Showing posts with label Advent. Show all posts

            The joy is for all time because when Jesus brought the joy to a manger-bed filled with hay some two thousand years ago, it permeated all of existence—from creation to last breath. It never wears out.

 

Jesus’ disciples were anything but at peace. They had embarked over a calm sea to get to a restful place, and then a storm came up out of nowhere. Jesus was found to be sleeping in the back of the boat. Rousting Him from His sleep, the disciples begged for help from the Master. With a word (translated “Peace, be still”) Jesus brought calmness back to the lives of His followers.

That is the effect that He has on the hearts of those who believe. When the Angels visited the shepherds in the hill country outside of Bethlehem, they brought the news that the Baby born that night would bring peace on earth and good will for those who found their comfort in Him.

While there may be anything but calm going on around us in the form of a physical storm, economic decay, political unrest, or unbridled crime, Jesus can reach into the storming of our hearts and bring peace. This is the message of Christmas: Peace. The peace on Earth that is spoken of and sung about during this season is the heart work of the Christ of Christmas.

Our hope is in Christ. Our hope is Christ. This is the early message of Christmas. Hope is the first gift of faith. We live in a world that squashes hope at every turn.

In our land of liberty, we have laws that remind us of the things that we cannot do. In school we rise to the level at which we cannot succeed--then  must try again and again and again until we do succeed. But, guess what! We have to move up to the next level, which must be tried again and again and again.

On our jobs, we are rarely brought into the office for the wonderful, matchless work we have done. Instead we are "called on the carpet" for the time we didn't get it right. Even in church we seem to be facing the struggle of our sinful nature, having our shortcomings constantly brought to the surface for us to re-examine and mourn over.

That's what makes faith in Christ so important. Because of the hopefulness, the hope, that is found just there. Perhaps this is tone of the reasons that Christmas and Advent are such a highlight in my own life: the constant reminder of Hope that is in Christ Jesus.

Then we were blessed with a song that pointed out how human this baby was, even though He was God in the flesh:

In the last several years there have been any number of new Nativity songs that call our attention to the Savior who was born in a stable and laid in a manger to be greeted by shepherds on that first night. This one is a prayer through the voice of the Virgin who was chosen to carry this baby:

             I do not know the full results of the revival effort, but I do know that the sentiment presented in the theme is one that bears remembrance during this Christmas Season—Jesus Christ is the Hope that is available to all mankind. Whether we find ourselves in distress or over-extended this Holiday, we can find all Hope in the One who cares most for us. He cares so much that He offered His own life in place of ours. That’s why He came on the very first Christmas, and why we can still say, “Here’s Hope! Jesus Cares for You!”

Entering into the Christmas season is always a great pleasure for me. Not the pushing and shoving and shopping and such, but the hustle and bustle does invigorate one. No, it's the celebration: the decorating of the home, the setting and celebrating of traditions; sappy Christmas movies that don't really have much to do with Christmas itself but do enlarge the spirit of the Holiday within the hearts of those who watch, the many versions of "Little Drummer Boy" that keep cropping up, "visions of sugarplums" dancing in all the heads of all the little children who've ever heard the poem by Clement Moore.

But what makes Christmas special is not just the Christ-child, it is the CHRIST, the Son of the living God - Jesus Himself. Born of a virgin. Living a sinless life in order to fulfill His purpose in coming at Christmastime anyway--to shoulder the responsibility for my sin willingly on a rough-hewn cross. I am so thankful that Jesus initiated Christmas so that my inadequate payment for my sin would be covered by all of His adequacy - His abundance. It is the Life found in Jesus the Christ that makes me so thankful every year, at both Thanksgiving and at Christmas.

(Advent Preview 4)

Peace.

When you hear the word, the image that comes to mind is often of the long-haired hippie in rosy-colored glasses raising his hand up with a two-fingered 'V' saying, "Peace! Baby." Or with a new vigor for it, you may think of the broken cross symbol that some people claim means peace.

But for me, my mind races back to those days when I see one of my children as a round-headed, bald-pated infant sleeping on their pillow, a soft smile touching their tiny lips.

Peace.

Another of those inner springs that well up not because of circumstance, but often in spite of it. In the midst of an embattled war zone - peace. At the end of a crime-ridden alleyway - peace. On the long dark ride from the chapel to the graveside - peace.

Peace.

It happens in that moment of overpowering triumph and it envelopes the sense of query that accompanies the times we cannot control. This is because in order to have peace, one must relinquish control to someone else. And if you really want to find peace, I would suggest that you relinquish your control to the One who alone has control--Jesus Christ. And because of Him I am thankful for . . .

Peace!

(A third Advent preview during the Thanksgiving season)

I love the thought of joy, don't you? That exuberance you experience for no apparent reason. It just bubbles up and you can't hold it in. We're not talking about mere happiness here, but boundless, life-filling . . . well . . . joy. Perhaps this video will make my point:



I am so thankful for Joy.

(Here's another Advent preview. Hope you enjoy)

Love comes at us in all directions and in many forms. We love our children. We love our parents. We love our sports teams. We love chocolate. We love pie (and how we love pie). But all of these examples of love don't really touch what the real thing is, do they? As a matter of the fact, some of these examples are more love-y than others.

Love is that great intangible that the Bible teaches us is the greatest. The apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian church: "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (I Corinthians 13:13)

You can't see love, though you can see evidence of it. You can't touch love, but you most certainly can feel it. And the most wonderful thing about love (the thing that I am so thankful for) is that the more of the love you pass on to others the more love you find that you have.

"A bell’s not a bell ’til you ring it A song’s not a song ’til you sing it Love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay Love isn’t love ’til you give it away!" – Oscar Hammerstein II

(I thought that for the last few days of November this year, I'd do an Advent Preview. This is not to replace, but to augment, my annual Advent posting.)

Hope - that not yet but going to be - goes beyond the wishful thinking that usually enters the mind when we use the word "hope". For instance, consider the following statements:

"I hope you have a good day today."
"I hope the weather is nice this weekend."
"I hope I get a nice gift for Christmas."

This kind of hope is not only selfish in nature, it hides our eyes from real hope. Real hope is based in an unknown reality. And as such provides more than a positive desire. Real hope gives way to selfless thinking and help for others. I am thankful for real Hope that is found in Christ Jesus.