Good day dear friends.
Here is an Advent message based on 1 Thess. 3:9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith. 11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. 12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. 13 And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Somehow, we for many years were on the Sears catalog mailing list. I don't know if everyone with an address, much like spam on email today, received a catalog or not, but we were sure thankful for the annual what-we-considered "big" Christmas Catalog. We expected it. Each day in that time of year we knew it would not be long before we would get that huge catalog loaded with color pictures of the world's greatest toys! We knew Santa wouldn't bring us the ones we wanted, for some odd reason, we chalked that to being on the Naughty List most of the year anyway; but it didn't stop my brothers and I from laying on the cold floor and going through the book page by page playing the "I claim this!" game. Whichever toy caught your eye if you could place your finger on it first, that toy would be yours.
Had that game been true I would have a warehouse filled with toys or at the very least the landfill in Kingsville, Texas, would be brimming full of broken, discarded toys. Advent is that time of year when we as believers know that the celebration of the birth of our Lord is coming, but it should also be a time when we know that our Lord is coming again. Nellie and I went to see the new movie "The Nativity" and we both highly recommend it. It is the story of the year before Christmas Eve and portrays with much honesty the scenes that might have happened outside the biblical story. The story shows the expectancy of the people for the need of a Messiah to come. In a scene prior to the birth, Mary and Joseph stop outside Bethlehem and visit with a shepherd. Joseph explains that most shepherds lived alone for most of their lives prior to sitting at the insistence of the shepherd for the night was cold and Mary was shivering. The man shares his fire with the couple and relates how his father told him that everyone has a gift to share, and that Mary's gift was that which was inside of her. Mary asks what his gift was and the shepherd replies, the gift of not giving up hope for that which is to come.
Advent is like the text above, we wait by being in prayer for each other, looking forward to face-to-face fellowship, helping one another in those areas of weakness of faith, knowing that one day our faith will be complete.
Advent is our saying in our prayers, "Come, Lord Jesus, come."
PRAYER: Come, Lord Jesus come. May the words of our childhood Sunday school song be real today: Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Come in to stay, come in today; Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.
Here is an Advent message based on 1 Thess. 3:9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith. 11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. 12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. 13 And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Somehow, we for many years were on the Sears catalog mailing list. I don't know if everyone with an address, much like spam on email today, received a catalog or not, but we were sure thankful for the annual what-we-considered "big" Christmas Catalog. We expected it. Each day in that time of year we knew it would not be long before we would get that huge catalog loaded with color pictures of the world's greatest toys! We knew Santa wouldn't bring us the ones we wanted, for some odd reason, we chalked that to being on the Naughty List most of the year anyway; but it didn't stop my brothers and I from laying on the cold floor and going through the book page by page playing the "I claim this!" game. Whichever toy caught your eye if you could place your finger on it first, that toy would be yours.
Had that game been true I would have a warehouse filled with toys or at the very least the landfill in Kingsville, Texas, would be brimming full of broken, discarded toys. Advent is that time of year when we as believers know that the celebration of the birth of our Lord is coming, but it should also be a time when we know that our Lord is coming again. Nellie and I went to see the new movie "The Nativity" and we both highly recommend it. It is the story of the year before Christmas Eve and portrays with much honesty the scenes that might have happened outside the biblical story. The story shows the expectancy of the people for the need of a Messiah to come. In a scene prior to the birth, Mary and Joseph stop outside Bethlehem and visit with a shepherd. Joseph explains that most shepherds lived alone for most of their lives prior to sitting at the insistence of the shepherd for the night was cold and Mary was shivering. The man shares his fire with the couple and relates how his father told him that everyone has a gift to share, and that Mary's gift was that which was inside of her. Mary asks what his gift was and the shepherd replies, the gift of not giving up hope for that which is to come.
Advent is like the text above, we wait by being in prayer for each other, looking forward to face-to-face fellowship, helping one another in those areas of weakness of faith, knowing that one day our faith will be complete.
Advent is our saying in our prayers, "Come, Lord Jesus, come."
PRAYER: Come, Lord Jesus come. May the words of our childhood Sunday school song be real today: Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Come in to stay, come in today; Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.
