessness creeps in.

Slowly, but surely, the dread begins to take over and I find myself praying the season would fly by. And how crazy is that?! God doesn’t want us wishing His Sons birthday away! Yet, I always find my self doing it! And this is exactly WHY God sent us his Son in the first place.

God knew that we would become hopeless.

He knew, long before our DNA was created, that we, His perfect creation would become hopeless. We have sin to blame for that, but God solved this problem with one major Band-Aid, the cross.

In fact, Isaiah 40:31 is a beautiful image of what this hope looks like!

“… but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grown weary, they will walk and not be faint.” 

Did you hear that?

God RENEWS the strength for all that HOPE in HIM!

God sent His son to defeat death & evil, the only true hopelessness in this world. Jesus beat the grave and rose again to assure us of our HOPE in Him and in God’s Kingdom.

So, I challenge you to ask yourself this during the holiday season:

Am I putting my hope in myself or am I putting my hope in the person who saved me, defeated death, and connected me with our Father in Heaven?

If you answered yourself than take a moment to read through this verse and the others I have listed below. It’s human nature to get caught up in ourselves but, when we take the time to hand it over to our King, you can be surprised at how much more joyous our lives, and our holiday season, can become.

Let’s give this Advent season over God and honor His perfect Son, the one who gives us our hope, Jesus!

Check out these other verses:

  • Psalm 34:17-20
  • Jeremiah 29:11
  • Philippians 4:6-7
  • James 5:13
  • Revelation 21:4

 

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