Advent Day 15: The Gift of Joy

On this third Sunday of Advent, I am grateful to ponder Immanuel's gift of joy to humanity.

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,

And Heaven and nature sing.”

It takes but a glance around us to validate our need for joy even today – devastating news, gloomy faces, broken hearts, unfulfilled longings, disappointing endeavors, etc. Just last night, a beloved friend's post opened my eyes to see the vileness of continued racial slurs and hatred intended for brown-hued people such as I. My heart broke with sadness as I read words no human being should ever write let alone read. I need joy.

In the past also, joy was needed. When a bright star, THE promised star, invaded the lives of wise men from the east, it brought great joy to them because of the promises locked within it. When the angels appeared to the shepherds of Bethlehem, they delivered “tidings of great joy” intended for all people regardless of status, nation, gender, etc. And that fortuitous, joy-unearthing announcement was and is and always will be the birth of a Savior who is Christ, the Lord.

“Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!

Let men their songs employ;

While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains

Repeat the sounding joy.”

And so we sing. 

"We sing to Him whose wisdom formed the ear

Our songs, let Him who gave us voices, hear;

We joy in God who is the Spring of mirth,

Who loves the harmony of Heav'n and earth.

Our humble sonnets shall that praise rehearse

Who is the music of the universe.

And whilst we sing, we consecrate our art

And offer up with every tongue a heart." 

-- Nathaniel Ingelo

We sing to Him in whom all things hold together. 
We sing to Him in whom we live and move and have our being. 
We sing to Him who is our everlasting Immanuel—God with us.

But why is joy so often missing in our hearts?

The world often defines joy as the absence of grief but the Word of God teaches us that joy is found in the One who gladdens and restores hearts amidst the toughest of trials. In fact, David said, “Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5b). Weeds of sin, rebellion, and disobedience, as it turns out, aid joylessness to go rampant in our hearts. Thus, the Coming One brings a message of repentance, salvation, and transformation.

“No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found.”

What a gracious promise to our gloomy hearts!

May we fully embrace His message and may the resulting joy be seen and felt by all who hear and respond to the gift of the Son! May our eyes and hearts be open to spot the people in our lives in need of God’s steadfast love and salvation! Whether through a card, a visit, a conversation, a hug, a handshake, or whatever, may we be used as channels of the joy of Advent to a woe-stricken world! May we be used as bearers of “tidings of great joy” for those who are still pining to hear good news!

Indeed, may we gratefully receive His gift of joy today!

Advent Day 14: I Need You

Hello to you, my friends, on this 14th morning of Advent!

I have a confession to make: I am still hurting.

I know Christmas is coming and I know that everything will work according to God’s plan . . . but I still miss my sister AND my brother AND my father AND all the departed loved ones of my recent past. I had a few minutes to myself last night (solitude, though often my best friend, has been the instigator of many crying sessions lately) and my mind went on auto pilot. Last year at this time, my brother's death was fresh and my sister's full cancer diagnosis/prognosis was weighing heavily upon me. “You look weighed down,” my wife said to me this morning with concern registered in her eyes and voice.

She is right.
So right.

The words of Meredith Willson's "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" sound hollow to my ear this morning. There was a time when lyrics such as "with candy canes and silver lanes aglow" or "toys in every store" or "soon the bells will start" would readily put me in the "holiday" spirit.

Not today.

This morning, as I genuinely think of Advent, my heart resonates more voluntarily with Job's words, "My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is deep darkness" (Job 16:16, ESV).

I am hurting. 
I am grieving.

No, my mourning does not indicate that I am wallowing in self-pity nor does it suggest that I am indulging in whining or grumbling. Rather, since Advent beckons me to take an honest look at my heart, I am choosing to gratefully comply.

As I allow my grief to erupt fully and my tears to flow freely, the Father pours out His grace over me. He opens my mind and heart and body to ascertain that the trials I face are glorious tests—not the kinds intending to show me how strong I am, but the kinds heavenly tasked to reveal to me how needy I am.

Yes, I am needy.

I need the gracious eyes of Christ to weep with mine. I need His tender hands to wipe away my tears in due time. I need His robust and warm arms to envelop my frame and comfort me. I need His loving and soothing voice to serenade me. I need His ancient, ever-true, life-giving words to strike my eardrums and reverberate and transform my heart into the knowledge of God and the likeness of Christ.

I need Him.
I need Him.
I need Him.

“Lord, I need You, O I need You
Every hour I need You
My one defense, my righteousness
O Lord, how I need You.”

As He comes and fills my need, it will surely be CHRIST-mas in my heart and I will certainly be in a HOLY-day spirit—the unending Advent of His abounding grace and love sanctifying and purifying me into the fullness of His glory!

O, come, Lord Jesus!

Advent Day 13: Peace and Healing

Suffering is bitter.
Pain is a raging torrent.
Illnesses are blistering winds.

However, suffering (no matter the kind) does not suggest defeat for strugglers called to the eternal glory of Christ. Advent, thus, brings a message of peace to the hearts of sufferers because the God of all grace is sure to come to restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish all strugglers called to Him.

But what are we to do in the midst of suffering?
Are we to merely wait in silence and pretense?

The following quote from "Weeding Impatience" speaks to that effect:

"The bitterness of patience may be rightly known as life's greatest and most tumultuous torrent. However, suffering should not suggest defeat. With God on our side, we should make the decision to be victorious over our problems. Defeat has no place in our vocabulary despite what circumstances may suggest. Human wisdom may tell us that we are doomed but spiritual insight gives us the courage and determination to adjust our attitude.

In seasons of suffering, our hearts well up with impatience and discontent not unlike the Israelites who craved intensely for the delicacies of Egypt while in the wilderness. Like Israel, we desire what seems to be the current panacea, the latest cure-all, and fail to recognize that past circumstances often had more problems in them than the delicacies could counteract. In Numbers 11:20, God's Word indicates that His people responded to their suffering with much grumbling. God did not take that response lightly and they died a horrible death.

We find in Christ a model for the godly response to suffering. He endured more than any other human being could ever imagine. Although our Savior had the power to stop it all (the mockery of fools, the flogging of soldiers, the sting of vinegar, the piercing of swords, the bruising of thorns, and the spilling of blood), He chose to endure intense suffering in order to redeems the world."

This redemptions is at the heart of Christ's Advent. Each time He comes to us, redemption enters the scene. Each time we welcome Him, healing accompanies Him. His redemption and healing may not always have a physical/emotional/intellectual manifestation (as far as we can see, feel, or understand) but nonetheless contain the spiritual essence of God's eternal glory.

O come, Lord Jesus!
O come, redeeming Immanuel!
O come, suffering Servant and heal Your people!
O come, touch us and reign over us forever and ever!

Advent Day 12: Welcome Peace

Good morning, friend! 

On this 12th morning of Advent, let me tell you a story about an extraordinary day:

It began as a normal day for the Teacher -- Jesus taught. For hours and hours, He taught a large crowd (Mark 4:1-9), a medium-sized crowd (Mark 4:10-33), and His small group of twelve disciples (Mark 4:34). At the end of such a long and exhausting day, it only made sense that His body begged for sleep on the boat taking their company across the Sea of Galilee.

Mark picks up the story:

"On that day, when evening had come, He said to them, 'Let us go across to the other side.' And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them in the boat, just as He was. And other boats were with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, 'Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?' And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, 'Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?' " (Mark 4:35-41, ESV)

Whoa!

What a day!

What if it were today?

Is life pretty rocky for you?

Are you currently in the middle of a storm?

Is there a vast sea of untold hardships stretching before you?

Then, Advent invites you to join the disciples in posing, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"

"I Am" is His name -- the only Constant, the solid Rock, the sure Anchor.

I am writing to tell you that the only Constant is very much inside your rocky boat, with you, no matter how fierce or treacherous the storm happens to be. I am here to remind you that even when He appears to lie dormant, the solid Rock is very much awake and attentive to your sighs, moans, and pleas for help. I am in your life to encourage you to believe that regardless of the windstorm you are currently facing, the sure Anchor will stand erect and command,

"Peace! Be still!"

He is the One whose presence brings peace to your chaos, the One whose power causes the gusts of wind to cease their blowing, and the One whose purpose prevails no matter what or how your circumstances are.

So, today, let me gently nudge you. Would you open your eyes? Would you cross your own Sea of Galilee? Would you face your own windstorms -- cancer, financial woes, relational struggles, spiritual drought -- knowing that Christ is in your boat? Would you hail the storm-Smoother and peace-Maker?

Would you surrender to Him and welcome His peace?

Advent Day 11: Peace, Peace, Peace

"Therefore,

since we have been justified by faith,

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through Him

we have also obtained access by faith

into this grace in which we stand,

and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

Rom 5:1-2, ESV

Good morning, friend, on this 11^th morning of Advent!

As I continue pondering the gift of peace this week, I cannot help thinking of how the relational road on which you and I find ourselves often turns bumpy and thorny. Without warning, friendships decay and partnerships fizzle out, leaving us to wonder why and where we have gone wrong.

As it turns out, the discomforting silence and evident estrangement troubling our hearts first and foremost reflect our relationship with God. When we are at odds with others, it is truly God’s work of grace leading our prodigal hearts home to experience Immanuel’s peace.

Indeed, the complete peace of Advent is ours through grace and grace alone. God understands the barrier or wall that willful sin has erected between humanity and the holy Creator. He knows the dissatisfaction that resides in our hearts when living in a state of rebellion. And He also is well aware of our inability to make things right with Him on our own.

He therefore determined to come . . .

. . . and make things right between us!

Aiming to give us a right standing with the Father, the Coming One grants special benefits to fallen men and women—blessings that are ours through faith:

He woos us.

He loves us.

He washes us.

He purifies us.

He justifies us.

He elevates us.

He encourages us.

He strengthens us.

He declares us righteous.

He reconciles us with the Father.

He grants us peace to have and to hold and to enjoy forever.

“Peace, peace, peace –

The gift of Christ is peace.

We walk with God, our past forgiven.

All in Him is life and heaven.

Peace, peace, peace –

The gift of Christ is peace.”

Words by Ken Bible

Thank You, Holy Lord!

Avent Day 10: Christ's Humility

Any trace of decay is unsettling to the human heart -- the withering of the grass, the wilting of flowers, the drying out of the soil, the lessening of intimacy between friends . . . It all mirrors the rampant dwindling of human interest in the concerns of God. And said dwindling is akin to a death sentence or a diagnosis of a terminal disease:

Enmity.
Unease.
Restlessness.
Lovelessness.
Spiritual havoc.
No peace with God.

There can be no peace with God or humanity or the universe when the grass of our hearts -- our fruitfulness -- continues to wither by blatant apathy or neglect. There can be no intimacy when the flowers of our souls wilt daily for lack of living water. There can be no true friendship with the Lover of our souls when the soil of our Christian walk is baked by the sun-scorching heat of earthly enticements.

In other words, the world merely mirrors that which is happening in the heart of mankind.

Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996) penned the following words concerning this mirroring: 

"His (Christ's) appearance in our midst has made it undeniably clear that changing the human heart and changing human society are not separate tasks, but are as interconnected as the two beams of the cross."

Indeed, a picture of true peace is found in the humility God displayed in becoming a human baby presented to us wrapped in rags and cradled by a feeding trough. It is the presence of Christ which ignites a world of darkness in utmost meekness and gentleness. Advent peace is the gratitude of our hearts in knowing that God took on flesh and paid the price for our ransom so that we who were once His enemies can become joint heirs with Christ and sit at the Father's banqueting table. 

Advent, thus, reminds us to thank God for His grace. Without His intervention, humanity would keep rolling in the dirt of enmity, unease, restlessness, lovelessness, spiritual havoc, and the like. Christ came to give us peace, not ephemeral tranquility; He came and comes and is coming to grant us a peace that lasts, one that passes all understanding forever and ever. 

Thanks be to God!

Advent Day 9: Prize and Person

Good morning, friend, on this 9th morning of Advent!

Brimming with activities and appointments, the holiday season's default definition of peace is merely the opposite of the hustle and bustle to which you and I have grown accustomed. Shopping sprees, dessert gatherings, church plays, kids' recitals, photo shoots, family newsletters, traffic jams, and far too many parties -- insert: cookies or other treats -- have become the norm yet often leave us haggard.

And so when we hear "Peace" we automatically fantasize about or yearn for "stillness" or "blissful quietness," imagining ourselves transported to an idyllic place where all the noise or chaos is uninvited. For me, I readily picture myself wrapped in a crocheted blanket, sitting as close as possible to the fire, gazing at a snow-covered landscape, sipping a cup of hot deliciousness, reading a favorite book . . .

(Feel free to transpose and imagine your own version of said magical place)

Or . . .

Pause.
Think.
Ponder.

Could that be all there is to the peace of Advent?

Two prophets foretold a peace to come that is altogether different:

Isaiah described it as a prize (total reconciliation or intimacy with God) bought at the highest cost (the sacrifice of the innocent One).  The Son of God, the Son of Man, the Messiah, the Anointed One,  the Prince of Peace, the Coming One would be despised, ridiculed, rejected, wounded, afflicted, flogged, crushed, abandoned, pierced, and martyred to pay the colossal debt of our collective and individual transgressions (trespasses that earned us the infamous title of enemies of the Father). Once paid in full through the shed blood of the Coming One, peace or true friendship or intimacy with God is available to us.

"By Your perfect sacrifice I've been brought near

Your enemy You've made Your friend

Pouring out the riches of Your glorious grace

Your mercy and Your kindness know no end

Your blood has washed away my sin

Jesus, thank You

The Father's wrath completely satisfied

Jesus, thank You

Once Your enemies, now seated at Your table

Jesus, thank You.

Lover of my soul,

I want to live for You."

-- Sovereign Grace Ministry

Micah spoke of peace not as a prize, place, position, or purpose but as a Person -- the Great Shepherd, the majestic One, the One who is great to the ends of the earth, the Coming One shall be our peace. Jesus confirms that prophecy through His inviting words, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Mt 11:28-30, ESV).

"Whenever I am tempted

Whenever clouds arise

When songs give way to sighing

When hope within me dies

He draws me closer to Him

From care He sets me free

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He cares for me

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches me."

-- Traditional

In Christ, we have both the prize and the person granting us intimacy with the Father and the assurance of salvation by grace through faith.

He came.
He comes daily.
He is coming again.

Won't we let Him come in?
Won't you and I receive our King?

He stands at the door and knocks wanting to permeate every single aspect of our lives. He stands ready to save us desiring to fill every nook and cranny of our hearts. He is poised to satisfy us with His love aiming to saturate every need, every anxiety, every issue, every question, every storm of ours with His unshakable and inexplicable peace.

Yes, peace.
Yes, heavenly peace.
Indeed, gracious peace on earth to all who receive Him!