Do You Hear What I Hear? ~9 Days Away

          "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"

9 Days Away

This is the point in the holiday season in which the reality can be overwhelming. Let's be honest today; the reality is overwhelming.

Today we are not going to focus on any of the external "stuff"--wrapping paper, lights, recipes, shopping lists, clutter, Christmas cards, and to do lists. Today we are going deep into the internal portion of this holiday.

Let us look at the reality of our hearts and do some serious cleaning. 

Music: "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"

"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" (the Christmas version~The Piano Guys)

"O come, O come, Emmanuel, 
And ransom captive Israel."


Meditation: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." ~Isaiah 7:14

"This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.'
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 'The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel' (which means 'God with us'). ~Matthew 1:18-23

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."                ~Romans 3:23-24

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." ~Romans 5:1

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were sinners, Christ died for us." ~Romans 5:8

"Come to me [Jesus], all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." ~Matthew 11:28-30

In preparation for the beauty and majesty of this season, our worlds can get a little messy. Boxes, gift wrap, shopping bags, and receipts can clutter our tables and our hearts. Let's ignore the worldly clutter and focus on our hearts. Let's accept Jesus into our hearts in order to clear away the debt of sin. 

Jesus wants to take our hands and invite us back to unite us with our Creator. Let us accept the invitation. He came to ransom us. Let us be willing to yoke ourselves with Jesus who does not yoke himself with our sinful world--the heavenly world brings peace. 

Almighty God, this day we humble ourselves before You. We are sinners, in desperate need of a Savior. We acknowledge Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, as that Savior. Forgive us, Great Mystery. We want to commit our lives to You, Lord God. Help us find rest for our souls. In Jesus' Name.  Amen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do You Hear What I Hear? ~14 Days Away

Image
 Do You Hear What I Hear? 14 Days Away "Do You Hear What I Hear" and a countdown. One might be more than a little perplexed by how this is beginning. My holiday season has started the way it always does: hustle and bustle. I hear the line "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" and my mind immediately clicks into overdrive with "Deck the halls with boughs of holly," and the chaos of this crazy season is anything but jolly.  This year is going to be different. We are going to make every effort to gather our attention and garner our peace in an attempt to truly enjoy the Christmas season. Over the next two weeks--14 days--we are going to silence the craziness of our world in order to appreciate this holy season.  My plan is for us to explore the season through meditation and music, and while I enjoy a wide variety of tunes, we will focus most on the traditional carols of the season. So, my challenge for you before we begin is for you to make a list...
Read more

Do You Hear What I Hear? ~Today is the Day!

Image
               "Away in a Manger" Today is the Day! Jesus is the Reason for the Season.  "An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord."  ~ Luke 2:9-11 Music:  "Away in a Manger" "Away in a Manger" instrumental piano Meditation:  "But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father.' So you are no longer a slave, but God's child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir."  ~Galatians 4:4-7 "For you were once dark...
Read more

Do You Hear What I Hear? ~11 Days Away

Image
           "Little Drummer Boy" 11 Days Away "Parum-pum-pum-pum." After hearing only a few notes of this Christmas classic, we know the song. Have we ever thoroughly considered the sentiment behind the simple lyrics?  Music:  "The Little Drummer Boy" As with yesterday, the concepts behind the lyrics are powerful. Come--behold the baby Jesus. But when visiting we often bring gifts. What can we bring? What can we offer? Sadly, our inner, worldly Grinch can often appear here. During the holidays it seems everyone--everywhere--is asking us for more. More gifts, more donations, more time. When we have had enough, we start looking around to scrounge up whatever we might already have on hand to give.--Maybe a gift card will do? Maybe we can re-gift something? We check clearance aisles.  "Our finest gifts we bring...to lay before the King." Today, let's individually reflect on what we can bring to Jesus. As we reflect, let us each ask God what we hav...
Read more