Advent Daybook 5: Escalation
Pray: Heavenly Father, make me more like Jesus as I sit in your loving presence today. Please guide my thoughts and impressions by your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Look: Escalation Battle 01, Scott Kolbo and Lance Sinnema - Source
Listen*: Your Peace Will Make Us One, Audrey Assad & Urban Doxology - Spotify | YouTube | SoundCloud (w/lyrics)
Read**: Psalm 18:1-20, Amos 4:6-13; 2 Peter 3:11-18; Matthew 21:33-46
Excerpts:
"The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.
The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me."
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(Note: I really recommend reading this entire passage for full impact.)
" 'I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet you did not return to me,' declares the Lord.
Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!
For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!'"
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"Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."
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"Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
'The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord's doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet."
- Psalm 18:13-20 * Amos 4:11-13 * 2 Peter 3:11-13 * Matthew 21:42-26 (ESV)
Pray: The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Do: Give a simple gift to someone today. Give thanks for friends, neighbors, church family, and co-workers.
Savor simple gifts
You might also enjoy: Far as the Curse is Found: The Art of Scott Kolbo via Image Journal
For an introduction read this post: Advent Daybook Explained. You can see previous Advent daybook 2018 posts here.
* Listen to my entire playlist on Spotify: Advent 2019. Add it to your account by clicking ‘Follow.’
** Sunday Scripture readings are taken from the Revised Common Lectionary (Year A). Daily Scripture readings are taken from the Book of Common Prayer (Year 2).