ADVENT JOY: FROM EDGINESS TO EAGERNESS
JOY MAKES THE DIFFERENCE IN OUR FUTURE(Thursday, December 15th) Edginess: being on edge; tense, irritable; characterized by tension; having a bold, …
ADVENT JOY: FROM EDGINESS TO EAGERNESS
December 15th, 2022
The oldest known map is the Imago Mundi Babylonian map from the 6th century BCE Babylonia. Now in the British Museum. Below is a photo of the map that is on display at the British Museum.
Does the name Rand McNally mean anything to you? When I was growing up, if you wanted to know where a state, city or county was located you looked either on a paper map or in a road atlas. Also, if you had done this you know that (re)folding a paper map took so engineering know how. Now, we can just type into our smartphones and a map with pop open and give us step by step directions along with road conditions to our destinations. It may be quicker and more convenient but I have also found it to be very annoying when I decide to stop or veer off track to check something out, “MAKE A U-TURN AT THE NEXT STREET.” A road map, atlas or your smartphone app provides us with detailed directions to reach a certain destination.
The Bible (God’sWord), also provides for us detailed directions along with instructions for living a life pleasing to God. It tells of roads and paths to avoid falling into sin; teaches us to avoid hazards in life; provides warning signs and tells when use caution. The Bible also provides us with instructions for living a life that is loving, generous, and draws others to Jesus and His teachings. The Bible is our road map to the new Jerusalem and the new heaven. Revelation 2:21, “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” We even have a personal guide, the Holy Spirit leading on the path of righteousness to God Himself.
“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things.”
—John 14:26—
The Bible is our road map for living, dying, and living again. Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
The Bible starts with the beginning at Genesis and it takes us to the end of time in Revelation. It is about the Alpha and the Omega, the one One, the I AM that I AM, who began this world and the One who will bring it to a conclusion.
“Theology is like a map. Merely learning and thinking about the Christian doctrines, if you stop there, is less real and less exciting than the sort of thing my friend got in the desert. Doctrines are not God: they are only a kind of map. But that map is based on the experience of hundreds of people who really were in touch with God–experiences compared with which many thrills of pious feelings you and I are likely to get on our own are very elementary and very confused. And secondly, if you want to get any further you must use the map.”
—C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity—
Thank you for visiting my blog today. May you experience the love of God today as you continue your journey through Advent. You are a blessing. 🛐 💟
~Charlotte, Seeker of unexpected Comfort, Happiness, Joy and Patience.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/twiki/Early_world_maps
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John.14.26&version=RSV
December 14th, 2022
“But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
Isaiah 64:8 (ESV)
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)
It was St. Augustine, who said “God gives where he finds empty hands” and C. S. Lewis who reminds us that “God gives his gifts where he finds the vessel empty enough to receive them,” for, “a man whose hands are full of parcels cannot receive a gift.”
I love how both scripture verses provide beautiful visuals for us as they relate to our relationship with God. God created us, formed us, made us; like a potter crafts beautiful pieces from clay. We are all unique creations and are perfectly what God designed us to be. None of us are mistakes or imperfect; we were designed by God, for God’s purposes and to walk with God.
Often times, our choices in life tend to fill us with things that clutter our vessel. The more we fill our vessel with our own stuff, God’s stuff tends to flow out because we overfill our vessel selfishly. It is through our confession of sin, the removing of clutter that provides space for God to fill us with goodness. When we are filled with God’s goodness our overflowing seeps out and God uses that to fill others around us. We are then being the literal hands and feet of Jesus in the world. I love David’s words in Psalm 23:5-6, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and mercy/love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Prayer~ God of all creation, help me to declutter, help me to empty out my vessel of selfishness, pride, arrogance and everything that keeps me from your goodness. Lord, fill me with compassion, humility and love for all creation. Teach me your ways, place your words of instruction on my heart that I might learn from you day and night. I ask all these things in Jesus’ name.
~Amen.
~Charlotte, Seeker of unexpected Comfort, Happiness, Joy and Patience.
References:
ADVENT JOY: FROM DAZZLE TO DELIGHT
JOY MAKES THE DIFFERENCE IN OUR ENCOUNTERS(Wednesday, December 14th) Dazzle: to shine brilliantly; to arouse admiration by an impressive display; to …
ADVENT JOY: FROM DAZZLE TO DELIGHT
JOY: FROM DISCIPLINE TO DEVOTION (AND BACK AGAIN!)
JOY MAKES THE DIFFERENCE IN OUR TIME WITH GOD(Tuesday, December 13th) Discipline: training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or …
ADVENT JOY: FROM DISCIPLINE TO DEVOTION (AND BACK AGAIN!)
December 13th, 2022
Hello and welcome! I just finished reading a devotional entitled, “Mary, Mother of God Chapel” written by Jan Richardson and she describes a chapel that provides a quiet space for her soul. It made me start thinking about quiet spaces where I find quiet and peace for my soul.
“Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.”
2 Chronicles 7:15
When I was growing up, I loved walking in the sanctuary of our church, we would often have meals at church following a Sunday service and I would sneak away upstairs to enjoy the quiet. It was an old church with wooden pews, polished and just right for sliding on. But I loved the feel of the wooden seats, the creaking of the wooden floors when walking on them, and looking upon the picture of Jesus on the wall. Such beautiful memories. Below are two photos of the church I grew up attending.
Most recently, I have found two favorite activities that feed my soul and help me feel closer to God. The first activity is driving on country roads, or at least roads off the beaten path. I drive slow and look for things that give me pause, I often will park the car on the side of the road so I can get out and take a closer look and usually snap some photos. My second favorite thing to do is to go to a park or nature preserve and sit listening to the sounds. Watching nature move in harmony with the wind, the birds singing and trees swaying. These are my chapels.
How about you, where is your chapel? Do you have special places or things that you retreat to for quiet soul rest? If you have them, visit them often. If you don’t have a special thing or place, maybe you are still searching and my prayer for you is that the Holy Spirit will provide guidance. Seek places or things that bring you JOY! It is very important that we take time to care for ourselves, so that we are able to care for others.
Here’s a few of my favorite photos from my country drives…I hope you enjoy them.
“Mary calls us into this holy space of inner fertile darkness. We can ask her to stay with us in the cell of our hearts as we await what wants to emerge.”
—Christine Valters Paintner
I am so very blessed for you support , companionship and encouragement during this advent journey.
May you experience much JOY today!
~Charlotte, Seeker of unexpected Comfort, Happiness, Joy and Patience.
References:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2Chr.7.15&version=NIV
December 11th, 2022
~Charlotte, Seeker of unexpected Comfort, Happiness, Joy and Patience.
December 12th, 2022
When I read the title of today’s devotional I was wondering how the word, “stripping” would fit into my life and how I might be able to share my thoughts with you. Just hearing the word, “stripping “can open one’s thoughts! The story written by Jan Richardson was her story and her experience and it included “stripping” wallpaper and she being a gifted writer elegantly shared a story intertwining the removal of wallpaper and repainting a wall with beautiful comparisons to her own life story. I highly recommend her book which I am currently reading called, “Night Visions-searching the shadows of advent and christmas.”
As I’m sure you noticed I added my own “title” for today under, “Stripping” called {Packing, Moving, Packing}. The scripture I chose for today comes from Genesis 32 focusing on Jacob. The biblical account of Jacob can be found in Genesis 25 thru Genesis 50.
There are times in our lives where God will take things away, in some cases takes everything away that we find comfort in to help us regain our first love. Our first love is God, himself. God who created us and breathed life into us. Our beginning is God. As we grow and live things seep into our lives that distracts us from our first love, we may even forget our first love. In the case of Jacob, he ran away to a new land, took multiple wives and became very wealthy looking for happiness.
Does any of this resonate with you. It definitely did with me, I try to live by saying I have no regrets, I have made plenty of mistakes and made some bad choices but they also taught me very valuable lessons. Sometimes we must hit rock bottom, then dig a bit deeper before we decide to look up and ask for help. In some cases, we find ourselves running away from God. Okay, so we run, but why do we run? In my cases, I think it started out as just looking away from God to see what else was in the world, I became distracted and that led to walking away and before I knew it I was running in a new direction and God was no longer my anchor. I never completely left God but my relationship suffered because distance grew.
It’s been more than a decade since I experienced personal devastation and I had to learn to trust God, to return to my first love. It did not happen quickly, there was a lot of pain and anger involved. My wounds ran deep, I needed to uncover why they hurt so badly. It was more than ripping a bandage off, my wounds had healed, reopened and healed again, the result was scars and calloused scar tissue. Slowly and steadily I began to pay more attention to my needs and focused on my wholeness. God generously placed some very caring individuals in my life and like healing ointment on sore damaged skin, these beautiful people helped the healing of my soul.
I chose the “{Packing, Moving, Packing}, because I feel like I’ve done a lot of it, back in 2003 I moved from an apartment to a house I had built; 2005 sold the house, pack the house, moved to an apartment/unpacked; 2008 bought a condo, packed/unpacked; 2009 moved out of condo to an apartment packed/unpacked; 2022 moved to a new apartment packed/unpacked. These moves have taught me that I can live without most of the things I possess, my needs are very basic and I am learning to love me, all of me because I was created by God and He loves me. God has never left me alone, even though many times I felt utterly alone and scared.
In the end, my life (your life) will always be about me (you) and God and will always be. God can bless me (you) and remake me (you) into the person he wants me (you) to be, he first has to take away the things that have gotten in the way of the relationship.
Genesis 32:24-28, (Jacob wrestled a man and in the end, his name was changed to Israel).
“So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?”“Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
—C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
God of making
and unmaking,
of tearing down
and re-creating,
you are my home
and habitation,
my refuge
and place of dwelling.
In your hallows
I am re-formed,
given welcome
and benediction,
beckoned to rest
and rise again,
made ready
and sent forth.
- Jan Richardson
Friends, I have JOY in my life because of God. God has blessed me with the wonderful gift of you in my life. May you have JOY in your life today and always. I pray that your advent journey is all you need and want it to be. I am blessed to have you traveling with me. May God bless you and keep you ~ 🛐
~Charlotte, Seeker of unexpected Comfort, Happiness, Joy and Patience.
References:
ADVENT JOY: FROM BELIEVE TO BEHOLD
JOY MAKES THE DIFFERENCE IN EXPERIENCING GODMonday, December 12th Believe: to accept something as true, genuine, or real; to have a firm or …
ADVENT JOY: FROM BELIEVE TO BEHOLD
December 11th, 2022
The third week of Advent is JOY! Celebrating and preparing for the JOY of the birth of Jesus. How does one prepare for JOY? Joy for me is the unexpected and one of the most genuine expressions of one’s truest emotions. I think a lot of people can express happiness, but joy comes from deep within a person and is undeniably pureness that is extreme happiness.
This time of year can be very stressful for many and for multiple reasons; extending grace to others can only help in these situations. I like enjoying Christmas movies, funny ones and serious one, they all seem to have a theme of disaster followed by a very happy ending. I will tell you the truth, my heart swells as I picture myself in the starring role, living that moment of joy! Life is a bit more complicated than a “feel-good” movie but that doesn’t mean can’t have our moments of joy and happiness. It’s a funny thing about stress, we think we can’t control but can’t we (?). Undoubtedly, things are bound to happen to us that can cause stress but it’s effects can be more manageable when we prepare ourselves, when we acknowledge our limitations and control our emotions verses letting them control us. Please don’t misunderstand what I’m say as easy, it is indeed NOT EASY, but with God with us on our journey through this life we can experience JOY.
Below, I have listed some questions we might want to ask ourselves concerning our own personal advent journey. In the spirit of my authenticity in writing and sharing I will attempt to answer the questions as well. Remember, no wrong answers as this journey is between you and God.
Friends, may you experience JOY in its purest form this coming week as our journey through advent continues. Much love 💟 ~Charlotte
~Charlotte, Seeker of unexpected Comfort, Happiness, Joy and Patience.
References:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isa.40.3&version=NIV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt.11.10&version=NIV
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