MEMORIZE
So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” – Genesis 16:13 ESV

CONSIDER
Have you ever felt invisible? Like your story doesn’t matter, your pain doesn’t register, and the world just moves on without noticing you? That’s how Hagar must have felt. She wasn’t the chosen matriarch of Israel, she was the servant. The one overlooked. Used. Cast aside. When Sarai’s plan backfired and tensions exploded, Hagar fled into the desert alone, pregnant, and without a future. In this week’s video we explore the compelling story of a broken woman who was pursued by the God who sees, and how these events point to Advent. Because the same God who saw a forgotten woman in the desert is the One who came to dwell among us in Jesus Christ – Emmanuel, God with us.

PRAY
Lord Jesus, just as you revealed yourself to Hagar in her wilderness, open my eyes to see where you are already drawing near in the hidden and ordinary places of my own life. By your Spirit, help me to recognize that the God who sees me is also the God who sustains me, redeems my fears and weaves grace into my story. And as I behold you more clearly, please empower me to walk in trust and obedience, confident that the One who sees me also leads me in every season. In Jesus’ name, amen.

APPLY
How will Jesus’ compassion toward me inform how I will treat others?

MEMORIZE
So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” – Genesis 16:13 ESV

CONSIDER
Hagar ran into the desert with nothing. No plan, no home, and no hope. She was invisible to everyone but God. Alone and afraid, she met the Lord by a spring of water, and in that moment, her life changed forever. The angel of the Lord called her by name. Now, that alone is remarkable… someone knew her, fully and authentically! But he went on to tell her that her suffering had not gone unseen, that her story still mattered, and that her future was not over. In the wilderness, she encountered the divine presence – Christ Himself – long before he took on flesh in Bethlehem. It was a Christophany, a preview of the One who would one day say, “I am with you always.” Hagar responded with one of the most beautiful names for God in all of Scripture: El Roi – the God who sees me. She realized that even in her lowest moment, she had not been forgotten. This is the promise of Advent: God with us. The same Savior who met Hagar in the wilderness meets us in ours. When we feel unseen or overlooked, remember: he still calls us by name, and he knows us fully and authentically.

PRAY
Lord Jesus, just as you revealed yourself to Hagar in her wilderness, open my eyes to see where you are already drawing near in the hidden and ordinary places of my own life. By your Spirit, help me to recognize that the God who sees me is also the God who sustains me, redeems my fears, and weaves grace into my story. And as I behold you more clearly, please empower me to walk in trust and obedience, confident that the One who sees me also leads me in every season. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

APPLY
How will Jesus’ compassion toward me inform how I will treat others?

MEMORIZE
So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” – Genesis 16:13 ESV

CONSIDER
When Placide Cappeau first penned the poem that would become O Holy Night, he did so as a man whose life had been marked by both injury and unexpected grace. After losing his hand in a childhood accident, he turned from the trade his parents envisioned for him and unexpectedly discovered poetry. That sense of being met by grace in a place of loss echoes Hagar’s encounter in Genesis 16. Fleeing into the wilderness, unseen and unheard, she is met by the pre-incarnate Christ who called her by name and spoke promises over her future. Like Cappeau’s unlikely creative calling, Hagar’s moment became a reminder that God often steps into the places we least expect with a word that reframes everything. She named him El Roi, “the God who sees me,” because she realized she had not simply been rescued but recognized. The gospel begins here, with a God who does not wait for us to climb our way back to him but comes to find us in our wounded and wandering places. And just as Cappeau’s simple poem became a hymn sung across generations, Hagar’s story is a testimony that God’s presence in the wilderness can birth hope that carries far beyond our current season.

PRAY
Lord Jesus, just as you revealed yourself to Hagar in her wilderness, open my eyes to see where you are already drawing near in the hidden and ordinary places of my own life. By your Spirit, help me to recognize that the God who sees me is also the God who sustains me, redeems my fears and weaves grace into my story. And as I behold you more clearly, please empower me to walk in trust and obedience, confident that the One who sees me also leads me in every season. In Jesus’ name, amen.

APPLY
How will Jesus’ compassion toward me inform how I will treat others?

MEMORIZE
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” – Genesis 32:30 ESV

CONSIDER
There are moments when the story of Jacob wrestling with the pre-incarnate Christ becomes more than just ancient history. This story has the ability to become a mirror for our own lives. Jacob walked into that night full of fear and striving, yet he walked out with a new name because God met him in the struggle and would not let his story end in the same old patterns. That same Christ meets us in our own wrestling too. He engages us personally and refuses to leave us unchanged. When we surrender to his grip, he reshapes our identity and gives us strength we could never manufacture on our own. Be sure to check out this week’s video for more on the identity-shaping power of God!

PRAY
Lord Jesus, I come before you with a heart that is open to your transforming presence. You met Jacob in the quiet of the night and wrestled with him until he faced the truth about who he was and who you were calling him to become. You changed his name and his identity, and I believe you can do the same work in me. Shape my character, redirect my desires, and draw me into the life you have prepared. Help me trust your strength when mine fails, and lead me to walk in the new name and purpose you speak over my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.

APPLY
Who does Jesus say you actually are?

MEMORIZE
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” – Genesis 32:30 ESV

CONSIDER
The beloved Christmas carol “What Child is this?” answers an infinitely theological question with simple but profound clarity: “This, this is Christ the King.” Yet Advent isn’t the only time that this king refused to be distant. Back in Genesis 32:30 Jacob wrestled with the pre-incarnate Christ at a place he named Peniel, and said “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” The God whom the hymn crowns as King is the very One who stooped into Jacob’s midnight struggle, met him in his fear, and gave him a new name and a new life. The grandeur of the gospel can be seen here as the sovereign Lord becomes our wrestling partner, not to defeat us with force but to free us by transforming us. If the King drew near to Jacob in the depths of his struggle, nothing in our darkness will keep him from drawing near to us. May we lay our fears before him and receive his deliverance with joy this season!

PRAY
Lord Jesus, I come before you with a heart that is open to your transforming presence. You met Jacob in the quiet of the night and wrestled with him until he faced the truth about who he was and who you were calling him to become. You changed his name and his identity, and I believe you can do the same work in me. Shape my character, redirect my desires, and draw me into the life you have prepared. Help me trust your strength when mine fails, and lead me to walk in the new name and purpose you speak over my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.

APPLY
Who does Jesus say you actually are?

MEMORIZE
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” – Genesis 32:30 ESV

CONSIDER
Jacob’s long night by the river shows us what happens when the living God steps into a person’s story with truth and grace. Before this encounter, Jacob had built an identity on cleverness and control. He had relied on his own schemes, because it was assumed by many in his culture that this was the only way the world worked. Yet in this mysterious struggle he meets the pre-incarnate Christ, the visible expression of the God who has always pursued his people. The Assemblies of God believes that “the one true God has revealed himself as the eternally self-existent I AM, the Creator of heaven and earth and the Redeemer of mankind.” This is who met Jacob face to face. The same God who formed galaxies was willing to stoop low and wrestle one man into freedom. Jacob emerged from the encounter with a new name because God’s redemption always clarifies what fear has distorted. We, too, discover our truest selves when we yield to the God who redeems and calls us into his purpose with patient love and surprising mercy.

PRAY
Lord Jesus, I come before you with a heart that is open to your transforming presence. You met Jacob in the quiet of the night and wrestled with him until he faced the truth about who he was and who you were calling him to become. You changed his name and his identity, and I believe you can do the same work in me. Shape my character, redirect my desires, and draw me into the life you have prepared. Help me trust your strength when mine fails, and lead me to walk in the new name and purpose you speak over my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.

APPLY
Who does Jesus say you actually are?

MEMORIZE
And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” – Joshua 5:14

CONSIDER
As Joshua stepped out in obedient faith, he was met by the commander of the army of the Lord. Realizing this, he bowed low to the ground and removed his shoes from his feet in reverence. This encounter solidified the truth that the Lord would act on behalf of his people as they listened to his voice and submitted to his will. The reality that Joshua discovered at Jericho still rings true for us today. Check out this week’s video for more on this Christophany and its application to our own lives!

PRAY
Thank you God that you don’t make yourself known to serve my plans, but to reveal your purposes. Shape my heart to seek you when I’m tempted to demand your support of my best ideas. Teach me humility, obedience, and holy reverence in your presence. Align my desires with your will, and give me courage to follow wherever you lead. May my life reflect trust in your authority and confidence in your victory. In Jesus’ name, amen.

APPLY
For what spiritual victory do I need to trust the Lord?

MEMORIZE
And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” – Joshua 5:14

CONSIDER
Joshua meets a mysterious figure just outside Jericho, sword drawn, standing between heaven and earth. Joshua does what any wise leader would do. He asks a clarifying question. “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” The answer he receives in Joshua 5:14 is both unsettling and clarifying. “No,” the commander replies, “but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” In that moment, Joshua realizes he is not encountering a mere angel or military ally, so he falls facedown in worship. This is an appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ, revealing that the battle Joshua is facing is part of something far larger than his own plans or strategies.
The presence of Christ reframes everything in this story. Joshua is not told how to win the battle, but he is told to remove his sandals, because he is standing on holy ground. Before God gives direction, he establishes relationship and reverence. This is the pattern of the gospel. Jesus refuses to take sides in our agendas. He comes as Lord. In Christ, God stepped into human history not to endorse our kingdoms but to invite us into his. This commander would one day lay down his sword and stretch out his hands on a cross. The Lord of heaven’s armies becomes the servant who saves. Like Joshua, we find our place not by asking God to join us, but by yielding ourselves to him.

PRAY
Thank you God that you don’t make yourself known to serve my plans, but to reveal your purposes. Shape my heart to seek you when I’m tempted to demand your support of my best ideas. Teach me humility, obedience, and holy reverence in your presence. Align my desires with your will, and give me courage to follow wherever you lead. May my life reflect trust in your authority and confidence in your victory. In Jesus’ name, amen.

APPLY
For what spiritual victory do I need to trust the Lord?

MEMORIZE
And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” – Joshua 5:14

CONSIDER
In this week’s passage, Joshua encountered a mysterious figure who identified himself as “the commander of the army of the Lord.” Joshua fell facedown, realizing this was no ordinary messenger. This moment almost seems like a curtain is being pulled back on spiritual reality. Israel was on the edge of the Promised Land, armed and organized, yet the true and better leader of the coming victory was already present. This Christophany reminds us that God does not simply support our plans. He confronts them, reorders them, and then invites us into his purposes. Joshua asked, in effect, “Whose side are you on?” The answer is humbling. God was not on Joshua’s side. Joshua must come to God’s.
This posture echoes the call of the hymn O Come, All Ye Faithful: “O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.” Adoration always comes before authentic obedience. In Bethlehem, as at Jericho, God did not arrive as an accessory to human ambition but as Lord. The child in the manger was the same divine commander who met Joshua with a drawn sword. The gospel tells us that this commander would later lay down his sword and give himself for his enemies. When Joshua removed his sandals, he stood on holy ground. And when we adore Christ, we discover that holy ground is wherever he stands before us, inviting trust, repentance, and joyful submission.

PRAY
Thank you God that you don’t make yourself known to serve my plans, but to reveal your purposes. Shape my heart to seek you when I’m tempted to demand your support of my best ideas. Teach me humility, obedience, and holy reverence in your presence. Align my desires with your will, and give me courage to follow wherever you lead. May my life reflect trust in your authority and confidence in your victory. In Jesus’ name, amen.

APPLY
For what spiritual victory do I need to trust the Lord?

MEMORIZE
And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” – Judges 6:12

CONSIDER
In Judges 6:12, the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and spoke words that sounded almost absurd given the scene. Gideon was hiding in a winepress, threshing wheat in fear of the Midianites, when he heard, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” This is more than encouragement. Throughout the Old Testament, the angel of the Lord spoke with divine authority and received worship, signaling a Christophany, or the pre-incarnate presence of Christ. Jesus met Gideon not at his best but at his most afraid, and he named him not by his weakness but by God’s calling. Check out this week’s video to take a deeper dive into the context of Gideon’s incredible encounter with the Lord!

PRAY
Heavenly Father, thank you that you still draw near to your people, meeting us in our fear and calling us by grace rather than by our weakness. As we remember the wonder of Christmas, we praise you that the same Lord who appeared to Gideon has come to us fully in Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us. Give us faith to trust your presence, courage to follow your call, and hope rooted in the gospel. In Jesus’ name, amen.

APPLY
What lie will I replace with the truth?

MEMORIZE
And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” – Judges 6:12

CONSIDER
There’s a fascinating moment in history that is equal parts tragic, comical, and inconceivable. In the 1800s, many physicians were convinced that they themselves could not be the cause of disease. A Hungarian doctor, Ignaz Semmelweis, suggested something outrageous for his time: that physicians should wash their hands before delivering babies. He had data. He had evidence. He could show that deaths dropped dramatically when doctors washed their hands. And yet his colleagues rejected him because the idea was too offensive… too disruptive to what they already knew to be true about themselves. Tragically, thousands continued to die, not because the truth wasn’t available, but because it conflicted with what people were convinced must be reality. Eventually, however, Semmelweis’ ideas were heeded and he became known as “the Savior of Mothers.”
In Judges 6, God calls Gideon a “mighty man of valor” while he is hiding in fear, threshing wheat in secret. The word Gideon receives does not match his circumstances, but it does reveal God’s reality. He needed to decide whether to trust what he already believed about himself, or trust what God had shown him even when it contradicts experience. The Christophany to Gideon demonstrated that faith often begins not with full understanding, but with humble obedience to a truth revealed by God.

PRAY
Heavenly Father, thank you that you still draw near to your people, meeting us in our fear and calling us by grace rather than by our weakness. As we remember the wonder of Christmas, we praise you that the same Lord who appeared to Gideon has come to us fully in Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us. Give us faith to trust your presence, courage to follow your call, and hope rooted in the gospel. In Jesus’ name, amen.

APPLY
What lie will I replace with the truth?

MEMORIZE
And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” – Judges 6:12

CONSIDER
Judges 6:24 tells us that Gideon built an altar and named it The Lord Is Peace. That moment came right after fear, doubt, and divine encounter collided. Gideon was hiding and unsure of himself, yet the Angel of the Lord spoke peace into the middle of his chaos. In Hebrew thought, peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of shalom, or wholeness. So when Gideon named the altar, he was marking a revelation. God was not waiting for the battle to end before offering peace. The pre-incarnate Christ stepped into the fear and became peace in the midst of it.
This is where the story bends toward Christmas. The same God who met Gideon in weakness entered the world through the frailty of a manger. Isaiah called the coming Messiah the Prince of Peace, not because he would avoid conflict, but because he would restore what is fractured. The Advent story is God moving toward humanity’s fear, oppression, and dislocation. He was born under Roman rule, born into poverty, and born into danger to be the Prince of Peace where we need it most.
Peace arrives before circumstances change. At Christmas we remember that the Lord is Peace, not as an idea, but as a person. The peace Gideon experienced in that moment finds its fullness in Jesus, who reconciled us to God and at his birth began the long work of making all things whole.

PRAY
Heavenly Father, thank you that you still draw near to your people, meeting us in our fear and calling us by grace rather than by our weakness. As we remember the wonder of Christmas, we praise you that the same Lord who appeared to Gideon has come to us fully in Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us. Give us faith to trust your presence, courage to follow your call, and hope rooted in the gospel. In Jesus’ name, amen.

APPLY
What lie will I replace with the truth?

MEMORIZE
He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” – Daniel 3:25

CONSIDER
Three committed young men chose to endure the flames of a furnace rather than compromise what they knew to be true. As they did, Jesus was in their midst, bringing peace and freedom where the pain of death was expected. Check out this week’s video for more context on how this powerful Christophany connects to Christmas, and our own lives today!

PRAY
Dear Lord, we thank you that the fire never has the final word. As you stood with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the furnace, you showed that your presence is stronger than any threat, any empire, any fear. At Christmas, we remember that as Emmanuel you stepped into our world, not from a distance, but right into the heat of human suffering. Teach us to trust that we are never alone in the flames. Give us courage to stand faithful, hope to endure, and eyes to see you walking beside us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

APPLY
How will I celebrate that God is with me this Christmas?

MEMORIZE
He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” – Daniel 3:25

CONSIDER
“He who had brought all things into existence, was brought into existence in the midst of all things. He made the day—He came into the light of day. He who was before time, set His seal upon time. Christ the Lord was forever without beginning with the Father; but look what He is today! It is His birthday. Whose birthday? The Lord’s. He has a birthday? Yes, He has… If He had not been begotten as a human being, we would not attain our divine rebirth; for He was born that we might be reborn…” 

               – St. Augustine, Sermons for Christmas and Epiphany

This profound paradox sits right at the heart of Christmas, and it also helps us read Daniel 3 with fresh eyes. In the furnace, something impossible happens. The king expected ashes, but instead saw four figures walking freely in the fire, and one of them looked “like a son of the gods.” Long before Bethlehem, this story hints that the Creator does not remain distant from human suffering. He steps into it. Fire that should consume becomes a place to recognize his presence. In other words, what should destroy us instead reveals companionship.
Advent proclaims the same pattern. The One through whom all things were made entered the world he made. He did not shout rescue from the comfort of heaven but walked into the furnace of human history. The child in the manger is Emmanuel, God with us. Daniel’s story reminds us that God’s nearness is not theoretical. It is embodied. It shows up where faith is tested and courage is required. The wonder of Advent is that the fourth man in the fire became the baby wrapped in cloth. God chose proximity over remaining at the right hand of the Father. This Christmas and beyond, may we remember that where God’s presence is found, transformation always follows.

PRAY
Dear Lord, we thank you that the fire never has the final word. As you stood with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the furnace, you showed that your presence is stronger than any threat, any empire, any fear. At Christmas, we remember that as Emmanuel you stepped into our world, not from a distance, but right into the heat of human suffering. Teach us to trust that we are never alone in the flames. Give us courage to stand faithful, hope to endure, and eyes to see you walking beside us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

APPLY
How will I celebrate that God is with me this Christmas?

MEMORIZE
He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” – Daniel 3:25

CONSIDER
What an incredible Advent series we’ve journeyed through! From Hagar in the wilderness to the fourth figure in the fiery furnace, the Scriptures told one unfolding story of a God who refused to remain distant. Hagar had been seen when she thought she was forgotten, and she named the Lord as the God who saw her. Jacob had wrestled through the night and limped away with a new name, learning that blessing came not from grasping but from surrender. Joshua had stood before the commander of the Lord’s army and discovered that the real question was never whether God was on his side, but whether he was aligned with God’s purposes. Gideon had been addressed as a mighty man while hiding in fear, and the Lord had patiently stayed until peace took root in his heart. And in Babylon, three faithful men had found that obedience might lead them into the fire, but never into abandonment.
Each Christophany revealed the same truth from a different angle. God met people in fear, confusion, weakness, and danger, and his presence changed everything. The Lord who appeared did not simply give instructions or encouragement. He gave himself. What these moments anticipated, Christmas fulfilled. The God who had walked into deserts, wrestling matches, battlefields, and furnaces stepped fully into human history. As the New Testament declares, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Looking back across these encounters, we remember that we are never meant to live at a distance from God. He has always been moving toward us, and in Jesus, he stopped at nothing to come all the way!

PRAY
Dear Lord, we thank you that the fire never has the final word. As you stood with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the furnace, you showed that your presence is stronger than any threat, any empire, any fear. At Christmas, we remember that as Emmanuel you stepped into our world, not from a distance, but right into the heat of human suffering. Teach us to trust that we are never alone in the flames. Give us courage to stand faithful, hope to endure, and eyes to see you walking beside us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

APPLY
How will I celebrate that God is with me this Christmas?