Another year has begun and I find myself reading many posts of other bloggers who have chosen different ways to prepare their hearts for the new year. Some used the same old plan..choose a word...set goals...plan to make certain changes. Others have been quite unique and different. I personally have found it a challenge to do any specific planning or goal-setting. I think that may have to do with how things went for me in 2014. Nothing seemed to go as hoped or planned. Even the word I chose for the year, "fervent" seemed to fade from my focus about halfway through the year. If I learned anything last year, it was that God is in control and He will take us where He wants to take us. I learned that prayer is vital, but not to just get what I want or ask for, but more to help me grow in my relationship with Him. I learned that life is really a journey and as long as we let the Lord be our Navigator, we will be o.k., even along the bumpy, curved, chuck-hole paths. I learned that there is joy in the journey, but we have to be aware of and not miss those "joy" moments....being grateful for the small things, instead of just waiting for the big things to happen. Each season of our lives takes us down different roads...some are much more difficult than others, and sometimes we make unwise choices, because of our own selfish desires. But God is faithful and true! We can always trust in His promises to us. This year, I'm not choosing just "one word" for the whole year! I'm choosing many words (and verses) that will help navigate me where I am able to focus during different seasons of my life (not literal seasons of the year.) Winter - A time to rest and wait and listen Contemplate; ponder; treasure up
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19) Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord. (Psalm 107:43) Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.(Matt. 11:28)
Spring - A time to start fresh and anew Renewed; in attitude of mind (Eph. 4:23; Ro 12:1-3); as a new creation, in knowledge (Galatians 6:15); renewed like an eagle (Psa. 103:5); in strength (Is. 40:31); day by day...
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.(2 Corinthians 4:16)
Summer - A time of hardship, loss, lonliness, and drought Thirst; In soul/spirit (to thirst after God.)
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.(Matthew 5:6)
...where I share different verses from the Psalms! May you find truths about God, yourselves, and living life in the images and word pictures shared here!
2014 will soon end.
2015 will then begin.
(Unless the Lord chooses to return for His children before then.)
In spite of many very
difficult circumstances, both physically and emotionally, the Lord truly has
blessed me! As you look back over some of the pictures I shared in my 48
posts throughout the past year in the video below, may you know that I appreciate all the great love and
support I have felt from my friends in bloggerland! You are an exquisite and amazing group of brothers and sisters in Christ! I know God has allowed me
also to bless others through my blog, "Christ in the Clouds". It's only
through His grace and providence that this has been possible.
In these last days of 2014,
may we remember that He will be our Guide, even to the end!
I remember, as a child, waiting with excitement and anticipation for Christmas morning, when we would finally open our presents! The weeks prior to that day were often filled with inquisitive hope. Sometimes my patience would run out and I would shake my wrapped items under the tree or beg my parents to open at least one gift early.
We, as the human race, are not so good at waiting either are we? I doubt waiting has ever been easy, but it seems especially difficult in our world of fast food, wifi internet, instant downloads, and text messages. We are conditioned to want immediate action, responses, and results.
Even David felt the overwhelming difficulty of waiting for the Lord to reply to his prayers...
Psalm 13 - How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes,or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
Psalm 89:47-48 - How long, Lord? Will you hide forever? Must your wrath smolder like fire? Remember how brief life is, how frail the sons of man you have created!” (Psalm 89:47-48). source
But, God never forgets us.God just takes a longer view. I have so much to learn about HIS view, as I tend to ask the very same questions that David asked....But, then David writes...
Psalm 13:5-6 - But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for He has been good to me.
Psalm 27:14 - Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Psalm 130:5 - I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
I came across this song on Youtube and it seems to express these questions (and the answer) so well...
Advent is a time of waiting...The word Advent itself means “arrival,” but it’s not just any arrival — it’s The Arrival. Advent is not only about waiting for a baby to be born or for it to be Christmastime again. It is about waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promise. It is the groaning of man in search for our everlasting hope, Emmanuel. Advent is the coming of hope to the hopeless.a season that serves as a reminder both of the original waiting by Israelites for the birth of the Messiah, and the waiting by Christians for the return of Christ. Sometimes we wait with eager anticipation; other times we wait with heavy burdens. Sometimes waiting is painful, or boring, or feels never-ending. But, God calls us to wait with:
Hope - We can have hope because God is faithful and will keep the promises made to us. (Romans 15:12-13)
Anticipation - At Christmas, we anticipate the final moment that we celebrate Christ's birth. For all believers this also means to cultivate an eager expectation of Jesus’ return!
Joy - This often isn't easy to have, when we are waiting for something! We can lose our focus, our patience, and forget His promises to us. But, we are called to be joyful in "all" circumstances.(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Readiness - Whether it is being ready to truly prepare our hearts for the celebration of Advent (Christ's birth) or for His return...as in the parable of the ten virgins(Matthew 25:1-12), may we be be ready.
Longing - We longfor Him who will bring the light of day and shatter the darkness of sin and death, and we lookfor His coming as eagerly as the watchman looks for the first rays of dawn in the eastern skies.
Faith - Advent is also a spiritual journey that Christians take, through the truths of Scripture that point to the birth of the Messiah, to a reaffirmation that He has come, is present in the world today and will come again in glory. It mirrors the journey of faith that Christians make after that moment of realisation and acceptance of who Jesus is.
Waiting isn't easy....as we all know. Often, enduring the pain of waiting is a spiritual discipline that we must cultivate, as we learn to wait on God. This season, may you let yourself fall into the anticipation of Advent, the season that understands the longing and loneliness and long nights of expecting—the season where what was empty is filled, what was broken is repaired, and what was lost is found.
"and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger," Luke 2;7
Every true mother feels a sense of awe in her
soul when she bends over her own infant child; but in the case of Mary we may
be sure that the awe was unusual, because of the mystery of the child's birth.
The angel had said to her, "That which is to be born shall be called holy,
the Son of God."
The night of her child's birth there was
a wondrous vision of angels, and the shepherds who beheld it hastened into the
town; and as they looked upon the baby in the manger, they told the wondering
mother what they had seen and heard. We are told that Mary kept all these
things, pondering them in her heart. (Luke 2:19) While she could not understand what all
this meant, she knew at least that hers was no common child; that in some
wonderful sense, He was the Son of God.
A Hurting Mother ~
It’s hard to imagine the mixture of love and
loss with which Mary’s heart throbbed. This dear woman had labored for Jesus’
birth. She watched over Him, from infancy in a manger to death at the cross.
How deep and tender her love must have been!
How sweet and patient she must have been, as she moved about at her tasks, as she cared for the life which had been entrusted to her for training and
molding.
She had worried about Him (Luke 2:48), prayed
for Him, loved Him, followed Him during His ministry, and supported Him through
severe opposition. No doubt, she felt the guilt that resulted from her
shortcomings in dealing with Him and her other children. She knew the burden of
motherhood, even as it related to the Son of God.
Mary is a model for us, for the
way in which, in her own particular life, she fully and responsibly accepted
the will of God ( Luke 1:38), because she heard the word of God and acted on
it, and because charity and a spirit of service were the driving force of her
actions.Oh, the enduring, steadfast, unremitting love
of this mother!
This song expresses how immense Mary's love for Jesus was...
A Beautiful Friendship ~
Few things in this world are more beautiful
than the most tender friendships as one sometimes sees between mother and son.
The two enter into the closest companionship. A sacred and secure intimacy is
formed between them. A mother who never forsakes her child and a boy who opens all His heart and soul to His mother,
telling her everything; and she gives Him not a mother's love
only, but also a mother's wise counsel and strong, inspiring sympathy.
The boy whispers His inmost thoughts to His mother, and listens to her wise and
gentle counsel with loving eagerness and childish faith -- O friendship constant, faithful, undying, and true!
The
story of this blessed friendship would sweeten in Christian homes the
relation of mother and child, if only the family members would take heed. It could make every mother a better woman
and a better mother. It could make every child a truer, holier child. Every
home could have its sacred friendships between parents and children.
Thus something of heaven would be brought into our lives.
In His last moments of life,
Jesus spoke to his mother. “Woman, behold your son” (v. 26). To John: “Behold
your mother.” From that hour on, that disciple took her to his own home. Jesus is
giving a new son to his mother to replace Himself. And He gives her the best
son she could expect, the disciple Jesus loved.
Jesus’ love toward his own mother proves his
love for us, His believing brothers and sisters. When you and I are in trouble, our thoughts tend to turn inward. But Jesus came not to be served but to serve.
Jesus directs His thoughts toward those whom He loves. He is mindful of our
needs just as He was mindful of His mother’s needs.
It is a sad thing to witness so many families today who do not follow this example of a true parent-child love relationship. It takes the hearts of both to be willing to walk in this kind of undaunted love. Oh, but our God understands where we lack and He can provide the answer for us!
God’s Love is Like a Mother’s Love ~
“As a mother comforts her son, so will I
comfort you.” Isaiah 66:13
Mothers – and anyone else that needs
this reality – “God does understand yourproblems and He will comfort as a mother comforts.” (source)
We do grow weary in this life: In a day whenthere is too little love, we
need to claim God’s promise to be a “Mother” to us
·To those who feel helpless,
rejected and despised, we need to pray for new hope, a new realization of what
kind of God we have. We need to thank God for
revealing His nature through the love of mothers and give us eyes to see and
hearts to respond. We need to claim God’s
promise to be a “Mother” to us. (source)
Jesus
Provides Pity for Motherhood’s Demands ~
Motherhood
can be a great burden. It places great demands on the emotional and physical
resources of mothers. Jesus bore the heavy burden of the cross so that He could
give us the light burden of the Christian life. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all
you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).
Everything that is demanded of mothers, Christ supplies through his life. We
experience the comfort of His provision through faith and an intimate walk with Him.
Jesus
Provides Pardon from Motherhood’s Guilt ~
What
mother can live up to the expectations placed upon her? Because of its demands
motherhood can produce much guilt. This guilt can be crippling, spiritually,
emotionally, relationally, and even physically. In His death Jesus graciously
tells women (and men), “You don’t measure up. You can’t measure up. That’s why
I died for you!” Only Christ can measure up to the demands of the law of
motherhood. When we take hold of Christ by faith ALL of our guilt is banished
to the grave. Believers are no longer guilty in God’s eyes.
Jesus Grants Peace for Motherhood’s Concerns ~
What
mother or father hasn’t asked these questions?
·What is going to happen to my children?
·How will they possibly turn out well considering my own failures
and shortcomings?
A woman writes: “I experienced steady peace regarding my own
salvation…but…I felt tremendous anxiety about my…family.This spiritual
schizophrenia has often plagued me. How can I have such assured faith in
Christ’s salvation, and yet doubt His providence? How can I rest my soul
entirely upon Him, yet think I need to carry my family myself? At times…I was
able to leave my family in the Lord’s hands, but mostly I felt deep concern for
them…”
Jesus died on the cross to give us new life. The
Apostle Peter reminds us that:
“The promise is to you and
to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will
call”
(Acts 2:38).
God accomplished the salvation of his people
through the treacherous acts of wicked men (Acts 4:27-28). God can bless our
children through even our worst shortcomings. He can raise up children of faith
from the stones of the earth (Luke 3:8). He doesn’t need our help. For less
than perfect mothers and fathers with less than perfect kids, that’s the only
message that can give us real comfort. (source) As I meditate on the birth of our Savior, I find hope in knowing the depth of love that Mary(as an earthly mother), had for Jesus at His birth and throughout His life on earth, and how God walked with her. I pray someday soon I may enjoy this close mother-son relationship also!
