Advent, Let Us Prepare Our Hearts...

Advent, Hope, Love, Joy, Peace...

Scripture:
1 John 4:7-21 (NASB)

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

Devotional:

As Christmas draws near you can see people hustling and bustling everywhere.  We go shopping for that elusive Christmas present.  We decorate our homes, streets, and businesses.  How many people have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas?  Growing up people everywhere would say “Merry Christmas” it didn’t matter where you were from or what you believed.  Christmas had a way to draw people closer to each other.  Today you are lucky to even hear “Happy Holidays” in order not to offend someone.  The Christ in Christmas is becoming lost and forgotten.

As Advent approaches I think it is important for us to remember why we celebrate Christmas and to prepare our hearts.  There are times when I wonder how many hearts are preparing for the celebration of Christmas, its true meaning.  It seems to me that Advent is also slipping away almost forgotten.  What is advent and what does it really mean?  Simply put Advent as the “Traditional” churches define it is the season to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  It is a period of four weeks before Christmas.  Each week begins on a Sunday.  Each Sunday a candle is lit as a reminder.  Each week has its own meaning.  Week one is Expectation or Hope.  Week two is for Love, week three is for Joy, and week four is for Peace.  The fifth candle for advent is the Christ candle which is lit on Christmas day, or at a Christmas Eve service. 

There is no special magic in Advent, nothing spectacular in of itself.  What makes advent special and dear to me is that it is a time to prepare and celebrate.  It is a way to condition my heart and reflect on Christ.  It builds upon the celebration of the birth of our savior.  Advent may be a tradition from your traditional old fashioned churches but it still goes a long way to remind us of whose birth we celebrate on December 25^th.  Nancy reads from a book to our kids every day of advent.  They light a candle, read, pray, and end the moment with a Christmas Carol or two.  The books are stories about events that lead up to the birth of Jesus.  True the stories are fictional and based on children.  They do however bring out the meaning of Christmas.  They help prepare our hearts and reflect on God through this most wonderful time of year.  This year I encourage everyone to celebrate Advent.  If you need help or have questions you can email me or simply ask your pastor.  You can always choose your own way to celebrate Advent.  What is important is to remember God is love and His Son was born so that we might have life. He loved us so much His one and only Son was born  and we celebrate His birth on Christmas Day…

Are You The Cup Or The Funnel?

Scripture:
1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 (NASB)

and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.

Devotional:

I am sure most of us at one time or another took a cup or bowl and filled it with water.  As it filled we watched the water just poor over the sides.  The cup being full couldn’t hold anymore.  God will continue to fill us with His love.  We will never run out or come up short.  As God fills us with His love we need to allow it to funnel through us into others around us.  A funnel allows liquid to pass through it channeling the liquid into a container filling the container.  Instead of being the cup that gets filled we need to be the funnel.  As we are filled with God’s love we need to allow it to flow through and into others.  

God will fill us till we are full.  The faster we allow His love to flow through us the faster He will fill us.  We will never run short or run out.  God’s love is never ending and never in short supply.  If you are the cup turn yourself into the funnel and try to empty yourself of God’s love, I bet you can’t…

Self Defeat, Or God's Victory

Scripture:
1 Samuel 30:1-8 (NASB)

Then it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire; and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way. When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. Now David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” And He said to him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue all.”

Devotional:

When you are facing troubles, who do you turn to?  Do you face them on your own?  Do you rely on your strength alone?  There have been times when I didn’t seek God during hardships.  How much harder I made it up on myself.  Other times I knew I didn’t have the strength and had to rely on God.  In those instances the mountains before me were nothing more than little hills.  

Seek the Lord first in all things.  Draw upon His strength.  Relying on Him will bring victory.  Seek to be in God’s will follow His prompting and you will be given strength to overcome any and everything that is thrown your way.  Look through the Bible and you will find case after case where God emboldened, strengthened, and were victorious.  Again I ask you who do you rely on.  Do you rely on your own strength?  Do you seek God’s unending might and power?  Are you in self defeat, or God’s victory?

Happy Thanksgiving

Scripture:
Psalm 92:1-5 (NIV)

It is good to praise the Lord
    and make music to your name, O Most High,
proclaiming your love in the morning
    and your faithfulness at night,
to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
    and the melody of the harp.

For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;

    I sing for joy at what your hands have done.
How great are your works, Lord,
    how profound your thoughts!

Devotional:

Let me start out by saying “HAPPY THANKSGIVING.” 

Here is the age old question to ask.  What are you thankful for?  What have you to be thankful for?  Who do you give thanks to?  One final question to ask…  Is God in that list?  If so where is He in the list? OK two questions.  We sit around the table on Thanksgiving Day afternoon giving thanks for all sorts of stuff.  I am thankful I have my family, a job for the moment, our family is healthy, and we have two working cars, a house that is big enough.  The list can go on and on but not once was God a thought or mentioned.

At the top of our list we should be thanking God.  After all it is because of Him that we are even alive.  It is because of Him that we have salvation and are restored into the kingdom of heaven.  Through Him we are blessed beyond measure.  We should be giving God our first thoughts and thanks.  In doing so we honor Him and all that He has done for us.  Today join me in giving God my first thanks and thoughts.  Let us together in spirit give God praise, honoring Him with all we do and all we have.  Today as you sit around the table about to eat pause for a moment.  In that moment remember all that God has done for you.  Then praise Him for it and give Him a grateful heart and a thankful heart. 

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone; and thank you God for enabling me to write these devotional thoughts, thank you for speaking through me and enabling me sharing these emails to so many people…  May You be given all praise, honor, glory, and thanks…

Satan Is Prowling And Waiting To Attack

Scripture:
1 Peter 5:1-9 (NASB)

Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

Devotional:

Are you alert to what is going on around you?  Is your spirit alert and ready?  Satan is out there in the shadows just waiting for a chance to attack.  If we are not careful we will give him the opening he is looking for.  Then we will be under attack before we know it.  Something that I learned years ago is that the closer you strive to be with Christ the harder Satan will attack you.

He doesn’t want you doing God’s work.  He will do everything He can to prevent you from being in God’s will.  The good news is that we are not alone and Satan cannot prevail.  Elders are to minister and teach the youth.  The young are to be attentive to their elders.  Something I have always tried to do is learn from your mistakes.  I have avoided many a trouble by observing the mistakes of my brothers.  The problem is that I still found a bunch of my own anyway.  However, it is by being examples and teaching the young that they too can grow into strong Godly men and women.  They will someday be the elders teaching the young.  In this we can watch out for one another and give strength to not only withstand but prevent Satan’s attack.  Be alert and be diligent.  Watch out for Satan’s attack.  Watch out for Satan prowling in the dark waiting to attack not only you but someone else as well.  Together we can prevent him from attacking any of us.  We can stand strong and firm in Christ.  We are not forsaken but held dearly in the arms of God.