Do You Hear What I Hear? ~12 Days Away

       "O Come, All Ye Faithful"

12 Days Away

Today, let us be "joyful and triumphant" instead of grumpy and stressed. O Come, friends, let us reflect on the season with some music and meditation. 

Music: "O Come, All Ye Faithful" ~Red Rocks Worship

"O come" because we need to prepare for a journey this Christmas season. Not one that requires us to get bundled, grab extra cash, and load up the car with the kids, the pets, and hastily wrapped gifts. No, this is a spiritual journey.

Where are we going? Not a bustling mall, not a meandering car-ride through brightly lit neighborhoods. We are not even necessarily going to a candle-lit church. We are going on a personal, spiritual journey to meet with our Creator and Savior.

What are we going to do? Shopping? Ice skating? Hot Cocoa?

The faithful are going on this spiritual journey to adore Him--Christ the Lord.

What a novel idea! We sing it--Do we mean it?--Do we ever do it?--Let us come before Jesus' presence and simply adore Him.

Meditation: "He [God] says, 'Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.'" ~Psalm 46:10

"But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.'

'How will this be,' Mary asked the angel, 'since I am a virgin?'

The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.'" ~Luke 1:30-35 {Jesus is the Son of the Holy Spirit and the Most High.}

"And Mary said: 'My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." ~Luke 1:46-47

As we continue our countdown towards Christmas Day--the day Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, we will see some consistent themes. 

Be still.--All the hustle and bustle is not necessary.

Know that God is God.--More importantly, we must recognize and acknowledge that God is God and we are not God. We must defer to our Maker.

We need to understand the magnitude of the statement the angel proclaimed: "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High." Jesus is the Son of God the Father and the Holy Spirit, "the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God."

Our responsibility? Respond in a similar fashion to Mary, who actually carried and nurtured the Christ Child..."My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."

"O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant...O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord."

Almighty God, Great Mystery, we adore You. We still our hearts before You and acknowledge that You are in control. You created this world and gave us Jesus, Your Son, as our Savior. Help us to understand the magnitude of this. Help us to be still before You. Help us to adore You as You so richly deserve. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.


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