What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?

What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

"Return for Your Servants' Sake..." An ADVENT Window

11/29/2016:  This is a repeat from last year two years ago, 11/30/2014.  I intend to open the Advent Calendar windows again this year, hopefully with some NEW and exciting "ADVENTures" each day, but since I am getting off to a late start, I will just share this post again . Tomorrow is a NEW day...and I can't wait to see what God is going to show us when we open the Advent Window of the new day.  Have a blessed day today my friends!  (We are actually on the 3rd day of Advent today, so we will have to play catch-up as we go along).

11/30/14:
Last year at this time I was beginning the Advent season by opening new Advent Calendar windows each day:Click HERE,  and then  HERE.  But it kind of fizzled out as I got busier into the ADVENT/Christmas preparation season for real.  This year I hope to do a little better at keeping up with the ADVENT window tradition...but looking at my schedule and household situation, I shouldn't be making any promises that I can't keep.  However, since today IS the first day of ADVENT, here is my first window or glimpse into the real meaning of ADVENT...something to think about as we prepare for the coming of our Lord...

In our morning devotions today
we read some verses that I had never noticed before as being used particularly during the Advent season.  I was somewhat taken by surprise as I read these verses aloud to my loved ones gathered in our living room early this Sunday morning.  They were not the traditional verses I expected to see during this season of waiting for the celebration of the nativity of our LORD.   However, as each written word was spoken, I could see the expediency of each verse as we look at current events and anticipate our Lord's RETURN.

Read along with me, and allow these words written so many centuries ago (how many, Lord?~8th Century B.C., which would be over 2800 years ago) to sink in...

Isaiah 63:15-19 (New King James Version)
(Isaiah's concern and confession for his people)

"Look down from heaven,
and see from your habitation,
holy and glorious.
Where are Your zeal and Your strength,
The yearning of Your heart
and Your mercies toward me?
Are they restrained?

Doubtless You are our Father,
Though Abraham was ignorant of us,
and Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, O LORD, are our Father;
Our REDEEMER from
Everlasting is Your name.

O LORD, why have You made us 
stray from Your ways,
and hardened our heart from Your fear?
RETURN FOR YOUR SERVANTS' SAKE,
the tribes of Your inheritance.

Your holy people have possessed 
it but a little while;
Our adversaries have trodden 
down Your sanctuary.
We have become like those of old,
over whom You never ruled,
Those who were never called by Your name.

Isaiah 64:1-7
(The remnant's prayer for deliverance at the return of Christ)

"OH, that You would rend the heavens!
That You would come down!
That the mountains might shake at Your presence~

As fire burns brushwood,
As fire causes water to boil~
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the nations may tremble 
at Your presence!

When You did awesome things 
for which we did not look,
YOU came down,
The mountains shook at Your presence.

For since the beginning of the world
Men have not heard nor
perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God
besides You,
Who acts for the one who
waits for Him.

You meet him who rejoices and 
does righteousness,
Who remembers You in Your ways.
You are indeed angry, for we have sinned~
In these ways we continue;
AND WE NEED TO BE SAVED.

But we are all like an unclean thing,
and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
We all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.

And there is no one who calls on Your name,
who stirs himself up to take hold of You;
for You have hidden Your face from us,
and have consumed us
because of our iniquities."

Our next reading came from Psalm 80, selected verses...as you read through these words perhaps you will get the picture of the ADVENT of the RETURN of CHRIST, for WHOM we are all awaiting at this present time...

Psalm 80

1.  "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock;
You who dwell between the cherubim,
shine forth!

2.  Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
Stir up Your strength,
AND COME AND SAVE US!

3.  RESTORE US, O GOD;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!

14.  RETURN, we beseech You,
O GOD of hosts;
Look down from heaven and see,
and visit this vine

15,  And the vineyard which Your 
right hand has planted,
and the branch that You
made strong for Yourself.

16.  It is burned with fire,
it is cut down;
They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.

17.  Let Your hand be upon the 
man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom
You made strong for Yourself.

18.  Then we will not turn back from You;
REVIVE US, and we will call upon Your name.

19.  RESTORE US, O LORD GOD of Hosts;
cause Your face to shine,
and we shall be SAVED!"


So, what is Advent...and for WHOM are we waiting? How are we waiting? What is the purpose of Advent?

In my mind, Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of the Messiah...and in our case, the RETURN of the Messiah.  Yes, we as Christians are preparing for two different types of celebrations...As we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in His first Advent to earth...we cannot truly celebrate the first Advent without being conscious of and ready for the Second ADVENT...the RETURN of our Messiah to earth to redeem His people from the world.  He came the first time to REDEEM us from our sins...from an impossible situation from which there was no rescue without His perfect sacrifice.  He will RETURN in the second Advent to claim His children and take them home to live forever with Him in heaven.  But we have to embrace and believe in the Christ of the FIRST ADVENT to be redeemed and accepted and claimed by Christ in His SECOND ADVENT...and to live eternally with Him forever.

I know my description and explanation may not be totally theologically and eschatologically (things to come in the future) correct...but in essence it is exactly what we are waiting for....the RETURN of our Savior, Messiah, and King to earth to claim His bride and take her home to live forever with Him in Heaven.  Kind of puts Christmas in a whole new light, doesn't it?

Something to ponder as we go about our hectic days of shopping, baking, decorating, partying, eating and celebrating.  This first Advent window opens up a whole new realm of possibilities and purpose. 



"He who testifies to these things says, 
'Surely I AM coming quickly.'
Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Amen."

Revelation 22:20-21



7 comments:

  1. Pam: This is a treat. I have been emotionally down today. A lady at our church went to be with Jesus, 25 days after her diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumor. She was in church three Sundays in a row since she got out of the hospital. Her name is Kathy. Could you please pray for her family, Her parents have to go through this grief and be strong for their other children, their grandchildren and greatgrands and her two children and the son-in-law,.

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    1. Oh Cecilia, I am SO sorry to hear about your friend Kathy. How sad for her family...and so quickly she was taken...and yet, we know that the day is soon coming when we will all be caught up quickly to be forever with the Lord, for those of us who look forward to His appearing. We all need to be ready at a moment's notice. But for those "left behind", especially now, in the case of Kathy's family, I know they are heartbroken. Praying for them all, that they would feel the love and warmth of the arms of our Savior, gathering them together and giving them the comfort that only He can give. Praying for this dear family in Jesus' Name, Amen.

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  2. Replies
    1. Thank you! I pray that God will lead me each day to look for the Advent clues around me...the signs of His coming! And also some ways to celebrate and prepare our hearts as we wait. This is my Christmas gift to myself as well as others.

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  3. I've never had an advent calendar. I think I purchased some for the members of a teen Sunday school class I taught. I love the pictures.

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    1. We used to have one when we were children, but it was mostly about Santa Claus coming...although it did show the birth of Jesus and the angels,shepherd etc. as we got to open the window on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. This Advent Calendar is preparing my heart for the Lord's return as well as preparing for Christmas. I hope it will be meaningful for others too. Thank you for being a part of this journey with me!

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    2. Thank you for this meaningful post on the Advent calendar windows; I'm looking forward to following along.

      This year, I'm wanting to focus on the true meaning of things; not on what it has become. Unlike many people, I have basically nothing going on during this "busy" time. My true family is my church family. Even without being busy, it's easy to lose focus.

      As I read your post, I got to thinking about the first and second comings--that lead to a thought about how the cradle was shadowed by the cross.

      Blessings!

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