Worship Song Sunday -- Emmanuel, by Michael W Smith & Amy Grant-

"For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders.

He will be named

Wonderful Counselor

Mighty God

Eternal Father

Prince of Peace

The dominion will be vast and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. " ~ Isaiah 9:6-7, HCSB

For Unto Us A Child Is Born, by Simon Dewey

May this song be a blessing to you and bring you joy!

Worship Song Sunday -- Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, by Chris Rice

O Root of Jesse, You stand as a signal for the people; before You, Kings shall fall silent and to You, the nations shall make their prayer: Come to deliver us, and do not delay! ~ from the Antiphons of Advent

Today is the first Sunday in the Advent season.  

Advent photo, Cheryle Kupsch Photography

Advent is derived from the Latin word, adventus, which means ‘coming.’  It’s a time of eager anticipation as we not only prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth, but as we prepare for His Second coming as well.

Right now, preparation of any kind seems like a daunting task for me, as lately I have felt like one huge walking, talking, cluttered mess.  So many needless, foolish, dark and broken things are piled high and packed full into the storage rooms of my heart, mind and spirit. Wretched and useless things I'd much rather keep hidden away and avoid, but nonetheless, things that need to be purged and cleansed.  I NEED to make room for Jesus.

I so want these next several weeks before Christmas -- which are often extremely hectic weeks -- to be a time of sweet, holy joy and peaceful, purposeful contemplation on the things in this life that matter: of God-with-us, of family near and far, of friends and strangers in need, of making the fruits of the Spirit available to whomever I meet. 

As a people-pleasing, ‘everything-has-to-be-perfect’ kind of gal, I feel somewhat overwhelmed by this. Like some lone, inexperienced maid, asked to clean a castle from top to bottom in a mere few days to prepare for the coming of a very special, extraordinary King.

And yet -- I must remember that, although Jesus is a King, He humbled Himself and came to this earth in human form, a small, helpless Infant born into the lowliest of circumstances: in an ordinary stable among cows, sheep, goats and donkeys; drawn out of the birth canal and held first in the rough-hewn hands of His earthly father, an ordinary carpenter; wrapped in rags by His young, exhausted, not-yet-wed mother, an ordinary village girl; placed reverently and lovingly onto the smelly, and no doubt dirty, straw in an ordinary feeding trough for the barn animals.

  

Our Hope -- surrounded by and swaddled in humility.

The condition of my heart, spirit and mind….no, they’re certainly not perfect. But this Christ, this King – He is not looking for House Beautiful here, ready to perform the white glove test on me. And thankfully not, for I would surely fail!! No, I believe He is seeking only to be able to daily enter into my welcoming, humble heart; longing to heal my continually broken and contrite spirit, desiring to consistently guard my mind, always in need of renewal, with God’s peace.  

This year, in my search for a song to use that would not only suffice as a song of worship, but a song that would well represent the beginning of the Advent season, as well as my own, personal Advent journey, I came across a site that listed this song, 'Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,' as one which was used in someone's church during the Advent season.  I thought to myself, 'Really? THIS song?' It didn't really strike me as 'adventy' or even 'Christmasy' (and are these even real words I'm using here?).  

And yet, upon listening to it after being given a holy 'nudge' to write this post, I think it's a 'perfect fit.'  

May this song inspire, comfort and encourage you, dear one, as you perhaps begin your own Advent journey today......

And then Isaiah says: 'There shall be a root of Jesse; and He Who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in Him the Gentiles shall hope.'  May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in your faith, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, your whole life and outlook may be radiant with hope.' ~ Romans 15:12-13, (J.B. Phillips New Testament)

Worship Song Sunday - Carry Me To The Cross, by Kutless

Even to your old age and grey hairs, I am He, I am He Who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you. I will sustain you and I will rescue you. ~ Isaiah 46:4, NIV

Rescued By Love, by Darren Tan

When the path is daunting,
And every step exhausting,
I'm not alone, I'm not alone, no...no

I feel You draw me closer
All these burdens on my shoulder,
I'm not alone, I'm not alone,
You pull me from this place

Hallelujah!
You carry me every day,
You carry me all the way;
Hallelujah!
You carry me to the,
You carry me to the cross. ~ Carry Me To The Cross, written by Jason Walker, Nick DePartee, Mark Stuart

Whatever......

Have you ever read a portion of Scripture over and over, become so familiar with it you can quote it in your sleep, BUT THEN -- read it again one day and become aware of something totally brand new in it?  I had that happen today with Isaiah 6:1-8 ~

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:


“Holy, holy , holy is the Lord Almighty; 
    the whole earth is full of his glory.”
 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.


 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”


 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.  With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for. ”


 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? ”


And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

The Vision of Isaiah, by Luke Allsbrook

I noticed something today in this passage that I never noticed before.  God NEVER mentions WHERE He is looking to send this certain someone He's asking for.  He doesn't say, "Whom shall I send to the land or town of ..........?"  "And who will go for us?"


Ummm....go where?  And to whom? To do what? God is pretty much light on logistics here. 


Yet Isaiah is more than ready, willing and able -- eager, even!! -- to go wherever, to whomever and to do whatever it is God has in mind. Can't you just picture Isaiah jumping up, waving his hand and shouting, "Here am I. Send me!"?


How many of us can honestly say we would do that? If God were to speak today and merely say, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?", I wonder how many people would jump up out of their comfy lifestyle seats, frantically waving their hand like Arnold Horshack from 'Welcome Back Kotter' (hopefully SOMEONE out there remembers Horshack and this '70's sitcom) and yelling, "Ooh, ooh oooh! Here I am, God!  Send me!!!!!"  

No specifics, no details, no Google Maps satellite view of the lay of the land given.  Just a simple question, with a simple faith and trust in a loving Abba Father being the desired response by He Who created us for so much -- one of those things being for us to become the hands and feet, the eyes and ears and the heart of His Son, Jesus Christ. 


Kind of a scary thing to imagine for some of us, yes? I think of the times over the years that I've heard stories from various folks, sharing how hesitant they were to say "Yes" to God in such an Isaiah-like way, frightened He would send them straight to Africa, or some other remote, forgotten and disease-ridden place on earth where even the staunchest of missionaries fear to tread. 


Truth be told -- I was one of those people. Fearful, distrustful, not very spontaneous and somewhat detail oriented.  In school or at a job, whenever a teacher or a boss would ask "who would like to volunteer for such-and-such?", I would avert my eyes and wish myself invisible, especially if (a) no logistics were initially offered, and/or (b) the volunteering would cause me to go somewhere, do something or interact with someone I found difficult or distasteful.  For years, I fluctuated between being like Moses, wrangling with God over my lengthy list of lame excuses, and acting like Jonah, speed boating it in the opposite direction of God and hiding below deck with eyes tightly shut.  Those of you who've been faithful readers of this little blog of mine might remember (or not) that I wrote a post with similar points back in December of last year called "The Struggle", where I described my grappling with being obedient to the Lord over something specific He was calling me to do at that time.  While I did finally say "yes" to His particular calling back then, I must admit it certainly wasn't with waving hands and joyful shouts, and my headstrong wrestling with Him over other things continued into the new year.


But all of that came to a screeching halt recently. Really, I can't even explain how it happened, except to give complete credit and glory to God, because over the past few months, I've been battling with some tough, very personal issues in my life.  And then to suddenly find myself being able to give God an Isaiah type response to His callings (notice the plural here) in the midst of it all is, well....kind of weird.  Kind of scary. SO...NOT...Me. 


But also, SO...Absolutely...Amazing.


Back in February, I was inspired to write this poem of sorts. As I was hand writing it into my journal, I remember thinking -- "What?? This isn't me, God.  I can't seriously and truthfully ever share this with anybody, because IT'S NOT WHO I AM!!! And You know it! Why would You have me write this, anyway?!"   I'm telling you, I must give God a real good chuckle (and no doubt, some big headaches, too) now and again with the things I say to Him. Because He knew all along that a time was coming soon when these words would be coming not just from my pen and my keyboard, but from my heart and my burning coal touched lips as well. To Him. 


And all I can say is this: When you surrender all to the Lord Jesus and allow Him total access to do whatever is necessary in your life; when you are ready, willing, able and --eager, even!! -- hold on tightly to Him, take a deep breath, and  be prepared for the ride of your life.  Is it easy?  No, not very. Get ready for twists and turns, ups and downs, and at times, you'll find yourself passing through tunnels where you can't see anything at all.  Like a roller coaster ride, it's exhilarating, breathtaking and frightening, all at once.

But don't be afraid.  God is right there with you -- along for the ride and the long haul.


Are you ready?

Whatever

Whatever word You have for me -

I will speak it.

Whatever song You write for me -

I  will sing it.

Whatever story You dictate to me -

I will write it.

Whatever gift You offer to me -

I will share it.

Whatever trial You present to me -

I will accept it.

Whatever burden You lay on me -

I will bear it.

Whatever truth You speak to me -

I will believe it.

Whatever promise You make to me -

I will stand upon it.

Whatever plan You have for me -

I will live it!