Advent Scripture Series: Week 3

Advent Scripture Series 

Week 3

As we drive ourselves crazy this Christmas trying to find the perfect gift for everyone on our list, let's remember the greatest Gift of all. The Gift that was given out of so much love. The Gift that was one of a kind, no duplicate to be found. The Gift that truly keeps on giving, eternally. The Gift that was given one starry night, in a little town called Bethlehem, to young parents thrust into parenthood by the Holy Ghost and entrusted by God with His only begotten Son, a Gift given so that we may have everlasting life.

Do you ever wonder why the Angel of the Lord appeared to a bunch of shepherds in a field, tending their flock of sheep? Who better to understand the significance of a perfect lamb? These poor shepherd boys has sheep coming out of their ears but the likelihood of finding a single one, without spot or blemish, perfect in every way, was probably next to none. I imagine they were bone weary and sleep deprived, having traveled far and wide to keep fresh food and water for their flock, keeping watch at night to protect them from predators and fighting them off when the need arose. But then the angel appeared, scared them to death, and delivered the most glorious news. A Savior had been born. A babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger, a lamb of God, born to take away the sin of the world. The shepherds understood and they made haste to Him. They saw Him and then made known abroad what they had seen. They returned home, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard. 

Glorify and praise Him this Christmas season. Don't let the significance of the Lamb of God go unnoticed. Don't let Him be overshadowed by tinsel and twinkling lights. Understand and make haste to Him.

Have you ever had someone take the blame for something you did? Has anyone ever stepped in and taken your rightly deserved punishment? I loved my little brother and my friends growing up but I'm nearly certain I never volunteered to get a whoopin' for any of them, unless perhaps I could somehow use it to my advantage. I never willingly or selflessly stood up and copped to a crime or broken rule, I didn't commit. To do so, takes a love so intense, its nearly unfathomable. As Mommas and Daddys we can understand though, that this love is real and true. Its the love you have for your children. Its a desire to want to keep them from all harms way, even if it is a rightly deserved punishment. That old saying "This is gonna hurt me a lot more than it hurts you" is all too true. 

But the love that it takes to let your only begotten Son, GIVE HIMSELF, as an offering and sacrifice, to atone for the sins of ungrateful and undeserving wretches like me, is simply boundless, immeasurable, infinite.

Focus on His love this Advent and prepare your hearts for His coming.

Wednesday night at Christmas play practice I could feel myself getting overwhelmed, quick and in a hurry. For those of y'all who direct your church play every year, God bless your hearts. This is my first year and may be my last. More than once I've found myself on the verge of tears, thinking "is this really worth it?" For a split second tonight while I sat trying to recite my lines and direct curtain closings and openings, songs ending and beginning, and characters entering and exiting, all while my babies sat and cried for me, I seriously considered just throwing my hands up and quitting. It was too much. But then as Mary began to read her lines and tell how overwhelmed she was when Gabriel appeared to her, how terrified she was, I began to calm down. As I sat there and listened to the characters run lines with each other I realized that He was there with us, just as he had been that long ago night in Bethlehem. Just as He was on Calvary.He was there, comforting, calming, consoling. He is with us each and every moment of every day, never leaving us, never forsaking us. So instead of getting overwhelmed, panicking or complaining, I'm going to remember that God is with us, and that the purpose of this Christmas play is to bring glory and honor to His name and nothing else. I'm going to remember why I started this in the first place, not because I knew it was going to be easy, but because I wanted to do it for Him. It's just a small thing really, it could never measure up to what He did for me on Calvary, but it is because I love Him and that is all He asks of me.

My boys are rough and tough, wild and rowdy. They drive me to the brink of crazy on most days. But they are the joy of my life. They are my true blessings from the Lord. And they are night and day different from one another. Kieran is my thinker, he can be quiet and shy, very sensitive, a leader. Devlin is noise with dirt on it, fearless, stubborn and outspoken, fiercely protective. I love them each to distraction. And I love that my God made each of them just the way they are. He knew exactly the personality and qualities they would possess. He knew exactly which buttons of mine they'd push and which nerves they'd fray. And He knew exactly how to use them to prepare my heart for His coming.
I wonder sometimes, how Mary felt as she raised Jesus, as she nursed Him in infancy, taught Him to walk, to talk, doctored boo boos, combed His hair and mended His clothes. Did she know that one day He would walk on water, heal the sick, raise the dead? Did she know that one day He would calm the storms with His hand, rule the nations, save mankind? He was the Lord of all creation this babe in swaddling clothes. He was the perfect Lamb of God this toddler running around her feet. And every time she kissed Him, she kissed the face of the Great I Am.
My boys may not be perfection but they are mine. God sent them to me just as He sent His Only Begotten Son to Mary. He had a reason, a purpose, a plan that only she could fulfill.
The Spirit of God made them, the breath of the Almighty gave them life and placed them in my womb. I will fulfill my plan and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, preparing their hearts always for His return.

God. Is. Love. Let that sink in a minute. Love is a word that is tossed around and used for everything in sight. But if we are really honest we ourselves and with each other, love is about more than a favorite song, or sweater, or snack, it is about more than just stuff. Love is an emotion from deep within, one that is hard to express with mere words. It needs to be felt, to be seen, to be heard. Don't forget to express your love for those around you this Advent season. Don't get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday and forget what we are truly celebrating, God's immeasurable love for us. Dwell in love this Christmas. Dwell in Him.

He didn't just come as a baby in a manger, to stay a baby in a manger. He didn't just decide to have the "human experience" simply for a change of pace. He became God in the flesh and walked among us with a purpose. That purpose was Redeem us!
"Living He loved me,
Dying He saved me,
Buried He carried, my sins far away.
Rising He justified, freely forever,
One day He's coming, oh, glorious day!"
-Casting Crowns