Daily Meditations
Advent brings so much for us to ponder. What is the meaning of Christmas? How can I get ready for Jesus? What does this season mean to me? Can I stop long enough to remember what it is all about?
We have to look toward Christmas with a ready heart.
Loving God, help us to turn from the busy-ness and dwell on the gift of God. AMEN
I often think about the fact that God was willing to leave heaven and come to earth as a man. Who would choose to leave heaven?
THE GIFT
How wonderful that God
would be willing
to come to earth
as a human
How wonderful that God
would live as man
with other men
in time
How wonderful that God
would be willing
to suffer as men
and die
How wonderful that God
did all of this
for all of us
to live
We are waiting. Most of the time we don’t wait patiently. We want things to happen now! We are poor examples of your love but we know there is better to come. We have to wait for the goodness that on the way. Spend the time in advent looking forward to the birth of Christ. A blessed baby sent to redeem us and show us how to live each day.
Amazing God, you knew we didn’t understand you and so you sent your son. Thank you. AMEN
This is the darkest time of the year. Jesus is the light that is coming to us. His light will shine and banish the darkness. In my church one more candle is lit each week to signify that light coming into the world. We are in the darkest time but that light will come!
Loving God, help us to wait with anticipation the coming light. AMEN
You may enjoy this song about lighting the four candles of advent.
In churches that follow that sort of pattern it is now Advent. The word “advent” is derived from the Latin “coming.”Ā The dictionary says it is “the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.”
When we are planning for the arrival of someone or something important we usually spend time getting ready. If it is something good we are awaiting we anticipate it with excitement. In this case it is the arrival of a baby.
Waiting for a baby can be exhilarating and exhausting. We buy things for the baby, get a room ready, attend parties and get presents. We count the days.
These are all things we do in this season. However the season has run off the rails. We have forgotten why we are doing all of this. Stop and remember why we are waiting!
Creator of the stars of night, your peopleās everlasting light. O Christ, Redeemer of us all, we pray you hear us when we call. That petition, from the hymn we just sang, is translated from an ancient Latin hymn written in the ninth century. Originally, it was written to be sung in the evening, atĀ [ā¦]
via creator of the stars | Luke 21:25-36 ā red clay rubric
Advent is here and the theme of the thoughts for this season.
We are not good a waiting. Really, that is an understatement. We have a society of instant gratification. We want it and we want it now! When I worked for a group of pediatricians one of them said people expected a drive-by window where he would reach out and putting hands on the child say “heal.”
Advent is a time of waiting….waiting for the greatest gift mankind has ever had. Waiting for a baby. Expecting.
We must appreciate this time and use it. It is a time to ready ourselves for the gift!
Loving God, we wait. Help us to curb our impatience and use this time to think about the gift to come. AMEN
Psalm 32:3-5
3Ā While I kept silence, my body wasted away
Ā Ā Ā Ā through my groaning all day long.
4Ā For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
Ā Ā Ā Ā my strength was dried up[a]Ā as by the heat of summer.Ā
5Ā Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
Ā Ā Ā Ā and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, āI will confess my transgressions to theĀ Lord,ā
Ā Ā Ā Ā and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
We cannot hide from God. When we do the burden of our sins can overcome us. We have to confess the sins that God already knows. Then the weight of them can be lifted away. Our sins can be forgiven. Thank God!
Compassionate God, we are so blessed that your son died for our sins. We can be forgiven. AMEN
Psalm 27: 13-14
13Ā I believe that I shall see the goodness of theĀ Lord
Ā Ā Ā Ā in the land of the living.
14Ā Wait for theĀ Lord;
Ā Ā Ā Ā be strong, and let your heart take courage;
Ā Ā Ā Ā wait for theĀ Lord!
We can see God. We see him in the faces of friends and family. We see him in the little happenings of each day. We see him in the world around us. We can even see him in suffering and pain. If we pay attention we can see him. Open you eyes to see!
Psalm 27:4-5
4Ā One thing I asked of theĀ Lord,
Ā Ā Ā Ā that will I seek after:
to live in the house of theĀ Lord
Ā Ā Ā Ā all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of theĀ Lord,
Ā Ā Ā Ā and to inquire in his temple.
5Ā For he will hide me in his shelter
Ā Ā Ā Ā in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
Ā Ā Ā Ā he will set me high on a rock.
I love this Psalm. How I would love to live in the house of the Lord. How comforting it is to know that he will shelter me and set me high on a rock. Living in a hurricane zone on an island makes this promise important to me. I can see the water rising in my yard. I can feel safe knowing that I can be higher than the water for God is with me.
Caring God, thank you for your promises. AMEN
Hear God in Other Voices 