Our “Write Your Life Forward” community is reading through our advent reading plan starting with the following passage:
Scripture passage – Isaiah 11:1-10, John 3
Reach the beginning of time — and you reach the very heart of God.
Touch what’s at the core, peel away every layer, culling all that clutter — and you find yourself close to the thrumming heartbeat of God.
His heart beats for you.
His love longs for you.
Here at Advent? — He’s reaching out to you, reminding you:
What’s messing you up right now isn’t what matters.
What matters is that nothing can mess you out of the depth of His love.
Nothing can take you out of the hold of His hands or the firm assurance of His hope.
Neither death nor diagnoses, neither disappointments nor grief, neither the past nor the present, nor even your future failures can keep you away from the ocean of His love.
Watch for His waves of mercy breaking towards you.
Wait for His gifts of grace coming just for you…
This Christmas, God gives God. He gives Himself for you.
Unravelling Your Root
Family of origin issues often surface in the therapy room. Our present is heavily impacted by the weight of our past.
And we all know it. No matter how we want to deny it, our past shapes us; childhood wounds sometimes linger long, and we find ourselves running to defy the odds, pushing to prove ourselves otherwise, and striving to stake our claims.
Yet, until processed and resolved, and until they find a remedy for a greater purpose, these narratives often breed fear and insecurity, colouring everything we do.
Christmas offers us a different narrative: Christmas offers the gift that liberates us from the burdens of our roots by inviting us into a different Root.
The Christmas narrative starts with the promise of a prophecy fulfilled:
“Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—
yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.
And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”
Isaiah 11: 1-2 NLT
Sometimes, after dwelling long enough in a seemingly barren land—where hopes are shattered and dreams lie broken—it’s easy to forget the sound of laughter and the potential for life to beget life. The notion that seeds can sprout, guppies can breed, and roots are the beginnings of trees slips away.
What appeared to be the broken stump of Jesse’s family tree, fraught with feuds, failures, and fatalities, became the birthplace of the promised Messiah. Amid apparent losses, silent confusion, and profound darkness, the fulfilment of an age-old promise began to unfold.
This shoot from Jesse’s stump symbolizes hope for all Gentiles.
Even though it seemed as if Jesse’s family tree had been severed at its roots, God possessed the mastery to resurrect dreams from dead stumps. The Messiah, promised to emerge as a shoot from Jesse’s stump, would give rise to a new branch and renew hope.
This shoot from Jesse extends hope not only to Israel but to all Gentiles. This prophesied king, unlike any ruler before, would bear the Lord’s Spirit, endowed with unparalleled wisdom, strength, and knowledge.
Jesus offers us what we all desperately need but may not realize – Christmas.
This root leads to a new family line, embracing and welcoming all of us who believe. We are adopted into God’s family, reborn of the Spirit (John 3:7-8). The Bible states that we are born again from above, not by human will but by His Holy Spirit.
Through this adoption, we are grafted into the family of God, sharing the same root of Jesse.
So here’s a love story that reaches far, rescues deep, and restores you right back to Him.
Through Christmas, you will know that you have forever a family in Him, that you have a root, and you belong to Him.
From Creation to the Creche, He who incarnates Himself longs to ink salvation into our fallenness.
His root, humble humanity, and meagre arrival make Him one of us so that He can save all of us.
So, Christmas, it turns out, is not just about tinsel and presents. It’s about finding yourself through discovering His love—a love that never quits.
Out of the dead places in our hearts, miracles can still grow. Life, bearing fruit, the whole shebang. It’s God’s work — and those old stumps? — they can regrow.
And in finding yourself through discovering His love, you find the gift of love that never ends and never will fail you.
Join Our Christmas Reading Plan
Join us for our special Advent Reading Plan, a plan that covers the grand narrative of the Bible, from creation to the promised Messiah’s arrival. Do it with us, and give yourself the gift of rewriting your life story in the light of the greatest story ever told!
