Advent(ure) Awaits!

Four weeks until Christmas! We are gearing up here in tropical Belize. The nights are getting cooler, the tree is up and the baking has begun. Our family loves Christmas and all the yearly traditions it brings.

We're a family that embraces the fun and imagination of Santa Claus, while still trying to keep our focus on the real meaning of Christmas. Let me tell you, it's not easy! The movies and music about Santa are fun, silly and adventurous. They easily outshine the miracle of Jesus' birth when it comes to grabbing our attention.

So, as we deck the halls, I am also doing what I can to quiet myself and connect to God. Observing Advent is a good vehicle for reflection, leading up to Christmas. Advent is a season of the liturgical year observed as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming (Wikipedia). The first Sunday of Advent, which was this past Sunday, is the day of reflection on Christ's second coming. Good things, no, GREAT things to come!

Revelation 22:12

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me,

and I will give to each person according to what they have done."

If I meditate on all that Christ embodies, news of His coming is miraculous, wondrous and awe-inspiring. He brings peace, joy, love. He rights wrongs, defends the innocent, heals the sick. He defeats the enemy and stands up for the oppressed. In my life I strive to be more like Him, to be more of what He is, to allow Him to work His purposes in me. But to have Him here in the flesh! What a glorious adventure that will be!

Keeping it 100

This is my 100th blog post. Crazy! When I first started in October of 2019, I did so reluctantly. I'm someone who sees personal blogs as a bit too self-indulgent. I don't think I have anything particularly revelatory to say or important to report on. I am an average person doing average things. I don't read blogs and I never thought I would write one. Yet, back in Fall of 2019, I felt God pushing me to start a blog. I resisted for awhile, but eventually decided to give in. I committed to writing one blog per week, for as long as I had to. Can you read the attitude between the lines?

Have you ever been reluctant to do something you feel God was requiring of you? It's a familiar scenario for me, I admit. Buying our first house, attending a church event I'd rather skip, joining a ministry I don't particularly feel drawn to, fasting, joining the choir when I'd rather stay home, writing this blog...the list is extensive. Each time I have started reluctantly and eventually settled into something that was good for me.

In my natural state I'm a homebody. I like being home, relaxing, reading a book or watching TV, spending time alone or with my family. If left to my own devices, my world would be pretty small. Time and again, God prompts and pushes me out of my comfort. He says I am to live larger than I would naturally choose to live. He says I am created to impact this world and take up space. Sometimes I need a shove in that direction.

I don't know about you, but doing something 100 times is a challenge. Sticking with something that doesn't seem to make much difference is a challenge. But after 2 years, I'm still at it. My readership is small, my written thoughts aren't groundbreaking, yet it stands as a marker of my covenant with God. It shows that I have been faithful to do what He's asked of me, the results of which are up to Him.

The Bible uses the word establish 123 times in the NIV translation. Time and again, God talks about establishing a covenant with His people, establishing a throne for David's descendants, establishing His heavenly throne etc. Reading verse after verse, I see a pattern. It's our job to obey, it's God's job to establish.

Maybe you've started something and are looking for ways to take it to the next level. Maybe you are wanting to establish yourself in your career, relationships or ministry. As in everything, the answers are found in connection with the Spirit of God. He knows the what, where, why and how. He knows what He's called you to, how to get there and when it's all going to make sense. Lean on Him. He is faithful to establish His will in your life. He can't help but keep it 100.

Activating the Gift

There's a tendency in life to allow things to settle; to grow tired of maintaining one's health, one's relationships; to stop putting in the effort. It's not too surprising, then, when we lapse into a sort of walking coma in our spiritual lives.

Salvation, in its most basic form, is belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. If the basis of salvation is simply belief, we can hold onto it without a shred of effort. Simply choose a belief, and neglect to challenge it, and you can maintain it indefinitely without another thought.

But salvation is also based on a relationship with God. Because of this, effort must be put into it, in order for it to thrive and grow. To be saved means to put one's life in submission to your Savior, allowing Him to change you and use you as He sees fit. If we don't actively look to engage in that relationship, it will become stale and lose its power.

2 Timothy 1:6&7

Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God

which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power

and of love and of a sound mind.

God's spirit in us, is there on purpose; to empower us, love us and ease our troubled minds. He wants us to stir up the gift He's given us. Use it! Engage with Him, activate the gift He's given you.

John 15:4

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself,

unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

God sent His Spirit to commune with us; to connect with us on a personal and intimate level. Engaging in that relationship through prayer, meditation on scripture, worship, allows the Spirit to speak to us, direct us and bear fruit in our lives.

Revelation 3:20

Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,

I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

It's God's job to do the saving. It's our job to respond to His initiating Spirit. He comes to us, looking for communion, looking for connection and fellowship. The decision is ours, whether we will put in the effort, open the door, and stir up the gift within us.