As we enter the last week of Advent leading up to Christmas Day everyone can be busy and begin to feel overwhelmed. There are last-minute gifts to buy, cookies to bake, trees to decorate, plans to make, and tons of wrapping to be done. We focus so much on what is going on around us, we tend to miss the important things that God is trying to show us.
Advent Devotion: Why are you sleeping?
I am amazed at the patience of Jesus. In the text, he instructs the disciples, “pray that you will not fall into temptation.” Then, off by himself, he prays with an intensity I cannot even understand. Returning he finds his disciples sleeping – exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
Advent Devotion: Conviction
Most of us who call ourselves devoted Christians would not openly deny Jesus. But as the old saying goes, actions speak louder than words. While we may not openly and deliberately deny him with our mouths, how often do we deny him with our actions? As Christians we are called to not just talk the talk but walk the walk.
Advent Devotion: Bombarded With Stuff
The “Christmas season” this year, as I observed it, began on about November 1. “Christmas season” is in quotations because while Christmas decorations fill the stores, the focus is not so much on Christmas as it is on commercialism and materialism. Though we have a tendency to forget each year, this is how this “season” … Continue reading Advent Devotion: Bombarded With Stuff
Advent Devotion: Never Tire
In his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul makes a passing remark that reads kind of like an "oh by the way" as you're heading out the door comment. His oh by the way: "never tire from doing good." No big deal, right? The truth is doing good can be ever so tiring. Doing good … Continue reading Advent Devotion: Never Tire