Category: Faith and Hope

Luke 2:28-32                                               O Come, All Ye Faithful

“…he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, ‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and a glory to your people’” (ESV).

 

This well-known Christmas Carol has been around for centuries, and its authorship has been attributed to several people including John Francis Wade, John Reading, King John IV of Portugal, St. Bonaventure, and anonymous Cistercian monks.  At least five different people have been credited with writing the tune.  The earliest time listed as possible for the writing of this song is the 13^th century.  In any case, we are blessed that O Come, All Ye Faithful has come from the mind of God to the pen of men.

The man mentioned in the Scripture above was named Simeon, a man who had been waiting to see the “consolation of Israel.”  He had been assured by the Holy Spirit that he would see Christ before he died.  On a normal day that quickly became a glorious day for Simeon, he was led by the Spirit to go to the temple.  When he saw Mary, Joseph, and the baby, Jesus, “he took him up in his arms….”  After Simeon spoke the words in verses 29 to 32, he again spoke to Mary, saying, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also) so that thoughts from any hearts may be revealed” Luke 1:34-35.

There was also in the temple that day, a prophetess, Anna.  She was 84 years old and spent all her time in the temple worshipping, fasting, and praying.  In verse 38 we are told that “…she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

These two faithful ones not only came to see Jesus, they were the first of the faithful to “come and adore Him.”  And they were joyful and triumphant.  Thanks to the writer(s) of this Christmas carol, we can all come and “…adore Him, Christ, the Lord.”  We can join with the choirs of angels to sing in exultation to the glory of the Lord as the “Word of the Father” appears as human flesh.  He became one of us.

O Come All Ye Faithful

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;

Come and behold Him born the King of angels;

O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him.

Christ the Lord.

 

James 1:6                                                       Blown by the Wind

“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind” (NIV).

 

Obviously, the wave above is being blown by the wind.  The whole wave is moving toward the shore, but the top of it is being blown back out to sea.  The individual water drops are not making headway toward the land, the direction the wave is moving.

This verse speaks a hard truth,:“But when you ask, you must believe.”  And then the part about doubt comes in.  I don’t want to be blown by the wind.  I want to move toward a solution to my problem, but my doubt keeps moving me away from my desired outcome.  I don’t mean that I don’t get my prayers answered, but I’m sure they would be answered much sooner if I could just get rid of doubt.  I am amazed at people who say, “I never doubted that God would answer my prayer and solve my problem.”  WOW!  It’s not often that I can say, “I never doubted.”  I’m like the man who asked Jesus to heal his son who was possessed by a spirit who caused him to have seizures.  He said, “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”  Mark 9:22b (NIV)  Jesus’ answer to the father was, “If you can?  Everything is possible for one who believes.”  And the man answered, “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.”  Mark 9:23-24 (NIV)  I believe that this was included in the Holy Scriptures to give hope to those of us who fight doubt.  When we pray and ask for an answer, we can also ask for more belief.  God loves us, and His desire is to answer our prayers—help us with our challenges, including the challenge of having strong faith.

I think my least favorite word in the Bible is the word, “just,” as in, “Just believe.”  Sometimes that is hard.  We know we don’t deserve the answer we are asking for, and we are afraid that our faith is not strong enough to get the job done.  That’s the time I throw myself on the mercy of God and ask Him to give me the faith to get it done.  I lean on His grace and His love.

Do I have doubts?  Do I wonder if I have enough faith?  The answer to both questions is “yes,” but I know that I have a God who loves me and wants to help me grow in Him, increase my faith and trust Him completely.  He helps me grow when I speak with Him, when I read His Word, and when I listen to saints who have a close walk with Jesus.   So I can say in confidence, “I believe.  Help thou my unbelief.”