Word made flesh..

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Christmas is just simply wonderful.

The message of Christmas is even more wonderful.  From the breaking of a silence, the end of a long wait, to the arrival of a promise.  There are so many elements in the Christmas story that get me so excited. The first announcement from heaven is brilliant and ignites the birth of not only a new person but a new way.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Heaven is speaking loud and clear – there is fresh hope with this announcement especially after 400 years of silence.

Change is in the air. God is promising peace with Him – and we find out later in the script that peace isn’t a state but a person called Jesus. His very name is to save us, Immanuel declaring that God is with us.

Mary has always been the person and storyline I find the most fascinating in the Christmas story.  “Let it be onto me according to your word” has to be the most incredible faith filled words uttered in this scenario.  To simply believe God at His word. I don’t know about you, but I have lots to learn from her childlike faith.

John 1 is that great message that talks about Jesus being the word of God, there at the beginning. His arrival on earth is the simplicity of word being made flesh, a concept becoming a reality, something heavenly becoming something earthly.

Even in that I see the beauty of heaven coming to earth – but where does that start – a word.

My church have been running a series called Hope Awakens this month. I got the privilege of sharing some thoughts with our older teens last week on the whole idea of hope being revelaed.

The basis of what I shared was simply that hope was revealed firstly in a word. A promise was given,  and when there is a promise then there is hope.

I read Kris Vallotton’s blog a few weeks back and was struck by what he said:

Without hope, you can’t have faith……

I’ve really been thinking a lot about the apparent link between a word, a promise, the hope that brings and the faith to see it. This is how heaven comes to earth.

The good old carol Oh Come All Ye Faithful that I have sang for years sealed the message for Christmas again this year “Word of the father, now in flesh appearing”. What a line – that I had not really noticed until Sunday.

That’s the message of Christmas. The word becoming flesh.

I guess it’s the cry and hopeful longing of all of our hearts surely? That we would see in the flesh the word of God come.

I don’t know what you are longing for this Christmas.  Is there a promise that you are waiting on? Is there a hope that your situation could be different? Sometimes I feel like an expert in waiting. I’ve had every emotion imaginable in the waiting. I’m not even going to pretend to know or answer why some of us don’t see the things we feel we’ve been promised. The one thing I’m absolutely certain of is, that He is good, He is faithful, and His promises are always true, even if it doesn’t look like what we thought it would we have to trust his working is only for our good.

All of our hope begins with simply a word. What does HE say about what you’re walking through? That’s the word that matters the most, that’s the word that can change everything.

This is the beginning of hope this is where hope awakens. That we get to know a word, and that word can become reality.

WORD OF THE FATHER, NOW IN FLESH APPEARING

Let’s dare to believe and be confident that we will see His goodness in the land of the living.

Problem or Promise

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About 6 weeks ago I started reading a book. Little did I know it’s pages would stir and awaken something in me.  Some books have a tendency to do that over other books – I don’t know whether it’s timely, or if it’s language with a different edge that brings something alive in a certain way. This book has done that for me.

The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson – I highly recommend it.

It’s a challenge, a call, a manifesto on prayer. Bold expectant prayers, not begging God to do what he’s already done, but standing in the gap and praying his word into every situation.

The start of the book retells the story of Joshua – one of the greatest accounts of circling. Joshua the circle maker.  Joshua circled Jericho, and defeated an entire city by being obedient and listening to God.

It was this part of the book that has been stuck in my head for weeks now. A simple line that had me wonder what I’m circling. Am I circling a promise or a problem?

The question was asked  “What is your Jericho?”

My raw honest answer: “sickness” – I want to see sickness defeated in my family. That’s my Jericho – that’s what I want to see coming down with a loud bang and a thunderous cheer as it goes.

Mark Batterson shed an incredible light for me in that moment.

What if we stop seeing Jericho as a problem, but instead view it as a promise? After all, God had promised Joshua the land, so it was his for the taking. It was a promise he was circling not a problem at all. If we have learnt anything about God at all up until now, it’s that’s he’s always faithful to what he has promised. It might play out differently than we intended or expected but we can be sure He is the greatest promise keeper around.

How you view Jericho will determine how you walk around it.

If Jericho is a problem – the walk can feel long, disappointing, fearful, overwhelming, frustrating and full of doubt.

But if it’s a promise – if you believe with all your heart God will deliver because he keeps his word, then your walk changes. It’s confident, expectant, exciting, full of faith, hope and energetic. With each step, with each lap you are closer to the promise. He will surely do it.

I have had a change in mindset. I’m not circling sickness. I’m circling healing. I wish I could tell you how much this has changed my walk.

But I challenge you to try it.

Instead of seeing the problem, turn to the word and find the promise. What does He say? Then cling to it, hold onto it and get excited about how it’s going to play out. Even when circumstances don’t look great -when the opposite seems more true than His truth, keep circling. Keep your eyes fixed and keep going.

The irony in all of this of course is that I’m sitting writing this from a room in a Children’s hospital. I know what it’s like to see something in your heart and see something different with your eyes. I’m looking at my Jericho right now (she’s sitting playing mine craft on her iPad), but I know God is doing something. I honestly trust the bigger picture, his perfect timing that I know will make me smile one day when it all makes perfect sense, because it will.

I still have my questions. The bigger thing though I have at the minute is confidence in a God I know I can trust with all of my heart.

No matter what you’re facing at the moment – how you view it will determine what you do about it. Gods view and perspective is the best one we could ever have.

Lean in.

Hear his heart.

Learn his ways.

Trust his word.

He is so faithful and is cheering you on into your promised land.