2018 Advent Highlights #1
I have a number of daily Advent readings I’m doing this season, and each day, I like to save the bits that God has highlighted in my heart. From this last week:
Pause
This is only the beginning.
God is up to something amazing in you.
Wait for it.
This time of the year, we can hear the same songs, watch the same movies, complete the same traditions again & again. It’s a lot of the same, and often it never gets old. After all, it’s almost Christmas!
Instead of thinking about Christmas as a one-day event, during Advent, we get the opportunity to hear the hope-filled story of Emmanuel — God with us — as if for the first time. We can ask God, during all of the “sameness” of this time of year, to teach us something new this season.
Lord, thank you for this season of preparation. Please teach me something new about you today. ~Following The Star by d365.org
Holy God who gives my life flavor, may I prepare for Christ’s coming, mindful of my constant movement, sometimes rushing through it all. Calm my mind and heart as I follow the star. Amen. ~Following The Star by d365.org
Some people are poor. All they have is money. ~KSBJ
Worry is belief gone wrong. Because you don’t believe that God will get it right...
Do not be afraid of the unknown when you know the One who does the impossible.
Do not be afraid of what could fail when His arms are stronger than any failure & He cannot fail or let you fall.
And do not be afraid of any evil because greater is He who is in the depths of you and breathing the wild courage to love right into your bones.
Do not ever be afraid of suffering because suffering can birth a greater resurrection.
We keep #UnWrappingTheGreatestGift and Staying in the Story because the truth is:
Advent is about the coming of God -- and the end of fear.
And honestly?
When His love wins you over — no fears can pull you under. ~Ann Voskamp
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 NIV
C. S. Lewis said that forgiveness is a "lovely idea" until you actually have to do it. True, isn't it?
The Christmas season takes our emotions on a roller coaster ride. The relation we haven't talked to all year will be at the Christmas get-together. We have to buy a gift for the person whose reckless words still sting. No relationship is perfect and imperfections are highlighted during Christmas.
As you ask God to prepare your heart this Christmas, it's time for some practical application. Who do you need to forgive? Make a phone call, write a letter, send an email or have that personal conversation. Forgive others, "just as in Christ God forgave you." I don't know what the response of the other person will be. I just know that living without forgiveness is an emotional prison. Forgiveness sets the prisoner free.
Father, I know that my heart cannot be prepared for Christmas if I don't follow the instruction of your Word. Help me forgive others just as in Christ you have forgiven me. Don't let me get hung up on the response of others to my call, email, letter, or personal conversation. Help me to forgive and move forward in freedom. In Jesus' name. Amen. ~ goTandem.com
The earth needs time to rest, and while it rests, it is holding next years’ growth in place, literally holding space for what is to come. So what are you growing just under the surface? How might you best use this time in the winter to prepare for what God will do next in you? ~Following The Star by d365.org
Pause
This is only the beginning.
God is up to something amazing in you.
Wait for it.
This time of the year, we can hear the same songs, watch the same movies, complete the same traditions again & again. It’s a lot of the same, and often it never gets old. After all, it’s almost Christmas!
Instead of thinking about Christmas as a one-day event, during Advent, we get the opportunity to hear the hope-filled story of Emmanuel — God with us — as if for the first time. We can ask God, during all of the “sameness” of this time of year, to teach us something new this season.
Lord, thank you for this season of preparation. Please teach me something new about you today. ~Following The Star by d365.org
Holy God who gives my life flavor, may I prepare for Christ’s coming, mindful of my constant movement, sometimes rushing through it all. Calm my mind and heart as I follow the star. Amen. ~Following The Star by d365.org
Some people are poor. All they have is money. ~KSBJ
Worry is belief gone wrong. Because you don’t believe that God will get it right...
Do not be afraid of the unknown when you know the One who does the impossible.
Do not be afraid of what could fail when His arms are stronger than any failure & He cannot fail or let you fall.
And do not be afraid of any evil because greater is He who is in the depths of you and breathing the wild courage to love right into your bones.
Do not ever be afraid of suffering because suffering can birth a greater resurrection.
We keep #UnWrappingTheGreatestGift and Staying in the Story because the truth is:
Advent is about the coming of God -- and the end of fear.
And honestly?
When His love wins you over — no fears can pull you under. ~Ann Voskamp
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 NIV
C. S. Lewis said that forgiveness is a "lovely idea" until you actually have to do it. True, isn't it?
The Christmas season takes our emotions on a roller coaster ride. The relation we haven't talked to all year will be at the Christmas get-together. We have to buy a gift for the person whose reckless words still sting. No relationship is perfect and imperfections are highlighted during Christmas.
As you ask God to prepare your heart this Christmas, it's time for some practical application. Who do you need to forgive? Make a phone call, write a letter, send an email or have that personal conversation. Forgive others, "just as in Christ God forgave you." I don't know what the response of the other person will be. I just know that living without forgiveness is an emotional prison. Forgiveness sets the prisoner free.
Father, I know that my heart cannot be prepared for Christmas if I don't follow the instruction of your Word. Help me forgive others just as in Christ you have forgiven me. Don't let me get hung up on the response of others to my call, email, letter, or personal conversation. Help me to forgive and move forward in freedom. In Jesus' name. Amen. ~ goTandem.com
The earth needs time to rest, and while it rests, it is holding next years’ growth in place, literally holding space for what is to come. So what are you growing just under the surface? How might you best use this time in the winter to prepare for what God will do next in you? ~Following The Star by d365.org
Love that first one! Always need to be reminded that God is working, even when I don't see it, and that waiting is likely part of His plan...just like it was for the Jewish people to wait all those years for the Messiah.
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