Advent

Dear Fara gave us a list of 25 names of Jesus to treasure and ponder during Advent. As the kids grow, my desire is to keep taking them into the Word of God. I long for them to know and follow Jesus and to trust him to be the Lord of their life. In him, there is abundance of life. So each day, I took these names and looked at them in the scripture and texted it to them. John wanted them to be saved, so I thought I may as well gather them here so they will be saved. I think from here forward, I may post my thoughts for them here and text them the link so we can look back on what my thoughts for my kids are. I long for us to FOLLOW him and REMEMBER.

Day 1:

It's ADVENT!!! Jesus came and will come again. He said of himself in Revelation... I am the Alpha and the Omega. The first and the Last, the beginning and the end. Revelation 22:12-13

Day 2:

Advent day 2! Isaiah 9:6. This is Isaiah talking about the birth of Jesus looooonnnngggg before he was born. Amazing!! 

Let him be your Wonderful Counselor today!

Day 3:

Advent day 3!

This is worth reading again! Thank God for telling you that He is the Mighty God! Thank him for working strong in your life! Ask him to show you where  he is working his power and strength in our lives! Love y'all!! 

Day 4:

What does it mean when Isaiah said Jesus was coming as our Prince of Peace?

It means when our hearts feel scared or anxious, he can come and speak truth to our hearts. When we feel insecure, he tells us we are enough. When we feel unloved, he tells us we are loved. When we feel scared, he tells us he's got us. 

Why do you think I listen to Hillsongs song, the Prince of Peace, so much? It reminds me that he came as a baby at Christmas to save me from my sins and help me keep my eyes fixed on who God really is and who I really am. If you feel anxious today, tell me and tell Jesus, I promise he will help.

Day 5:

We cannot see God here on earth but we can see how he works- it's kinda like the wind, we can't see the wind but we can see what the wind is doing. 

But when Jesus came, the people got to see God. 

Second... he was the firstborn of creation- before angels, before people, before earth, Jesus was with God. Then he gave up that spot in heaven to be born here, live to tell us about the father, and die for our sins. When he rose from the dead, he led the way for us to be born again into our everlasting life. We were baptized to show that- buried with Christ and risen to new life. 

We have so much to remember and celebrate at Christmas!!! 

Day 7:

In this passage in Corinthians, Paul is talking about how through the grace God sent Jesus to bring, we receive all we need to live lives that bring the fruit of the Spirit to our lives and around us. It's talking specifically that he will give us the seeds to plant in spreading his love. So the gift is the talents he is putting in you to give to others. And this gift gives us the opportunity to spread his love and grace around in our lives. I can think of countless ways he's doing this in your lives. Just ask me and I'll tell you.

So today- thank God for the indescribable gift that God gave us in Jesus to bring us grace. 

Day 9:

Jesus is the Lamb of God. He came to take away the sins of the earth so we could know the Father. It goes all the way back to Genesis, God made us to walk with him. Eve and Adam believed the lie that God did not know what was best for them and disobeyed God. Because they were now sinners, God could not be with them because he is perfect, without sin. So he had to set himself apart, he is holy. So God killed the first animal to cover their nakedness. And man continued to have to kill animals as a sacrifice for their sin to close that gap between their selves and God. And these sacrifices did not last forever, the priests continually had to offer sacrifices. Until Jesus came. Until Jesus came, God always provided the sacrifices-- think of the lambs' blood they put in their door frames in Egypt when the angel of death came through as the last plague and the Israelites got outta there and ran to the desert. Think of the Lamb caught in the bushes when Abraham took Issac to sacrifice him in obedience to God. Well Jesus came as this lamb to take away our sins forever. John the Baptist recognized him as the fulfillment of Gods promises as did several others who were waiting and looking for the promised Savior. 

During Advent, we are looking and waiting-- looking to remind ourself who Jesus is and why he came. Waiting on Christmas and gifts like the Jews were waiting for Jesus to come. There were 400 years when God did not speak through any prophets between the Old Testament and Jesus coming. I'm sure they were quite discouraged. 

As you wait for Christmas, remember we have already received the greatest gift. We know God through his word, through worship, through love and forgiveness and through prayer. We give gifts to remind us of this gift but obviously nothing can compare. 

I pray our lives point to Jesus like John did, with confidence and hope.

Day 10:

Go read John 10:1-18

Jesus is our Good Shepherd. A Shepherd takes care of sheep. Sheep, they say, are one of the most unintelligent animals-- not very smart. They can fall over and not know how to stand back up. They can eat one patch of grass until it's gone and not move one step over to another patch. They cannot defend themselves and are very vulnerable to attack. Sheep cannot live in their own in the wild, they just wouldn't make it. So Jesus is saying he cares for us like the most important caretaker of the most needy animals. He says they listen to his voice. That's why it's so critical that we read the Bible everyday- to know the voice of God. We are very much like sheep and need our caretaker. Listen to the word of God today. Pray and tell Jesus you will listen to him for help. He wants to take care of you. So thankful he came as a baby. He lived as a child your age, he knows what it's like. The Bible says he was temped in every way but did not sin. It says he knows what you are going through. Tell him about your life and how you need help. Tell daddy and me too and we can help you find help from his words. Much love to you this morning, xoxo

Day 11:
One of the last things Jesus says to John in the book of Revelation is that he is the bright morning star. I'm not 100% sure exactly what he meant but from what I know of his character from other scripture, I think he may mean-- in this world, there is trouble and darkness he is our light and hope and promise of more brightness to come. When I run, I'm so thankful for the beautiful bright stars before sunrise. This is Jesus- our hope of more. In heaven, there will be no sun because the glory of God will be so bright. We see glimmers if that now, just like the stars before the sun rises. Look for the glimmers of Jesus in your life today- look for his love, his kindness, his provision-- we can see these things here and we have hope that we will see them brighter and brighter.

 

Day 13:

This isn't the happiest passage to talk about. So you see that unclean spirit- that is a spirit of Satan, basically a demon, which is the opposite of an angel. Satan started in Heaven as the chief music leader but he wanted to be like God, he wanted to be worshiped, so God threw him out of heaven and he took angels with him to worship him. Satan and the demons know and recognize Jesus, and they know exactly who he is-- the difference is they do not want to worship him. They do not want Jesus to be their Lord. They do not want to obey his best teaching for how to live. So it it stunning that Mark chose to include this story. This unclean spirit recognized Jesus as holy- perfectly set apart from sin, this is the Jesus we trust, we worship, we have asked to take away our sin. This is the Jesus we celebrate at Christmas because He came as the Holy One, bringing his light and love and grace and mercy to earth. And he died for our sins so that we can recognize him as the Holy One. It's stunning really. 

Day 14:

Shout out to henry with our Bible reading today for his Bible exam-- read John 1:1-18

Jesus is the Light of the World. 

When he came to earth, he brought such light to who God is and who we are and how we are to live our lives. When we trust him, he brings such clarity and vision to what we are going through. We cannot always see the whole path we are on but we see so much of it. We see how to see God, we see how to see each other, we see how to live our daily lives- those things do not change whether we are having a normal school day, a vacation day, a sick day, a sad day or a happy day. I'm so thankful Jesus came. I'm so thankful we get to know him in the Word, I'm so thankful we can pray to him and worship him. Praying the Light of the World will help us see our way through our day today. 

Love you all so much.

Day 15:

More light today!! 

This passage is Zechariah speaking about his son John who prepared the way for Jesus. And he said John will go before-- the sunrise is referring to Jesus. Jesus is the Light of the World, the bright morning star, the sunrise. Now we can understand why we put so many lights our at Christmas.  

When I was putting up our wreaths- I was thinking about the green representing new life, the lights being the light of the world and the red representing his blood that paid for our sins on the cross. The circle of the wreath reminds us that Jesus has no beginning and no end. 

There are so many Christmas decorations that are meant to point us to christ that we overlook or don't even know about. But this Christmas, let's remember Jesus came as the sunrise on a new day and a new life for us. I know y'all are busy, but try to look at this passage in Luke today.

Day 16:

Jesus is the Word of God. And he wasn't just called that as a clever opening in the book of John. He is also called the Word of God here in Revelation. 

What's going on in this passage?This is talking about when Jesus comes back. In the Old Testament, there is talk about him coming as our Savior, and it happened- starting at Christmas when he came as a baby. Now Revelation talks about when he's coming again. The world will not always be like this, Satan and his demons will not always be here on earth. Eventually, when the time is right, God will have enough and will send Jesus back with the army of Heaven and go to war against those who do not want Jesus to be their Lord and Satan will be bound in Hell forever. The sickness, the sadness, the death, the sin, the fighting, the war, the disappointment, the hard work that is short of the outcome we want-- will all be bound with him. Gods people will be restored to what he created us to be. And the name that Jesus will have on him when he comes--- The Word of God. Listen to his word today-- in the Bible, in songs about him and in your heart when he reminds you of scripture to help you get through your day. 

Love you peeps! Happy Saturday!

Day 17:

The line before this passage says that the Pharisees were so upset that Jesus healed somebody in Sunday that they wanted to kill him. Ummmm, that's crazy for us to hear. Why would they not want someone to be healed if they were sick? But the law was no body could work in Sunday, it was a day of rest and they were so upset Jesus "worked" on a Sunday. But we know the heart of Jesus- he came as a servant. He gave up heaven to come to earth as a baby- from king to helpless, totally dependent on someone else. He came to tell us about God and to show us Gods character. God wants us to be well. He wants us to be peaceful with him. He wants us to pray to him. He wants us to love one another. He wants us to serve one another. He wants us to set aside what we see as important to take care of each other. The Pharisees probably loved that they couldn't work on Sunday- it's really nice to have a day off but Jesus didn't want a day off from taking care of us. And he still doesn't. Let Jesus take care of you today. Listen to how he wants you to spend your day from his word. Pray about everything so he can take care of you. He doesn't want a day off. He wants to take care of us. I get grumpy about all I have to do, Jesus does not. You think I'm going to be asking him for that strength to serve without complaint? YES. I love y'all so much and know Jesus loves you more. John wrote in his gospel that he wrote his gospel that we would be full of joy. Let's take him up on that joy. Let's trust Gods word to be true and line our lives up with it. Happy Sunday! One week to Christmas Eve!! What what!!!!!

Day 18:

Long before he was born, when he was born, before his death and after his death, Jesus was called King. The disciples really wanted him to be a King who ruled on this earth; at one point they were arguing about who would get to sit next to him when he was on his throne, but that was not the kind of king he came to be. He is the king of his people from heaven in this unseen battle that we cannot always see but one day he will come back on his white horse as a king we can see (but we've already talked about that). Today make this king of heaven the king of your heart. We submit ourselves to the laws of the United States and to our president but we should also submit ourselves to Jesus the king of heaven and to his laws. Not the Old Testament laws as a way to stay in good standing but the Biblical law in a way of saying- we trust your way is best. We wear seat belts bc it's the law but the law was made to keep us safe, it's best for us. Our King Jesus tells us to Love God and Love people, he tells us to pray, he tells us to be kind and generous, he tells us to forgive, he tells us to serve one another. I loved seeing this morning that his title of King goes throughout the Bible, let's let that title stay in our hearts throughout the day.

Day 19:

Jesus is the Rose of Sharon. 

So the book of Song of Solomon is a conversation between a husband and wife- or a bride and groom. In Ephesians, the church is referred to as the bride of Christ. This means that when Christ receives us, we will be united with him forever, he will be our leader, our provider, the one who cares for us. He waits for us with excitement and joy and we should be preparing ourselves to meet him-- just like a bride and groom prepare to be married. So when we read the book of Song of Solomon, we need to remember that Jesus loves us that deeply as well. When He is referred to as the Rose of Sharon, he is being called perfect and rich and flourishing. The Rose of Sharon was the most perfect and beautiful Rose- it was treasured, just like Christ should be in our lives. When you read this verse and think of marriage-- you are to know that we long to be married to someone who is perfect for us. Your daddy and I are opposites in a lot of ways but it is opposites in a magnet that make it stick perfectly together. Because we both love Jesus, his perfect love will keep us together because we promised through the highest biblical promise- a covenant- to stick together. When we read this verse and think of Christ, we know that he was perfect here on earth, he did not sin and died a death as the perfect sacrifice for our sin. Now when God sees us, he sees us through that perfect sacrifice and sees us in perfect standing before him. He doesn't see us naked like Adam and Eve we're in the garden but standing dressed in the right white robe of Christ (that's from Revelation). So when you hear that Jesus is the Rose of Sharon, think Jesus is perfect.

Day 20:

Yesterday I kinda ignored the part of Song of Solomon that said he is the Lily of the valley bc I had to work hard to see what the Rose of Sharon meant. Well imagine my surprise when today our name for Jesus is Lily of the valley-- 

So here we are. 

Same verse but actually the Bible talks about lilies 15 times! 

I found an awesome article by a Gardner that tells us just what we need to know! 

Lilies are very strongly sweet smelling. Interestingly, the Bible does talk about aromas going to heaven- our prayers, our sacrifices... so this is no surprise, if any prayer and sacrifice was pleasing to God, it is Jesus. 

Lilies are the purest, prettiest white. I talked about that yesterday-- the blood of Hesys has washed us and made us white as snow before God. Revelation talks about us being dressed in white- that means we are clean from our sins. 

Lilies are very fruitful, from one root- many, many branches grow. Same for Jesus, his love reaches so far and so many. 

Lilies are among the tallest flower but their heads are hung low. Does that not look like the humility of Christ- he left heaven, he was so powerful, yet prayed to follow the will of God. 

The lily has many medicinal uses- healing properties- as does Jesus- not just our bodies, but our hearts as well. 

What a beautiful flower and even more beautiful Jesus!

And this is the life we get to live, because the Holy Spirit is in us, and we have learned how to live for Christ and by his ways, we get to be a sweet fragrance of Christ here in earth- most days I pray to be the aroma of Christ when I put on my perfume!

Day 21:

Jesus, friend. 

Jesus came at a time with the measure of a persons life was measured by how well others thought they were keeping the law. If you were really good at keeping the law then you looked really good and everyone thought you were very religious. Plus you had to bring born in the right religious family. But sadly most keep the law without concern of how their heart loved God. So they may be looking right, but their hearts were not. When Jesus came, he showed what the heart of the Father looked like. God chose Abraham to be the Father of his family. He didn't choose Abraham bc he was strong and his family was big and impressive, he chose Abraham bc he knew Abraham would believe him and obey him and love him and that through Abraham, people would see Gods character. As the 100s of years of this family growing into the Jewish nation, these people forgot their humility and faith. Enter Jesus. Jesus showed the heart of God. Full of compassion, full of willingness to help give hope and peace and security. So when Jesus showed that compassion that was shown to Abraham, the Jewish nation- which came from Abraham was shocked. They asked, he is kind to people who are not following the law???? Forgetting that once their family didn't know the law either. Jesus wanted to show the love of his Father to the people. He wanted to be their friend. Remember God started out walking with Adam and Eve in the garden until they sinned. Now he came to restore that friendship, even with people who did not know him. 

The New Testament goes onto say, while we were still sinners Christ died for us. So whereas Gods love spread through a family in the Old Testament, through Abrahams family and the law showed them the character of God, in the New Testament, this love spread through our friend Jesus who came to tell us about the character of God. Same character, spoken in a different way. Right after this, Jesus tells us why he came to tell us about Gods character. It's so we can have rest for our souls. Does your heart ever feel worried or anxious or scared? That's why our friend Jesus came to tell us about his Father- to show us who we are, who loves us and how we can live here peacefully until he calls us home to live in the house he's adding on to for us. 

Love you peeps, 😘😘😘😘

Day 22:

Good morning 😘

Jesus is our Savior! 

In John 4, he is talking with the woman at the well. Much like my text yesterday, Jesus is talking to someone who the disciples are surprised by. It's not just today that people have a hard time talking to people who are not like them, that's been going on a long time. But not at all with Jesus. He came to save Abrahams family, the Jewish nation but also the Gentiles. He came to save sinners. We needed rescuing from our sin. You know that feeling when you've done something wrong and you feel sick about it. Imagine that Times a billion with no hope of forgiveness. That's where we were with our sin. The law told us we were sinners, separated from God. Jesus came to take the punishment for our sin so we can be forgiven and peaceful and friends with God. He came to SAVE us from the power of sin. Save-- Savior. So as he's talking to this woman, he talks about giving her living water that springs up to eternal life. He talks about doing the Fathers will is his bread, his nourishment, his energy. He talks about worshipping God in spirit (by the Holy Spirit from our heart) and in truth (thanking God for who he is and what he has done that we know is true). After this woman believes, and she tells others, Jesus stays there for 2 more days and the people in the city believe bc she has told them and they have heard from himself. That's where we still are-- we can hear from others about Jesus and we can read about him in the word. Take a minute today and read John 4 and thank Jesus for coming to be our Savior.

Day 23:

Ok people, this has not been easy. 

Jesus is Shiloh..... 

ready?

Part 1..... In Genesis, as Jacob is blessing his sons as he is about to die--- he says to Judah that the scepter will not pass from his hand. A scepter is what a king holds to show he's in charge. So Judah's family will always be king. Look at Matthew 1 at Joseph's lineage-- see Judah?

 

That is Genesis people, from the beginning- the plan was for Jesus.

So Shiloh--- means "to him

Who it belongs" 

To him who belongs tribute. 

The Kingship belongs to Jesus. He is the one all of Gods people were waiting for. 

God was working for all those generations. 

What does that mean for us? As we are with family today, let's have confidence in Gods working through our families and through our lives. Ok?

Day 24:

Jesus is the Ancient of Days. 

The book of Daniel tells a lot of what is going to happen in the kingdom of God. Now some did already happen. Last week pastor Gregg said that the wise men may have been looking for the King of the Jews to be born as evidenced by the star bc they lived in the land where Daniel had lived and they knew about Daniels prophecies! Daniel also speaks about things in Gods kingdom that have not happened yet and what is going on in heaven. Here he is talking about the Ancient of Days. Here's what I want you to know today. Jesus lived before he came as a baby. He lived before creation. He lived all throughout the Old Testament. He now lives in heaven. Ancient of Days refers to long long long long time ago. Jesus was not created like we were in our mothers womb. He lived before that. He wasn't created, he put on flesh and came. He put on a body and came. He came as a baby. Helpless. The Bible says he was tempted in every way yet did not sin. If you feel tempted to sin in any way, Jesus felt it too. And he didn't sin. He tells us to pray to him for help bc he gets it. He also has seen all of creation. He has seen all times. And yet he chose to be our friend. And he teaches us, helps us and listens to us by the power of the Holy Spirit. So this is Christmas- Jesus choosing to come, at just the right time in history, to rescue us from our sin, tell us who we are, and tell us what's ahead. Like uncle ben said yesterday at his prayer at lunch, what an awesome thing for us to gather centering on the birth of Christ. May be not forget for one second these next few days that the world is stopping to remember that moment.

I know I've typed out a lot to yall these last few weeks. And I hope it's brought you a new or clearer understanding of who Jesus is. Has there been any lesson that has stayed with you and encouraged you? Helped you? 

Merry Christmas Eve. I love y'all so much. 🎄❤️👶🏻🌟

Day 25:

Emmanuel God with us. 

Jesus came and he's still here. 

Isaiah told us 700 years before that he was coming. And he came and many confirmed it was him. And Jesus told us before before the left that he always would be. 

Hallelujah!