We Wait for You, Jesus

“And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier

than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not

worthy to stoop down and unloose.” Mark 1:7 (KJV)

Dear Lord:

We wait for your arrival to rule our world. We know you will come again. The events of our time signal your arrival could be at any moment.

Only Your Father knows the exact time. God’s Holy Word tells us to be ready. We strive to prepare our hearts for that meeting. Is there anything we have yet to do before that long-awaited day?

We understand You have given our world time to allow those who don’t know You to get right with You. Please guide us to do just that.

While we wait for You to return, let us praise and worship You. Let us display Your love for others and allow us to lift You up.

In the name of Jesus, I pray.

Amen

Praise for the Small Things

“Let them praise the name of the Lord;

for his name alone is excellent;

his glory is above the earth and heaven.”

Psalm 148:13 (KJV)

Our capacity to praise God comes from deep inside our hearts. We all have something for which to praise Him. The smallest or most insignificant thing in our lives deserves our giving thanks for it.

We have times when we have to look for the silver lining. We sometimes have to ask God to bring something good out of a situation that seems bleak. No matter how small the kindness He does for us. We should give Him praise.

Simeon’s Prayer

“‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace.

For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared

in the sight of all the people, a light to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’”

Luke 2:29-32 (NIV)

Simeon, a man filled with the Holy Spirit, saw God’s son and praised God. The Holy Spirit had disclosed Simeon would see the Lord’s Child before he died. Stirred by the Holy Spirit, Simeon entered temple courts and saw the ultimate promise of God.

How would we have acted if the Holy Spirit had told us we would see God incarnate before we left this earth? Would we feel honored or would we think we were being tricked?

For me, it would depend on where I stood with God. If I wasn’t living for Him, I would be scared. But then, I might not be told this because I wasn’t doing what pleased the Lord God. If I was in His will, I would feel honored and very blessed to be told this great news.

I don’t believe I would have told anyone else because they might think I was boasting. I would keep it between God, the Holy Spirit and myself.

What If I Had Been There?

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,

and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths

and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Luke 2:6-7 (NIV)





I often wonder what my life would have been like had I lived in another era. This is what I think of when I think of my life at the time of Jesus’ birth.



If I had been in Bethlehem at the time Jesus was born, would I have paid Him honor? Would I have noticed the star shining so bright? Would my family have gotten the last room available?

Would my husband have been the innkeeper who offered the weary travelers the cave behind the inn?

Would my husband and our son have been among the shepherds that heard the angel’s announcement?

Or would my family have been one of those who were unable to find any place to sleep except the in doorways, in the yards, or along the city streets?

On the other hand, would my family have disbelieved what they saw and heard and ignored the event? Would we have shrugged our shoulders and said, “Oh, well “? Or would we have visited out of curiosity and then said things to discourage our neighbors from worshipping the newborn King?

Or might my family have happened upon the shepherds and listened to their story of the angel, the angel chorus, and about finding the baby born a Savior?

Whoever was in Bethlehem on that night so long ago was very much a part of God’s plan.

Adoration

“O come Let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.”

O Come, All Ye Faithful, John F. Wade, Frederick Oakley



I love the carols of Christmas. When I study them, I learn so much about God and His relationship with man. What I have learned from O Come, All Ye Faithful I can apply to my worship of God everyday of the year.

I am to enter into His presence with joy. God reminds me of Ps 122:1. The NIV says, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”

God wants me to enter his house victorious. He desires that I come to him with my personal issues settled. This doesn’t always happen but I am there seeking His guidance in the ongoing stresses.

He wants me to glorify Him through Jesus. I can do this by giving testimony of His presence in my life. I can also do this by exhibiting His attributes to others.

The Father desires that we glorify the Son. I can do this by doing what Jesus would do for those who are hurting, in need, and face illness and surgery-theirs and family members.

He Came To Dwell

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and

he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,

and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. Rev 21:3



God sent His Son to earth to live with us. Jesus spent the last three years of His time here teaching, preaching, and healing.

The Father gave us a gift, His Son because He loves us. God chose to share Jesus with mere humankind.

When Jesus told His followers He would have to leave them, the Master told them He would send a helper, the Holy Spirit, to them.

When we accept Christ as our Savior, we ask Him to come into our hearts. He, in return, sends the Holy Spirit to live within us.

God gave us a gift over 2000 years ago. Even today, His Son lives in the hearts of those who love Him.

When Christ returns to earth, He will live with His people in the New Jerusalem.

Immanuel

The virgin will be with child and will give birth

to a son and will call him Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)



All names have meanings. My given name has a secular meaning and a Christian one. Taken straight from the Latin, it means “blind”. I once saw a display of parchments for sale. Each one had a person’s name and a Christian definition written out in calligraphy. The Christian definition of my name was something like ‘calm spirit’. I couldn’t purchase that page at that time. But it made me think.

In Isaiah we read of a sign from God. A child will be born to a virgin. That child will be called Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’. When the angel visited Joseph in a dream and told him that they were to ‘name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins’. They were to do this as a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.

We believe Jesus was the human representation of God. After He ascended to the Father’s right hand, our Lord sent the Holy Spirit to us, someone to help us in times of trial and tribulation.

We sometimes forget we have God with us. In past years at Christmas, I have gotten so ‘busy’ with ‘things’ I have forgotten the real reason we have Christmas to celebrate Jesus’ coming to earth to live with us. I heard of a church board that chose to have an appreciation dinner, for those who served, AFTER the Christmas activities because they realized the frantic pace of the world during the days that lead to Christmas were disrespectful of Christ. It gave me something to think about.