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“Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79)

Have you ever been walking on a dark forest path at night? If it is pitch-black all around you, or if it is foggy all around, then you cannot see much of anything. It can be a little scary walking alone on a path like that.

If you had a little keychain flashlight with you, it would be a little less scary, wouldn’t it? It’s amazing how much comfort one tiny little light can provide if everything around you is dark and unknown. And it would be even better if you had a large floodlight to carry, or maybe if some lamps are placed along the pathway to help illumine (light up) the way for you. You could take each next step with confidence. You might not be able to see very far down the path. You might not be able to see where it’s going to end up, but at least a floodlight or some lamplight could give you enough to help you keep going those next few steps.

But imagine that you had no flashlight. No floodlight. No lamplight. Not only are you wishing for some light to help you feel less afraid, but you are also in need of light to help you get around! You are in a real hurry to get OUT of this dark, scary forest as soon as you can. The only problem is – you cannot see the path at all!

Now, in your mind, imagine a miracle happens: In a single instant, the sun comes up and fills the whole forest with brilliant light. Of course you can see far enough to take your next few steps, but you can see so much more than that! What a tremendous comfort! You can see exactly where the pathway is leading, you can see whether there are any snakes or bears hanging around the pathway, and you can also see the beauty of the forest all around you – beauty that had been hidden before by the darkness.

Many times in the Bible, sinners are described as being lost or confused or in darkness or hopeless. If you think you might feel lost and hopeless in a dark forest, just think how much more serious it is to be lost and hopeless in spiritual darkness. And if you think you would be happy to have a tiny flashlight or some lamps along a dark forest pathway, just try to imagine how much more we ought to be thankful that God offers us a brilliant spiritual future if we will look to His Son Jesus as the only One Who can save us out of spiritual darkness. No repenting sinner is truly without hope or without comfort – not if he or she will trust Jesus Christ for salvation and forgiveness from sin.

The first chapter of Luke is an introduction to the story of Jesus’ birth. In it, sinners are described as “them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,” and Jesus is described as “the dayspring from on high.” Jesus is the miracle, and His coming as a baby was like a miraculous, comforting sunrise (“dayspring from on high”). He is the One Who has come “through the tender mercy of our God” in order “to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79) Are you walking in spiritual darkness today? Look to Jesus.

Through God’s mercy, Jesus is the only One Who can deliver us from spiritual darkness.

My Response:
» Do I really know what it feels like to be lost and hopeless in spiritual darkness?
» Who is the only Savior able to deliver me from my sinfulness and give me peace?
» Am I trusting in Jesus and relying today on His guidance?

“And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us.” (Luke 1:76-78)

Before opening gifts at Christmastime, many families have the tradition of reading the Christmas story as it is told in Matthew 1 or in Luke 2. But the first chapter of Luke is a very interesting introduction to Luke’s second chapter. In Luke 1, God records the story of how Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, was born. John was to come before Jesus (John was born six months before Jesus), and his purpose in life was to foretell (tell everyone ahead of time) that salvation was coming and that remission (forgiveness) of sins was coming – in the form of Jesus Christ Himself.

Zacharias, John’s father, was a priest. He knew very well that the sacrifical system that the Jews followed back then was supposed to be a picture of their faith in a coming Christ, a Messiah Who would come to bring them redemption, once and for all. John’s birth was a miracle, because both of his parents were very old – too old, humanly speaking, to have children. But Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit when John was born, and he prophesied what God had to say about John: “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us.” (Luke 1:76-78)

As John grew older, he began to preach the message he was born to preach. He told the people that God was sending His Messiah (the Christ, the Anointed One) to save repentant sinners. God used John to give the gift of the knowledge of salvation. He sent John ahead of Jesus to prepare the way for Jesus – to prepare the way of salvation.

People who listened to John and followed his teachings identified themselves with him by being baptized. Their baptism represented their belief that they needed to repent of their sins in preparation for the coming Christ, Who was going to bear those sins away (get rid of those sins) by His own righteousness. When Jesus came along and began His public ministry, the very first thing He did was to come to His cousin John and be baptized. Why did Jesus, Who lived a sinless life, want to be baptized with a baptism that showed His agreement that repentance of sins was necessary? Well, Jesus was going to take the sins of repentant sinners upon Himself. And He wanted His righteousness put on those sinners’ accounts. So He identified Himself with sinners by being baptized and agreeing publicly with John.

The people who listened to and followed John the Baptist still could not see the full picture of Who Christ was and why He came – but God used John to point the way. Here was the son of a priest who had been helping to sacrifice lambs in the temple for years. Here was John, preaching in the wilderness and pointing at Jesus Christ and saying, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world…. Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:29b and 36)

When Zacharias prophesied over his newborn son, he spoke of God’s tender mercy as the reason why God had sent the knowledge of salvation and remission of sins. God’s whole plan of redemption is an amazing gift, and He mercifully sent messengers and prepared the way for Christ’s arrival. Because of John’s message, we can know better how to respond to Jesus Christ, the only Savior of sins.

In tender mercy, God sent John to prepare the way for Christ and publish the message of what Christ would do for His people.

My Response:
» Have I ever thought much about John the Baptist being a part of God’s plan for salvation?
» Have I repented of my sins and trusted in Christ as the One Who can bear them away?
» Am I truly grateful to God for His merciful provision for the remission of sins?

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” (James 1:2-3)

Have you ever had a bad day? A really bad day? Hannah was having one of those days. First she missed her bus to school – so she had to call her mom to come and give her a ride to school. Hannah’s mom was not happy with her. Then when Hannah finally got to school, the popular girls made some jokes about the outfit she had decided to wear.

It was only 9 o’clock in the morning, and Hannah’s day had already gone from bad to worse. She plopped down at her desk and sighed out a short, quiet prayer under her breath: “Lord, why don’t those girls like me? What am I doing wrong?”

With a long face and an upset stomach, Hannah opened her math book. It was time for class to begin. What Hannah didn’t realize was that her teacher, Mrs. Nofzinger, had been standing by the bulletin board and overheard her prayer.

After math class there was a short reading time. This was Hannah’s favorite time because she could bury her head in a book and forget about the rest of the class, especially those girls who liked to tease her.

That’s why Hannah was disappointed when Mrs. Nofzinger asked her to go down to the water fountain during reading time and get some water for the classroom’s plants. “Why me?” Hannah thought to herself. “Why not send one of the ‘popular’ girls – they probably don’t care about reading, anyway!”

Just another little thing to add to her list of stuff going wrong today. But she picked up the pitcher from the back of the room and walked down to the water fountain.

As she was walking back to her class, she could see Mrs. Nofzinger waiting for her in the hallway. She said, “Hannah, I would like to talk with you. Don’t worry – you aren’t in trouble.”

Taking the water pitcher out of Hannah’s arms, Mrs. Nofzinger said softly, “Hannah, sometimes God puts us in situations that we don’t understand. And sometimes those situations can be hard to live through. I have the feeling that you know exactly what I mean – am I right?”

With tears starting to fill her eyes, Hannah nodded. Mrs. Nofzinger went on. “God is at work in every situation in our lives. He is with us during the good times and with us during the hard times. In fact,” she added, “God sometimes even sends difficult situations so that our faith can grow, and so that we can grow closer to Him.”

They talked for a few minutes, and then reading time was over. Before they went back into the classroom to water the plants, Hannah’s day had gotten a whole lot better. Her teacher had explained that if we have faith in God, it must grow. And the only way for faith to grow is for it to be tested. That is why James 1:2-3 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”

Now, you might be wondering how anyone could say that God was the One testing Hannah’s faith. Weren’t the “popular girls” teasing her and saying mean things? Yes, they were, and they will be held accountable to answer for their wrongdoing. But God is bigger than those girls, and He is in control. He could have shut up their mouths (like He did for Daniel in the lions’ den) and stopped them from being cruel, but in Hannah’s case, He chose to have her go through that hurtful experience on top of everything else that was “going wrong” with her day. Why? So she would grow stronger in dependence upon Him.

Are you counting the hard things in your life as things to rejoice in? Are the tests of your faith a joyful thing for you? They ought to be. Think about this: People lift weights to stretch and exercise their muscles – to put their muscles to the test – so they will get stronger. God works with us to make us stronger in a spiritual sense. He sends us circumstances that put our faith to the test. He wants to test our faith to see if we will depend on Him, because it is only through Him that we can be truly strong.

Because He is good, God often puts our faith to the test to help us grow stronger spiritually.

My Response:
» What are some examples of situations where I needed to trust God?
» How has God caused my faith to grow ?

“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (Galatians 4:7)

Whenever Drew would go to a birthday party or some other public event, the last thing his dad would say before Drew walked out the door would be, “Remember who you belong to, son.”

Of course, Drew knew good and well to whom he belonged – he belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Smith, his parents. But that wasn’t all Drew’s dad meant by his comment. Drew was supposed to think about his relationship with his parents, and how he should act because of the relationship. Drew was more than just a friend or a worker for his parents. He was their son. As their son, Drew could expect love from his parents, and he knew that his parents expected certain actions and attitudes from him.

If you are trusting Christ as your Savior, God has a Father-son (or Father-daughter) kind of relationship with you. You belong to Him in a special way. He has created you, so you belong to Him as an invention would belong to its inventor: A creature belongs to its Creator. But if you are a new creature in Christ, you also “belong” to God in the sense of being a part of His household. He provides for you better than any human father ever could. He loves you more than any human father ever could. Since God is your Father, He has a right to expect you to respond a certain way to Him and to do certain things for Him.

So how should you act toward God, if you belong to Him? You should do what your Father commands, and you should do it from a willing, loving heart. You should do things that make God’s name look good. You should love Him just as He loves you (very much!); and, most of all, you should thank Him for making you His child. He sent His own Son to die for your sins so that you could have a relationship with Him. Since God has made you His child, you should act like the son or daughter that you really are.

If God has made you His child, you should act like you are His child.

My Response:
» Can I think of ways to make God’s name look good today?
» Have I been thanking God for making me His child?