It's a Story of God on the Move...

Advent Devo: Part 1 - The week of December 4th

“Aslan is on the move…”

“Who is Aslan?” asked Susan.

"Aslan?” said Mr. Beaver. “Why, don’t you know? He’s the King. He’s the Lord of the whole wood, but not often here, you understand. Never in my time or my father’s time. But the word has reached us that he has come back. He is in Narnia at this moment…”

Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.

From The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Book 2 of The Chronicles of Narnia
by C.S. Lewis.

The kingdom of Narnia was bound in a spell under Jadis, the evil Queen. As Mr. Beaver explained, “It is she that makes it always winter; always winter, and never Christmas!” No hope. No change of seasons. No warmth felt from the sun’s rays. No nesting season for the birds. There aren’t any gorgeous fall colors or early spring flowers. Narnia is just a world of cold weather, dark clouds, and a black and white landscape. Evil seems to have won.

Evil has also bound up the hearts of the inhabitants of Narnia. Every creature lives in fear of the Queen. Her anger, her decrees are unquestionably obeyed. To defy her means death: being turned into stone statues. There seems no way out. Or is there? Some of the faithful know: Only Aslan can deliver the land of Narnia from this evil. And now the word is out – He is on the move!

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Daily Scripture Readings

Day One: Psalm 95 Isaiah 42:1-9 Rev. 21:1-7
Day Two: Psalm 96 Isaiah 42:10-17 2 Peter 3:8-14
Day Three: Psalm 97 Isaiah 43:1-13 Zech. 2:10-13
Day Four: Psalm 98 Isaiah 43:14-28 Genesis 1
Day Five: Psalm 99 Isaiah 44:1-8 Luke 21:5-28
Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25

Prayer

Lord,
Thank You for speaking to us through Your Word and Your prophets. It strengthens my faith to read of the many things that were prophesied in Your Word which have already come to pass. I know this means that every promise in Your Word will be fulfilled. Thank You for always keeping Your promises.
I pray that I will not be like the people in Isaiah’s time who would not humble themselves before You and listen.
And I don’t want to be like the people Micah spoke to who refused to obey You. Nor do I want to be like the people who heard Jeremiah’s prophecy but didn’t have faith enough to believe it.
Instead, I humble myself before You this day and ask that You would help me to clearly hear and understand Your instructions to me. Enable me to fully know Your laws and obey them. Give me ever-increasing faith to believe that Your promises are true. Help me to see all the promises to me in Your Word so that I can claim them, stand strong in them, and rest in You as I wait for them to be fulfilled in my life.

In Jesus’ Name, I pray,
AMEN.

Stormie Omartian, "The Power of Christmas Prayer",
© 2000, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. p. 15

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Journaling

• Is God on the move in your life today? Or do you have some ‘desert places’ that need His Hand of renewal and healing? Ask God to change and renew a right Spirit within you by praying Psalm 51 aloud to Him. Write down your heart’s response to God.

• What can you do to insure that your home does not fall into the spell of ‘always winter and never Christmas’?

• Theologian Karl Barth once said that pastors should write their sermons “with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other." (The equivalent today might be a Bible and Google™!) The challenge remains for us to try to live out our faith in our culture. As you read your paper or listen to the news today, where do you see that God is on the move in our world?