14 May: Tuesday Refocus

“Your natural gifts draw attention to yourself while brokenness draws attention to your Lord. With this in mind, power is dangerous in the hands of an unbroken vessel.” - Frank Viola

This is an upside down kingdom. Here the first will be last, the last will be first, to find your life you must lose your life, the humble will be exalted and the high will be brought low (Matthew 20:16, Matthew 10:39, Matthew 23:12). In this kingdom, our weakness is met by the strength of God (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). He breaks us not to crush us, but to bring forth praise (Psalm 51:8), He tears us that he may heal us (Hosea 6:1).

And when we inhabit this kingdom (rather than attempting to construct our own kingdom) we see that all things entrusted to us - gifts, pain, blessings, and loss - are not just for us, but are for the glory of God, and the good of His Church.

“Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.]’ - Psalm 145:13

Amen,

AB

9 January: Tuesday Refocus

“Teach me to listen, Holy Spirit, for your voice; in busyness and in boredom, in certainty and doubt, in noise and in silence. Teach me, Lord, to listen. Amen.” - John Veltri, SJ

Sheep recognize the voice of the Shepherd (John 10:27). In the whispers and the wind (1 Kings 19:11-13), in the busyness and the boredom, in the certainty and doubt, in the noise and the silence - our Shepherd is speaking and speaking through His Word, speaking through His Spirit, speaking through His people, speaking through creation.

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world (Hebrews 1:1-2).”

May the voice of the Good Shepherd ring unmistakably through our souls in 2024.

Speak Lord, your servant is listening. Amen.

Listening,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: May 23

“Spiritual disciples nurture steadfastness. What we repeat in times of ease we will recall in times of hardship.” - Jen Wilkin

What is being repeated in my life right now?

Am I meditating day and night, and delighting in the law of the Lord (Ps 1:2)? 

Am I rehearsing His truths when I sit, and walk, and lie down, when I rise, binding them on my hand, putting them before my eyes, writing them upon the foundation of my life and home (Deut 6:7-9)?

May my life and yours resemble the house built on a rock (Matt 7:24-27).

Spirit, lead us to the rock that is higher - the Rock of Christ. In His name, amen.

Repeating,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: April 25

“May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ.” - 2 Thessalonians 3:5

Our hearts do indeed need direction. Because every heart is deceitful, desperately sick, and misunderstood (Jer 17:9). We chase vanity and strive after the wind (Ecc 1:14). What could be more essential to our aimless, wandering hearts than the steadying, sobering, truest truth that God is love, and Christ is steadfast?

Like sheep that go astray, how easily we are distracted and prone to wander. We combat our wandering with being anchored in the person and work of Christ as revealed in God’s Word. We must continually, constantly, and repeated preach and press the truths of Scripture deeply into our hearts. As we read, meditate, apply, pray, rehearse, hear, and sing these truths - the Holy Spirit who inspired these words to be written - uses them to lead us in all truth, directing us to God Himself (John 16:13).

“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” - Hebrews 6:19-20

Lord, in this moment, may our hearts be directed toward your unchanging character more than our ever changing circumstances. In the name of Christ, amen.

Steadied,

AB

February 8: Tuesday Refocus

‘Faith is ever occupied with God.  That is the character of it; that is what differentiates it from intellectual theology.  Faith endures ‘as seeing him who is invisible’ (Heb 11:27): endures the disappointments, the hardships, and the heartaches of life by recognizing that all comes from the hand of Him who is too wise to err and too loving to be unkind.’ - A.W. Pink

There are many careless words spoken in the language of faith.  

You didn’t have enough faith.  

Have more faith. 

In Matthew 8, a storm is tossing the sea-worn disciples as Jesus is asleep in the boat.  They cry out for Him to rescue them, and Jesus says ‘Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?’  But it is the storm, not the disciples who receive a rebuke: ‘Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.’ (Matthew 8:26).

Make no mistake, the disciples are witness to Jesus’ strong words against faithlessness at other times: “And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?…” Matthew 17:17

But like God calling out to Adam and Eve in the garden - ‘Where are you?’ (Genesis 3:9) - the questioning of faith as an invitation to draw toward God not away from Him.  Because of Christ, the invitation from God for the follower of Jesus is always to come, always to draw near (Heb 10:19, Matt 11:28, Rev 22:17).

Keep drawing near.

‘…for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.’ James 1:3-4

Lord, thank You that You do not stand far off, but You have drawn near to us. And now we can draw near to you with full assurance of faith, with hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Help us to hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for You who promised is faithful… (Hebrews 10:22-23)

Drawing near,

AB

January 18: Tuesday Refocus

“Christians are made, not born.” - Tertullian

We are people of the already and not yet.  Every follower of Jesus is saved, is being saved, and will be saved.  Sanctification is a life-long work - we do not emerge from the born again womb complete disciples (John 3:3).  We are being conformed to the image of Christ by the Father slowly - sometimes painfully - over time (Rom 8:29).  Our salvation and sanctification is not self-made, bootstrapped labor - no, we are not our own, we have been bought with a price (1 Cor 6:19-20).

Maybe this is a year to lay down filthy rag righteousness and rest in the righteousness of Christ that clothes every one of His followers (Is 64:6, 2 Cor 5:21).

Maybe this is the year to stop being conformed to the patterns of the world, but to be transformed by the renewal of the mind (Rom 12:2).

Maybe this is the year to lose your life, rather than preserve it (Luke 17:33).

Lord, may it be so.  May we be remade again and again.  Let us be conformed to your image, for your glory, and the good of the world, amen.

Made,

AB

July 20: Tuesday Refocus

‘All true servants of Christ must be content to wait for their wages. Their best things are yet to come.’ - J.C. Ryle

Delayed gratification is not a modern, Western value.  And why would it be when we can get what we want when we want it with the click of a button?  But followers of Christ are called to something entirely other.  

We are called to…   

‘…lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.’ (Matt 6:20).

Invest our lives in something we ‘…know in part; then [we] shall know fully, even as [we] have been fully known.’ (1 Cor 13:12).

Lose our lives for His sake to find life (Matt 16:25).

‘…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.’ (Heb 12:2).

May we wait patiently, with endurance and expectation.

Jesus, You who were rich, for our sake became poor so that we through your poverty might become rich.  May we follow You, bearing the cross to one day wear a crown.  For Your greater glory, and for our greater joy, amen.

Waiting,

AB

May 4: Tuesday Refocus

‘I think that the deepest motive for mission is simply to desire to be with Jesus where He is, on the frontier between the ring of God and the usurped dominion of the devil.’ - Lesslie Newbigin

Jesus is building His Church (Matt 16:18).  How quickly we forget that the One who holds the universe together by the word of His power does not need our action to accomplish His purpose (Heb 1:3).  But what grace that He gives us gifts for the purpose of building up His body (1 Cor 14:12).

When service and mission become about doing for God, rather than presence with God, and His people, we find ourselves troubled by many things.  We have failed to choose the good portion (Luke 10:42).  We serve intentionally and invest intentionally, but we do so before the face of God, from the love of God, for the glory of God, and the good of others.

Lord, would you reorder our loves?  Forgive our foolish thoughts that you need us - our skills, gifts, and time - as if all of those things had not first been entrusted to us by You in the first place.  Would we be marked by presence with You first, foremost, and ever ongoing.  Jesus, You are God with us, may we be people with You.  In Your name, amen.

With,

Aaron

February 2: Tuesday Refocus

‘The early Christians did not say, in dismay, ‘Look what the world has come to,’ but, ‘Look what has come to the world!’ - E. Stanley Jones

For all of our hand-wringing have we forgotten?  

Our Savior dwelt among us (Jn 1:14).

For all of our uncertainty have we forgotten? 

Our Savior lived, died, and was buried (1 Jn 3:5, Rom 6:10, Is 53:9).

For all of our short-sighted fear have we forgotten?  

Our Savior has been raised and ascended (Acts 13:30, Acts 1:9).

For all of our current and future anxiety have we forgotten?  

Our Savior will return to dwell among us once more:

‘And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”’ - Revelation 21:3-4

For our troubled hearts, for our troubled world, this is good news.  

Thank you, Lord, that the Gospel is true.  That Jesus is on the throne, and we have nothing, and no one to fear.  In Your name, amen.

Resting,

AB

January 19: Tuesday Refocus

‘Then they believed His words; they sang His praise.’ - Psalm 106:12

We are people always responding.  We engage, interact, entertain, ignore, and are transformed by what we see and experience all around us.  If we cannot help but respond to the created world, how much more are we compelled to respond to the Creator who has revealed Himself?  Matt Redman often says ‘Seeing is singing.’  When we believe His word, our hearts cannot stay silent:

He is the Bread of Life - satisfying our deepest hunger, forever (Jn 6:35)

He is the Light of the World - illuminating the narrow road (Jn 8:1, Matt 7:14)

He is the Door - through whom we have access to the Father (Jn 10:9)

He is the Good Shepherd - He lays down His life to rescue His wayward sheep (Jn 10:11)

He is the Resurrection and the Life - He has died, but is alive forevermore holding the keys of death and hell (Jn 11:25, Rev 1:18)

He is the Way, the Truth and the Life - everything we seek is found in and through Him (Jn 14:6)

He is the True Vine - abiding perfectly in the life and love of the Father, inviting us to abide in Him (Jn 15:4-11)

He is the One who emptied Himself, took on flesh, became sin, offered Himself as the Perfect Sacrifice, died the death we deserved, is raised and is seated at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf (Phil 2:7-8, 2 Cor 5:21, Heb 10:10, Rom 4:25, Acts 13:30, Mark 16:19, Rom 8:34)

And He can always be trusted because His word always proves true (Proverbs 30:5).  Believe and respond.

Lord, give us a greater glimpse of the reality of Who You are, and what You have done.  May we believe and respond with lives of continual worship.  We love you, amen.

Seeing and responding,

AB

1 December: O Adonai (O Lord)

O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti,

et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.

O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush

and gave him the law on Sinai: Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.

'For the Lord is our judge; 

       the Lord is our lawgiver; 

the Lord is our king; 

He will save us.’   Isaiah 33:22

What a beautiful reality: the One who is our judge and lawgiver, is also the One who is our Lord, King, and Savior.  We are not left with the weight of the law, and righteous judgement.  We have a Lord, King, and Savior who enters into our world to fulfill the law and absorb the judgment of God on our behalf.  

With an outstretched arm, He rescued His people from Egypt.

With an outstretched arm, He reached for His young mother.

With an outstretched arm, He brought about redemption on a cross.

Prayer:

Lord, because You are outstretched, we too can be people outstretched to neighbor and enemy alike.  ‘You are good and do good; teach me Your statutes.’ Psalm 119:68 Amen.

To download a complete PDF of the O Antiphon Advent Devotional, click here.

O Antiphons: Advent Devotional

Advent is an invitation to give voice to the longing.

The word Advent means arrival or coming. As followers of Christ, we live between two Advents: the first arrival of Christ as a baby, to rescue His people through His life, death, and resurrection, and His second arrival to rule and reign as King, eternally. As the people of Israel longed for rescue from their Messiah, so we too long for His return. And during the season of Advent, we give voice to those longings.

Beginning on Sunday for four weeks leading up to Christmas Day, we celebrate the season of Advent - the season of Christ's coming. There is no mention of Advent in Scripture, and it is not a Biblical command to observe or celebrate. But practices and celebrations of the Advent season are traced as early as the First Century Church. The intention of Advent is not to orient our hearts for Christmas, but toward Christ. Rather than the Christmas season being ordered by the monthly calendar, Advent marks time 'through Gods saving events,' says Robert Webber.

2020 has been disorienting. Maybe stepping into the celebration of Advent will allow your heart, mind, and life to be reoriented around the longing for the return of our Savior and King. He came as a baby so that He could return one day to wipe every tear, and set all things right. He has come, and He is coming again - the Joy of every longing heart.

ABOUT THIS DEVOTIONAL

This Advent devotional is based around Seven Antiphonal chants, The O Antiphons. Each antiphon represents a name of Christ, an attribute of His character given in the book of Isaiah. Benedictine Monks would chant these antiphons beginning with a long ‘Oh’ expressing the desire and longing for Christ - His first Advent, and His second. Traditionally, the O Antiphons were sung during evening services the seven days leading up to Christmas Eve. This devotional has been arranged with a short devotional reading and Scripture every Sunday and Tuesday in Advent. The week of Christmas begins with a Blue Christmas reflection. For those struggling to find hope and joy during this season. Followed by reading from the Gospel of Luke leading up to Christmas Day. I hope this devotional will ready your heart for the Advent of Christ - His first coming and His second. You can follow the blog during the season for each devotional, or download a free PDF of the complete Advent Devotional here.

11/29 - O SAPENTIA

12/1 - O ADONAI

12/6 - O RADIX JESSE

12/8 - O CLAVIS DAVID

12/13 - O ORIENS

12/15- O REX GENITIUM

12/20 - O EMMANUEL

12/21 - BLUE CHRISTMAS

12/22 - LUKE 1:1-38

12/23 - LUKE 1:39-80

12/24 - LUKE 2:1-21

12/25 - LUKE 2:22-40