The call of God captivated Abram, who became the father of the faithful, and he became consumed by one reality. Hebrews 11:10 says, "he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." All of life for Abram was redefined by the magnitude of the call and the promise of God, and his destiny was changed forever.

We Christians say we are people of God. We have placed our faith in Jesus and we are staking our lives on the fact that He is who He says He is. We live on a premise which says, "without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb. 11:6). We built an altar somewhere in our lives and said that for the rest of our lives we would live for God and God alone, and that we would seek to please Him by the exercising of our faith in Him.

At some point in our lives we trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, and we stepped over into a realm of living where God and His ways became profoundly important to us.

At some point in our lives we "obeyed a noble impulse" and took "one step" of faith (John Henry Jowett, My Daily Meditation: January 1 reading), and that step has led to an incredible and wonderful life of relationship with God.

I've walked with Jesus for a while now, and I'm still growing in what it means to live by faith. When I came to be pastor here at Bresee, I began by praying, "God, what are you going to do here?" Through the days and months and years, now, I’ve discovered that God would most likely not answer that prayer. Rather, step-by-step along the way He would show us WHO HE IS. He would place His hands on us and guide us. And, as John Jowett says, "That is enough, just to feel the pressure of the guiding hand."

THAT IS ENOUGH, ISN’T IT, JUST TO FEEL THE PRESSURE OF THE GUIDING HAND. AMEN!

Having celebrated the birth of God into human history, we now have the privilege of living out the meaning of the celebration. This is a celebration like no other. It is daily, what some would call 24/7 celebration, it is personal, and it is of the essence in the community of God.

There are five psalms in the great book, Psalms 146-150, that are called the “hallelujah” psalms. They are praise psalms that reflect the fact that God is at work in the world. He is not off in the distance preoccupied with other, more important, things. God is up-close-and-personal, working in the midst of His creation. Psalm 147 captures this in powerful ways.

We see in this Hallelujah psalm that God “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (vs. 3). “The Lord supports the afflicted” (vs. 6). He is at work in nature and in the human situation (vs. 8-10). His blessings are directed toward those who revere Him and who “wait for His lovingkindness” (vs. 11).

The fingerprints of God are all over this world; they are all over your life. You can’t get away from Him no matter where you go. He is sovereign and He is at work, patiently and persistently sharing His glory with all His creation.

No wonder Psalm 147 beings and ends with the little phrase, “Praise the Lord,” or “Hallelujah!” This makes perfect sense to those of us who have called upon the name of Jesus. He is God’s greatest manifestation. God didn’t just decree things from a distance. He arranged to be born into His creation to impact it all from within. On Christmas we celebrated His birth into history. Now, we will follow His life and see where it all leads.

Wherever it leads we can count on one thing. The influence of His presence will cause us to break forth in Hallelujahs and Praise the Lord.

Isaiah chapter 35 is a remarkable text to turn to for the third Sunday of Advent. I am fascinated with it because it shows us the very wonder that is God. It gives us a picture of His goodness and His grace and how He comes into His creation with life and health, with meaning and fulfillment.

What a terrific word for the times in which we live. It reminds me, in a way, of Ezekiel's vision of the river that flows from the altar out through the blistering desert and into the lifeless waters of the Dead Sea (see Ezekiel 47:1-12). In his vision Ezekiel tells us, "Everything will live where the river goes" (vs. 9). Isaiah, on the other hand, seems to speak about the emotional and psychological results of the presence of God. Everything will live where God's river flows and the way they will live is in joy and gladness.

Oswald Chambers said in the December one devotional from My Utmost For His Highest that “there is only one way by which I can get right with God, and that is through the death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the underlying idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience."

Isn’t that a remarkable thought to think. Jesus must do it all. In Ezekiel’s vision “everything will live where the river goes.” In Isaiah’s thought, dry and barren places become places of life and vitality. In both cases it is God who does the mighty deed. We can’t create them. We can work with them but we can’t create them.

Let’s pray together:

Father, lead us to the place of grace and draw us to yourself. We need you; we do desperately need you. Apart from you we are empty and broken. In you we are made whole. In you the desert and wilderness places come alive with life and meaning and vitality. Draw us to yourself and make us to be the people you have called us to be. Amen.