Category: adventures

Signs of Peace

Advent{ures}: Let’s Go to Bethlehem

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
(Isaiah 7:14 NKJV)
 




What comfort there is in calling out “Immanuel.” God with us!
 
The sign of a virgin with child, bearing a son is the Advent promise. God is the God of wonders and signs. He wants to give us reassurance.
 
Today, our friend,  Lynn D. Morrissey, shares a vignette from her storehouse of God stories that poignantly shows how God surprises us with signs of His care, His presence and His unfailing love.

The Christmas Gift
 
“Where, o death, is your victory? Where, o death is your sting? But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
— 1 Corinthians 15: 55, 57

 

In the still of winter, death’s darkness enveloped me.  Birdless, leafless trees and my father’s incurable kidney disease testified to death’s stark reality. I was consumed with worry, unable to experience God’s peace and to trust His provision for my father.

 

As I dropped Daddy off at the dialysis center for the third time during Christmas week, I was struck by the poignancy of a naked little tree, bravely defying winter’s onslaught. It was a painful reminder of my father’s frailty and failing health.

 

Then suddenly, as if dropped from heaven, a beautiful red-breasted robin alighted on one of its branches, adorning it like a ruby Christmas ornament. In the bleak winter season, I was amazed to see this little harbinger of spring. I praised God for this unexpected Christmas gift of hope, and for the precious gift of time—another day with my father.

 

Most of all, I praised God for His most lavish Christmas gift, His precious Son, born into this world of sin and death. He would die for humankind on a naked tree and rise victoriously from a wintery tomb. He would defy death and usher in new life, the springtime of eternity.

 

Instantly, I stopped worrying. God flooded my heart with peace and the knowledge that no matter what happened to Daddy, he would live eternally with Him.



(Lynn D. Morrissey, Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved)


 
 

 

Lynn D. Morrissey, is a Certified Journal Facilitator (CJF), founder of Heartsight Journaling, a ministry for reflective journal-writing, author of Love Letters to God: Deeper Intimacy through Written Prayer and other books, contributor to numerous bestsellers, an AWSA and CLASS speaker, and professional soloist. She and her beloved husband, Michael, have been married since 1975 and have a college-age daughter, Sheridan. They live in St. Louis, Missouri.

You may contact Lynn at words@brick.net.

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Peace of Mind

Advent{ures}: Let’s Go to Bethlehem

 

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you,
whose thoughts are fixed on you!
(Isaiah 26:3 NLT)

The prophets who told us this was coming asked a lot of questions about this gift of life God was preparing. The Messiah’s Spirit let them in on some of it—that the Messiah would experience suffering, followed by glory. They clamored to know who and when. All they were told was that they were serving you, you who by orders from heaven have now heard for yourselves—through the Holy Spirit—the Message of those prophecies fulfilled. Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this!

So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.” (1 Peter 1: 10-16 The Message)

 
 
Did you ever notice that most of Yahweh’s prophets led strange and difficult lives? Their lives were distinctive, set apart from others. Holiness marked their lives, and at times their lives were literal object lessons.

Think of Hosea who is asked to take a harlot for a wife, in order to reveal to the Israelites how prone they were to straying from God and chasing after other gods. Or Elijah, Elisha and Ezekiel who lived as wandering prophets, confronting kings and wayward people who either scoffed, derided or attacked them. Or weeping Jeremiah.

And after four hundred years of silence, there’s John, the cousin of Jesus, who lived in the wilderness eating honey and locust. So as to literally be the “voice of one calling from the wilderness.”

Yahweh’s prophets spoke some of the most beautiful and convicting poetic oracles known to man. Isaiah comes to mind. Even though the first 39 chapters are full of impending judgment, points of light break through the darkness.

Here are some verses to ponder:
 

Come, O house of Jacob,
Let us walk in the light of the LORD.
(Isaiah 2:5 NIV)

 
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light ;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.
(Isaiah 9:2 NIV)

The sun will no more be your light by day,

nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the LORD will be your everlasting light ,
and your God will be your glory.

Your sun will never set again,
and your moon will wane no more;
the LORD will be your everlasting light ,
and your days of sorrow will end.
(Isaiah 60:19-20 NIV)

{See also Isaiah 10:17, 45:7, 50:10, 53:11, 58:8, 60:1}

 
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Ready: Prepared for Action

Advent{ures}: Let’s Go to Bethlehem

 

Be ready for whatever comes, dressed for action and with your lamps lit, like servants who are waiting for their master to come back from a wedding feast. When he comes and knocks, they will open the door for him at once.  How happy are those servants whose master finds them awake and ready when he returns! I tell you, he will take off his coat, have them sit down, and will wait on them. How happy they are if he finds them ready, even if he should come at midnight or even later!  And you can be sure that if the owner of a house knew the time when the thief would come, he would not let the thief break into his house. And you, too, must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him. (Luke 12:35-40 Good News Translation)
 
Preparing for Christmas is easy. Just do what I do every year; rely on traditions and expectations of the family and culture around me. Readying myself for Christ’s return is difficult. To be honest, most days, I’m not aware that His coming is imminent. My life is consumed by the present. I must confess the whole idea of being ready causes me to panic. Will I be ready?

I feel like Jesus is saying, “Ready or not, here I come.” Will His return be like hide and seek? Will Jesus find me hiding from Him or hiding in Him?


Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.
You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
(Psalm 32:6-7 NIV)
 
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Prepare: To Get Ready

Advent{ures}: Let’s Go to Bethlehem

 

In the multitude of my anxieties within me,
Your comforts delight my soul.
(Psalm 94:19 NKJV)

 

 
 


Fifteen days ‘til Christmas. Does this fact cause elation or anxiety? Will I be ready for the celebrating, the family gatherings and the gift giving?

How does preparing cultivate peace? What comfort can I find in the practice of getting ready? And my mind turns to the invitation to take a spiritual journey to Bethlehem. Do I have the right provisions? What should I take with me? What mental action should I take to prepare myself for the arrival of yet another Christmas remembrance? Why am I observing these days? What if, I didn’t? Would peace mark my days or would I be full of flurry and activity and subsequent worry?

So many questions invade my Monday musings. I am reminded in the quiet of the morning that carving out stillness matters. It offers me moments of silence that nourish a greater need. More than the need for getting the perfect gift or to create a peaceful atmosphere, I need time with the Righteous One. He alone is the one who answers my quest, who creates a hunger and thirst in me that only He can quench.

I recall from the writings of Isaiah that a voice calls out, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” This use of prepare has a nuance of turning, a facing towards. Underneath the words is a cry for repentance. Turn towards the way of the Lord. A resounding chorus of my ways are not your ways, or my thoughts your thoughts.

Turn your thoughts to Me. I have prepared a place of rest for you. I came as a babe, I am here in the Spirit and I am coming again. Soon. So get ready. Prepare a meal for us to share. Prepare for battle because the days ahead are treacherous. Prepare to meet your Maker. Prepare to be jolted out of complacency and into action.

Come, Lord Jesus, come!

 

 
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Peace: Freedom from Disquieting Thoughts

Advent{ures}: Let’s Go to Bethlehem

The Way of Lights (Belleville, IL)
 
The second candle in the advent wreath can be designated the Preparation candle or the Bethlehem candle. As we continue to move towards Bethlehem, my prayer is that the discipline of preparation leads us to abundant PEACE.
 


 
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