Joy In The Waiting

So this week the Advent candle represents joy.  There is a favorite Bible verse for Joel that speaks of joy.  It is found in Nehemiah 8:10. 

Joy.  Joy runs deeper than happiness.  Happiness is fleeting, momentary.  Joy comes from deep within and is a choice.  In the midst of any circumstances we can still lock our eyes on Jesus and muster up joy.  Joy in knowing what we know.  That Jesus is our Savior, our Healer, our Protector, our Strength.  When we choose joy that comes from our Lord, we receive his strength.  During this season of waiting we choose joy.  Knowing what we know, believing what we believe.  Receiving what we receive from our Lord.......joy to the world the Lord has come!

Shalom Calms The Chaos

The second Sunday of Advent we light the candle of Peace.   I could use just a little more of that.....couldn't we all......and it is available  right there in front of us as we ponder the birth of our Savior.  He is Peace.  Shalom comes from the One who is Shalom.

I recently read on Facebook Dr. Brian Simmons thoughts on Psalm 34:14 and the meaning of the word Shalom within this verse.

" This word here in the Hebrew means much more than peace.  It is wholeness, wellness, well being, safe, happy, friendly, favor, completeness, to make peace, peace offering, secure, to prosper, to e vicorious, to be content, tranquil, quiet and restful.  The pictographic symbols for the word shalom actually reads, "Destroy the authority that binds to chaos".  Also  in noun form it means to "restore".

Yeah.......it pretty much covers it all.

I heard Bill Johnson say today that he and his wife Beni have worked hard to keep their home a house of peace.  Enter in peace, live in peace.  Unless it was urgent, the stresses of the day were not discussed and conflicts were not hashed out until a chosen time when they could sit down together and in a calm manner share with each other.  They were intentional in keeping chaos out of their home.

I have prayed often for our house to be a place of healing and peace. This past year it has been easy to give chaos a place of residence as so many surprises and unwanted concerns popped up.  It is more a feeling of being unsettled or just plain fearful of what is coming.  I know I am not alone.  We do have a choice though.......

This morning I peeked over our upstairs railing to see the tree lights on and the fireplace glowing.  My hubby was in his recliner covered with a wool afghan, dozing.  He was a picture of peace...shalom.  He is so good about taking time to embrace the moments....making the most of His Presence.  Making the most of the good we can find in every day....even before the sun rises. 

During Advent we are reminded that Peace comes in the manger.  And that baby in the manger?  Lives in us,  Peace is within no matter what chaos shakes up our world.  I wish you peace.  I declare peace over you.  I give you the word Shalom and all it means in the Hebrew.  Let every breath inhaled be Shalom and every breath exhaled release that which unsettles.  In Jesus peace reigns.

John 14:27 speaks clearly His words..........

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. 

 I do not give to you as the world gives. 

 Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Pitching My Tent

"I am glad from the inside out, ecstatic.  

I have pitched my tent in the land of hope."

Acts 2:26  Message Bible

It is the the middle of the first week of Advent, a time that we are focusing on hope.  H.O.P.E  And don't we all need a little hope in our lives.  Hope for today, hope for tomorrow.  Hope for the coming of a baby.  Hope for healing.  Hope for a miracle.  And isn't God the God of miracles?!  Isn't the birth of a Savior, our Savior, a miracle? 

When I read this verse, I cannot say that I am feeling really glad from the inside out, or ecstatic in any way.  Just saying.......but I have pitched my tent in the land of hope.  During the storms of life, that tent needs some deep stakes to stay upright.  It shakes and the tent flaps whip about in the wind and rain, but faith keeps it grounded.  I visually can see myself pounding those stakes in hitting each one harder and harder, deeper and deeper.  And with metal hitting metal hope rises and faith is strengthened. 

Maybe what Ann Voskamp says holds some truth.  "Hope isn't about thinking something will get better.  Hope is about believing Someone better is already here"  We have the privilege of knowing the end of the story of Christmas.  Of knowing about the baby born in a manger, the son of God and of man.  A carpenter's son and yet God's only Son with three years of ministry that healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, brought the dead to life, cast out demons and offered eternal life for all.

Hope sustains.  Life may be challenging, but because of Jesus we can keep our tent pitched in the land of hope., knowing there is hope for today, and in the waiting for tomorrow.  Knowing there is hope for eternity. 

Living Hope

As I pondered Bonnie Gray's  One Word Advent writing prompt for this week ~ hope ~  I found myself thinking about a statement I heard yesterday about hope. Bill Johnson of Bethel Church said, "If we embrace fear it will turn our hope into hopelessness."

There have been times during this season of my life that I have let fear take up residence and hopelessness has come to visit.

We were excited!  Our trip to Arizona last winter brought with it a desire to move there and begin a new ministry.  We felt called by God.  Retired.....we wanted to refire for our Lord.  We planned, purged, organized, and began to pack as we put our home on the market in the middle of August.  Just two weeks later during a routine physical and mammogram, it was discovered that I had breast cancer. We were stunned.  We took our home off the market immediately, and began to try to digest what my future, our future would hold.

Surgery followed and even with a good prognosis I am in the midst of 6 weeks of radiation, 5 days a week.  The side effects to my skin are starting to take their toll, and even though the end is in sight I began to think about all the what ifs that are ahead.  I began to wonder why, when God healed me of 27 years of Lyme Disease through prayer, I needed to have surgery and radiation for the cancer.  The more I pondered and questioned, the more fear set in and the more fear set in the more hopelessness seeped into my pores.  Yesterday I had a meltdown and what came out of my heart through my mouth was not pretty.  Our dreams looked so far away and near impossible.  This cancer diagnosis was not a surprise to God. We had prayed and prayed about moving.  So God, what was this about? Hopeless.  I felt hopeless.

But during this Advent season of remembering and waiting and preparing, we look to the One who has it all planned out.  We have living Hope that breathes life into us and helps us remember why Jesus came to earth.  He came for us.  Isaiah 53 tells us he suffered and died for our sins and for our sicknesses. The two are tied together and we cannot accept one without out considering the other.

Living Hope came into the world as a baby.  Every day we open our eyes to a new sunrise and we have hope.  Like Annie says, "The sun will come out tomorrow...."  And every day we open our eyes to God's Son, too.  Our living Hope.  Fear has no place when we remember that He has us, He is with us, He knows our future and He is our Hope.

"For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord. 

 Plans for good and not for evil.  

To give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11

Love Came Down!

The fourth Week of Advent we light the candle of love.  Love came down at Christmas!  King of Kings born in a stable.  We can only imagine what Mary held in her heart as she watched her son, His Son,
become a toddler, a boy, a man.

God so loved the world.........Jesus so loved His Heavenly Father.....His mother.....the world.   His first cry shook the world, as did His last.  All in love.  For God so loved.....

Liz Curtis Higgs says in the first chapter of her book, "The Women of Christmas":

"Long before silver bells jingled, Christmas lights twinkled, and horse drawn sleighs went dashing through the snow, God reached down from heaven with the best gift of all.  LOVE wrapped in swaddling clothes."

Imagine Mary's thoughts...watching her son as He turned water into wine, opened the eyes of the blind, delivered the tormented.  As He suffered and died for us.  For God so loved.......

I love the song "Mary Did You Know". sung beautifully here by Pentatonix.  

As we remember that Love came down wrapped in swaddling clothes, as we worship through word and song, as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.......We wish you a very Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas

Love

Joel and Renee

Joy, Joy, Joy!

We light the third candle of the Advent wreath this week, the candle of Joy.  Reflecting on joy has had me thinking about the song the kids used to sing in church.

 

"I've got the joy, joy, joy joy

Down in my heart.....

Where?  Down in the my heart?

Down in my heart........

I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart

Down in my heart to stay!"

It goes on to say, "I've got the love of Jesus...love of Jesus...down in my heart.  A few other verses round out the song.  Joy and Jesus seem to go together!

We have needed that reminder!  This past week we have been fighting a virus that crossed the "no weapon formed against us will prosper" barriers into our home and into our bodies.  ugh.  The battle continues, but we are winning! This past week we have also been grieving the 10th anniversary of our son Kevin's death.  We have been dealing with very foggy, damp, weather.  The sun has been absent and the air a bit polluted even in our small city.  It is so dark all day long that our outside lights stay on. We have never seen it like this here before.  We were unable to say yes to an invitation to go see three of our grandchildren in their Christmas program this past weekend.  It saddened us.  The house is so quiet since our family gathered for Thanksgiving this year.  Too quiet.  An accumulation of minor difficulties dampened our spirits.

Needless to say we have been digging deep to find our joy!  Happiness may have left the building, but joy is always available.  Circumstances may be challenging, but we still can make a choice in how we respond.

And most days we choose joy.  The joy of the Lord.  "The joy of the Lord is our strength".  The Christmas tree has brightened the dark days.  Pictures texted to us of the treasures all ready for their program brought smiles. Christmas and praise music have lifted our hearts.  We rejoice that our son is with God's son.  Our devotionals have urged us to focus on the One.  And that is where we find joy.  To summarize Ann Voskamp's devotional on the third week of Advent......Joy comes with Jesus and Jesus is always with us, so therefore, joy is always at our disposal.  Yes.  Thank you Jesus.  Thank you that even when, no, especially when circumstances come against us , a storm rages, or a battle wages, in the stillness we can open our hearts and rejoice because of the baby born in a manger.  We rejoice in, not for, but in all circumstances.  He is always with us.  Always here.  Jesus!  "We've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in our hearts to stay!"

Our Path To Peace

The second week of Advent we light the candle of Peace.  Peace.  We all long for it.  That feeling of calm and serenity as the world around you vibrates like a hummingbird.  The sense of knowing that all is well when the enemy whispers in your ear a different message.

Peace.  Where do we find this elusive peace?  Isaiah 26:3 shares the secret with us. 

"I will be in perfect peace when my mind is focused on You, Jesus, because I trust in you."  (paraphrased) 

I have a dear friend who tells me that when anxiety rears it's ugly head, she stops and takes deep breaths, saying, "Jesus in.....anxiety out."  For her this practice shifts her focus.  It does not take long until the anxiety is just as she says.  Out... and gone. 

Some nights when I am unable to get back to sleep, I whisper over and over one word.  Jesus.  If my mind wants to continue on in motion, I visualize myself going into the garden of my heart where I rest my head on Jesus' lap, safe and secure.  Sleep comes when  my focus is on the One who is Peace. 

The One who is Peace listens to our petitions of the heart.  Prayer brings peace when we leave our concerns with Jesus.  Praise and worship keeps our hands lifted high.  To God be the glory. 

No matter where we being on our path to peace, we come full circle back to Isaiah 26:3:

"I will be in perfect peace when my mind is focused on You, Jesus, because I trust in You."

Waiting With Expectation

December is upon us....a cold one here in our part of the world.  We have been using the fireplace off and on throughout the daylight hours and into evening, making our home cozy and warm inside.  As I have been preparing for a Bible study I will lead on Wednesday evening, I have been thinking about Advent.  A time of waiting....of hope.  A time of expectation.

Advent.  We wait for the coming of Christ.....reflecting on that time over 2,000 years ago when Jesus came to earth as a babe.  There was great expectation for this King...the Messiah.  The world held its breath, nature alert and silent, the people unknowingly yearning for a Savior.  And He showed up, in a manger, in a baby's cry.  Now, we anticipate His return some day......living here on earth.  We pray as the Lord's Prayer says, "Thy will be done here ON EARTH as it is in Heaven.  We wait.

There are many times in our lives when we wait.  We wait for the birth of a baby....we wait for the weather to change....for suffering to end, for a job to be available.  Today we waited with expectation for a family member's tests performed on a pancreatic cyst to come back.  We pray, we hope, and we expect God to show up.  In the suffering and in the joy.  And He does.  A "no cancer" text sent up praises to God today!  The waiting is over and we are filled with joy this day. There are so many times on so many different levels that we wait.

Waiting.......expecting......hoping..........they are all verbs.  Actions we take even when it feels like we are sitting still. Even when it feels like the world has forgotten to take a breath.  We wait with wonder. We expect.  We hope.  Movements within while being still without, but we never wait alone.

As we begin Advent, we rejoice in the waiting, giving thanks in the moment, reflecting on the sweet mom of the King, who young and innocent, waited in obedience for her child .....HIS son to be born.  Of course we know the end of the story.  We know that Jesus comes and salvation is ours, but during this season, during this time we call Advent, we remember and we look forward with wonder, expecting with hope the coming of the King.  Our King!  May we never lose our wonder!

Wonder by Amanda Cook

Bethel Church