Psalm 23:5

God is not only our provider, giving us what we need to survive, but He is a generous God. Rather than leaving a food package by the door, He’s set the table and laid out a feast. This speaks of honour, and of rest. We are invited to come and sit at the table, to tarry, spending time in fellowship together with Him rather than grabbing a bite to eat on the go. The table is a point of meeting with God. Continue reading You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies →

Psalm 23:4

God’s power is our comfort in the valley of darkness. He will bring to us justice and restoration. We can trust him.

We need comfort when life doesn’t work out. The light on the horizon shows us comfort.

The word for rod (שבט) is translated as sceptre and signifies our Good Shepherd’s right to rule. He is King and has all power.

A shepherd’s staff is there to put enemies in their place. The good shepherd stands up for the vulnerable and the weak. Anyone who wants to tear up the lives of others experiences the other side of divine gentleness and love. Anyone who opposes God remains excluded from the divine kingdom.

Christian power means yes to personal powerlessness. Jesus says: “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

“Even though I walk through the valley of deep darkness, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” Psalm 23:4

In times of need, David goes with God on “you”. He realizes: God is there.

When we come to the limit of understanding, the path of trust in God begins. God presents Moses himself as the one who is (Exodus 3:14). He is present yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

It is a mystery that we draw closer to God in times of need. Job confessed at the lowest point in his life: “Now my eyes have seen you” (Job 42:5). Suddenly we experience how God carries us through and how he holds us.

When everything is getting dark, it helps to be close to the one who knows the way.

Psalm 23:3

He leads me in “circles of justice”. David chose a Hebrew word that means circle (מעגל). It looks, in some ways, as if he says God is leading him round in circles! But there is some profound truth in this.

Things in our life repeat themselves. It seems like going in circles.

When we walk with God, we are going up in a spiral of growth.

The Hebrew says that God leads us in circles, or cycles of righteousness, for His name’s sake. God is committed to our growth, and our journey with Him, so that He gets the glory. He wants us to grow in righteousness.

Joy in heaven. Joy over life on earth.

Joy over people who turn to God and no longer turn away.

“I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).

Friday, January 13 – Impulse 6 of the Allianz Week of Joy

The positive view of others is the soil for kindness.

Community builds and brings joy.

“Day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God” (Acts 2:46-47).

Thursday, January 12 – Impulse 5 of the Allianz Week of Joy

At the beginning of the 1920s, the Sankt Johannis printers in Baden Germany printed an advent calendar whose opened window showed Bible verses instead of pictures. A few thoughts on the verses every day.

A messiah in swaddling clothes and a manger, Luke 2:10-18

Twenty-fourth window of the Biblical advent calendar

The angel announced to the shepherds: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger” Luke 2:11-12.

Someone is reborn in Judaism when he converts to Judaism, comes in the religious age with the bar mitzvah, marries, is appointed as a rabbi by laying hands on him, or is installed as a king. The detail of swaddling clothes shows that the Messiah is really a baby and not a call to service.

The manger told the shepherds that the child was born in Bethlehem, in a simple house like the one they knew. The shepherds would probably have hesitated to visit a prospective king in a majestic home.

However, if they would have arrived and find a shabby stable with a frightened young mother and a distraught Joseph, they would surely have taken them to their families.

It is not clear from the biblical text where Mary and Joseph lived in Bethlehem. It’s only written (Luke 2:6): “While they were there (not arrived), the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the “room”.“

The Greek word, often translated as “inn”, occurs three times in the New Testament. We see it for the first time in the above text, the other two times it describes the room in which Jesus held the Lord’s Supper (Mark 14.14 / Luke 22.11). It is the place that is only for the people. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke uses the Greek word for an inn (Luke 10:34).

According to the Bible, Mary and Joseph could have lived in a simple Jewish house. In addition, it was customary to accommodate travellers in private houses, especially if they belonged to the relatives. According to Matthew, Mary and Joseph lived in a house in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:11).

In the first century, the manger for the small animals were in simple houses in the lower rooms. Obviously, the house had been overcrowded with too many people due the census and the space in the bed-living-room was too crowded for a birth.

Jesus comes and takes part in life as it really is. And he saves people from their hopelessness and gives peace on earth to people who turn to him (Luke 2:14).

Continue reading Advent →