Advent: Day Eight

OK, I'm tired tonight and this is going to be a challenging week for me to post every day. I have been encouraged and motivated by those who have told me that they appreciate my effort, though, so I will keep trying. Just know I might need some grace this week.

Today's ornament is a tablet with ten numbers, representing Moses and the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1-20; 32:15-18). I liked the prayer from the Advent Jesse Tree book today:

Lord, when the children of Isreal were slaves in a strange land, You sent them a leader, letting them know You are a God who cares about them. You gave them the Law to remind them of their sinfulness. We know our need for You. We fail every day. We confess these sins to You, and ask that by Your mercy You forgive us. Thank you for sending our Emancipator, Jesus, to free us from the bondage of sin. Thank You for sending Your Spirit to empower us to live a life for You. Amen (p. 40)

Advent: Day Seven

Today's ornament is Joseph's Coat of Many Colors. I have come to love the story of Joseph because it is such a great reminder of God's sovereignty and faithful provision. The whole story spans much of the last 13 chapters of Genesis (37-50) and takes Joseph from being a bragging, spoiled teenager, to a powerful, respected leader who ends up showing grace to his brothers and being who God used to save the nation of Isreal.

It's mind-boggling to think that the circumstances that Joseph had to endure (being sold into slavery, being wrongly accused and thrown into jail) were God's sovereign plan to get the Isrealites to Egypt so that they could be delivered generations later. But, in God's great plan, He allowed all these things to happen, and many other circumstances in our own lives, to bring glory to Himself and bring us to a deeper and stronger faith.

What I am completely amazed about (but not surprised) today is how this day's devotion and the sermon, "From Fear to Faith", about the Isrealites crossing the Red Sea (from Exodus 14), all came together to bring home this reminder about God's sovereignty and faithfulness.

God is so good and I just want to keep on walking on this journey with Him!

Advent: Day Six

Today's ornament is a ladder, representing the story of Jacob's dream of a ladder reaching from earth to heaven. The story is found in Genesis 27:41-28:22 and is about when Jacob left his home to go live with his uncle, Laban, because his brother, Esau, was out to kill him. Jacob was all alone, running from danger, and I would imagine, wasn't feeling to good about himself. In his dream, God was a the top of the ladder and Jacob was at the bottom. "The ladder was a symbol that Jacob was not far from the arms of God." (p.32)

Sometimes, I feel like Jacob. I feel alone (even in a crowd), overwhelmed, and basically, weak. I don't like that feeling and try everything I can think of to get out from under it. Today was that kind of day. I had lots of things I was trying to do and was coming up short in the strength department. But, thankfully, God reminded me that His grace is sufficient for me, and that His power is made perfect in my weakness (2 Cor. 12: 9). I am so thankful that in God's great love and tenderness towards Jacob, me and everyone, He gave us Jesus to bridge the gap between heaven and earth, strong and weak, Holy One and sinners.

Glorious Impossible

My friend, Wendy Wills, a songwriter who goes to my church, wrote this song, "The Glorious Impossible." It has gotten much attention across the country and I love this animation that was done using it (done at Prestonwood Baptist Church in the Dallas, TX, area). Check it out and I hope it will give you a little bit of personal worship of the Glorious Impossible!

Advent: Day Five

The symbol for Day Five is a lamb and the story is told from Genesis 22 about Abraham taking Isaac to sacrifice him as an act of faith and obedience. God provided a ram as a subsitute so that Isaac did not have to die. This was a foretelling of what God would provide as a subsitute for us: His Son, Jesus.

I love the name for God that comes from this passage: Jehovah-Jirah, which means, "The Lord will provide." This has come to have such personal meaning for me as I have seen God's provision in my life. I am so thankful to God for providing the Lamb that took away my sins and for providing the Holy Spirit to dwell with me and guide me as I live my life.

"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29b

Advent: Day Four

This ornament symbolizes God's call to Abram, who later was renamed, "Abraham", which means, "Father of many nations." God called Abram to be a part of a larger plan, a group of people through whom others will be blessed.

The other day, my friend shared a devotion that she'd read and the thing that stuck out to me from what she shared was that when we grow in holiness and serve God in obedience and faith, we are the last ones who know we are being a blessing to others. In other words, if we are seeking the glory, we are not giving glory to the One who really deserves it.

I like this prayer from the Advent Jesse Tree book. May it be the prayer of my heart as I continue to be grown and sanctified by the One who calls me.

Prayer: You come to us in this Advent time, Yahweh, as You came to Abraham many years ago. You come to us with that same call--to be a people through whom others will be blessed. We pray that we will have that same faith to obey You in all things. Open our lives to live out Your calling. Come, Emmanuel, come. Amen. (p.26)

Advent: Day Three

In Genesis chapters 5 through 9, the story is told of how evil the people on earth became and how God spoke to a man named Noah, and told him to build an ark, which would save Noah and his family and a sampling of every animal, when God flooded the earth. The author of the Advent Jesse Tree pointed out that "the ark was Noah's salvation just as Jesus is our ark. In Him alone can we be saved." After the rain stopped and the land dried up, God gave Noah and his family a rainbow to symbolize His covenant with them and his promise to never bring such a flood on the earth again. The devotion author said, "Promises are made by God and are eternal. They are always full of grace." The rainbow was a sign of redemption and still reminds us of God's promises today.

In September of 1989, when I was just out of college and had moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, on a short-term missions assignment (I know, "suffering for Jesus" in Hawaii), I had taken a huge step of faith and had left all of my comforts: family, friends, boyfriend, familiar surroundings. I remember flying into Honolulu and getting ready to meet the people I was going to work with there. I was nervous and kind of apprehensive about what I'd signed up to do. After I had met up with my coworkers at the airport and we were driving to where I would live, I looked up in the sky and saw a double rainbow! To me, it was God's assurance that He was with me and that things were going to be OK there. I won't lie and tell you that my entire three months there was wonderful. It actually was a hard time of soul-searching, disappointment and homesickness. But, God was with me there, just as He promised.

I'm so thankful that God keeps His promises and that He had a plan to save me and all of us from our sinfulness. I'm thankful for His reminders to us of His faithfulness and that we can remember these things as we prepare for Christmas.