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Food for Thought - Manna

Advent Week 2

Week Two: Mighty God

This week, seek to carry around within you an awareness that God is YOUR MIGHTY God. Ask God for wisdom and guidance throughout your day and recall to your mind from time to time that God is YOUR MIGHTY God.

Day One: Today we will spend time sitting with one of the words contained in the title, “Mighty God”: Mighty.

The word ‘mighty’ denotes strength and power and is defined as having or showing great power, skill, strength, or force, imposing or awesome in size.

When I think of the word ‘mighty’ it reminds me of conversations I used to have with my friends, as a child, over whose dad was stronger, whose dad could beat up whose dad. Of course I was convinced that my dad was able to single handedly whip any one of my friends’ fathers because I had seen my dad’s bulging muscles, I had personally experienced his might, and I had watched as he preformed incredibly powerful feats of strength, such as removing stubborn jar lids, taking out huge garage cans, and effortlessly picking me up and swinging me around as if I was as light as a feather. For me, the word ‘mighty’ denotes more than raw strength and power but when I think of the word mighty in terms of who God it also carries for me a personal connotation of being infused and informed by care, trust and love (see Psalm 62:11-12 below).

Think of a time in your life when you experienced something of God’s power and might. What were the feelings inside you, the thoughts, the words that took shape around God’s power and might? How did that experience make you feel? Why?
What does it stir within you today as you reflect on it? Why?

Is there a time in your life when you (desperately) desired to experience the might and power of God and you did not? If so, what was that like for you? How did it make you feel? Why? What does it stir within you today as you reflect on it? Why? How does this impact currently how you interact with God and what you expect from God?

Spend some time thanking God for this current time in your life and ask God to give you a sense of God’s might and power as you enter into this week of the Advent season.

Deuteronomy 3:22 “Do not be afraid of them; the LORD your God himself will fight for you.”

Deuteronomy 20:4 “For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”

Psalm 62:11-12 “Once God has spoken; twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God; and lovingkindness is Yours, O Lord…”

Examen
At the end of the day ask yourself; did I experience or catch a glimpse of the might and power of God today? If yes, when? How did it make me feel? How did it make me feel toward God, toward life?
If no, then ask; what was it about me, my day, my life that might have hindered my ability to see and experience the might and power of God? Bring this before God.

Day Two: Today we will spend time sitting with the second word contained in the title, “Mighty God”: God.

The word ‘God’ means…instead of defining this word, which is totally impossible to do, think through what comes to mind when you think of the word ‘God’- what words, feelings, and thoughts spring forth within you as you think of God?

When I think of God, a number of things come to mind that flow out of a life lived with God – words like love, power, grace, mercy and mystery. The word ‘God’ speaks to me of a personal being beyond words who is knowable yet incomprehensible, worthy of honor and worship, a being that is creator and redeemer who cares and is involved in the stuff of life.

Think of a time in your life when you experienced the unmistakable presence of God. What were the feelings inside you, the thoughts, and the words that took shape around your experience of God? What surprised you about your encounter with God? How did it make you feel? Why? What does it stir within you today as you reflect on it? Why? How does this experience impact how you look at life and how you live life?

Spend some time thanking God for this time in your life and ask God to give you a sense of amazement as you ponder the mystery of God coming to us in the form of a baby. This God who is beyond our ability to articulate, let alone fully comprehend, is somehow contained within the tiny frame of a baby. WOW!

1 John 4:16 “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

1 Peter 5:6-7 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. “

Examen
At the end of the day ask yourself; did I experience God today (God’s person, love, care power), did I catch a glimpse of God today? If yes, when? How did it make you feel? How did it make you feel toward God, toward life, toward others?
If no, then ask; what was it about me, my day, my life that might have hindered my ability to see and experience God? Bring this before God.

Day Three:
What does this title (Mighty God) convey to you about: who God is? God’s involvement/role in your life? How does this title make you feel toward God? Have you ever experienced God in this way? If yes, when? How has that impacted you and the way you live life? If the answer is no, how does that make you feel toward God, toward yourself? Regardless of your answer (yes or no), share with God your feelings toward God about your experience or lack of experience of God as a Mighty God.

Now, sit with the words of Mary in Luke 1:49; “For God that is mighty has done to me great things; and holy is his name.”
How do these words of Mary make you feel? What are the great things that your mighty God has done, is doing and will do for you? Make a list of some of these gifts God has given, is giving, and will give to you. Let this lead you into a time of praise and thanksgiving.

Seek to carry this attitude of thanksgiving and gratitude throughout your day. Seek to be aware of the gifts (great things done for you) your MIGHTY God will bestow upon you today (every good thing comes from heaven above) and use them to lead you into times of praise and thanksgiving throughout your day.

Examen
At the end of the day ask yourself; was I aware of the gifts God gave me today? If yes, when? How did it make you feel? How did it make you feel toward God, toward life, toward others?
If no, then ask; what was it about me, my day, my life that might have hindered my ability to see the gifts God was giving me? Bring this before God.

Day Four:
The title ‘Mighty God’ calls forth much that is true about God. Take some time to reflect on God as creator, redeemer and sustainer of the universe. Now focus on God as clothed in flesh, a mere baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, nursing at the breast of his teenage mother.

Finally, ponder the following words and images: The King of Kings and Lord of Lords breaks into our flesh and blood existence not in some grand and glorious form streaming from heaven, but rather God makes his way into our world covered in blood, dripping with amniotic fluid, inching ever so slowly through a birth canal. As you consider the wonder, mystery, might and power involved in this, what feelings are stirred within you about Jesus? Seek to spend today recalling to mind the mystery and might of the incarnation of Jesus, the infinite creator, redeemer and sustainer who became flesh and blood and lives among us.

Examen
At the end of the day ask yourself; was I able to be present to the wonder, mystery, might and power of the incarnation? If yes, when? How did it make you feel? How did it make you feel toward God, toward life, toward others?
If no, then ask; what was it about me, my day, my life that might have hindered my ability to be present to the wonder, mystery, might and power of the incarnation? Bring this before God.

Day Five: Review. Look back over the past three days: what stands out to you, what were you drawn to in the meditations, what was difficult for you to embrace? Why? What feelings were stirred within you the last few days regarding God being your Mighty God? What might be God’s invitation and/or challenge for you that is contained in this title?

Where do you see the characteristics of God as Mighty God in the Christmas story? How does this realization change or deepen your appreciation of the Christmas story? Why?

Examen
At the end of the day ask yourself; how did I experience God as my Mighty God today? How did it make me feel? How did it make me feel toward God, toward life as I embraced the truth that God is my Mighty God?
Bring all this before God and, being still, silently linger in God’s unconditional love and grace.


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