HEAVENSREEF

In this ADVENT season of anticipation and waiting for JESUS…….we should ponder and wonder and linger a little longer.

As we sit around the tree in our homes, let’s linger there, not for the store bought gifts, or for the food…….

but for the blessing of the gift of the BABE in the Manger.

It is HIS birthday we are celebrating and as we hang the stockings from the mantle, let’s hang another one for JESUS, because love came down…….IMMANUEL……

GOD WITH US.

If we linger longer than usual, then our thoughts should turn to worship and prayer, thanking GOD that HIS love for us was so great, that HE couldn’t live without us.  HIS grace was so abundant that HE sent HIS only SON to rescue us from our sins.

Reading the CHRISTMAS story as I often do, reminds me of those wise men from the East, who long ago said……

MATTHEW 2: 2 “WHERE IS HE WHO HAS BEEN BORN KING OF THE JEWS?  FOR WE SAW HIS STAR AT IT’S RISING AND HAVE COME TO WORSHIP HIM.”

Oh those wise men, oh those persistent men who made the journey to find the newborn King!  If we are wise, then we will seek HIM too and follow HIM with perseverance and trust just as the wise men trusted that star to lead them to the BABE born long ago.

Because truthfully and maybe you have already heard this one, but it is my favorite this time of year:

WISE MEN STILL SEEK HIM.

First, we must seek JESUS with all heart and soul.  When we do, our desire is to follow HIM wherever HE takes us with all heart and soul.

ARE YOU SEEKING?  ARE YOU SEARCHING WITH WHOLE HEART?  

BECAUSE HE IS WAITING…….

And here is the grace……..HE….. seeks…… us……. first!

The blessing of HIS presence, IMMANUEL, GOD with us, happens anywhere and everywhere, even around the tree of lights and ornaments.

HIS presence is HIS gift to us……..receive it.  Open your heart and receive HIS forgiveness, because GOD looks at the heart…….

EPHESIANS 2:8 “FOR BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED THROUGH FAITH.  AND THIS IS NOT YOUR OWN DOING; IT IS A GIFT FROM GOD.”

During this ADVENT season, let us have a spirit of determined reverence and submission.  We don’t have to be perfect and GOD is looking for those who truly worship and receive HIM in their hearts! 

So……light a candle, light a candle and ponder.  Ponder and worship the ONE who brings “joy to the world” because the LORD has come!  Experience the great joy those wise men found when they found baby JESUS and fell down in worship…….because truth is better than fiction, and the truth is:  JESUS was born as a SAVIOR for all people of faith from generation to generation.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR JESUS!

MATTHEW 2: 10-11 “WHEN THEY SAW THE STAR THEY WERE OVERWHELMED WITH JOY. ENTERING THE HOUSE, THEY SAW THE CHILD WITH MARY HIS MOTHER, AND FALLING TO THEIR KNEES, THEY WORSHIPED HIM.  THEN THEY OPENED THEIR TREASURES AND PRESENTED HIM WITH GIFTS: GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, AND MYRRH.”