"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointedme to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me tobind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedomfor the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaimthe year of the LORD's favorand the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."~fromISAIAH 61 Bible verse for this Blog
APOLOGY to READERS who followed a SEARCH to HERE & didn't find it
On July 18, 2017, I drafted almost 3000 blog posts that I had published since 2008 when I began blogging, rather than edit each one. So if you clicked here from somewhere else and ended up with the post unavailable or error, I am sorry but this is why. It'd be too much work for me to go back and fix them. There's an explanation on7/19/17as I'm still learning.
Lamentations 3:22 “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.”
Mark 10:21 “Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” He said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
John 15:13 ”Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 1 John 4:7-12 "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us”
"God is Love, right? There is a whole chapter devoted to the theme of love. (1 Corinthians 13) What greater way to celebrate God’s love for us than with these Advent love scriptures!"
(suggested readings on Love for this week)
Reading 1: John 3:16-17
Reading 2: John 15:9-13
Reading 3: 1 John 4:7-11
Reading 4: 1 John 4:17-21
Reading 5: 1 Corinthians 13:1-7
Reading 6: 1 Corinthians 13:8-13
Reading 7: Ephesians 2:4-7
For me, Love is not that simple. Yet I must agree that Love is found in the Simple Things!
Loving God is simple for me! Loving people is a bit more challenging.
Loving those closest to us is even more difficult.
Being God's Love to a broken world is the most needed yet the least done.
Loving as Jesus loves us is meant for all people regardless ...
It is time for us to 'Love One Another' - that is meant for the stranger & to those closest to us
Equally. God is no respecter of persons. We are each/all created in His image!
Hoping that by the end of this 4th week of Advent
my heart prepared with Hope, Peace & Joy
now makes room for more
LOVE
but mainly that I've made space and room for
JESUS
(which would include all of them too and more)
Love definitely is a matter of the heart!
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This week I will be
Preparing my heart with Love!
I will be adding to the following days each day:
December 19
December 20
December 21
December 22
December 23
December 24
"Love is a gift; a gift from God. At Christmastime, we as Christians believe that God's greatest gift of love was Jesus, the Savior of the world."
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness;He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17 ESV
{that loud singing might just disrupt the quiet and many verses on JOY seem to shout or be loud}
"Joy is Found in the Sweet Time with Precious Friends"
December 14
"Joy is Found in Hidden Blessings"
December 15
"Joyis Found in a Faithful Father"
December 16
"Joy is Found in Living with an Eternal Perspective"
December 17
"Joy is Found in our Sufferings"
perhaps this sounds as difficult as day 7
"Peace is Found in Trials"
however, it is true that God's Joy and Peace are found
in our sufferings and trials.
You may not see it at the time
but trust Him, when you look back
you will see & sense this is what
probably got you through.
Seek God's Peace & Joy in all times
through all our circumstances.
"O God, my heart can be so heavy at this time of the year when I reflect on the past. There are painful events that resurface & lead me down a path that is dark (sad, lonely, regrettable, etc.) and triggers mixed emotions. Please draw near in these times. Lord, be my Peace."
Let God carry you (carry this burden for you) just
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness;He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17 ESV
{that loud singing might just disrupt the quiet and many verses on JOY seem to shout or be loud}
" Father God, We give You glory for Joy! For Jesus! Thank You for sustaining us through difficult times. The hard parts of life are impossible for us to fully understand. Your ways are not our ways, nor can we search Your thoughts or purposes. But we can trust they are good, because You are good, Father. You took precise care in crafting each of us, and know us intimately and personally. This has been an emotional year, Father. You see us, know us, care for us, and are close when we are brokenhearted. Thank You, for Your presence and Your compassion for our hearts and our lives. We love You, and place You at the front of our minds and top of our priorities. We are grateful for the Joy we have in Jesus. Joy to the world. In Jesus' Name..."
"God, help me to embrace the type of joy that comes from knowing You are in control of the things happening around me. I believe You will bring good from it. Help me to have the kind of joy today that isn’t dependent on my circumstances. Amen."
for not seeking Your Peace first when trials come.
I let the circumstances or situation overwhelm me.
Help me to realize that I need to come to You.
It's in the trials that I need You most.
Whenever I face any trial
remind me that I can find Peace in Your arms.
*******
December 8
PeaceIs Found in Serving Others
"There is no greater joy and thus no greater peace for the believer than to experience God. Those serving know immediately and profoundly that caring for another person is not a two-person relationship, it is a three person relationship. There is the one being cared for, the believer doing the caring, and there is Christ. Knowing this is priceless. Knowing this is peace." (notes from a sermon)
"Faithful Father, help me see the needs of those You have placed around me.
Give me a heart to love & serve those You lay on my heart."
Help me to serve others in peace and find peace by serving others.
Remind me how I have seen that when we take the focus off
ourselves (or our own problems) and place it on others by serving them,
we are filled back up with peace and joy, as You tell us
"whatever you do to the least of these, you do for me"
Jesus brings us Peace in many ways; Jesus gives us inner Peace (John 14:27), the Peace that comes from our assurance of salvation; Peace of mind knowing that God will heal this broken world; and that we await Jesus coming again. Shalom.Peace from God, biblical Peace comes as we trust in God & God's promises through a faith that is restful and tranquil, no matter what faces us in this world, His Peace surpasses it.
Jesus, {Prince of Peace} We intentionally take this moment, and the days of this week, to sing praise and glory and honor to You for coming down from heaven to walk the earth we daily trod. Thank You for Your sacrifice, and the opportunity for new life it ushers into our souls as we turn to You for salvation. Thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit, living in every believer, discerning and empowering us to do work the Father has purposed for His Kingdom. We are overjoyed we get to accept adoption into the family of God! Praise and glory to You, Jesus! As we anticipate Advent, and the celebration of Christmas, we dream of Your coming to set the world at peace once and for all. We long to live with You eternally, and we love You with our whole hearts. Peace flows from You, Living Water, like a raging river to calm our hearts… in this year full of intensity and isolation, we know the peace we have is supernatural. Thank you for Peace, and perspective. We turn to You {and pray in Your Name Jehovah Shalom} most is from Meg Bucher, Advent Bible Study ...
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I will be continuing to add more the following days each day:
December 5th - 10th
Peace Is Found ...
Note to Commenters: this blog post is one that remains
so it's not drafted when I move ahead to the next day.
In different places (books, online, etc.) the order of Advent themes varies and also I have found that even the themes vary from the traditional: Hope, Peace, Joy, Love; some have Faith for this 2nd Week. In fact, in an Advent devotional I'm reading again; I noticed this 2nd week as being "Preparation" (Isaiah 40:3). But for me, all four of the weeks preceding Christmas, known as Advent, is set aside to Prepare ... as in the continual titles of my blog posts suggests. So right after I started this "Preparing My Heart ..." series, I really began to think about what that might include.
The first thing that came to mind was the song "Joy to the World" (which comes next week in my plan) because of the lyrics "Let every heart prepare Him room" ... since at the time that Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem during a census, there was no room anywhere for them or for Jesus Christ to be born.
Now this brought me to my next thought: if I (or you) are expecting someone to stay at your home especially if the visitor is someone special - what kind of "Preparing" would need to take place; of their guest room or your entire house for that matter. {a little more on this later}
Then my mind, ventured to one more thought (that I probably won't write more about) but if you (or someone close) was in need of a heart transplant, heart surgery or open heart surgery; what kind of Preparation would take place? What do we need to do to PREPARE our heart or to PREAPARE Him room?
I think that many of you reading this would find that these above situations call for special considerations of PREPARATION ... and if you were "preparing ..." your heart - your home or just a room; you would do even more if you knew that you were making space, cleaning, etc. for a famous person, a celebrity, royalty, so what should you consider necessary for the most famous One, the King of kings, the Messiah? For the One that you have waited for your entire life - to save you.
Advent is this time ... it's a season of "Preparing ..." We are inviting Jesus Christ to dwell within our hearts. To return and save us. So you see this is time for major heart surgery & preparation; this is the time to make ready our place for Jesus, and for Jesus' second coming (but for some of you, it might be the first time you opened your heart for Him). We will not know the day or the time for His coming (contrary to what some say) Jesus tells us in Luke 12:40. Yet each of us realize that our end could come any time unexpectedly. So we must be ready & prepare every day. We need to empty out whatever is taking up the space and make room for Jesus. It's time to clean out whatever God reveals to you or what you know does not belong in those dark, secret places; filled with dust and probably cobwebs too. Stuff you leave hanging around that needs to be cleared out to make ready for the new. No superficial efforts - half hearted or swept under the rugs ... we need to put forth our best - our best efforts, our best attitude and make those changes. Our hearts need to pound with anticipation and expectation for the best results of just BE-ing in the Presence of the One who makes our heart beat! He loves us so much! He has given us endless Gifts! What Gift do you have for Him this Christmas?
Let Him give us "an undivided heart" - "one heart" and put a new spirit in as He removes hearts of stone replacing with hearts of flesh. [Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26]
{this points right back to my very first post where I voiced some of my concerns from a heart of compassion on the first day of Advent; perhaps you didn't like it or it hit a nerve or just didn't agree; that's OK with me, but it won't be for God}
All I know is that Jesus is coming and we need to examine our hearts to make room for Him, the proper space that only He can fill when we are empty of 'self' and ready for Jesus Christ to reign - when all our PREPARATION is complete so we can welcome Him and have room for Him because we opened our hearts and lives to His Holy Spirit bringing the Truth, filling us with His fruit & speaking life to one another in Love, Peace, Hope and Joy to the World. Let's do it! Let's do as Jesus; & be ready with our hearts prepared as we sing in harmony and one accord:
"Lord, it is so easy to get wrapped up in the events and activities this time of year that I grow weary. I need Your help. Change my perspective and help me find peace and rest in You alone."
December 3
Hope Is Found in a Heart Full of Thanks (and Praise)
Since tomorrow December 4 is Sunday ... it's already time
for a new theme
PEACE
and
lighting a new candle
now filled with
HOPE
we add this for
Preparing our Heart(s)
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NOTE to Readers: I better explain this about posts & comments, that might look to you like they're disappearing. In a way, they are; because I have placed them in draft - to continue to advance to the next one. I think the comments remain with the post there. So fear not, you're not imagining that you read this & commented. The only ones that will not be drafted are the main ones on Sun. and the last of the theme because those will have all the previous ones added (I'm thinking, unless I chance republishing them). I hope I explained that clearly.
I do have a few ADVENT alternatives set aside: one that I have done before focusing on 20 Names of Jesus (so that's a good beginning) - it's a book & there is a You Version 5 day sample plan by Asheritah Ciuciu; another one is from an article I read that might be good for a weekly read on the 4 themes, perhaps on Sunday - very well written by Meg Bucher "4 Weeks of Reflection on Christ's Coming"; and another You Version 25 day plan "Making Space" by Susan Narjala, which comes closest to my desire to prepare my heart and soul for Jesus
Then I came upon another article that sparked a thought recently so I quickly copied the 25 prayer prompts for a heart posture ... that the author wrote for Joy. Yet I believe that each of the themes of Hope, Peace, Love and Joy can in used interchangeable with these thoughts of her prayer prompts. They were written with Joy but I think that you can insert Hope, Peace or Love, even though Joy fits best. You will see as you read each one and choose one of the four.
When I read the following statement (italics & in the box), I became convinced to "step away" and "lay aside" any to-do list to pray using her prayer prompts, journal my thoughts or allow them to lead me to a Bible verse on Hope, Peace, Love & Joy to ponder daily ...
"..This season – God is all we need. He is our hope, our peace, and our source of joy."...
{my insert} and of course, "God is LOVE, whoever abides in love, abides in God & God in him/her" (1 John 4:16) ... so
"Let’s offer God our gratitude and adoration with a humble heart that longs to connect more deeply with Him. In return, may we find the glorious gift of ..." Alicia Searle
"... Joy ..."
or Hope or Peace or Love
"... let’s shift our gaze on the glory of our King and posture our hearts ..."
In the past, I have focused on a Christmas Carol each day in my blog posts, and that was a good way to worship & prepare my heart. There are good plans available with You Version on this. It is a merrier way to get into the Christmas Spirit! Other years, reading plans, or Bible Studies have chosen to focus on the Characters in the Christmas story. One for this year is featuring 4 women in the lineage of Jesus, corresponding with the themes: Hope (Tamar), Peace (Rahab), Love (Ruth), Joy (Mary). All good ways for us to place Jesus in the center of this season. Yet for me in 2022, I'm really looking to prepare my heart for Jesus.
So I have set up a blog post for each day with just one statement ... not a prayer prompt, because that is available in the excellent article cited above that at times gives a reflective question or a Bible scripture to reflect on. I was thinking that on Sundays, I will remind us of an Advent theme for that week as I light the candle on the Advent wreath (tradition for me) and share or link to a list of Scriptures on that theme. The problem is that this week is half over & Advent started on this past Sunday, November 27th, so I already should have done HOPE.
Psalm 25:5
Meg Bucher called this first week of Advent:
The Thrill of Hope
and shared this prayer, that I say as I light the 1st candle of
HOPE
"God, Abba Father, Yahweh, Elohim and Jehovah. Jesus, Messiah and Savior, Light and Living Water. Holy Spirit, Advocate and Comforter, Breath and Strength. Glory to You for this day, which You have made. We will choose to rejoice and be glad in it. Through the chaos of these current days we vow to seek & focus on You & Your unchanging truth. You loved us so much, You sent Your Son to save us. Through Christ, we are all welcome to come to You. To be adopted into Your family. As we gaze at the landscape around us & the intricate uniqueness of our reflection, may we pause to purposefully give praise to You for Your miracles, Your blessings, Your grace, and Jesus. In Jesus' Name
{of course, the same verses may appear on each of these sources}
Father, this Advent season I come before You with an open heart. I lay my heart before You, asking You to help me in preparing my heart. I long to hear from You. I long to behold Christ in all His beauty. Help me shut out the distractions so I can be fully devoted to You. I want to make room for Christ this Christmas & seek You.
The rest of the this week I will insert HOPE in place of the original word JOY used in article.
