Advent

The words we pray.

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The prophet Malachi was the last prophet before the New Testament.  The last words spoken to the Jewish people from the Living God before 400 years of silence.  These are the final Words given to them after He reprimanded them for lack of love, lack of leadership, lack of holiness, lack of obedience in giving, and then finally speaking this…

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of armies, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branches. But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and frolic like calves from the stall. And you will crush the wicked underfoot, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I am preparing,” says the Lord of armies.

“Remember the Law of Moses My servant, the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land with complete destruction.” Malachi 4.

And then silence.  No other words.  Nothing else said.  Silence.

For 400 years.

In the study of numbers in scripture four hundred means “divinely perfect”.  This leads us to believe this was a perfectly orchestrated period of time.  

400 years.

For 4,800 months.

For 20,857 weeks.

For 146,000 days.

For 3,504,000 hours. 

For 210,240,000 minutes.

For 12,614,400,000 seconds.

No Words from God.

Take a moment to think about how life would be without any Words from God.  No vision, no comfort, no direction, no leading and guiding – nothing.

And then we have Zacharias having an “ambush” moment while offering in the holy of holies.  The angel of the Lord said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.  You will have joy and gladness and will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.  And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.  It is he who will go as the forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the Fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.  Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in her years.”  The angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.  And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.” Luke 1:13-20.

And then Zacharias was silent.

And soon the silence stopped.  And the One True God came to earth for such at time as this, perfectly placed and perfectly planned.

 

Photo credit: Clifton Haley Photography

The Songs we sing.  

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We sing songs in worship, but do we slow to think of who wrote them, how they came about, what they say and define?  I heard it once said that Christians don’t tell lies, they sing them.  While I know that is not true for all of us, I dare say that it can be said of all of us from time to time.  I do love that the Christmas season brings about its own songs for us to sing and celebrate the Savior with.  My absolute favorite Christmas song to be sang is “O Holy Night!” or “Mary did you know?” and then we cannot forget “Silent Night”.  Each with their own passion, story and intimacy.  I know I should choose one of those for this section, but the Lord has led me to another song.  I was introduced to this song last year and I am forever thankful to the Lord for it.  The most powerful foundation of this song is the Living Word of God.

Singing the Word of God is the most powerful praise we can give.  These are the moments when we know that Christ is exalted and not ourselves.  These are the Words written and given for mankind to know The Lord better and as we sing Him,we come in contact with a greater purpose and a greater experience than ourselves.  These are the Romans 12 moments of the renewing of our minds and the proving of God’s perfect Will.

Risen Savior (Sing My Soul)

Who bore our sin
Who took our shame?
The Lamb of God
Holy and righteous is His name. (1 Peter 2:24)

Sing my soul, sing out and bless the Lord
For He has overcome, Oh by His precious blood
Now He’s lifted high, come let us lift our eyes
Set them on Jesus Christ, He is our Risen Savior

(Psalm 103-104, Philippians 2:9-11)

Who heals our wounds
Who knows our pain?
The Lamb of God
Holy and Righteous is His name
Nothing can ever take His place. (1 Peter 2:24)

Sing my soul, sing out and bless the Lord
For He has overcome, Oh by His precious blood
Now He’s lifted high, come let us lift our eyes
Set them on Jesus Christ, He is our Risen Savior
(Psalm 103-104, Philippians 2:9-11)

Let the earth be filled with Glory
Let our hearts be filled with praise
You are worthy, God Almighty
Holy, Holy, Holy

(Psalm 72:19; Revelation 4:8-11)

Is it a coincidence that when the church or the Christian sings the Words “You are worthy, God Almighty, Holy! Holy! Holy!” the atmosphere changes.  The environment changes.   These Words are being said by angels even now as we sit reading these Words.  The Heavens are declaring Him!  The advent is really all about sitting and recognizing that He is Worthy, He is God Almighty, and that He is HOLY! HOLY! HOLY!

Photo Credits: Clifton Haley Photography https://www.etsy.com/shop/CliftonHaleyPhoto

Who are we “adventing” for?

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The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah – Matthew 1:1-17

The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers. Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, and Hezronfathered Ram. Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, and Nahshon fathered Salmon.  Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, and Obed fathered Jesse.  Jesse fathered David the king.

David fathered Solomon by Bathsheba, who had been the wife of Uriah.  Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, and Abijah fathered Asa.  Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, and Joram fathered Uzziah.  Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, and Ahaz fathered Hezekiah. Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, and Amon fathered Josiah. Josiahfathered Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah fathered Shealtiel, and Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel.  Zerubbabel fathered Abihud, Abihud fathered Eliakim, and Eliakim fathered Azor.  Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, and Achim fathered Eliud.  Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, and Matthan fathered Jacob.  Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteengenerations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteengenerations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

Have we ever slowed down long enough to investigate the names represented in this lineage of grace?  When I was in high school looking into the word of God asking what I should study next, He led me to the lineage.  These names, these people, and their stories are not here by accident.  They each represent another pillar of grace shown upon all of humanity.  When you review the fact that there are men from all walks of life and every journey known to man and they are the foundational rocksof welcoming the Savior of the world.  And five women.  Five.  Five is the number for grace in scripture that can be found all over the Word of God reflecting His grace on our lives, and He chose to give us five women in the lineage that represent each of us.

Tamar: the unwanted.

Rahab: the mistreated.

Ruth: the forgotten.

Bathsheba: the taken.

Mary: the misunderstood.

These women represent all of us.  None of us are left out and the Lord cherished them and chose to call them blessed.  They experience the Christ in many ways and one of the most powerful being through the birth of their own children.  The welcome of holding their own children, was partially welcoming the Christ.  And when does the advent season truly being?  I challenge that it took place every moment of every day, but especially in these families at the birth of the next generation.  The longing for the coming of Christ dictated their very existence and their family purpose – but did they know it?  With the creation of every new generation, they were one step closer to the Christ.  Could the same be said of us?

And then we have fourteen generations between Abraham and David, David to Babylon deportation, Babylon deportation to Jesus.  Is that a coincidence?  I say not.  The number fourteen represents a double measure of spiritual perfection.  But that is an entire study all its own, which I encourage you into more. The linage of Jesus is more than words on a page.  It contains the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit in its every motion.  The enemy tried in many ways to destroy these people too… but he failed.  Just as he will fail in our lives and in our journeys.  Our High King has the victory, and we are privileged to walk in that truth and with that banner over us.  May we celebrate the birth of each new generation of believers in our midst as that is one more day closer to His second coming.  And may we rest in His goodness as we reflect on all He has done inus and for us, even then things that we are unaware of.

 

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What is Advent?

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As a child, I can remember always being so confused about what “advent” was and how one celebrates it.  Let’s be honest, as an adult I have also struggled with what the true way of observing the Savior of the World’s arrival should look like to a follower.  A genuine, true, loyal follower of Christ should look different to the world every day, but what about during advent?

Advent is the season observed by most Christians as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the nativity of Christ at Christmas and the return of Christ at the second coming.  It is most often observed December 1 – December 24, some even begin as early as November 30.  It does have a Latin foundation, adventus, meaning “coming”.  Historically, during this season, many would fast from meat, dairy or eggs as a sign of holiness and a time separated in devotion to Christ.  These days are to be a clear reflection of hope, joy, peace and love.

Would we ever consider that God is asking us to fast from our normal “celebratory” focuses in December in order to better claim these days in the intimacy of the Father?  What if our children walked away from the month of December having a better understanding of who Christ is and less knowledge about the cookies and cakes?  Can we even allow ourselves to think that He may desire a fast in the busiest seasons of eating all year?

These days should be days that we prepare our hearts to enterthis season.  What is the pre-advent?  These are the days where we make our focus on the Savior and begin to empty our hearts and minds of all the things that distracted us from the Christ.  In Titus 1:15, “to the pure, everything is pure.”  May we enter a new kind of purity with Jesus in these days of separation for holiness.

Pondering about how advent is best to fit into the daily walk of a Christian, I am paused on sharing any details.  These days of the Christian journey are shaped more by what men lead us to do in our followings than the Spirit of the Living God in His leadings.  In this day, instead of seeking what others are called to do in their “adventing”, today, seek the Lord and what He desires of us in our pilgrimage.

“Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life…… AND let your eyes look directly ahead ANDlet your gaze be fixed straight in front of you…. AND all your ways will be established.”  Provers 4:23, 25, 26b

Grand Teton Teepee – Clifton Haley Photography https://cliftonhaleyphoto.etsy.com