Christmas: Welcome to our World!
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Christmas blessings from a branch in the VINE.
Read MoreA Cappella "Mary, Did You Know?" Backstory and Song
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Emmanuel … GOD with us! Jesus Christ, the Son of God became the Son of Man. This is Mystery without parallel.
No wonder this songwriter meditated for years to convey the depths of it all. Here is the backstory to what has become one of our current favorite Christmas songs … followed by a breathtaking performance.
Read MoreADVENT (Week 4) -- Fullness of LOVE in Jesus: "the Smile that Destroyed My Religion"
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When I think of God’s Love in Jesus, I no longer think,”Yeh, He loves me, but then sometimes He loves me not.” Do you feel this way?
For this very short 4th week of Advent, I feel compelled to share the most critical turning point in my spiritual life. and this turning point is all about the “fullness of the love of God” for me truly and totally.
4th Week of Advent: I Wonder as I Wander
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My friend Penny is a walker (a very serious, fast walker, by the way). But Penny doesn't just walk for exercise, she also "walks" closely with the Lord. So when Penny shares, I listen. And when she shared about a favorite Christmas carol, it made me take notice. Why? Because while walking, Penny has been doing what this song describes.
Read MoreADVENT (Week 3) -- Fulness of JOY in Jesus
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“Don’t be afraid!” he said.
“I bring you good news that will bring great JOY to all people.
The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem,
the city of David! …
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others
—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
3rd Week of Advent: EMMANUEL, Our God is WITH Us
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If ever we needed to know God is WITH us in every possible way, it's NOW, after another year of the unanswerable "why's" of life. We struggle to make sense of all the violence, suffering, and injustice we see all around us. Though we can't know the answers, we can turn afresh to the One Who has us in the palm of His Hand. The God Who became One of us...flesh and bone and joint and sinew...who experienced every emotion possible, raw and gripping, tender and affectionate! He felt it all! And He feels our current struggle with us too!
Read MoreADVENT (week 2) -- Fullness of PEACE in Jesus
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… The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, PRINCE of PEACE.
His government and its PEACE will never end.
Oh how we long for PEACE — especially as our world is riddled with wars, violence, hatred, racism, suffering of all kinds. And hasn’t it always been so? This is nothing unusual in this fallen world.
Read MoreOf the Father's Love Begotten ... Emmanuel
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For the past several years, I have been following an Advent devotional by a British author Tim Chester. One of the unique things that the author does is quote some “unknown to me” hymns and carols. In one of the devotionals, I recognized the final lines of each stanza in the hymn of the day. Sure enough! I had been listening to that very carol each year on an old Christmas CD in our collection.
Read MoreBalancing Acceptance and HOPE
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… The truths here have been intensely practical for my own life and the lives of many others with whom I’ve shared.
May you be blessed to see there is great HOPE in the midst of what may be your very hard circumstances when your Source is your Almighty God, Emmanuel (God With YOU!)
2nd Week of Advent: the Really Good News -- GOD with US!
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"The Good News isn't just that Jesus died for our sins. The Good News is EMMANUEL...GOD WITH US!" So declared Deb at the end of our Bible Study.
As John and I drove home that evening, we reflected on her statement. We recalled a conversation we had had years before when we were discussing what the heart of the gospel ("Good News") is. The Good News isn't just that our sins are forgiven so we can go to heaven someday (and now we just do the best we can in the meantime).
Read MoreREST! Yes, Despite the Holiday Craziness
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In the total craziness of holiday celebrations this year, there comes the call:
REST, enjoy His love …
Jesus came to give us His rest of spirit, so we could enjoy God’s love):
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1st Week of Advent: O Come, Emmanuel!
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When I was a child, I always loved Advent. There was a melancholia, a longing...but mixed at the same time with anticipation and hope. How did I get all that as a child? I'm sure I didn't, except to say that maybe all the sights and sounds and smells...all the scriptures and songs and prayers and stories of the "liturgical celebration" weren't entirely lost on me, nor on many of you. The reality of our God-Man Jesus has grown in me over the years as I've walked and talked with my Savior.
But whether you have had that sort of background as a child or not, why not journey with us these next weeks. Take it all in as if for the first time...all the sights, sounds, and smells...all the scriptures and songs and prayers and stories.
Below are Scripture readings for every day this week. Let the Word of God wash over you day by day. I've linked the passages to biblegateway.com so you can change the version as you wish.
But first, enjoy this Christmas Carol to start off your Advent devotions. It's one of my childhood favorites: O Come, O Come Emmanuel.
I love the intense longing expressed in this song...a longing for the presence of God Himself into our frail humanity...a presence that is our Present Reality in Christ.
Who would have ever imagined it? God in the flesh! C.S. Lewis was right when he called the Incarnation (God made Man, God with Us), The Grand Miracle.
Sing it with us, and let the emotion and wonder of it all bathe over you!
O Come O Come Emmanuel Selah
O come, O come, EmmanuelAnd ransom captive IsraelThat mourns in lonely exile hereUntil the Son of God appearRejoice! Rejoice! EmmanuelShall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, freeThine own from Satan's tyrannyFrom depths of Hell Thy people saveAnd give them victory o'er the graveRejoice! Rejoice! EmmanuelShall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheerOur spirits by Thine advent hereDisperse the gloomy clouds of nightAnd death's dark shadows put to flight.Rejoice! Rejoice! EmmanuelShall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come,And open wide our heavenly home;Make safe the way that leads on high,And close the path to misery.Rejoice! Rejoice! EmmanuelShall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,In ancient times did'st give the Law,In cloud, and majesty and awe.Rejoice! Rejoice! EmmanuelShall come to thee, O Israel.
For an interesting story behind the song, click here.
Readings for the First Week of Advent:
Sunday -- Luke 4:16-21
Monday -- John 1:1-18
Tuesday -- Hebrews 1:1-14
Wednesday -- Philippians 2:1-11
Thursday -- Luke 2:41-52
Friday -- Matthew 3:1-17
Saturday -- Matthew 4:12-25
Advent artwork courtesy of my cousin-in-law Marilyn Parente. Of these beautiful creations, Marilyn says, "I created them using images of panels of glass I shot in Disney with a bit of clipart and some Photoshop thrown in for good measure." Thank you so much for sharing, dear sister in the Lord!
Advent Devotions: Us with GOD
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A few Advents ago, I met a new-to-me British author, Tim Chester, through his Advent devotional The One True Light. I’ve loved this little volume that has led me year by year through the first eighteen verses of the Gospel of John.
Well, this year I discovered his other two Advent books: The One True Gift (On Philippians, chapter 2) and The One True Story (on the story of Christ through the Old Testament to Jesus’ Coming). So this year, each Advent day finds me meditating through all three, each one in turn.
The books are not coordinated, but one day in reading all three, a thread grabbed and entwined me in an amazing truth: Jesus is not only Emmanuel, God with Us; He is also Emmanuel, Us with God!
Read More53 Years Together... My Home Away from Home ...but Wait!
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To John, my “home” away from home … but not really. Rather my “home” within our “real Home.”
Since Jesus is our real Home And we both abide/dwell/live in Him right now, we are an earthly refuge, a safe place, a home for each other while we are still in our earthly abode. We are a place where we can be fully ourselves …safely.
Read MoreThanksgiving: Overflowing with Gratitude
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Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith,
just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
Colossians 2:6-7 NASB
Years ago, I taught writing to adult GED students. Every Wednesday, we would do an exercise together as a class to practice writing a five-paragraph essay. As the end of November approached, I chose the topic of Thanksgiving. I thought that in this age of “entitlement” it might be a double “win” for the students to count their blessings and practice their writing.
Read MoreThe Rest of the Gospel: Entering God's Rest (Chapter 25)
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Key Verses:
So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. Heb 4:9-11 ESV
Read Chapter 25: Entering God's Rest
1. Is your life characterized by an inner rest? What does your answer tell you about the degree to which you are trusting Christ as your life?
Read MoreAttachment: The Secret of Detachment
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Detachment, Relinquishment ... Letting go! No matter how you say it, it is hard but beautiful. And it is needed...needed, that is, in order to grow in the spiritual life. In fact, Jesuit Richard Rohr, says, "All great spirituality is about letting go." (Everything Belongs) Our Lord Jesus was the One truly spiritual Person on this earth. And He was detached in a healthy way. He was detached because He was attached to Another ... to His Heavenly Father. All through the gospels, especially the gospel of John, we see and hear this truth clearly.
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The Rest of the Gospel: Detached Living (Chapter 21)
/Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 ESV
Key Question:
Are you wholly attached to Christ or is He just "a piece of the pie"?
Read MoreSong of the Week: O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus
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The ocean speaks to me about God … the bigness of God and the littleness of me.
This could be a frightening thought were it not for the fact of God’s amazing, unconditional love for me. I picture myself in those beautiful ocean waves of God’s love, enveloping me and overcoming all the “stuff” I face.
