Beginning the Advent Journey

Sunrise from my balcony today. Sweet spot for morning devotions.

* Because I'm traveling today, I'm posting from my Advent devotional book, The Road to Bethlehem. 

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just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, (Luke 1:2 NASB)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1, 14 NASB)

Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. (Psalms 119:11 NASB)

Luke describes two previous levels of information about Jesus. The first accounts came from eyewitnesses and "servants of the word", who handed down, probably orally, the stories of their personal experience with Christ.  Luke makes a clear distinction between eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 

Eyewitnesses simply reported what they had seen just as they had seen it. They had a story to tell, but not much more. 

Servants of the Word, however, are more than observers. They have become participants who give evidence of the truth of their story by their changed lives.

John tells us that Jesus is the Word, and Peter, when asked if he wanted to leave Jesus as the crowds had done, proclaimed, "Where would we go? You have words of eternal life!" (John 6:68) 

Jesus IS the Word. 

Jesus HAS the Word. 

Jesus SPOKE the Word. 

Our job is to know the Word, embrace the Word, and incorporate it into our lives in such a way that we  become SERVANTS of the Word.  

People who encountered Jesus and His life-changing truth responded in one of two ways. They were either an observer of the Word or became a Servant of the Word. Which are you? Do you merely pass along the stories of Jesus you learned as a child or are you a participant who demonstrates truth by the power of your changed life?  

Today pray to become a more committed Servant of the Word. Pray, too, that our loved ones will encounter believers who are Servants of the Word,  bearing irrefutable witness to the power of Christ by the quality of their transformed lives. May they present that truth in such a way that it is irresistible. 
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If you'd like to follow along during Advent, you can find The Road to Bethlehem on Amazon here. 

In case you missed any of the past week's posts, here are the links:  Grateful Heart: Maggie Protects her Master, Grateful Heart: Hard Times, Red Hot Christmas Pickles and the Broken Jar, Grateful Heart: The Beginning of Stories, Grateful Heart: Blessing of Position, Grateful Heart: Wonder Pickle, and Grateful Heart: Family. 


The most read post of the last week: Praying for Peace.
#Advent #Adventdevotional #JesusChrist #disciple #WordofGod