Daily Devotion
The Joy Of Celebrating Advent. (cont'd)
Created: Tuesday, 11 December 2018 10:26
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The word ADVENT means ARRIVAL. In Christianity, the term has several meanings: The Advent of Jesus in the flesh at Christmas, His Advent in the //World and Spirit and the final Advent when Jesus will return bodily in glory. Each meaning stirs the joyful anticipation of what God has accomplished, what He is now and will yet bring to completion.
The weeks of Advent remind us to set aside some of the hectic business of the holiday season and to quietly reflect on the promise of the baby born in Bethlehem 2000 years ago.
In the sixth century, Church Fathers officially set the four Sundays before the celebration of Jesus' birth as a time for believers to get focused on the Savior's coming to earth. They felt that three comings should be focused upon. 1st when Jesus came to earth in human form to become our Savior; 2nd to remember when we invited Him into our lives as Savior and Lord; 3rd looking forward to His coming to take all believers home to be with Him. Keep all three of Jesus' comings alive in your celebration and it will help to keep you from accepting the devil's invitation to sin.
On that first Christmas night, the angels appeared to shepherds on a hill near Bethlehem. The shepherds and the sheep to whom the angels appeared were no ordinary shepherds and sheep. The sheep were bound for the temple sacrifices. How wonderful that in God's wisdom and love the angels should appear to them-the doomed and the outcast-that night.
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Life Application: Today we can declare to the world that the Good Shepherd cares for all people and wants to give them peace. Jesus came on that first Christmas for one purpose-to die on the cross for our sins.
Praise/Prayer: Dear Father, You know what we need, and Jesus was the only answer to what mankind needed. He came as that baby, so no one would really know besides Mary why He came. Man needed a savior. Jesus was the only one who could become our savior. Thank You for sending Him to be our Savior. Amen!
