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
So, today, on this fourth day of Advent, my true love (hubby) took me to walk where we are searching for our (what I am calling) Charlie Brown Florida Cracker Christmas Tree. So named because the Christmas trees grown in Florida, at least in this part of the state, are not your perfectly shaped spruce, fir, or scotch pine type trees that you can get in most other parts of the country. The natural Christmas trees that you can go out and cut here in this part of Florida are known as sand pines...because they grow in the sand and have shallow root systems. They grow very tall, but before they do, there are some areas where, with a permit, (and payment of $7.00) we can go and cut our own Christmas tree! 
