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Grace When There Is No Room At The Inn

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:18 PST

savedbyegrace posted:

I failed. Although I had the best of intentions. I had decided to celebrate Advent in a personal celebration of worship of the Lord, to prepare my heart to make room for Him. To write a blog daily of my worship to share with fellow believers and to hold myself accountable. But when push came to shove, as they say, I failed.Oh, I have plenty of excuses and valid reasons that exonerate me and my lapse. After all, days before Christmas, hubby's job finished up in Tennessee, and we moved him back home to Georgia, cleaned up the rental house and met with the landlord. Christmas Day we drove from home in Georgia to South Carolina to visit my daughter and soninlove and granddaughters. The day after Christmas, we drove to Alabama to find a place to stay while hubby's job takes him to Decatur, Alabama. Drove back home to...

Grace The Third Saturday Of Advent Not Knowing Where The Journey Will End

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 08:29 PST

savedbyegrace posted:

I'm sure he must have been surprisedAt where this road had taken him'Cause never in a million livesWould he have dreamed of BethlehemAnd standing at the mangerHe saw with his own eyesThe message from the angel come to lifeAnd Joseph said... Why me ... ********I can vividly remember the first time I ever heard this song. I was a very new believer when I heard the words of the chorus: Now, I'm not one to second guess what angels have to say, but this is such a strange way to save the world.It made such a deep impression for two reasons. First is that as a new believer, I didn't comprehend how Jesus' birth and death helped anyone. And secondly, I feared that God would be really angry with me if I ever voiced or even entertained the thought that it was a strange way to save the world, or...

Grace To Discover Joy On The Third Sunday Of Advent

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 06:27 PST

savedbyegrace posted:

I don't even want to get out of bed. It's cold. I'm tired. Everything just seems to be too much of an effort to think about doing, much less actually getting up and accomplishing. I'm too tired to care right now. There are dogs that are pawing at me, errands to run, work to finish, dishes to wash. With superhuman effort, I force myself out of bed to let the dogs out, fix a cup of caffeine I mean, coffee. More effort, and I pull out my devotional for the third Sunday of Advent.Sunday, December 16, 2012Tradition holds that we light the pink candle on the third Sunday of Advent to shake things up, brighten things up a bit, to keep from getting bogged down in a rut. Halfway through our Advent journey, or any journey perhaps, is when we become most fatigued. As we begin, we're filled with excitement...

Grace And The Way Of Love On The Second Thursday Of Advent

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 07:04 PST

savedbyegrace posted:

Thursday, December 13, 2012There are people who come into our lives for a season, and we are forever changed. God has blessed me beyond measure with ladies who have made beautiful marks on my heart, and tonight, I was able to reunite with several of them over dinner.This is a group of women who love the Lord and desire, or at least desire to desire, only what HE wants. We all served together for many years in leadership positions for a women's Bible study group and the Lord Himself knit our hearts and souls together. I can't say that I like every lady's personality, but I love each and every one dearly. There's a difference.We met over dinner. Some of these ladies I had not seen in over five years, some of them as recently as two or three years ago. But when we sat down, it was like it...

Grace To Rest On The Second Wednesday Of Advent

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 07:20 PST

savedbyegrace posted:

Wednesday was a great reminder of why grace is so important to me. As I was searching for a devotional to direct my meditation and contemplation for the Second Wednesday in Advent, I ran across several conflicting pieces of information about the season. Some articles said that the second week was the week of Love, some said the week of the Way. Others said it was the week of Joy or Peace. Momentarily, I was wavering on the brink of garment tearing and hair pulling over how to do it right and then I remembered grace. Grace is not about doing. It's about being . . . being with God. Be still and know that I am God.Wednesday December 12 2012Conventional wisdom says that three women cannot be friends together, because of the natural tendency to pair up. But I have two best friends in real life, and we prove...

Grace On The Second Tuesday Of Advent

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 09:24 PST

savedbyegrace posted:

Advent is a season of preparation. Since we don't need to worry about preparing a physical place for Him these days, we concentrate on preparing a spiritual place for him. This second week of Advent, the week of the Way or the week of Love, let us prepare our hearts to receive Him by clearing a path to receive joy. As the song goes, Let every heart, prepare Him room.****Tuesday, December 11, 2012I learned a new word today. Acedia is a spiritual illness that Christians can suffer from, and it is a spiritual or mental sloth, apathy, and it means that we are not able to be glad when good things happen, when God gives us everything good we need to be joyful.Dante's Inferno describes the mire that we can become stuck in when we cannot feel joy and choose to remain that way. One author said, Their punishment is...

Grace On The Second Monday Of Advent

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 14:11 PST

savedbyegrace posted:

There are usually five Advent candles: three or four purple (if three purple, then one pink), and the fifth candle is white. Purple dye used to be the most costly and symbolizes the King, and are the first candles to be used. Pink, if used, is lit during the third week, and is a nod to an event in the middle of a solemn Lent season where a pink rose was given to lighten the solemnity. The fourth candle is purple, and the fifth candle, the white one, is usually lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, and represents Jesus.*****Monday, December 10, 2012.The second week candle is usually purple and has been called the Candle of Love and/or the Candle of The Way. Tonight I have two candles burning, the Candle of Hope and the Candle of Love/The Way. I think of how today's Scripture describes The Way of Love....

Grace On The Second Sunday Of Advent

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 17:48 PST

savedbyegrace posted:

The second Sunday of Advent is when we light the second candle. The second candle is sometimes called the Candle of Love, and sometimes called the Candle of the Way. I like to think of them as being interchangeable, because isn't Love the Way that Jesus showed us?*****Sunday December 9, 2012The story goes that a man loved nothing better than walking. He would leave his home each morning heading to nearby towns, and then take the train back home. One day, a friend challenged him that there was a path the walker knew nothing about: the path BACK home from where he'd gone. Rising to the challenge, the walker took the train TO a nearby town he had walked to hundreds of times, and this time he set for home on foot. He made wrong turns and got lost several times, because in the past as he'd progressed into his...

Grace On The First Saturday Of Advent

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 11:31 PST

savedbyegrace posted:

Advent is about compassion. Today's Scripture verses are This is the way, walk in it. (Is 30:21) along with At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them. (Matt 9:36) How do these verses harmonize with one another?**** Saturday, December 8, 2012It wasn't an earthshatteringly important decision I was confronted with. But I had to decide, and I was having trouble. It seemed like I was presented with two reasonable choices, but both had down sides as well. Which one, Lord? I asked. I need wisdom! What is Your will? I prayed. No voice boomed from heaven. No bright lights surrounded the right choice. No unexpected breeze brought a scrap of paper with Scripture blowing across my path.Isaiah spoke of a coming day when His people would no longer search for the way God would have us move and act and walk. And indeed, the...

Grace On The First Friday Of Advent

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 11:55 PST

savedbyegrace posted:

How appropriate is it that today, the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the Advent scriptures are about dark and light. Pearl Harbor, 9/11 were very dark times in our nation’s history. When we have the Light of Christ so pervasive in our world today, how can it be that we have any darkness? Maybe it’s that there are none so blind as those who will not see. ****Friday December 7, 2012The scripture today is about the blind men who went to Jesus for healing. They were in the dark until He gave them light.The darkest nights of the year occur during Advent. Whenever depression threatens as darkness falls at 5:00 in the afternoon, I sigh, and breathe in the sure hope that the days will get longer and longer every day. As we journey through Advent towards Bethlehem, there will be dark moments ahead. I think about our travelers during their...

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