Jesus Our Wonderful Counselor

Advent Thoughts

“All this also comes from the LORD Almighty, wonderful in counsel

 and magnificent in wisdom.” Isaiah 28:29 (NIV)

At different times in our lives we have needed to seek advice from a person more knowledgeable than we. This advice may come from a doctor, a lawyer, a therapist, an expert on rearing children.

Spiritually speaking, we have an adviser who watches over us every day of our lives. He has watched over us since we were formed Psalm 139:13-16. We call on Him when we have problems or illness in our lives. We worship and praise Him when our lives run smoothly.

His name is Jesus. His role in our lives is that of counselor. Isaiah describes Him as “wonderful counselor; what does that mean to us? Have you had a time in your life where you sought God’s counsel over the advice of earthly friends or worldly ‘experts’? 

Adoration RJD December 2012

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(Taken from Journal 2/26/1997)

Adoration-that’s the devotional topic this week (disciplines for the inner life.) One writer says we use the word ‘adore’ to describe lesser and silly things. And that we have lost the practice of Adoration to God in “superficial wonder and feeling.” (Edward J Farrell)

Pastor Mike, a former pastor at a church we belonged to,  used to tell us we were to “Worship God for Who He is.” that we were to focus upon the person of God and not upon what He can do for or give to us.

Psalm 150 tells us to praise the Lord. The psalmist uses the word “praise” 13 times in six verses. A footnote told me that the phrase “Praise the Lord” in Hebrew is hallelia Yah. The English language has directly taken this Hebrew phrase and made it into one word.

God is Creator, pure, just, merciful, honorable, faithful, truth, liberator, and unifies His children.

Holy one, set apart 

All powerful, none stronger

  Liberator frees us from our sin.

 Life eternal, forever alive                                                                       

Everlasting, no end to God’s presence

 Love, unconditional                                                                       

Yokefellow, always beside us.

All Knowing

 Heavenly Father

Update:

As I prepared this journal entry, I received a phone call. One of the  ladies of our church l had passed away. On Monday, my visitation partner and I went to the hospital to make a call on this dear person. She told us that she had someone with her at all times; her Jesus was with her at all times. Before we left, we had prayer for her; then she had prayer for us. We who went to minister to her, received a great blessing.This lady is with the Lord as of November 30, 2012.  Her Celebration of Life service was Wednesday.

Linking up to beneaththesurface-dawn.blogspot.com

Nativity Alphabet

Advent Thoughts

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I was playing with these words one day and found I had some fun while I did this. I thought you all would enjoy this.

A is for Angels-God’s messengers

B is for Beasts-God chose 

C is for Counselor. Jesus is the best adviser we can have.

D is for Deliverer. Jesus delivers us from our sin.

E is for Everlasting- God’s love is eternal.

F is for Forever- Jesus will reign forever.

G is for Glory-To Him belongs all glory.

H is for Hallelujahs- Praises to the King.

I is for Immanuel, God with us

J is for Joy

K is for King of Kings

L is for Lord, A title of majesty and kingship.

M is for Magi, they came from afar to worship the Christ child.

N is for Nova, the bright star of Bethlehem

O is for Omnipotence, Omnipresence

P is for Prince of Peace- Isaiah 9:6

Q is for Quiet. We listen in the quiet for His soft whisper.

R is for Room in Our Hearts-Let us prepare room in our hearts for Him.

S is for Shepherds- participants in God’s plan

T is for Time- God chose the time for His Son to come to us.

U is for unction, an anointing from the Holy One.

V is for Victory- God’s Son gives us victory over the world.

W is for Wondrous Awe

X is for Exaltation- Exalt God for His wonderful Gift to us.

Y is for You and Me- Our Father sent His Son for you and me.

Z is for Zeal-Let’s prepare our hearts for Jesus’ coming with eager anticipation.

Yours Is the Day, Lord, Yours is the night/ Book review

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Edited by Jeanie and David Gushee

The Gushees have brought together prayers from the earliest days of Christendom through 2012. The intent of the book is that believers in Christ will use these prayers as a spring board for times of personal devotions. A prayer for the morning and another prayer for the evening appear for each day of the year. Also the Gushees included information about the Lenten and advent season. Interspersed throughout the volume are pen and ink drawings of certain events in the Bible.

I have enjoyed reading this collection of prayers. One particular morning I read several prayers. As I read them, I felt the presence of God beside me. Early that afternoon, I had to straighten something out with a merchant in our town-they had charged me a fraction of the price on a purchase I had made. God was with me during my discovery and when I went to resolve the error. This book is very well formatted with a Calendar of the Movable Holy Days for the years of 2013 through 2017 at the beginning. The editors include an extensive bibliography as well as a useful index, arranged by author’s names.

I would recommend this book to anyone, clergy or laity, who is searching to draw closer to the Lord.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson, Inc., through their BookSneeze program. All I had to do was read it and give an honest review.

Creation Museum and Unplugging

Seven "C's"in God's Eternal Plan - Creation,Corruption,Catastrophe,
 Confusion, Christ ,Cross ,Consumation

As I prepared for drama practice this morning, I realized I hadn't posted my pictures from my trip to the Creation Museum. What am I saying? I hadn't uploaded them to my laptop. Here are some of the better pictures from that day.

Adam and Eve on one of their walks in the garden.

There are signs like this throughout the  path  through the areas.

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Imagine walking through Noah's Arc.
They have a huge replica of  it that people can walk through.

Because of some commitments with the upcoming Christmas play and the desire to get things done for Christmas,in my home and for my blog,  I will be unplugging from this blog until December 3^rd.

Hidden Blessings

Count Your Blessings Month

 

 

“Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among the disciples

I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob

I will put my trust in him.” Isaiah 8: 16-17 (NIV)

 

We have times in our lives that can be defined as difficult. A family member or one close to us becomes seriously ill or receives a diagnosis of a life-threatening disease. We have times when someone needs us to do something ‘right then.’ We have to look for something good inside these circumstances that will allow us to see God in all the tumult and trials of our times.

We find out very early in our Christian walk that we are not immune to the foibles of this world. As we grow in the LORD, we learn that He is there with us at all times.

Let’s face it; we live in a fallen world. Perplexing things will happen to us. But, when we know the Lord, we can look for a tiny ray of hope to help us through.

As an exercise, let’s all think of when we faced a trying time in our lives and reflect on the one nugget of hope that got us through the tribulation. For me, I can think of several. But there is one feature common in each of them, God was there with me.

When we hear of friends who are going through rough days, try to give the suggestion to look for the hidden blessing in all they encounter. It might be a time that the only way this can happen is after the fact, but it there can be at least one-maybe more blessing.

I saw this saying on Facebook: “When you are going through something hard and wonder where God is, remember the teacher is always quiet during the test. Trust  in the LORD.

Blessed by Music

Count Your Blessings Month

 

“Praise the LORD.

Praise God in his sanctuary

Praise him in his mighty heavens.

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD”

Psalm 50:1, 6 (NIV)

 

It has been said that music soothes the savage breast. Can we say that hymns to God soothe believer’s hearts? What about the Gospel songs? What about the praise choruses?

A saintly woman of the church explained the difference between a hymn of the church and a gospel song. The former is a song sung to God, while the latter is a song sung about God. As I understand the concept of praise and worship choruses, they help us to prepare our spirits for the act of worship.

I believe that hymns, gospel songs, and praise choruses each bring our hearts and minds to a place of worship and adoration or initiate a change in our hearts.

People have their favorite style of Christian music. In our church’s two Sunday morning worship services, we have a blending of hymns of the church, modern hymns, and praise choruses.

I find a lot of theology in the music of the church. A few years ago, I attended a Holy Week service at one of our sister churches. One of the hymns selected for the evening was unknown to me. The music was written in the 1600s, a very unfamiliar tune. As I listened to the words of each verse, a story unfolded-a beautiful story about Christ and what He had done for us. I re-learned a great lesson.

Do you have a favorite hymn for this time of year? I think you can guess what mine is.