The Stars and You

Read Together
Psalm 147:1-5 & Matthew 9:35

Light one candle and say together
Great is our Lord and mighty in power. 
(from Psalm 147:5a) 

Reflection

Many of the passages in the Old Testament of the Bible that we read during Advent point to both Jesus coming as a baby and also to the promise of His return. As we read these, we can see the plan that God has had for His people since the beginning. God is so good that His plan to welcome us into His love has never stopped. As Sally Lloyd-Jones puts it in The Jesus Storybook Bible, God loves us "with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love." And we see how that love has been true on every page of the Bible and how it continues to be true today.  

As we prepare for Christmas, for welcoming Jesus anew into our lives, we need to look at who He was and who He is and what that means for us and for the world around us. One thing that was true about Jesus's mission on Earth was that He healed. He preached and taught, yes. But He healed! He met the needs that people felt most acutely and as He did that, they realized that He could meet their other needs too. Can the same be true for us?

We can approach Christmas as a faraway event that we might talk about and learn about but we won't let it affect our lives. We might be able to see how the lives of the people in Bible times were affected by Jesus, but it might feel too distant to see how that could be true for us, now. We may wish we were there when Jesus walked the Earth, thinking about how incredible it must have been to witness all the miracles Jesus did and to wish we could even experience some! 

Or, we can trust that as Hebrews 13:8 says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Healing is a common thread in all of Scripture and being a Healer was a key part of who Jesus was on Earth so we can trust that it is still who Jesus is today. 

God's "Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love" is yours. As we prepare for Advent, let's open up the parts of our lives where the wounds are the deepest. Jesus can be born even there. The God who numbers and names the stars will care deeply for your broken heart and your deepest wounds.

Talk About

  • Does Jesus feel like a far-away Bible character to you? 
  • Try to invite Him into each part of your life this season by telling him about even the things you may think are trivial to God. He numbered the stars and He cares about you.

Pray Together
God, it is so good to sing praises to you! You have numbered the stars and you call them by name and still, you know us and love us deeply. You heal the brokenhearted! You heal our wounds! Great are you Lord and mighty in power.
Amen. 

Put it in Action
Find a clear night to go and look at the stars. Can you believe how big the universe is? And yet, God came to our Earth because He loves you. It is so hard to even fathom! Tell God how awesome He is! (Then come inside for some hot chocolate). 

To Go Deeper, Read
Isaiah 30:19-26

More information about our Advent Prayer Challenge can be found here.