December 2018 Christmas Letter

 

“ …When the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord…And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus… then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, “Now Lord, Thou dost let Thy bond-servant depart in peace, according to Thy word; For my eyes have seen Thy salvation, Which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, A Light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Thy people Israel...” (Luke 2:22-32 NASB)

December 10, 2018

Simeon was a man actively waiting… What are we waiting for? We are all waiting for something or someone in our lives: a child to recover from illness, the next big promotion, our children to come home for a visit, the vacation we’ve been saving for to materialize, a spouse to come on the scene, etc. Some of us are looking forward with hope for the good we expect to be coming—while others of us are waiting in dread—for the ‘other shoe to drop’, for the divorce papers to come in the mail, for the bills to arrive for the month when the money is tight, etc. Regardless—we are all waiting for what we expect to be coming….

Simeon was an old man and was close to death. He had lived his life and had nothing much to look forward to anymore, but death—until God gave him a Promise; and it was a magnificent promise. From the very beginning of time—ever since Adam and Eve had sinned and fallen away from God in the Garden of Eden, mankind had been waiting for God to send us His promised Messiah—the Savior of men, who would redeem us from all that we lost at the Fall and restore us to God. (Gen 3:15) Thousands and thousands of years had passed without the fulfillment of that promise –to the point where many had simply stopped waiting—had given up hoping—had fallen into unbelief, and gone on with living their lives without God; without living in holy expectation of the fulfillment of his wonderful promise. Simeon, however, was a devout and righteous man— and God had blessed him by revealing to him through the Holy Spirit, that—though he felt his life was over with and there was no hope of anything good yet to come---God promised him He would not let him die before allowing his very own eyes to behold the One that all of mankind had been yearning for since the Garden. WHAT A PROMISE!! And Simeon had BELIEVED the Promise God had given him and had been living in great expectation ever since, to see the Coming One with his very own eyes. What that must have done to the soul of this old man---the joy of it must have lighted his life with tremendous happiness and peace!! He knew that at ANY moment the Messiah could appear, and he had to be ready to welcome Him with open arms. The truth was—the Messiah was not just coming for Simeon---he was coming for ALL of Israel—He was coming for ‘whomsoever will’ open their heart to Him, from every tribe and nation and people and tongue of all those who dwell upon the earth. But God had chosen to give this old man HOPE, by giving him a Promise---and his belief in the fulfillment of that promise had given him a reason to live a happy and expectant life.

Advent is not just a time of remembering Jesus’ first coming—but the time of waiting with anticipation for Jesus’s second coming to the earth, as well. And God has also given US a Promise in His Holy Word: that Jesus will, indeed, one day return to earth and establish His Kingdom once and for all among us. Do we BELIEVE His Promise to us? Do we live in Holy expectation of His imminent return—or have we gone the way of all the earth, and forgotten the Promise He has given us? If our souls are weighed down with many a care –while we look for our promotion, for a spouse, for our retirement or vacation---perhaps we are too earthbound—to temporal minded, and we need to lift our eyes up to the horizon and REMEMBER this is NOT ‘all there is’—or all there is going to be. (Hallelujah!) Jesus shed his precious blood for us on Calvary to pay the price for our sins—paid in FULL the debt we owed to God, so that we may be restored to the heavenly Father. There really IS a Coming Day of GLORY for all who Believe and who, like Simeon, have set their houses in order in GREAT EXPECTATION of the return of our loving ‘Master of the house.’ Are we ready, with Simeon to welcome Him with open arms when He comes? Or will He find us too busy with our lower, earthly preoccupations to give Him the welcome He is due? If we are missing our joy this season of Advent, perhaps we are waiting for something LESS than what-- and Who --we know we really need. The Holy Spirit is the one who revealed to Simeon that God was about to fulfill His great promise. And the Holy Spirit wants to reveal to us today this same Messiah’s Spirit among us, even now, as we await His bodily return. May God open our eyes to see His Son in our midst by His Holy Spirit, and help us conform our lives to His Image, and bring Him Glory!

Simeon was given LIFE by the Promise God gave him to live by. He was given his promise because He was devout---meaning that he took the time to call upon God, to draw near to God and give Him the Honor He is due. God has given us promises to gain LIFE by, as well:

“Draw near to God and He WILL draw near to you…” (James 4:8).

“…Seek the Lord, while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon…” (Isaiah 55: 6-7)

It is not by accident that the Bible says it was WISE men who sought out Jesus when He came the first time---for it will be WISE men (and women) who will be the ones to seek Him out the second time as well…..Are you discouraged…feeling lost or hopeless?? Draw near to God and Ask Him to give you a Promise from His Holy Word for you to Live by. His Word gives Life and Hope!

Praying that 2019 will find us all seeking Jesus more diligently, devoutly, and giving Him the Honor He is due, that his Second Advent will come quickly and will not be delayed. Maranatha! ♥

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all,

Love Joann