Jealousy
Throughout the bible we see God blessing His servants as they walked in obedience to Him. The life of Isaac, the son of Abraham in Genesis 26:12,14,15 is a perfect example of this: "Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold because the Lord blessed him....He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth."
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Steadfastness
As the new year brings in a sense of renewal, many New Year’s resolutions are made. There is a sense of hope as a new year presents opportunities for a fresh start. This could be a resolution to lose weight, become more self-discipline, reduce time on social media, read more, or spend quality time with family.
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Christ in us, the Hope of Glory
The festivities from Christmas have ended, the gifts are opened and the wrapping paper is cleaned up. What do we do now? Do we go back to our everyday lives and put Jesus on a shelf with the elf? Or do we continue to keep Jesus alive and well in our hearts and grow in the discovery of who Christ is in us?
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Love
As I reflect on love during the fourth week of Advent, I think of John 3:16-17: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
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Joy
When was the last time you laughed? Not just a courtesy laugh at something half funny, but truly laughed and had joy? As we reflect on joy during the third week of Advent, lets' pause for a moment and ask ourselves how much joy do we have in our lives?
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Peace
As we reflect on peace during the second week of Advent, I think of Jesus, the Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9:6: “For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
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Hope
Advent is a time of reflection as we prepare our hearts in the weeks leading up to the celebration of Christ’s birth. As the first week of advent focuses on hope, we reflect on the hope that Jesus’s life and light bring as John 1:4 says: “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
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The Lord's Prayer
If you could choose to pretend or to be real, which one would you choose? In Matthew 6 Jesus taught His disciples there was a real way to pray and a pretend way to pray and called the pretenders hypocrites. They would pray empty prayers only for show as they stood on the street corner to be seen by those passing by. Jesus gave us a prayer model known as the Lord’s Prayer as a guide to help us position our hearts when we pray:
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The Name of Jesus
Act 3 tells us about a man who was lame since birth and was carried daily to the temple to beg for alms. One day as Peter and John were walking to the temple, the lame man caught their attention and begged for money, but instead of giving money as he expected, Peter said in Acts 3:6 “Silver and gold I don’t have; but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” Vs. 8 says of the lame man “He leaped up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God.” They were full of the Spirit of God and were ready to minister in an instant without notice to a man in need and saw results.
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The Secret Place
When you were a kid, did you have a secret fort or a hiding place that you went to when you needed solitude? As adults, there is a hiding place for us to go to as well. Psalms 32:7 says “You are my hiding place; you will preserve me from trouble; you will surround me with songs of deliverance” and Psalms 91:1 says “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
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