Saints, before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear;
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In His temple shall appear.
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

Angels, from the Realms of Glory
By: James Montgomery, 1771-1854 (1816)

Listen to this simple piano version as you read, or watch the video complete with lyrics then read.  Please make certain to enjoy the video log below.

We continue our journey to Christmas and the celebration of the birth of our Savior.  This week we consider the saints who are bending their lives to the will of God at the altar of God.  Their role in the story shows us that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Let’s tune our hearts.

Simeon

Right after the shepherds in Luke 2 we are introduced to two other characters who for the purposes of our carol are the “saints”.  They are truly saints since they are effectively described as such.  They are people whose faith was in God, who had been waiting and watching for His appearing for a long time.

We are going to consider Simeon today and Anna Thursday.

You can read the entire passage about Simeon in Luke 2:25-35, or suffice it to say he was righteous and devout.

Simeon regularly bent his knee at the altar of God, so he had positioned himself to hear from God.  This posture of humility is essential if we truly want to hear.  It also allowed his life to be a welcome place to the Holy Spirit.

So welcome was the Spirit in Simeon’s life that he had received a beautiful promise from God.  He was told he would not see death before He would see the Lord’s Christ.  What an incredible promise!  We do not know how long He had held onto this promise.  It could have been years, even decades.  What we do know is that he was hopeful and watchful.

How do we know that?  He had come in the Spirit to the Temple.  He did not have to pray when He saw the child.  He knew it was the Lord’s salvation. When the Lord suddenly appeared in the Temple he was ready.

He had come again to worship with an expectant heart, and that expectancy was rewarded with an encounter with the Savior.

What an incredible story of a faithful life!  He was looking to God and that same God made Him an incredible promise.  Is there some promise you have been holding onto for some time?  Don’t let go.  Are you struggling to maintain a watchful, hopeful posture after a long wait?  Set your hope on God.  Are you alert and ready to identify the Lord when He does appear?  Stay alert.  Otherwise you could miss it.  Take a few moments and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the answers to these questions, and then press in to one of them as we consider the lessons we might learn from Simeon.

Learning from Simeon

It is beneficial to look at Simeon’s like and marvel at the goodness of God to reveal Himself to this seasoned saint.  It is far more profitable to consider how we may emulate his approach and replicate it in our lives.  Which will you choose, beneficial or profitable?  Both are good choices, but one is far better.

Let’s take the better course and examine our own lives around these three principles

1. Don’t Let Go
2. Set Your Hope on God
3. Stay Alert

Don’t Let Go – It can be heard to hold on when you believe God has said something to you and a long time has passed.  Many of us know just how difficult that can be.  What Simeon teaches us is that it is so worth it to hold on.  God is faithful, and He will do it.

What is that promise you are holding onto today?  Speak it out loud.  Is your grip loosening?  Maybe you have already let go.  But you can often just get another grip.  Ask God to strengthen your grasp own that promise and trust Him until you see it come to pass.

Set Your Hope on God – This can be tricky.  The Lord told Simeon he would see God’s salvation, but what would that look like. Simeon could easily have crafted his own idea of what form that salvation would take.  If he was mistaken he might have missed the moment.  Instead he put his hope in God and waited with open eyes and heart to see it.

What have you set your hope on?  Is it God, or something of your own making that resembles Him?  This can be so tricky as we pursue God’s best for us because we can shape it to our own likely, or weak faith when God may having something much better in mind.  Determine to clearly set your hope on Him, and you will never be disappointed.

Stay Alert – We do not know the particulars of the arrival of Mary and Joseph at the Temple for the dedication of Jesus, but there were likely many people in and out for various reasons.  Simeon could have easily missed this little family, but he did not.  Certainly the Holy Spirit prompted him, but he had to stay alert.

What are you waiting to see?  Have you grown weary in your waiting?  It is difficult to maintain the kind of focus required to stay focused on one thing when there are many things moving around you.  And Simeon was old.  Still, he was ready when the what he was longing for suddenly appeared.  Can the same be said of you?  Are you alert today and watching for the thing you are hoping for?

Lok back over those three lessons and determine to address one of them today.  That kind of reflection and discipline may be the very thing that positioned Simeon to experience the promise of God.  Position yourself in a similar position today.

Holy Spirit, You came upon Simeon, but I believe your dwell in me.  Show me what may be keeping me from listening to You the way he did.   Then give me the courage to act on what you show me so I can be one the saints that sees You when You move in my life.  In Jesus name.  Amen!

Watchful Tuning!

Keep coming back and we will work help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence.   We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.

Like what you finding here?  Fill out the form to the right to get an email with each fresh post and updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Please comment below and share if you have found this helpful in your journey of being more resonant.

Below is content always available to Subscribers, often to Free Members, and sometimes everyone.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here, or the Free Member Content Library with some examples of the complete Subscribers content, click here.

Everyone enjoy this video, and the transcript below.

Video 12.4 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

Saints, before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear;
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In His temple shall appear.
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

If you have not seen yourself in the story yet, hopefully you do here.  I think this has a dual meaning, for the saints in that day, and for all who came after them.  We humble ourselves at the place where we meet God. We depend on His work to make us holy. Then and now.

Saints are simply those who are looking to God for the fulfillment of their hope.  The fear is evoked by a right understanding of the majesty of God. Are you watching for the coming of our Lord?  He came once. He will come again. Are you ready?

Though they were waiting and we wait now, they were surprised as we will be when He makes His final appearance.  He will come down again, not as a baby, but as the Lord of all. Even before then, He wants to come down upon us to make His glory known.  Welcome Him.

Mary and Joseph brought newborn Jesus to the Temple as instructed by the law, and Simeon and Anna welcomed Him.  Jesus comes to us as well and desires a similar welcome. Will He receive it when He comes to you?

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

Sing

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

The post What Can the Saints Teach Us? appeared first on Resonant 7.

Image Attributions
Simeon’s Moment – by Ron DiCianni – http://www.burrowdesigns.com/advent-simeon/
Learning from Simeon – https://pixabay.com/photos/climb-knot-hand-partner-check-517053/

Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great Desire of nations;
Ye have seen His natal star.
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

Angels, from the Realms of Glory
By: James Montgomery, 1771-1854 (1816)

Listen to this simple piano version as you read, or watch the video complete with lyrics then read.  Please make certain to enjoy the video log below.

We continue our journey to Christmas and the celebration of the birth of our Savior.  This week we consider the ones who rather than hearing angels sing, saw the star which announced the birth of the King of kings.  Their role in the story shows us that God welcomes all who pursue Him with humility.  Let’s tune our hearts.

Sages, Wise Men, Magi, They Were

Of all the things that could be said to introduce these strangers from the east, they are introduced as wise men.  The hymn calls them sages, and the other common term is Magi.  This term indicates that they would have been famed for their wisdom, even venerated for the the possession of wisdom, judgment and experience.  If men of this caliber make the decision to make a long and perilous journey, not to mention with expensive gifts.  We should take note.

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, Matthew 2:1-2 ESV 

The hymn, ever an invitation to come and worship, encourages the wise men of the story, and all who will follow their lead, to leave their contemplations.  This is no small task, for someone esteemed for wisdom achieves such notoreity through careful examination and diligent pursuit.  To encourage people to leave behind the very thing by which they have attained their status could be seen as foolish.

But we must consider these wise men, and learn from their example.

They add weight to the plea offered to all who will come after them.  We will examine the why of their indubitably thoughtful response below, but here just acknowledge the fact that they came.  And in so doing had to leave something behind.  For them it was contemplations, the kind at which they obviously excelled and had set them apart.  It may be something less profound for you, but no less difficult.

What might you have to leave to be marked by a similar wisdom?  What thing that marks your life, maybe even something you find great value in and enjoy being associated with, must you leave in order to worship the Christ of Christmas?  Can you identify it today?  If not, are you willing to consider the possibility that such a thing may exist?  Something that is good, but may be holding you back from the best.  Take a few moments and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal if such a thing is present in your life.

Worshippers, They Became

So why would such men, venerated for their wisdom, leave those pursuits behind to become worshippers? What could compel them to a different endeavor?  It would have to be something they deemed worthwhile, and because of there collective wisdom it should be assumed it was.  But it was the culmination of their journey that demonstrated their willingness to respond to God’s invitation.

Saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:2 ESV

They were still wise men, but they became worshippers.

They saw the star when it rose at His birth.  They recognized Him as a king.  They had even determined that they would worship Him.  Why?  Because from a distance they had seen a brighter more compelling vision than any they had previously discovered.

It was one thing to leave behind their lofty contemplations.  It was another thing altogether to embrace humble worship.

The invitation rings to all those who have ears to hear and eyes to see that brighter vision.  That life of surrender to the King that transforms every rebellious heart into a worshipping one.  We know nothing of their worship prior to or after this encounter, except for their willingness to heed to warning of an angelic being, but this snapshot captures their response to the newborn Christ.

So what shall you learn from their example and the transformation it produced?  Do you have a clear mental picture or vision of something brighter than your current experience?  Is God inviting you into something grander, bigger, better?  Will you humble yourself and pursue it?  If you are not sure, why not take a few moments to ask Him what that might be, and what your response should be?  You will never regret choosing to worship.

Almighty God, thank You for revealing Your invitation to worship to those wise men.   Thank You for prompting them to follow, and giving them the courage to do so.  Thank You for their example.  Help me to be willing to emulate it in my life today. In Jesus name.  Amen!

Wise Tuning!

Keep coming back and we will work help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence.   We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.

Like what you finding here?  Fill out the form to the right to get an email with each fresh post and updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Please comment below and share if you have found this helpful in your journey of being more resonant.

Below is content always available to Subscribers, often to Free Members, and sometimes everyone.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here, or the Free Member Content Library with some examples of the complete Subscribers content, click here.

Everyone enjoy this video, and the transcript below.

Video 12.3 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great Desire of nations;
Ye have seen His natal star.
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

From the lowly to the learned, the call continues.  The wise men were invited to leave the contemplations that had led them to the star, and we likewise are welcomed to move past what we know in search of more. Is there anything, even good things, you may need to leave behind?

They had seen the star, but the call that came to them and comes to us is that there is more.  How often we become content with less than all God wants to show us. Ask God to show you more of Himself in this season that your worship may be more complete?

The magi also represent all the non-Jewish or Gentile worshippers, which is good news for most of the world.  Jesus is the fulfillment of desire of all nations, not just Israel, and we are encouraged to seek Him. Commit to seek Him this Christmas season.

Though a new star appearing was remarkable, the fact that it announced a baby’s birth set these scholars on an incredible journey.  Some might say it ended when they bowed their knees to the child years later, but I believe it continued all their days. May the same be true of us.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

Sing

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

The post God With Us appeared first on Resonant 7.

Image Attributions
Sages – https://pixabay.com/photos/magi-christmas-night-shooting-star-3795282/
Wise Men – https://pixabay.com/vectors/wisemen-wise-men-jesus-birth-story-2948680/

Shepherds, in the field abiding,
Watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with us is now residing;
Yonder shines the infant light:
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

Angels, from the Realms of Glory
By: James Montgomery, 1771-1854 (1816)

Listen to this simple piano version as you read, or watch the video complete with lyrics then read.  Please make certain to enjoy the video log below.

We continue our journey to Christmas and the celebration of the birth of our Savior.  This week we consider the first ones to hear the glorious news of the angels, the shepherds.  Their role in the story shows us that God meets us where we live and in what we do.  Let’s tune our hearts.

Where We Live

Can you put yourself in the place of the shepherds?  Spending another night out in the fields.  Nothing new.  Same old, same old.

I wonder what their conversations around the fire consisted of?  Benjamin’s new son?  What they are going to do with that one sheep that keeps trying to wonder off?  How many more travelers could possibly still be making their way to Bethlehem for the census and where they were all going to find a place to sleep for the night?

Just a normal night.  Living it where they did so many nights before, only this night would not be like those other nights.  No, this would be like no other night.

Suddenly, an angel appeared, and they were filled with fear.  So would we be, but it is not the fear I want to focus on here.  It is the  context of the encounter.

God chose to meet these simple shepherds where they lived.

• They did not have to come to Him.  He came to them.
• They did not have to prepare the way.  He made the way.
• They did not have to dress up.  He put on flesh.

So what about us?  Are we still trying to come to God, when He is already with us?  Is there anything we need to do to prepare to receive God’s message for us, or do we just need to receive it?  Are we trying to get ourselves together, when He has already brought us together?

How is God trying to meet you in these days?  Where is He showing up right where you live?  Will you be like the shepherds and gladly receive what God has already made known to you?  Take a few moments to let Him speak to your heart and respond to what He says.

In What We Do

But it was not only in meeting them where they were that God demonstrated His desire to come to them.  He also did it by meeting them in the midst of what they were doing, their daily grind.  That is truly remarkable.

Think about it.  They were simply watching over their flocks.  Nothing exciting here folks here, move along.  Standing around watching sheep eat and sleep.  BORING!

Maybe there are times when you are underwhelmed by how mundane your life is.  Guess what.  That happens to all of us.  We get weary doing the daily stuff, particularly our work stuff.  Punching the clock and biding our time until the end of the day.  We have all had days like that.

But again it is remarkable how unremarkable their lives were, until God showed up.  We may be inclined to think that the shepherds role was insignificant, but if we do, we miss the entire point.  God delights in revealing extraordinary things to rather ordinary people.  We see this again and again in Scripture.

Can you acknowledge that maybe God wants to do this to you? Maybe He wants to so fill what you are doing with Himself that there is no mistaking it is Him.  Honestly.  There is not maybe about it.  He wants to do that  He did it then and there for them.  He will do it here and now for you.

How is God trying to meet you in these days?  Where is He showing up in what you do?  Will you be like the shepherds and gladly receive what God has already made known to you?  Take a few moments to let Him speak to your heart and respond to what He says.

 

Father, thank You for what You said to those shepherds long ago.   Thank you for meeting them like you did, extraordinarily in the their ordinary beings and doings.  Thank You for what you are saying to me today. In Jesus name.  Amen!

Mundane Tuning!

Keep coming back and we will work help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence.   We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.

Like what you finding here?  Fill out the form to the right to get an email with each fresh post and updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Please comment below and share if you have found this helpful in your journey of being more resonant.

Below is content always available to Subscribers, often to Free Members, and sometimes everyone.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here, or the Free Member Content Library with some examples of the complete Subscribers content, click here.

Everyone enjoy this video, and the transcript below.

Video 12.2 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

Shepherds, in the field abiding,
Watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with us is now residing;
Yonder shines the infant light:
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

We have heard the story so many times it is difficult to imagine what that night outside of Bethlehem must have been like.  How kind of God to come to simple shepherds to make the news of His coming known! How kind of God to come to us! Thank Him.

They were just doing their job, going about their normal activity when God suddenly appeared.  Are you prepared to see God at work in your everyday circumstances? He will probably not come with angelic announcement, but He will come.  Prepare yourself.

God came to make His dwelling among us, John 1:14, and He continues to do so.  That He came to the shepherds is meant to show us He has come for us all, including the lowliest.  Ask Him to dwell in you today, as surely as He did in that manger long ago.

The Light of the World came into our darkness and He keeps coming.  They were welcomed into the light and so are we. As you draw near, is there darkness in you that His light is exposing?  Confess it and welcome His radiant light to shine in you again today.  

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

Sing

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

The post God With Us appeared first on Resonant 7.

Image Attributions
Shepherds – http://www.jeremysams.com/church-murals/img_3792/
Silent Flocks – https://omraam-words-of-light.org/2016/12/23/one-night-in-bethlehem-a-meditation-for-christmas-eve/