Tag Archives: Advent

Advent at the WildBerry Patch – What does Christmas feel like?

Hello!

I grew up in Ohio, and I live in Austin Texas now.

Today does not feel like Christmas. it’s 81 degrees outside!

I started thinking, what does Christmas feel like?
Does it feel like

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire?
Jack Frost nipping at your nose?
Folks singing yuletide carols,
and dressed up like Eskimos?

Is it a White Christmas
and hearing sleighbells in the snow?

Is it frightful weather so you stay inside
and say let it snow, let it snow, let it snow?

Or should it be thinking of a
Silent Night, a Holy Night

In the little town of Bethlehem?
Where on a Midnight Clear
Angels from the realms of Glory
Sang
The first Noel?

When Shepherds ran Away to a Manger,
and asked
What Child is this?

And with these thoughts,
and, Hark, the Angels are singing,
We sing
Joy to the World, the Lord is come
Let earth receive her King.

O Come all ye faithful,
All ye Merry Gentle men and women remember Christ was born on Chrismtas day!
All Good Christian men and women
Rejoice!
With Heart and soul and voice!

Christ the Lord is born!
Christ the Lord is born.

To kids from 1 to 92
Merry Christmas to You.

May your days be Merry and Bright,
and may you enjoy at least one Christmas that is white!

by M. Christine Wildman
copyright 2022

Join me in ushering in the season with O Come O come Emmanuel, and sing it every day of the year! Come Lord Jesus Come!

And Join me in celebrating the Advent season.
I’ve created a season of Devotions for Advent.

Hi!
My hope in the midst of despair and my joy in the face of depression is because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have one, or are not sure you will join him in heaven, please check out these links.

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Copyrights and Legal-eze
There are many organizations that support children and families. Here are ones that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.

Advent – Day 20 – Joseph

Advent Day 20 – Joseph
If using and Advent log, light days 1-20.

Joseph

Holy Family wood

Joseph.
We know very little about him, and yet, enough.
A Carpenter.
Asked for Mary’s hand in marriage.
We know he is a Godly, compassionate man, for when his bride to be is found with child(and has some cockamammy story about being impregnated by God),
he decided to divorce her quietly – so she won’t be stoned. Or would she? Anyway – he’d made his decision, and he got visited by an angel!
Matthew 1:18-25

¹⁸This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about^[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.¹⁹Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet^[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

²⁰But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,^[c] because he will save his people from their sins.”

²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”^[d] (which means “God with us”).

²⁴When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Joseph was told that he was the stepfather to the Son of God.
And he was to name him Jesus, God with us. or was it Immanuel?
The folks over at Christian Apologetics and Research have a great explanation of the two names of Jesus and why, therefore, I won’t go into it!

Joseph provides the flesh and blood father that protects Jesus when they have to flee to Egypt.
He provides training for Jesus and provides for the family as a carpenter.
Apparently, he, also, was chosen for his role in Christ’s life, and by taking Mary into his home as his wife, and not ‘knowing’ her as was his biblical right, Joseph said yes to God!

The angel thing again. But seriously, if I met an angel that told me that such and thus was going to happen, especially if I had been in bed, I would second guess myself. Of course, Mary was with child. Joseph could believe or not believe. He said yes.

I believe.

How did Joseph manage? He did just what he knew to do – believe.
Because he believed, he became the step-father of the Son of God.
Now THAT is an intense position!

Joseph’s Song by Michael Card – lyrics
More Advent Devotions
Advent Day 19 – Mary

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.

Advent day 19 – Mary

Advent day 19
If using an Advent Log – light candles 1-19.

Mary

Holy Family

By all accounts, a young girl, Mary was chosen to marry a man, named Joseph.

But even before her was Elizabeth and Zacharias.
They had been waiting for a child.
Zacharias received a very special message during his service to the Lord in Luke 1:5 and following. This child was going to announce the coming of the Messiah!

What did the Angel say?
Luke 1:28

And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

Thou that art highly favoured – favor and grace
The Lord is with thee: – with – as in WITH? an unheard of position.
blessed art thou among women. – above Rachel and Leah by whom Jews had been blessing their daughters for centuries!
She is one that Loves her God!
She’s told she will have a child…with no male intervention. This means that she will be seen as a harlot. This is punishable by death.

Maybe this is why it’s angel GABRIEL! that came to speak to her! But, her response is a beautiful statement of complete yeildedness to God’s plan, no matter what.

Luke 1:38

And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

The Angel sends her on her way to Elizabeth’s – the babe in Elizabeth’s womb jumps for joy, and Mary sings what has gone down in history as her Magnificat.

Luke 1:46-55

She raises the Son of God – her story continues to the day he dies. She was a person, just like me, that said yes to God.

The key to me in this is am I willing to be embarassed at least, persecuted to death at the most for something that God has told me I should do. Now, Mary did get some evidence pretty soon that she was going to have a baby – but she also knew that she hadn’t been with a man. I, on the other hand, just have the strange visions, notions, or thoughts that God might want me to do things…and I often beg out because I am embarrassed. Mary’s reputation was on the line, and it was even brought up to Jesus years later. And she said yes!

A Baby Changes Everything! Sung by Faith Hill

I have often thought about Mary, seeing as how my first name is Mary. yes, named after THE Mary, as well as a woman from the church in which I grew up.
Mary was devoted.
To God! As she understood him.
She was willing to put her life on the line for something so very strange, so unbelievable that her life was in jeopardy.
So often I get a leading…a simple leading like “take more medicine in case you are there longer” and I dont listen. Odd – in that case, I ended up there an extra day, no medicine, and I paid with several says of fibro flare.
This did not put me in the position to be stoned! not even imprisoned! or whipped! And, it was a situation that I could have changed.
Mary – she just said YES – even though she did ask HOW – but she didn’t say NO…

I was raised Episcopalian, so there is a strange relationship between me and the Prostestant and Catholic views of Mary.
On Faith has a wonderful essay on the 10 Things Christians should know about Mary.

I love this song, I’ve never heard it before. Be Born in Me sung by Francesca Battistelli

Breath of Heaven(Mary’s Song) sung by Amy Grant. This is an insight into what may have gone through Mary’s mind!

While I desire to be like Jesus – He is PERFECT – because he is God/man.
Looking at what we know about Mary – I want to be like my namesake! How about you?

Mary did you know Lyrics

More Advent Devotions

Advent Day 20 – Joseph

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.

Advent 2015 day 18 – Faith

Advent day 18
light the 18th candle

Advent day 18

here’s a nice version of O Come all Ye faithful to listen to while reading.

I’ve been meditatiing on the WORDS of Christmas – Joy, Love, Peace – and they are the first three fruits of the Spirit:

Eph 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

There are ornaments all around that have these words on them – but recently, there are new ones popping up that say “I believe”.

There is a current cultural thing to say I believe – but the question I ask is “what do you believe?” or more specifically “In WHAT or WHOM do you believe?”

belief implies faith
from Merriam Webster:

Full Definition of faith
plural faiths play \ˈfāths, sometimes ˈfāthz\
1
a : allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty
b (1) : fidelity to one’s promises (2) : sincerity of intentions
2
a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion
b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust
3: something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs

The word Belief is used to define the word faith.

The Bible defines Faith this way:
Heb 11:1

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hope is another word that is thrown about at Christmas time, and it goes hand in hand with Faith.

When something is created, it is created with some sort of substance. A Lego Milkshake is made by the substance of legos, the legos are created by the substance of plastic. before the legos, there came the idea, and the hope that it could be done, and the faith that all their experiences and knowledge would be able to see the final product.

Jim with a Lego milkshake

Before it was a real lego milkshake, it was a thought in someone’s mind. They believed they could build legos, and they believed they could use those legos to build a milkshake. First, they had the thought, and they HOPED they could do it. The milkshake was not seen, until they went through the steps to build it. Once it was seen, there was no need for faith, belief or hope. They KNEW they could do it, because they had the visible proof before them. But someone first had the thought!

Faith – one of the definitions is “firm belief in something for which there is no proof”

Many people say that those of us with religious faiths have ‘blind faith’.
My faith is not blind.
I cannot explain creation around me without the knowledge that there was a creator.
If a camera had a creator, then how did the eye just happen?
If prosthetics have creators, then how did the foot, ankle, knee, wrist, hand, elbow, hip just happen?

Man cannot create water – how did it get here?
How does the bumble bee fly?
How does the hummingbird fly?
Why are we at just the right distance from the sun to maintain warmth, with the moon exactly the right distance to cause the tides? Just because Star Trek found all sorts of class M planets does not mean there really are. But if there were, how did they happen?
And then, there are those that will not believe in a creator God that created, and is intimately involved in the lives of His children. They believe in Aliens that came and planted us here.

Well, God is alien to us – his ways are not our ways.
He is infinite, I am finite.
He is omniscient, I only know what I know.

And what I know is that there is a creator for this creation.
I have faith that Jesus Christ is His Son, who came, lived, died and rose again on my behalf.
My hope is that someday, I will see him face to face.
And when that day comes, there will be no more need for faith, because we will know all things and know Him completely.

What do you believe?
Whom do you believe?
And does it make your life better for the believing?

The ornament for today is a cross – to signify in Whom I have faith.

wooden cross

cross of nails

cross with Jesus’s names

crochet cross

Oh Come all ye faithful by Casting Crowns

More Advent Devotions

Advent day 19 – Mary

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.

Advent 2015 Day 17 – Peace

Advent day 17
light the 17th candle

Advent 17

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

luke 2:14

When Jesus was born, the angels sang.

Isaiah 9:6:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

So many people talk about the peace of Jesus. BEing right with God through Jesus is peace indescribable.

In the midst of the storm, Jesus says Peace be still:

Mark 4:39

And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

To the woman who had suffered years with an incurable illness,
Mark 5:34

And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

Jesus knows the fears and anxieties of our lives, and he speaks peace into us.
John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

“let not your heart be troubled”…honestly, that’s easy for Jesus to say! He’s God!!!

Romans 5:1

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

I do have peace that I am justified by faith, and that I have peace with God through my Lord Jesus – I have peace that my salvation is secure in Him. It’s the stuff around me that causes anxiety! The world. The diseases. The suffering. the tribulations of my friends and family. And Jesus even provides peace for those situations:

1 Peter 5:7

casting all your care on Him, because He cares about you.

Ps 55:22

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

Matthew 6 – do not worry, do not worry, do not worry! here, Jesus lists quite a few things that cause me anxiety. food, clothing, and everything else is implied by pointing to the flowers and the birds that are cared for.

John 16:33

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

This gift of peace, is also a gift of rest…fear and anxiety and worry are just constant poisons within that weaken the spirit.

2 Tim 1:7

7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

And Romans talks about striving to enter into His rest – being the rest at the end of our walk, and stepping into Heaven. But the peace of God can abide with us now.

Phil 4:7

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Col 3:15

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

an added bonuse to God’s peace:
1 cor 14:33

For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

When I am anxious, I get confused, and I am definitely NOT in peace. Concerns for the health of my family, dealing with pains in my body, listening to the news around the world, and even here in America – these things can get me confused, and I can forget Who reigns. He’s not the author of confusion! Therefore, if I take my anxiety, my fears, my concerns to HIM – he will fill me with His peace, and more.

Romans 14:17

For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Romans 15:13

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

More Advent Devotions

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I want to thank

for the ability to search the Bible online.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
Or choose to LIKE me on facebook, or other social media!
I’d love to stay in touch with you – we are working on email subscriptions…sign up!
Soon, we will have a gallery for the art I have created by the hand of God.

There are many organizations that support children and families. Here is one that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Advent – day 16 – Love

Today is Advent 16
Light the 16th candle

Advent 16

Ornaments:

Love wooden hearts

Love nativity

Love – it is the first listed fruit of the Spirit in Gal 5:22-23

fruit of the spirit – sincerelysarad,com

It’s something that grows from the Spirit inside.

God is love.
1 John 4:7-10

7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Love is evidence of being in Christ.
And Love is a verb – it is shown by actions: God shows us His Love!
John 3:16 for God so loved…that famous passage:

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

It is love that caused God to send his son to die for us.

A good man would not die for a friend…
Romans 5:6-7

6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

This is the great showing of love:

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

We didn’t deserve it. We’d done nothing to earn it. God’s love was so full towards us that it overflowed to paying the price for us. And when the world tells me that I am unlovable, I just need to go to these passages and remind myself, God loves me.

We love because he first loved us(1 John 4:19) – without him, we do not understand unconditional love.

1 cor 13…This is love – written by Paul through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
First, he mentions doing good – but if I have not love, I am nothing.
Then, instructions:

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails

Then a talk about growing – and the conclusion of the matter:

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

My take on this is that the greatest fruit to display is LOVE. and with this description, one can work on growing in love for their whole life!

Jesus was born on Christmas morn because God’s heart was torn.

There are several great passages above to read about God’s love. I am amazed whenever I think about His love towards me. In His love he forgives me and gives me second, third and upteenth chances, as long as I keep turning, honestly, to him. I don’t know what I would do without God’s loving hand in my life. It is his love that has pulled me out of suicide and depression. It is his love that has kept me here. It is sharing His love that gives me great joy! And I thank God for it daily.

Lord Jesus, please open my eyes to see the love you have for me.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

More Advent Devotions

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi (with Jim, 12-8-1959 to 12-18-2020)
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

I want to thank

for the ability to search the Bible online.

There are many organizations that support children and families. Here is one that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Advent – Joy – third Sunday of Advent

Today is Advent 15
Light the 15th candle on the Advent Log

Advent Log 15

Today is the Third Sunday of Advent
Light the third Advent Candle on the Advent Wreath

The themes for the Sundays in Advent designate this Sunday as the Sunday of Joy.

I have already written much about Joy, so I am going to just link those writings here.

Joy of Jesus

The Oil of Joy

Joy Cross

Joy has been a struggle for me, and I wrote about it as the answer against one of the Giants in my Land

I have questioned, but the Why of it is, that I must choose to rejoice – choose Joy.

Joy to YOU

Joy to the World

This is one of my favorite Christmas Carols – it speaks the truth of salvation!

And here’s some updated versions:

More Advent Devotions

Advent Day 18 – Faith

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.

Advent day 14 – The Lamb

Advent Day 14 – the Lamb
Light the 14th candle on the Advent Log.
No photo for this one.

In 2015, when I created this Advent Blog, I combined Lion and Lamb on day 12.

This year, 2016, I’ve been doing a study on Psalm 23 – The Lord is my Shepherd.
I plan to have a study done about the shepherd before the end of the year.

The point of this blog is that Jesus came as a lamb – the perfect spotless lamb that was slain for our sins.

here is a refresher from Day 12.

~~~~~

Jesus came as a baby and was laying in a manger. A manger is a feeding trough for farm animals. The fact that Jesus came and was so meek and mild caused much difficulty for the rulers of the Church of his day. First, Jesus came as a lamb.

Lamb

Lamb

The stories in the Old Testament about sacrifices force us to talk about the meaning of blood sacrifice. That sacrifice needed to be a perfect, no scars, no warts, no wrinkles, but perfect ram or lamb. In the New Testament we are told about Jesus going to the cross as a lamb going to sacrifice. This is one of the key differences in the Christian faith, that we have a Savior that chose to pay the price for our sins.

John 1:29

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

1 Cor 15:20-22

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

(Gen 22:8; Ex 12:5; Is 53:4-7; 1 Pet 1:18-21)

Rev 5:12

Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

~~~~~

nativity

The reason that we see Nativities up at Christmas was because Jesus was born in a manger – like an animal. Like a lamb.

He came – humbled himself from heaven, and came – to die for us. To be the lamb that was slain.

More Advent Devotions

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi (with Jim, 1959-2020)
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

I want to thank

for the ability to search the Bible online.
I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
Or choose to LIKE me on facebook, or other social media!
I’d love to stay in touch with you – we are working on email subscriptions…sign up!
Soon, we will have a gallery for the art I have created by the hand of God.

There are many organizations that support children and families. Here is one that we are blessed to be a part of. Please consider sponsoring a child – the life you change could be your own.

Advent Day 13- Stone

Advent day 13

light the 13th candle on the Advent Log

Advent day 13

I asked for some help in choosing some additional symbols/names of Christ on facebook.

One option was “The Rock” from Ps 18:46

The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

Here is some beautiful piano music to listen to while reading this blog.

here are two of my favorite responses:

Amy Head:

I actually like the corner stone idea or the rock. As you said Jesus is our rock and cannot be moved or shaken. It also made me think of (and I know this is Easter) but when the stone was moved from Jesus’ grave. How stones are frequent in the word and are powerful things no matter how small. Wind, just like sin, is invisible but you can feel it and know it’s there but wind, like sin, cannot move a stone and the stone is like the word of the Lord.

Rebecca Graves:

I kept thinking of the song On Christ the solid rock I stand. I am glad my feet are not on sinking sand. Altars in the old testament we made of a pile of rocks. They were remembrances of what God had done strewn around the landscapes in various places.

And Rebecca’s post brought this reply from Nellwyn Blackmon:

…that reminds me of one of my favorite verses. ..Psalm 40:2

I love having friends that share my faith, and can give me input into how to worship and honor my Lord and Savior.

Jesus is the rock

Jesus is the solid rock on which we stand…as opposed to sinking sand.
Ps 40:2(Ps 27:5; Matt 7:24-27)

He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

Jesus is the corner stone the builders rejected, as in the leaders of the church of that day.
Ps 118:22

The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

Matthew 21:42

Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

Jesus is the rock
Ps 61:2

From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

He is our shelter, our refuge(as that rock):
Ps 61:3

For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.

There is the verse that says that we either fall upon the rock for forgiveness or the rock will fall upon us to crush us. The relationship with the rock depends on our heart towards the rock.

Another focus is that we are to build a foundation based upon that rock – Jesus.
1 Cor 3:11

11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

We build upon the Rock of Jesus by listening to His words:
Matthew 7:24-25

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

And if not:
Matthew 7:26-27

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Ornaments:

Rocks from Craft store

Affix paper clips with hot glue

Jesus is the Rock ornament

These are not typical Christmas/Advent hymn, but are the perfect explanation of why it is so perfect as symbolism for Christ:

Advent 11
More Advent Studies

Got Questions provides a detailed explanation of The Roman’s Road.
Billy Graham’s version of the Plan of salvation

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

Naomi’s Heart Ministries
Obed’s House Ministries
The son of a friend will be interning with CRU – previously known as Campus Crusades for Christ. If you’d like to support someone I can vouch for in this area, please consider going to Matthew Plant’s donation page.

The Wildberry Patch

Be Engrafted into the VINE to produce Eternal Fruit

Tag Archives: Advent

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