ADVENT ~ Week 4

UNWRAPPING JESUS'

PRESENCE - PRESENTS

in ISAIAH 9:6


Although there are still other names left for this 4th week in the "Unwrapping the Names of Jesus" devotional it's already Christmas Eve and tomorrow is  Christmas Day so we'll just ponder on this One Name JESUS
PRINCE
of
PEACE the last One in this verse in Isaiah 6:9
and for me
this
CHRISTmas and year of 2017 I'll seek my Healer in this
Prince of Prince

[famous painting by Akiane]
knowing
that this Peace that passes all understanding
the Peace that Jesus took special time to
impart on His disciples and us in
John 14:27
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
"What does it mean that Jesus is the Prince of Peace?"

I'm pretty sure in years past, here and in actual Christmas cards, I had one that looks exactly like that blue image above and also partly why every year, I have chosen "The Cutest Blog on the Block' background with the 'magi', but my header also use to have that silhouetted manger scene because that is where the Star leads us to search and find our precious Savior that we celebrate each Christmas Day, His Birth into this world and into our hearts and lives as our Lord, our Messiah 
- the One who takes all our "messes" and turns them into a message of His Redeeming Love; the rich blessing of His salvation born in us, the true "miracle" possible in everyone's life that He makes a way for us through the many "mazes" in our journey to arrive at that place where the Prince of Peace bestows His aMazing Grace; His Love, Joy, Hope and Peace. 
This is my Christmas wish for you and your families as you spend time together; that JESUS be the center of this season and indeed the very reason we live and breathe to bring Him front and center, all the glory, honor and praise, He so deserves, as we surrender to His way all of our ways and await the glorious reign with Him in eternity, where we shall rest in final Peace ... Shalom and a very Merry and Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year! ~ Peggy

the
PRESENCE
of
Jesus
is found in
His
Peace
May you be found and delight
in His Presence
every day
and
may
the Peace that
passes all understanding
be yours when it isn't
so easy
that
we cling to
His promises and power
given us in 
His Word
His Peace
His Presence

* if you need more names of Jesus for the rest of this week, you may want to check out this devotional/blog or Love God Greatly  or this wonderful, resourceful blog and prayer journal or Bible Resources; actually there is an abundance of resources on Jesus' Names ... even the Name of God Bible available at Bible Gateway as one of the versions... 

ADVENT ~ Week 3

UNWRAPPING JESUS'

PRESENCE - PRESENTS

in ISAIAH 9:6

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder,     and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,  Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (ESV)

If you've been following along with me since Advent began 3 weeks ago, you'll realize that I am not doing them in the traditional order of Hope, Peace, Joy, Love (or whatever order you are familiar with as tradition), but I am doing these to coincide with the above verse in Isaiah 9:6, so this week I am presenting:

LOVE

with

EVERLASTING FATHER

{the preposition in between those two words could be many different ones} such as:

Love of the Everlasting Father

Love from the Everlasting Father

Love to the Everlasting Father

or just

LOVE (and no word) Everlasting Father

because

He defines LOVE

HE IS LOVE

God, our everlasting Father

is

LOVE

and

LOVE

is our

Everlasting Father*

... for some of us, this is contrary, or a conflict with our earthly father, who may not have represented our Everlasting Father, at all as love or loving or even fatherly and perhaps not even there, so we have no earthly comparison ... and/or he fails in comparison; then there are some of us, who have been blessed by loving, earthly fathers and it helps to understand better the love of our Everlasting Father. Truthfully, there is no reason to compare but not having that love might impair or (a)skew our perspective of Father ... and Love. 

When I look at the words in Isaiah, of our Father ... I focus mostly on the 'Ever' and the 'lasting' part as the best compound adjective to precede our Heavenly Father, who loves us all beyond inexplicable measures. 'Ever' means "at any time, at all times, always, increasingly and constantly" - now that most definitely describes our Heavenly Father, who is available to us ALWAYS ... and 'lasting' (without even looking this one up) means forever ... enduring or able to endure over a long period of time - that's our God! We put those two words together and see a Father that lasts forever, which is eternity ... HE is eternal!

So we can look forward to an eternity with an enduring love and a Father that is able to love forever. Now, this is our God! and the most beautiful part of this Christmas season from this Child born to us ... Immanuel, God with us ... truly aMazing! Isn't this why this following song, we can sing and sing over and over, or it comes to us, right when we need Him or this reminder the most? 

Casting Crowns {they were just in Mpls., MN for their Christmas tour}
For the previous weeks, we have been 
"UNWRAPPING
the Names of Jesus"
according to the Advent devotional book with that title
however, what I hope you really are doing is 
focusing on
JESUS
unwrapping
more of His Presence and
all HE truly is as we receive Him
as we prepare our hearts and lives for
MORE
LOVE
found in

... Good Shepherd (John 10:11) ... Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14) ... Son of Man (Mark 10:45); Son of God (Matthew 2:15); Son of David (Matthew 1:1); Son of the Highest (Luke 1:32) ... Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53:3) ... Lamb of God (John 1:29) Lamb (Revelation 13:8)

the
Great
I AM (John 8:58)
ABBA to Jesus and us
our
EVERLASTING
FATHER
of
LOVE
email 12/18/17 from Word Ministries - Prayers that Avail Much Everlasting Father, I thank You for giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You for the marvelous changes in our lives – for transforming us into the image of Your dear Son. Almighty God, You have made us more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. I thank You that Your love abounds more and more in each of us as we fellowship this season with family and friends, in the name of Jesus. Amen. I Corinthians 15:57; Romans 8:37 for Family and Friends



*this is a link to a great article by Spurgeon on "His Name -- the Everlasting Father"

ADVENT ~ Week 2

UNWRAPPING JESUS'

PRESENCE - PRESENTS

in ISAIAH 9:6

"For a child has been born—for us!     the gift of a son—for us! He’ll take over     the running of the world. His names will be: Amazing Counselor,     Strong God, Eternal Father,     Prince of Wholeness. His ruling authority will grow,    and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness He brings."... (MSG)

JOY
{not the traditional 2nd week but I have changed the order to somewhat correspond with the Names and Attributes of Jesus as found in Isaiah 9:6}
MIGHTY GOD
Perhaps you (as I) are wondering how does Joy line up with Mighty God. Truthfully, I just ended up putting these two together because the other ones did fit and this was left ... but as I reflect on Joy (or not really finding much Joy as I should at this time of year) I realize that if I reflect on God (in Jesus) and Him being Mighty ... it really does stir up some Joy in the assurance that no matter what we face, our God is Mighty and Jesus certainly showed us this along with the humility of coming to us as a man, a babe in a manger ... Jesus, in all His power and might.
Last week, I looked at Jesus as the “Wonderful Counselor”... "the one who would show us the Father and lead us to the truth about ourselves and about life" {and I certainly do understand looking at that name as "Wonderful" and "Counselor" separately as well} and bring us Hope, as we look forward with expectation to what is to come (somewhat hard to do as we see so much devastation going on around us and our own personal trials). This week I am focusing on the title, “Mighty God”.  "The Hebrew for God in this title is the simple word “el”.  It denotes a mighty power that can be found only in deity.  When we understand that the word for God means “Mighty Power” then we can see that this title really means the “Mighty Mighty Deity”.  In other words, Jesus is set apart from all other powers, deities and spirit beings.  His power is seen as far superior to anyone else." The "Miracles" of Jesus definitely show His power and His authority, the way He endured temptation and most definitively the events of His death followed by His Resurrection (and my, oh, my ... the benefits of His Power and claiming and proclaiming them with His promises - and the completion of them, especially the promise of salvation). So there are two reasons why this title of Jesus (Mighty God) should bring Joy:

• "He is Able to do what He promise(d)"(s)
• "He is Able to help where we need it"

..."The promises of Jesus are wonderful and they provide us hope.  But those promises often seem distant.  They seem sometimes unrelated to what we are going through in the present. The fact that Jesus is the Mighty God also means that He is able to help us where we need that help right now.  If you don’t know where to turn . . . turn to Him.  He can . . . and He will, help."... ©December 9, 2001 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche (and other parts in quotes)

Alleluia Singers
{and of course there is the upbeat worship song of  Don Moen "What a Mighty God we serve" but it was so short and neither are Christmas carols/songs  like this Kid's one}

These are the Names Unwrapped in Week 3 in the book which goes with
JOY
but this is moved up to Week 2 to correspond here with
MIGHTY GOD
Great High Priest (Heb. 4:14) Alpha and Omega (Rev.1:8) True Vine (John 15:1) {skipping the book's 4th one until the 4th week but substituting with} Lion of Judah (Rev. 5:5) Bread of Life (John 6:48)
<>
others to consider {not included in the devo book}

Almighty One (Rev. 1:8)
Advocate (1 John 2:1)
Authority (Matt. 28:18)
Captain of Salvation (Heb. 2:10)
Chief Cornerstone (Ps. 118:22)
Deliverer (1 Thes.1:10)
Leader and Commander (Isaiah 55:4)
Mighty One (Isaiah 60:16)
I AM (Ex.3:14 and John 8:58)
Oh, there are many others of 
Jesus 
as
Wonderful
and
Mighty
because
HE IS
GOD
after all
"...the Joy of the Lord is my strength..."
Nehemiah 8:10
so it will be no matter what

Praying for His Joy to surround 
You
and
Yours
this week, this season
until
Jesus
comes
again


May His sweet Presence
complete you
in His Mighty Name
forever
as
we
draw near
and unwrap
the best gift given
ever
J E S U S
O t h e r s
Y o u
JOY
Hillsong {you must have known I had to share some Christmas music - 'tis the season} Christmas must be coming 'cuz I couldn't wait ('til 6pm) for this JOY! EnJOY!