Advent(Dec. 4): God's Tears

The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.  So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart.  And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.”  

But Noah found favor with the Lord

Genesis 6:5-8

"God looked at all the hearts leaning away from Him - "His heart was filled with pain" is how God felt when He looked around and saw everyone sinning and leaning and hurting. God's tears fell like a flood."

His heart hurts not just with a few teardrops of ache, not just with a slow drip of a bit of sadness - no, the whole gigantic enormity of God's heart swells sore with what hurts your heart - and His tears of sadness flooded the world."

"Noah lived in the midst of the most heinously evil society the world had known, but because he had found grace, God favored him with personal instruction about the coming catastrophic judgement and the details for a new beginning on earth."(source)

WHY NOAH FOUND GRACE IN THE EYES OF THE LORD

1. Noah’s life was righteous—in spite of the horrible condition of the world of his day. He was looking for God’s direction and for the answers to his heart’s cry. 

1. The Bible says that Noah was one of only two men in all of history who “walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). The other is Enoch, who may be more well known since he was taken up into God’s presence without dying (Genesis 5:24). The Creator entrusted him with a monumental task that is unique in all of history.

1. Noah was “perfect.” That precious reputation, at least from God’s perspective, means that he was a man without condemnation. His “just” dealings resulted in a “blameless” record. Whatever the wicked people of his day may have said behind his back, they knew that Noah was above reproach. Just as folks today often resort to rumor-mongering and distortion of facts to cover their own guilt, those around Noah no doubt employed some of the same practices to discredit righteous Noah. He may well have had that kind of treatment, but God saw that he was “perfect.”

1. Noah was labeled a “preacher of righteousness” by the only Judge that ultimately counts. Think of what that means in the context of Genesis 6! The whole earth was “filled with violence” and “every heart” only thought of evil. Yet Noah had the guts to stand up publically for the righteous behavior that just about everyone else openly and loudly rejected.

"God’s grace is always available. It is not hidden from anyone. But it must be “found” by God’s servants as we “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). (source)

"God leans to us who are falling in a hurting world, and He catches us. 

God sees our tears and the hurt flooding our world right now. And He offers everyone the greatest gift.

And He whispers, 

"Look - My heart did break." 

"I love you".

"Come to Jesus".

“So, when those floods of bad
things happen, if you lean toward Jesus - if you incline toward Jesus, if you
rest in Jesus - you get the gift of Jesus, like an ark of love, holding
you, carrying you, raising you gently up through any flood of sadness
that fills the world."

Come back tomorrow, as I share Day 5 of the Advent Calender...

in the book, "Unwrapping the Greatest Gift".(All quotes listed are from the book, unless indicated.)

From December 1st to December 25th

I will be sharing each story in this beautiful book, as well as some of the breathtaking pictures. Won't you join me? Stop by each day to see the stories shared. If you would prefer I email you each days post, please leave your email in the comments section or send me an email at apop12341@hotmail.com 
and let me know. I will make sure each post is sent to you.

To view the whole series on one page, go HERE

You may find me linking up at any of the blog parties listed on the left sidebar.(or go to my blog party page link, below)

Favorite Blogs Parties where I Link-up 

Advent(Dec. 3): God is Looking for You

 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

Genesis 3:6-9

"The snake sneaked up to Eve, wrapped his own lie tight around her, and hissed his poison right into her heart: 

"God doesn't really love you."

"God doesn't really give you good-enough things."

"God doesn't really give the gift of love all the time."

Eve fell for it. She ate the fruit. She swallowed the lie - this is the painful lonliness that we call 

"the Fall."

"When we've fallen and when we're lost, God comes with one question:

(Not, "Why did you do that?" or "What did you do wrong?")

The very first God-question of the Bible, is a love question howling out of God's heart...

"Where are you?"

"God's love never stops looking for you, trying to find you, and gently draws you back close to Him."

"God refuses to give up on you!! God looks for you when you're lost. He calls out for you when you are ashamed, broken, and hurting. He doesn't run down the rebel, strike the sinner, or flog the failure."

Mary Geisen just posted on her own blog(Passages Through Grace) a very timely verse...

"Never doubt that your story was meant to be part of God’s plan even before you were born"(Mary Geisen)

What a perfect reminder to us how desperately He wants a relationship with us. He is always looking, always searching, always seeking to know us and wants us to know Him.

"Really wise men and women never stop looking for God. And because your really wise God is love, "He never stops looking for you."

Come back tomorrow, as I share Day 4 of the Advent Calender...

in the book, "Unwrapping the Greatest Gift".(All quotes listed are from the book, unless indicated.)

From December 1st to December 25th

I will be sharing each story in this beautiful book, as well as some of the breathtaking pictures. Won't you join me? Stop by each day to see the stories shared. If you would prefer I email you each days post, please leave your email in the comments section or send me an email at apop12341@hotmail.com 
and let me know. I will make sure each post is sent to you.

To view the whole series on one page, go HERE

You may find me linking up at any of the blog parties listed on the left sidebar.(or go to my blog party page link, below)

Favorite Blogs Parties where I Link-up 

Advent(Dec. 2): Created By Love

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

 So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:1-5, 26-27

"God the Father gathered close with God the Son, Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit, and all the glory of the Trinity gathered close when They imagined the masterpiece of you.

The whole world was made by God's word. But God's children alone were made by all of God's love.

No matter what happens in the world, the truth is always this: you were formed by Love...for love."

"Wowed by His uncontainable, unending, unconditional, unbeatable, unfailing, unwrappable love...we can unwrap His gift to us by opening our eyes to His creation!

...to let His love make us glad --

The whole blue marble of the world spins happy right now with the gladness of His love."

I have always loved this song! It reminds me just how much God really loves me...love you...loves us all!

This season, may we dwell on what is important - His Love...the perfect Gift!!

Come back tomorrow, as I share Day 3 of the Advent Calender...

in the book, "Unwrapping the Greatest Gift".(All quotes listed are from the book, unless indicated.)

From December 1st to December 25th

I will be sharing each story in this beautiful book, as well as some of the breathtaking pictures. Won't you join me? Stop by each day to see the stories shared. If you would prefer I email you each days post, please leave your email in the comments section or send me an email at apop12341@hotmail.com 
and let me know. I will make sure each post is sent to you.

You may find me linking up at any of the blog parties listed on the left sidebar.(or go to my blog party page link, below)

Favorite Blogs Parties where I Link-up 

Advent(Dec. 1): The Place Where Love Grows

Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—

yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.

And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

In that day the heir to David’s throne

will be a banner of salvation to all the world.

The nations will rally to him,

and the land where he lives will be a glorious place.

Isaiah 11:1-2, 10

"Out of the stump came one tender branch that would grow right into a crown of thorns, right into a rugged cross, right into a ladder - your ladder back to God. Out of the stump of Jesse's family - of every family tree - comes the shoot of Jesus' forever-love. Jesus would go to impossible lengths to rescue you(and me)."

"When we slow down and bend down and see small, wondrous, impossible things - no stump(no family tree) is ever just a stump.

"It is always just a place for love to grow, this small unfurling of miracles."

Prayer:

Pray for those who are less valued in the world. Look for simple ways to help people this December. Ask God to use your small actions to produce great results.

Here is a great example how we can help others less fortunate than us.

 Look for opportunities to share"random acts of kindness" or ask your church what you can do to help people in the community who are struggling financially. There are many community programs that offer special activities to get involved in and/or to donate financially to.

Come back tomorrow, as I share Day 2 of the Advent Calender...

in the book, "Unwrapping the Greatest Gift".(All quotes listed are from the book.)

From December 1st to December 25th

I will be sharing each story in this beautiful book, as well as some of the breathtaking pictures. Won't you join me? Stop by each day to see the stories shared. If you would prefer I email you each days post, please leave your email in the comments section or send me an email at apop12341@hotmail.com 
and let me know. I will make sure each post is sent to you.

You may find me linking up at any of the blog parties listed on the left sidebar.(or go to my blog party page link, below)

Favorite Blogs Parties I Link-up with

Advent: Unwrapping the Greatest Gift

Last December I bought a book that is like our own larger-than-life Advent Calendar, opening up to 25 wondrous stories that tell the family tree of Jesus, from Creation to His Coming.  

 Written by none other than Ann Voskamp.(One of my favorite Christian authors) Over the years, she has shared many thoughts, ideas, and traditions that celebrate the Advent season. One she shared a few years back turned into a hot chocolate party...well I love hot chocolate, but love vanilla Chai even more. So, this year I've decided to start my own version of this celebration. 

 "...because, sure, who of us doesn’t need to be warmed straight through with His Love? Who doesn’t need to unwrap Light? Who doesn’t want the excitement again of unwrapping the Greatest Gift 

And then there’s taking that pen and  scratching it down, a poem — “A Night Before Advent” — that’s this crazy take on the “Night Before Christmas,” a quirky old tradition that could become it’s own new tradition of Light."

Sometimes you just need a tradition that somehow changes your condition.

We’re on the cusp of the tradition of Advent — and this changes the conditions of everything: He is coming.

"It’s impossible for all the darkness in the world to smother out the light of a single candle in the hand. You can’t snuff out hope, you can’t smother out hope, you can’t stamp out hope — because He is Coming.

 to the child in us …. still seeking the wonder of Christmas even for us….

25 Day Advent Calendar, this Unwrapping the Greatest Gift, each of the 25 readings pointing to those  25 Gospel-telling

 — because this is the gift we all want."

From December 1st to December 25th

I will be sharing each story in this beautiful book, as well as some of the breathtaking pictures. Won't you join me? Stop by each day to see the stories shared. If you would prefer I email you each days post, please leave your email in the comments section or send me an email at apop12341@hotmail.com 
and let me know. I will make sure each post is sent to you.

You may find me linking up at any of the blog parties listed on the left sidebar.(or go to my blog party page link, below)

Favorite Blogs Parties I Link-up with

Grace and Gratitude

Grace:

God’s unmerited favor or kindness, we don’t deserve. There is nothing we have done, nor can ever do to earn this favor. It is a gift freely given from God. 

That favor gives us access. It gives us the legal right to access the power of God for everything we need. None of us deserves access to God and His power (Rom. 3:10, 23). Because of sin, we all deserve an everlasting hell. Yet God has given us access to all He is and all He has.Everything Comes Through GraceWe are saved by grace. Without the grace—the favor—of God, we could never have access to the mercy of God.Gratitude:Gratitude is more than saying, "Thank you," when someone gives you something. Gratitude is more than an action which we decide to do by an act of will power.What it takes to turn the words, "thank you," into gratitude is the real genuine feeling of gratitude. Gratitude is a feeling that arises uncoerced in the heart. It cannot be willed into existence directly if it is not there. Gratitude is a form of delight.. And it is a good. It is part of happiness, not misery. Gratitude directed toward a person for giving you something good. It is a happiness that comes not merely from the gift, but from the act of giving. What in the world, in a world of certain loss, is grace? How do you know how to sift through a day, a life, and rightly read the graces, rightly ascertain the curses? What is good? What counts as grace? What is the heart of God?We have the opportunity to turn to God, the only begetter of grace, and there find all the fullness of joy.(source)
This Was Grace

 This is what we call the ugly-beautiful… d’un beau affreux. What the impressionist painter, Paul Gauguin, encapsulated as, “Le laid peut-etre beau…” Translation: The ugly can be beautiful…..(Get Closer to the Ugly)

The Link Between Grace and Gratitude

Gratitude flourishes in the sphere of grace.  

Since the feeling of gratitude usually rises in our hearts when someone does us an undeserved or uncalled-for favor, the expression of thanks will at any time communicate humility 

Therefore, gratitude wells up in the hearts of those who "receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness" (Romans 5:17). When the grace of Jesus penetrates the human heart, it rebounds back to God as gratitude. Christian gratitude is grace reflected back to God in the happiness we feel toward Jesus.A life that gives glory to God for his grace and a life of deepest gladness are always the same life. And what makes them one is gratitude.Source

#1767 - God's grace, which by all are justified freely through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24). https://revphil2011.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/

#1772 - The anticipation of seeing our son over Thanksgiving weekend.
#1773 - Programs/websites online that tell the truth about current events, instead of the lies of media/government officials. "Living Waters", "InfoWars"

#1774 - Peace of mind through the Lord in a world of chaos and evil.

#1775 - For faith, hope, and love. Because those things are free, irreplaceable, and the only things that last a lifetime

#1776 - Running into and old friend/former teacher of my son.

#1777 - First snowfall of the year.

#1778 - The beauty of snow, stuck to the branches of trees and and morning fog on the lake.

#1775 - Safety on the road, driving on icy roads.

May you have a blessed Thanksgiving, full of God's grace and that you will find many things to be grateful to the Lord for this season.

Care to count the good, the bad, and the ugly-beautiful as all grace? Consider joining the Gratitude Community! Just jump in with your own counting!
How to begin your own 1000 Gift List ::: How Gratitude Can Change your Life

You may find me linking up at any of the blog parties listed on the left sidebar.(or go to my blog party page link, below)

Favorite Blogs Parties I Link-up with