Prayers,
advents, and more… In His Word 11-30-2020
The Lord is my light and my salvation, so why
should I be afraid? Psalm 27:1
I was reading up on why people celebrate the Advent season by lighting candles and what is the purpose. From what I have found it is a great way to count the weeks to Christmas, and it symbolizes the Light of the Word coming to break through the darkness.
In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Paraphrased from
John 1:1 and Genesis 1. You could read both first chapters and get an idea of why they are connected.
We know
that God created the World, and that He was there in the beginning. That is one
of the focuses of the first week of Advent. The beginning. I found also that
people pray during these weeks and especially for certain things. The first week is a week of faithfulness and
many people will not just light the candles required for that week, but they
read specific verses and sing specific songs. It’s quite the tradition from what
I have studied.
Whole
congregations get involved in some and some also add in home time verses and
studies in the subjects mentioned; faithfulness, hope, joy, love, and light.
Hear my
prayer, O Lord, Give ear to my supplications! In Your faithfulness answer me,
And in Your righteousness. Psalm 143:1
His
faithfulness reaches to the heavens, and He is faithful to all generations! We know our God is faithful because He
continues to come through for us time and time again. He is always there and
throughout the Bible it speaks of things He has done, people He has blessed, or
helped, or healed, because of His faithfulness to His people.
Can we be
faithful to count the weeks until we celebrate Jesus’ birth? Is it something we
need to be doing? I think that if its
what you want to do to stay focused on the reason we celebrate this season, well
then its okay! Go ahead and light a candle and consecrate yourself, your family
or your church unto God again. Lay aside time, fast if you feel lead, and focus
on the subject matter that God gives you to pray for. Be faithful in this!
Thank God
for His goodness, His faithfulness to all generations! The new year is ahead
and many are hoping this year’s troubles will leave. I really do not want to
admit but I do not think its going to be instant January 1st suddenly
we are all free of illness unless God intervenes and does a major miracle over
the whole earth!
Now we know He can do it, and if He wills to the I am sure He will , but it is not for us to say that we will solve the mystery of the illness in one month. We must continue to obey the rules, follow the directions and do the things that God shows us to do. Keep worshiping even if its just at home. Keep sharing the Gospel Message anyway you can, stay faithful to serve Him, even in your small community of people. You do not have to forget to follow your faithful service to God just because there are limitations to big crowds.
Therefore,
brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His
flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a
true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the
confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to
stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the
more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:19-25
This
section of the scripture actually covers many of the words in the Advent list I
found online at a website from a church group. You can check into it yourself,
just ask the search engine of your choice and be sure that its on a reputable site.
Bible Hub is one and there are other ones Bible Gateway has links to as well.
If you are meeting in person ask your Pastor about Advent and if your church celebrates
or teaches about it. Most of all I say to make it your own, bring your people together,
roommates, family or small group of friends and if you want to light a candle
to represent the Light of the Word, then do so! Just remember that it’s not
about ritual but about the focus on Christ. Read the Story of Jesus’s birth
from Luke 2! That is what we used to do in Home Schooling days. Each day we
read a portion and focused on Jesus.
The
definition of Advent is the coming of a notable person; the Christian theology
version is that it is the coming of Christ! Or some say the second coming of
Christ to be precise. Either way celebrate the Lord Jesus as you celebrate the
season!
Heavenly Father,
thank you for being faithful to draw us near to You today. Help us to keep our minds
and hearts on You and the greatness that You gave us that we celebrate this
month. Help us to not focus on ourselves, but on how we can live a life
pleasing to You. In Jesus’ name, amen.