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Week 2 of Advent-Sunday, 4 December 2022
(Excerpts from The Happy, Meowy Christmas Devotional)
Quick recap: Advent, means the “arrival or coming” of something or someone, that is “especially important.” It is the time on our calendars that marks the four Sundays prior to Christmas. It is the celebration leading up to the arrival of the Baby Jesus; but it also symbolically, looks ahead to the second coming of Christ.
Germany introduced the custom of using the Advent Wreath and the lighting of candles, which many churches have adopted as part of this celebration.
Joy is the characteristic that is highlighted for Week 2 of Advent. Isn’t this an interesting trait to encounter? Do you have a friend or family member who exudes this quality? Don’t you love being around someone who seems to be filled with God’s Spirit and has a happy heart? Do you find that they have a contagious spirit of hope, gratitude, of finding the good in situations and others?
Well, we had a cat that we adopted with the name “Jeepers.” But since she had such joy in her personality, we called her—Jeeper-Joy. Joy, was perhaps the sweetest legacy of our second cat. She seemed to constantly fill our home with her lyrical songs. It’s a good model to emulate.
Unlike happiness, that tends to move and shift with our circumstances, joy—is a steadfast quality, decision or choice that we make—it’s a state of being. It means allowing God to create a safe place in our minds where He is our strength, our peace, our hope and refuge. Joy—cannot help but stand out in this world, when we are experiencing difficulty or hardship, for its presence will be written upon our faces and flow from within us like Jeeper’s trills and meows.
Luke 1:46-55 tells us that Mary lifted up a song of praise unto the Lord; it’s often called “The Magnificat.” This beautiful prayer is her response of all that she was told by the angel Gabriel. It was her answer of obedience. I love that she chose to be a willing, happy-hearted servant! I cherish that she was filled with a joyful response! I encourage you to read these verses from Luke 1. May they fill your heart with joy!
Joy—keeps us praising God when others do not, because we are held securely by the One Who holds yesterday, today and tomorrow. That kind of faith causes joy to bubble up and burst out of a believer. Do you have a trill that gets noticed? How does knowing Jesus help you maintain a steady sense of His joy?
One more stop before we conclude: Did you know that God sings over you? Do you know that He takes great delight in you? Read the words from Zephaniah: “Yahweh your God is in your midst; a mighty warrior who saves. He shall rejoice over you with joy; he renews you in his love; he will exult over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 LEB What a miracle to absorb this Christmas; what a gift of His Spirit.
Want more Joy? (Happy Meowy Christmas contains a 2-page spread for Advent--complete with verses for each week for meditations with the Lord)!
2 Pause and Praise Creations ©
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