ADVENT-HAPPY

 

My dear friend, Ronnie, posted the above verse recently on Facebook. 

When I read it, my first thought was, "Yes, me, too!" 

I want to be found faithfully serving when my Lord returns (because, He will...and, maybe soon).

That's what makes this an extremely relatable Advent passage... 

...and, while Advent season (as mentioned last week) is one of waiting;

Our waiting was never meant to be PASSIVE. 

It's not for us to just sit and twiddle our thumbs. 

Our in-between the then and not yet, right here in the NOW, should be ACTIVE (verb-like). 

While our attitude is one of anticipation and adventure, our posture is one of service and "doing our God-given-joy-job."

We're to be all about the Kingdom-work while we wait.

So, as a self-proclaimed servant (Greek: doulos) and dedicated slave, WILL I? 

Will I be sitting in the sacred in-between, or will I be about the Father's business: 

    learning

    worshipping

    growing in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man? (Luke 2:52)

Will I be on the lookout for Kingdom business that I can attend to on His behalf? (Mark 16:15)

Will I

    care for the poor

    minister to the sick

    visit those in prison (whether literal or metaphoric)

    help provide water for the thirsty & food for the hungry? (Matthew 25:31-46)

Will I do justice, love kindness/mercy/steadfast love, and walk humbly with my God? (Micah 6:8)

Will I be a Good Samaritan to the marginalized, the left out, and the out cast? Will I step into their hurt and pain to walk alongside? (Luke 10:25-37)

Will I wear the mantle of those who've gone before, encouraging:

    steadfastness

    hopefulness

    truthfulness

    faithfulness? (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Will I live a life of love? (Ephesians 5:2)

Will I:

    abide in hope

    show genuine hospitality

    seek and pursue peace, as much as it depends on me? (Romans 12:9-12)

    

 Will I sacrificially place myself on an altar as an act of worship to my God? (Romans 12:1)

Will I regularly renew my mind, so that I not conform to the pattern of this world, but live in such a way that others see some semblance of the world I call home? (Romans 12:2)

Will I proudly live as an exile while my feet are temporarily on this planet? (1 Peter 2:11)

Will my life be one of integrity, 

    the same day-in-day-out

    no matter who is watching? (Proverbs 10:9)

Will I make the main thing the main thing?

    Will the gospel of Jesus Christ always be on my lips in the doing of all these things above? 

    (2 Timothy 4:2)

    Will I proclaim it boldly?

    Will it be the center of all I do?

    Will I be at the ready to share the story of the hope that is within me? (1 Peter 3:15)

Advent is near.

Will I be a servant found "so doing" when He appears?

HAPPY IS THE SERVANT WHOM THE MASTER FINDS DOING HIS JOY-JOB WHEN HE RETURNS!

      

The True Spirit of Advent

Every advent, every coming, every appearance involves waiting.

If you're like me, just saying the word "wait," brings a measure of unsettledness to my soul.  

So, during times when I am put on hold, I have this tendency that leans toward the glass-half-empty-syndrome and impatience; so, in my waiting, there's an added discomfort.

I've also experienced life-lulls that are accompanied by anxiety over the uncertainty; even some dread and, yes, frustration over how slowly time passes during the waiting.

This time of year, my mind always travels back to Bay's cancer surgery (which came just weeks prior to Christmas) and that sterile, cold hospital waiting room. 

There I sat (with all the above emotions) between the now and not yet of knowing how our future would pivot with the diagnosis we'd just received a couple days prior, and what the doctor would tell me when he "advented" out of that surgery theater. 

But, Bay's cancer scare isn't the focus on my mind this morning. 

Waiting is. 

Advent is a season of waiting. 

We can't change it.

It will always remind us we live between the then, the now, and not yet. 

BUT, while in between the now and not yet, we can't leave out "the then" of the manger.

Instead of setting my mind on a sterile waiting room with out-dated magazines, weak coffee, and those all-consuming what-ifs, there's another place for my thoughts to travel: where life pivoted drastically for the better. 

There in my place of waiting, I can choose to live in the negative emotions of frustration, dread, anxiety, uncertainty, and discomfort; or, because of the manger, I can focus on THE PROMISE it holds.

Advent is an invitation to choose.

I have the privilege of choosing between the malaise of the wait or the hope of the manger.

There at the manger, I was given the gift of HOPE!

Because of hope, I am filled anew with GREAT JOY!

Joy spills over into PEACE that passes all understanding.

With those three (hope, joy, peace), I am stirred to live as Jesus lived: a life of love.

The cure for sterile, cold waiting rooms? 

It's always a FOCUS BACK on a cradle in a barn... 

...a babe that came in the fulness of time to be Immanel (God-WITH-us) in the now... 

...a salvation through His shed blood that covers all our sin...

...and, a resurrection that is inherent in our new spiritual DNA, when we receive the gift of that salvation...

...and, the HOPE of HEAVEN...and, this truth: He is coming again!

The manger is my promise of a greater tomorrow.

So, instead...Here's the lesson I've pondered the last few days:

Let there be inside every wait...in every"not yet," a SPIRIT OF ADVENT that allows us to be full of hope, joy, peace, and love, which carry us beyond the pale into ADVENTURE and great ANTICIPATION. 

This really is THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR...

...when our focus is on JESUS!

When God Paints the Sky

We've been down in Arizona for several weeks staying in our fifth wheel trailer (God bless our daughter, Mandy, and son-in-love, Tim, for providing a space for us).

Every morning, as I sit for my quiet time, I can watch the sun rise out one small RV window. 

My day begins in total darkness, then little by little a golden glow begins to rise in the Eastern sky, turning it into shades of deep purple, violet, fuchsia, peony pink, buttermilk, and, finally a lovely cerulean (one of my favorite colors). 

My God paints the sky with incredible beauty.

Morning after morning the new day dawns, brilliant with the colors of HOPE. 

With things as they are in the world in which we live, it's as if we are living in deepest, darkest midnight; but, surely as the sun rises each morning, so will the SON rise once more:

The LIGHT OF THE WORLD will come with the sound of a trumpet blast!

-full of glory

-and, purity

-clothed in those glorious colors of HOPE...

-all things will be made new

-all things will be made RIGHT

-HOLINESS will stamp out corruption

-The manger will be replaced by a throne

-The cross replaced with a scepter

-and, the tomb will be fully defeated

-as eternal life is ushered in for all who have bowed the knee to the NAME-ABOVE-ALL-NAMES:

JESUS

Until the SON rises again...

The gospel is our promise, our radiant light, our way through the darkness of midnight.

Let's set our eyes on the Eastern sky.

Watch for the colors of our HOPE to rise.

Each new day is an exclamation mark from God, reminding us that ADVENT is near.

AND, His plans for all mankind will not be thwarted.

Remember:

When God paints the sky, He's pointing us toward ADVENT.

Welcome to December...

...and, the Advent Season:

A season where I'm attempting to slow down and simplify in order to fully enjoy the coming near (God, Himself, came near, John 1:14);

A season of growing anticipation because what (or, rather, WHO) came near is a promise of HOPE TO COME (Titus 2:13);

A season of centering my thoughts on preparedness for my groom is coming for me (making sure the "lamp is lit," the oil is full, the chimney is clean; and the wick is trimmed - Matthew 25:1-13); 

A season of watching the Eastern skies (Matthew 24:27)...

and, listening for a trumpet call (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

A season to FOCUS on:

HOPE - of heaven (we are all homeward bound)

PEACE - of heart (Jesus said, "I have spoken these things that you might have peace; for in this world, you will have trouble, BUT - John 16:33...")

JOY - of His Presence (in His Presence is fulness of Joy - Psalm 16:11; and, Jesus to His disciples, "I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and your joy may be full and complete, overflowing - John 15:11)"

LOVE - of others ("Love one another as I have loved you - John 13:34-35)").

BUT MOSTLY, more than anything, to resolutely set my face to the future COMING; and, the fact, that Jesus will come again to set all things right. 

When the High Church instituted Advent centuries ago, around the time of the Council of Nicea (circa, 350 AD), this was the intent for the season around the winter solstice (the darkest season of the year), to focus-forward - THE LIGHT WILL COME BACK.

To remember the promise, 

"This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come again in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven (Acts 1:11)."

Somewhere over the years, we inadvertently lost the LOOK AHEAD to simply LOOK BACK.

Advent became almost solely centered on the INCARNATION and minimized the future "adventus" (His return). 

When I was a girl, my folks owned, and ran, the theater in our little community. 

Following the standard cartoon, that opened every movie showing, came the previews of coming attractions. 

I loved watching the previews to see what would be coming soon to our theater, making note of the ones I really looked forward to seeing, and the anticipation that followed as I waited for their arrival to the "big screen." 

Of course, I'd always tell my friends at school about the movies "THEY DID NOT WANT TO MISS!"

That's what I want to recapture during ADVENT, throughout DECEMBER:

...to focus on the preview of the COMING ATTRACTION (Jesus), and to fully experience the anticipation as I wait for Him, sharing with others what they simply do not want to miss! 

If there's one thing this season reminds me of it's this:

I need to "feel temporary" on this pilgrim journey called life. 

Something more, something better (change that word something to SOMEONE) is coming. 

You can count on it. 

So, in the middle of celebrating the baby in the manger, let's all find some ways to celebrate the Warrior-Savior-King of Kings, who, without doubt, WILL return. 

EVEN MORE...

I want a Christmas that whispers, "Jesus is coming again!"