R is for Risen
S is for Serve
T is for Taste
U is for Undeserving
Celebrating the Incarnation -part 1-
Praying the Psalms -Psalm 100-
Advent Begins November 28 – Some Resources-
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The Christmas lights are shining in our homes, in the mall; some main streets have decorations hanging down from the roof tops already. Many people love this time of the year because peace and goodwill to all men are promised; but what is this season really about?
This is the time of the year when believers make a stop and meditate and celebrate the coming of our Savior; the Incarnation of our Lord. Those who are not believers and celebrate this season, doesn’t know that for them, if they do not repent, the coming of our Lord Jesus doesn’t bring peace but grief; it brings condemnation instead of life; tears instead of joy.
We can only celebrate with joy this time of the year if we have been saved by grace through the coming, the death, and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you have not repented from your sins, for a life lived in vanity; I urge you to listen, to see, to repent. Just as John the Baptist preached repentance before the manifestation of the Christ; so the Spirit urges you to repent from your sinful ways, before the coming of the Christ to your life.
The heart of Christmas; is not celebrating “Jesus’ birthday”; it is the celebration of the Incarnation of God. The second person of the Trinity took the form of a man to do the most amazing thing ever: pursue sinners; rescue His enemies; adopt those whose names were written in the book of Life even before the foundation of the world, and did not know that yet. He came to give His life for fugitives like me, for slaves of sin, and children of the devil. This is what this season is about; it is not only about a baby born in a manger, it goes beyond, it doesn’t stop there; it is about the Son of Man living a perfect, sinless life to die on a cross bearing our sins, the guilt of His own people, and the wrath of God on his whole being. It is about Him wrapped not in swaddling clothes, but in burial clothes in a tomb for three days and coming back to life, because death could not hold Him back. It is about Life conquering death; it is about Light piercing darkness; it is about peace made between God the Father and those who once were His enemies. It is about the forgiveness of our sins, and the glorious hope of seeing Him one day face to face in glory.
This is what the Incarnation is all about, God breaking the time-line in which we live and entering the time and space He created.
For centuries, the people of God heard promises of the Messiah; they lived in the shadows of what was to come. In Hebrews 1 we read about Jesus coming to fulfill those promises and to be the voice of God to us; we read “the Divine commentary by God himself on the Incarnation” (1)
“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last day he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things,through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” Hebrews 1:1-4 ESV
This is why we turn on lights, we want to celebrate that we now live in light; that we no longer live in shadows; Jesus has come to be the Light of the World and to speak to us, to draw us to the Father of lights!
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1: 17
“To whom Christ came. Was it to his friends? No; he came to sinful man. Man that had defaced his image, and abused his love; man who was turned rebel; yet he came to man, resolving to conquer obstinacy with kindness.” Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity
Please, be welcome to share with us how do you celebrate the Incarnation of our Lord; how do your family keep a Christ- centered Holiday season; you can also share with us a quote from your Advent devotional reading, or your thoughts about the Incarnation of Our Lord
Link to your blog post or simply leave a comment here. (The linking tool will be open a full week)
Let us join our voices and praise the Incarnation of our Lord!
Every Wednesday in December, we will be Celebrating the Incarnation here, at Daily On My Way to Heaven. (see more on the side bar)
This post is linked to Bonnie Gray’s blog
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This question is still there, here, for you, for me.
Only through the Holy Spirit we can get the right answer: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16: 14-18)
Part one of this series is found here
A is for Advent
Thank you for joining me on this journey through the alphabet with my children.
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| Folio 111 verso from a psalter (British Library, Stowe 2). Initial D from Psalm 100 (Beatus). |
Thanksgiving is almost here, the last details are on our list and we are excited… It makes me happy to think that Thanksgiving is the opening door to the way that leads us to the Nativitity. We start with thanksgiving, with a grateful heart, we slow down to give thanks to the Almighty One for his mercies .
What a better way to prepare our hearts for this Advent season, and for the celebration of the Incarnation of our Lord?
Let us walk towards Bethlehem with thanksgiving in our hearts!
>My husband and I decided to start celebrating the Advent few years ago. It was certainly not an easy decision; we really wanted to do it, but living in a Catholic country where these kind of traditions have always been associated by Evangelicals with paganism and idolatry was not easy. We prayed, we marked the calendar, and our family was blessed indeed!
Noël Piper says about Advent,
“For four weeks, it’s as if we’re re-enacting, remembering the thousands of years God’s people were anticipating and longing for the coming of God’s salvation, for Jesus. That’s what advent means—coming. Even God’s men who foretold the grace that was to come didn’t know “what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating.” They were waiting, but they didn’t know what God’s salvation would look like.” (source)
Today, as the time approaches I want to suggest to you several resources that have been a blessing in our home as we wait, as we sit around the Family Table and read about His glorious coming.
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| Buy here. |
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| Buy it here (it is on sale right now!) |
More Christmas music can be found here.
We would love to hear about them!
Remember that we will be celebrating the Incarnation of our Lord at Daily On My Way to Heaven, you are invited to join us! Link to your blog post every Wednesday on December; tell us how do you keep a Jesus centered Christmas.
Daily On My Way to Heaven 
