Write What You See: Advent Daybook 10

Opening prayer: Heavenly Father, make me more like Jesus and more like the true self you’ve created as I savor your loving presence today. Please guide my thoughts and impressions by your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Look: Annunciation and Resurrection, Matthias Grünewald - Source

Listen: Messiah: Part the Third: No. 46 Chorus: Since by man came death, Georg Friedrich Händel, Robert Shaw - Text | Spotify | YouTube

Read: Psalm 26, 28; Amos 7:10-17; Revelation 1:9-16; Matthew 22:34-46

Excerpts:

"O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells. Do not sweep my soul away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men, in whose hands are evil devices, and whose right hands are full of bribes.

But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me. My foot stands on level ground; in the great assembly I will bless the Lord."

*

"The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever."

*

"And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

Now, therefore, hear the word of the Lord. 'You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’

Therefore thus says the Lord: 'Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”

*

"I, John ... was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches...

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength."

*

"Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’?

If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions."

- Psalm 26:8-12 * 28:8-9 * Amos 7:12-17 * Revelation 1:9a, 10-11a, 12-16 * Matthew 22:41-46 (ESV))

Pray: (Updated: I realized too late that I’d accidentally placed the prayer and remembrance for St. Nicholas one day late! Hopefully, you’ll still be able to celebrate this beloved saint who certainly deserves a couple of feast days!) A prayer of thanks for Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra

Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: grant us to perfectly know thy Son Jesus Christ as the way, the truth and the life, and that, following in the footsteps of friends like Nicholas who loved the poor, the weak and the young, and who gave what he had to enrich those who had but little, we may faithfully walk in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

- from Third Reformed Church, Holland, Michigan

Do:  Celebrate the real Saint Nicholas!
There are many resources available to learn about the life of Bishop Nicholas of Myra.

Here are a few I’ve found helpful: 

You might also enjoy: Our favorite Advent & Christmas books (for all ages)

Image: Saint Nicholas gives dowry money in Church of Saint Nicholas, Monastery of the Patriarchate of Pec, Kosovo, Radul - Source

These daily devotional posts are available to those who subscribe at the Daybook ($5 a month) level. You can also purchase a one-time .pdf download of all 40 meditations for Advent & Christmastide in my Shop. You can see the entire Advent archive here.

* Listen to my entire playlist on Spotify: Make A Way: Advent 2021 .

** Sunday Scripture readings are taken from Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary. Daily Scripture readings are taken from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and include both Morning and Evening Psalms (Year 2).

AdventTamara Hill MurphyAdvent Daybook 2021