Category: prepare

Provisions: A Stock of Needed Materials or Supplies

 
For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand
that we should walk in them.
(Ephesians 2:10 NKJV)
 

As I prepare to head out this weekend to worship with other dreamers, I was thinking about a theme God has been playing through my mind for at least three years now:

Prepare Your Provisions


It’s a phrase from the passage in Joshua 1, where God instructs the Israelites to get ready to enter the Promised Land.

The thing about the command that strikes me as important is this: God does not say “provide your own provisions.” Instead He invites them to gather things up and get ready. The provisions were taken care of in advance. God saw ahead, He had the foresight for everything they needed.

Much of their supply was arranged for way back in Eygpt land, when He told them to ask their neighbors for their valuables. He also took care of their every need during their wilderness experience. (Their shoes didn’t even wear out.)

It is with great expectation and joy that I travel to the Jumping Tandem retreat to see what God has put together beforehand, before I even get there or the rest of the brave souls who are travelling to this rallying point to dream with their Captain, Brother and King!

 
 
 
Praise the
Redeemer
Our
Victor, who
In advance
Set us apart for
Immanuel,
Our Savior, who
Never runs out of
Supplies.
 
Posted on by kelrohlf 2

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!

 

 
Posted on by kelrohlf 4