A New Year; A Forever Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! I give thanks to GOD with everything I've got - Whenever good people gather, and in the congregation. GOD's works are so great, worth a lifetime of study - endless enjoyement! Splendor and majesty mark His craft; His generosity never gives out. His miracles are His memorial - The GOD of Grace, this GOD of Love. 
Psalm 111:1-4 The Message

In a current television commercial, a child incorrectly says the familiar phrase New Year's Resolution as New Year's 'Revolution'! While quite humorous, it not so far off the mark. According to the dictionary, revolution can be defined as a sudden, complete or marked change in something. Grace is like a revolution. When Grace is invited, it comes suddenly, completely and markedly changes us for ever! Perhaps what most of us really need is a spiritual revolution this new year! Maybe this is the year to reach new depths of intimacy with Christ. Maybe this is the year to fully commit to living for Jesus, to living like Jesus. 

As this new year begins, completely commit to something that will encourage your spiritual growth, some activity that will deepen your relationship with Christ. Maybe this is the year to join a Bible Study group, volunteer to teach a Sunday School Class, lead a prayer team, go on a mission trip, or become part of a faith project in your own church or community. Often these require one to step outside the familiar, outside a comfort zone. Listen! What is God calling you to do that will makedly change you forever?

Personal spiritual growth can involve setting a daily devotional time, reading the Bible and praying. There are many books and online options. You can choose a Bible verse that will inspire and help direct your spiritual journey for the year. Simply get out your Bible and pray for God to lead you to a specific verse for the year to come. Claim it! Memorize it! Post it! Share it! Study it! Or, maybe you need a word for the year -just one word- that will help you focus on Christ, discern His will, encourage your heart, and bring you peace. If you are into social media, one recent suggestion I read is to choose several of your Facebook friends and pray for them, chooisng new ones each week or so. Tell them you are praying for them, asking if they have specific needs. LISTEN! PRAY! STUDY! God will help you discover His unique path for you this year. 

Whether you make New Year's resolutions or not, I believe God is always calling us to greater spiritual growth. Any moment, unexpected circumstances cause sudden, complete or marked change. Will you be ready spiritually for such a life-revolution? Will you know how to find comfort in God's Holy Word? Will you be prepared to pray for others in crisis? Will you be able to share God's word with someone in need? Spending time with God - praying, studying, and listening - prepares us to help others, provides us with words to reassure, comfort, and encourage another. Consistently seeking God's Presence grows deep spiritual roots of faith and trust, of love and hope in Christ. This GOD of Grace, this GOD of Love...His Hallelujah lasts forever! ~dho

Consider this:
- READ Psalm 111
- Journal your thoughts

Anticipation!

^{"See, I am coming soon; my reward is with Me,} to repay according to everyone's work. 
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

Revelation 22:12-13

Hope Was Born This Night  -  Sidewalk Prophets

Advent Haiku

Beginning and end,

Jesus, Redeemer, and King,

 Coming again - Watch!

Donna Oswalt

4th Sunday of Advent ~ Anticipation

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

O LORD my God, You are very great;

You are clothed with splendor and majesty.

Psalm 104:1 NASB

In ancient Roman times, emblems of evergreens mean peace and joy and victory, while early Christians use these symbols to reflect that "Christ had entered the home." Now days, decorations of evergreen branches trim porches, mantles, and banisters; evergreen wreaths hang on windows, over fireplaces, outside doors. While these symbols reflect the celebration of the Advent season, this time of longing for the Messiah, the evergreens give continuous, unspoken reminders of God's endless mercy, everlasting life, eternal Hope. Since the first sin of mankind, throughout thousands of years, century after century, darkness waits for redemption, waits for the light that only Christ can reveal. Jesus' birth, rich with prophecy and promise, only unfolds part of God's Grace story. There is more, much more! This forgiven heart eagerly anticipates the conclusion of His story, the Second Advent of Christ, when Faithful and True returns for me. 

At Jesus' birth, Mary wraps Him in cloths and lays Him in a manger because there was not room for them in the inn. After Jesus' death, with permission from Pilate, a man called Joseph of Arimathea takes the body of Jesus from the cross and wraps it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. Coming from a virgin womb and wrapped in cloths, Immanuel becomes grace to harsh world, and when the cruelty of the people crucified Him, the Lamb of God, wrapped in linen cloths, lay in a virgin tomb. Politics and power, greed and guilt, denial and death will never define the immutable life of Jesus; instead, the Messiah's victory over death and promise to return for His people enlarge God's never-ending story of Grace. The promise of Christ's Second Advent fills the mind seeking wonder and hope, stills the heart living grief and fear, and thrills the soul knowing grace and peace. Earthly wrappings can never tell the whole story of Advent! 

And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, 

and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, ... 

He is clothed with robe dipped in blood, 

and His names is called The Word of God... 

And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, 

"KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

Revelation 19:11-16 NASB

Clothed with splendor and majesty, Christ will come again. Surrounded by angels, His glory will illumine space; there will be no more darkness. LORD OF LORDS, the title declaring Him Lord over all, reigns forever. Jesus Christ - the Light of the World, the Messiah, KING OF KINGS - now waits in Heaven until the holy appointed time. Jesus waits for us to call on His name, waits for us to cry out in need, waits for us to share His Love, waits for us to speak His name. Listen! Every day the Word of God quills the story of everlasting love and unfailing grace. Believe! Every day find Immanuel, God with us. Wait! Anticipate Advent every moment of your everyday. THIS is the Christmas Story! -dho

Celebration!

Let every living, breathing creature praise GOD!

Hallelujah!

Psalm 150:6 The Message

A Hallelujah Christmas!  by Cloverton

Advent Haiku

Jesus, Holy One, 

Born to bring unending Grace,

God in us ~ Rejoice...

Donna Oswalt

3rd Sunday of Advent ~ Celebration

When I discovered Your words, I devoured them.

They are my joy and my heart's delight,

for I bear Your name.

Jeremiah 15:16

This 3rd Sunday in the Advent season sometimes is called "Gaudete Sunday" from the Latin meaning "rejoice". Others call this candle "joy", which is sometimes pink. Joy-full celebrations in the Christmas story show angels singing of great joy, shepherds telling with holy awe, wise men worshiping in humble adoration. The expectant waiting in Advent leads us to celebrate Christ as the Messiah, to seek Christ more every day, to know Jesus as our source of joy.

In Philippians 4:4, Paul reminds, "Rejoice in The Lord always, again, I will say rejoice!" The world continually bombards us with crisis and chaos, disappointment and doubt, fear and fatigue. The contrast between Paul's words and our realities appear to clash. How can we rejoice when difficult circumstances prevail, when constant hardship lingers? God's word provides His wisdom, reveals His promises, offers His hope. Reading and studying the Bible teaches us how to pray, who to love, and where to serve. We can only find real joy in Jesus.

In the Nativity, Hope comes quietly, Love comes small, Joy comes gently, but with the Crucifixion, Hope faints, Love chooses, and Joy weeps. These two events cannot be separated, the sweet and the bittersweet. The emotions born with Jesus' coming crash into the harsh realities of the cross; the Messiah comes because the world needs Grace. With His Resurrection, Hope shouts, Love lives, and Joy reigns! Through Grace, Christ brings us abundant joy. God's word instructs us, "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you." [Colossians 3:16] Discover and devour God's word. Then, and only then, can we Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in Him. -dho

Incarnation!

"I tell you this: whenever you saw a brother hungry or cold, 

when you saw a sister without friends, 

when you saw the least of these and ignored their suffering, 

you ignored Me."

Matthew 25:45 The Voice

"Do You Have Room?"     by  Shawna Edwards

Advent Haiku

Perfect Love, Holy

One, Grace and Truth, Infinite

and Incarnate, dwell...

Donna Oswalt