Advent Meditation #18




The Crown of Thorns....  red as blood...

 

And exults my spirit over GOD,

The Deliverer of me.

Luke 1:47 (Gk)

... Of me... yes, even of me. 

Young and chaste, Mariam was blessed, yes, but because she chose the Will of GOD, she faced the accusations of impurity... with ramifications.   Those ramifications were so serious that they could lead to her stoning, at worst.

At best, those accusations of impurity could bring her a life-time here on earth of bitterness and grief, which were at the very root of her name.

The bitterness and grief of accusations of impurity... of separation from family and kinsmen ... of a future filled with shame and innuendos... this was the portion for Hebrew young women who were truly un-chaste... if they were not stoned to death first, that is. 

Then, there followed the bitterness and grief that no decent young man -- or old --- would ask for her hand in honorable marriage. A castaway and ostracized even from Temple worship and the Passover meal awaited an un-chaste Hebrew woman.

This is what Mariam faced for her obedience to The Will of GOD. 

Did she HAVE to accept GOD'S plan? In other words, did she have a choice? 

Scripture is silent about that. But Scripture is not silent about this: JESUS HIMSELF+ had a choice to accept the death of the cross or not. 

What bitterness and grief awaited her? What would obedience to the Will of The LORD cost this chaste young Hebrew woman?

Yet, she gloried in GOD Who purposed this pathway for her entire life. 

Meditation ~~~

Our FATHER, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will on earth be done... as it is being done in Heaven, O LORD GOD of the Divine Heavenly Armies. 

Train me also, O LORD, unto the obedience that pleaseth THEE. 

Train me, O REDEEMER, to exult in THEE+ when I am given a path of obedience to walk which I would not choose.

Help me not to shrink back and to pretend I did not hear Thy Word to me, to feign I did not see Thy direction pointers, to become dull and unresponsive when Thy Spirit nudged me. 

O Great REDEEMER, I thank THEE+ for setting my feet on a road towards Thy+ Kingdom --- no matter the cost to me --- so I might be saved from the kingdom of darkness. 

Purge me with hyssop --- that bitter herb --- and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which THOU hast broken may rejoice. 

Yea, my soul doth magnify The LORD and my spirit doth rejoice in CHRIST my SAVIOR+. For HE+ Who+ is mighty hath done great things and Holy is His+ Name ! 

+  +  + 

  

 

Advent Meditation # 17

My soul doth MAGNIFY The LORD...

And Mariam said,

My soul doth

MAGNIFY The LORD...

Luke 1:46

Mariam's response to Elisabeth's blessing was to ENLARGE

upon the GLORY of The LORD,

her LORD,

within her young soul.

Her heart and mind were over-flowing like Elisabeth's with laud and praise of 

Glory to GOD in the Highest !

She could hold no more; her cup was running over. Praised POURED out of her very being.  Praises to GOD MOST HIGH. 

We know some of the martyrs did too.

Stephen, the first martyr,

magnified The LORD

even as his murderers

gnashed upon him with their teeth. 

"But Stephen, being full of the HOLY SPIRIT, looked up steadfastly into Heaven,

and saw the glory of GOD,

and JESUS standing

on the right hand of GOD, and said,

BEHOLD, I see The Heavens opened,

and the SON+ of Man

standing on the right hand of GOD ! "  

Acts 7:55-56

MEDITATION

O FATHER GOD, SAVIOR of all Christian martyrs and faithful and true confessors,

I thank THEE for sending

Thy blessed HOLY SPIRIT

to fill the very souls of Thy+ children

with praise. 

We take no glory unto ourselves, O LORD.

Our goodness is nothing apart from THEE+.

We laud and magnify Thy+ HOLY Name, evermore praising THEE+ and saying: 

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY,   

LORD GOD of HOSTS, 

Heaven and earth

are full of Thy+ Glory! 

Glory be to THEE+ O LORD MOST HIGH. 

Blessed is HE+ that cometh

in the Name of The LORD. 

HOSANNA

IN THE HIGHEST! 

AMEN.  

ADVENT MEDITATIONS #16

...And HIS+ Name is called
The WORD+ of GOD  ...

And blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from The LORD.

Luke 1:45

When The LORD speaks,

IT HAPPENS!

HE+ is the LOGOS+ of GOD... the Living WORD+.  

And HE+ was clothed with a vesture dipped in Blood; and His+ Name is called The WORD+ of GOD. 

Rev. 19:13

The WORD+ of The LORD has been tried... tested and proved to be FAITHFUL and TRUE !

HE+ was FAITHFUL and TRUE to His+ FATHER.

HE+ was FAITHFUL and TRUE to His+ Disciples.

HE+ is FAITHFUL and TRUE to all who follow HIM+ in SPIRIT and in TRUTH.

MEDITATION

O FAITHFUL and TRUE LORD,  The Holy ONE+ of Israel who cannot lie, blessed art THOU+ for being the tried and tested Living WORD+ of GOD. 

I worship THEE+ for remaining FAITHFUL and TRUE to Our Heavenly FATHER during Thy+ Passion on the Cross. 

I thank THEE+ for remaining FAITHFUL and TRUE to Thy+ Disciples and followers throughout the ages. 

I bless THEE+ for being FAITHFUL and TRUE to me...  the one who has not always been faithful and true to THEE+. 

Work in me, O LORD, Thy+ great salvation every day... saving me from my Self,  my deadliest enemy.  

These things I pray in the ONE+ Name given under Heaven among men whereby we can be saved... The LORD JESUS CHRIST.   

Advent Meditation # 15



The lame shall LEAP as an hart... when HE+ comes. 



For lo, as soon as the voice of thy greeting sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

Luke 1:44

Leaped the miraculous babe John growing inside of Elisabeth !

Walking and leaping and praising GOD was the crippled man healed in the Name of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST ! 

At Lystra, The Apostle Paul perceived a cripple from birth had faith to be healed.  This one also leaped and walked !

THEN... shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf un-stopped, than shall the lame LEAP as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb, shall sing !

Isaiah 35:6-7

Now... the Words of CHRIST JESUS Himself+  :

Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the SON+ of Man's sake. 

Rejoice ye in that day, and LEAP for JOY; for behold, your reward is great in Heaven; for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

Luke 6:22-23

MEDITATION

O GOD Who inhabitest the praises of Thy People, inhabit my praises too that I bring to you with a full, full heart.

I am hungry for Thy+ touch; I love THEE+ very much. I exult in Thy+ great salvation for me and for whosoever will come. THOU+, O Gracious SAVIOR, turneth no hungry soul away from Thy+ Table.

Fill me, O LORD, fill me anew with Thy Blessed HOLY SPIRIT so my heart and soul -- yea, even my body -- will leap for joy.

I rejoice with Mariam: My soul proclaims the greatness of The LORD and my spirit exults in CHRIST my SAVIOR.

Blessing, honor, glory, and power be unto HIM that sitteth upon the Throne, and unto The LAMB+ !

LEAP for JOY for your REDEMPTION+ draweth nigh!

ADVENT MEDITATIONS 2012



Wise men seek HIM+...



ADVENT MEDITATIONS 2012

~ ~ ~ The All-Encompassing GOD ~ ~ ~

Luke 1:26-55

Meditation 2



²⁷ To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

David, in Hebrew, means "beloved."  Mary, however, is really "Mariam" --- which has its Hebrew root in bitterness and grief.   Some say "strength." Joseph's name means "add."  Strange, yes?

The birth-mother of Our LORD carried the identity of Bitter Grief while she carried the HOLY CHILD JESUS in her womb.

Even though Mariam was of the house and lineage of David, the beloved, The LORD appointed to this Hebrew virgin a name which would encompass strong bitterness and grief, as the Prophet Simeon told her in the Temple after the CHRIST CHILD was born.

The LORD graciously "added" a protection to this Hebrew virgin, appointing Joseph as a GOWRA (from the Aramaic text which means "a male guardian"), to protect Mariam and the Holy Child JESUS Whom+ she carried under her heart, in her womb.

Marrying "Bitterness and Grief" was Joseph's Appointed Cup...  as he became The LORD'S Appointed guardian over his little, divine family.

MEDITATION:

O GOD, Who+ encircles those suffering in bitter grief in Thy+ tender, Nail-Scarred Hands... take the bitterness and grief of my soul's regrets unto THEE+.

And when my cup is Bitter again, send forth unto me a spirit of gentle submission... like the submissive spirit of gentle Mariam... even in the midst of the Cup of Grief THOU+ hast chosen for me.

I thank THEE, O HOLY FATHER, for sending Thy Gentle SON+ Who+ obediently drank the Cup of Bitterness for the good of Mankind ... for the good of me.

+  +  +

ADVENT MEDITATIONS 2012

ADVENT MEDITATIONS 2012

What is in a WORD?

The LOGOS+ of GOD.

The LOGOS+ of GOD, we shall see, is sent by The GOD Who is all-encompassing. The LOGOS+  is an all-encircling GOD Who+ encircles all of mankind... man's time, place, and situation.

HE+ is the LOGOS+, the all-encircling GOD, Who+ knows the end from the beginning.  Let us take time to meet HIM+ during this Advent Season. 

[ NOTE:  We use blue during Advent, which is the liturgical color connected with the Birth of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST... not red and green. ]

~ ~ ~ The All-Encompassing GOD ~ ~ ~

12.2.2012 to 12.24.2012

Luke 1:26-55

Meditation 1

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from GOD unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

Precision!  Exactness!  Accuracy! 

Precisely at the time appointed, GOD sent out a special Angelic warrior, Gabriel [ Hebrew for "valiant, strong man, strong warrier of GOD ]. 

This divine, Angelic Warrior was the Same Strong Angel who visited Daniel in Babylon, to make him know prophetic things of the end time ( Daniel, chapters 8 and 9).

Gabriel was sent to Galilee... a most interesting name. The Hebrew root is G-L-L, which means to roll, especially to roll large stones. ( Ernest Klein, pg. 101) .

Galilee itself means " a Circle of Goyim" or of "nations." 

At the Appointed Time, in the Appointed Place, set within precise details, Prophetic events occur very precisely... exactly as ordained by the Hand of The LORD. 

Nothing occurs as happenstance or in a slip-shod manner when The LORD deals with mankind:  all events are planned precisely to bring about the fulfillment of GOD'S plan for planet earth and mankind. 

HE encircles all of mankind out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation ... in time, in place, and in situation ... as HE brings forth HIS Appointed MESSIAH+ to break into the society of man. 

HE begins by rolling the stone away , the ROOT of the meaning of  Galilee.  That is why the beginning of the MESSIAH'S entrance into humanity occured in Galilee of the Nations... 

MEDITATION:

O LORD, Who+ plans the end from the beginning, I know Thy+ plans are best. Into Thy+ Hands I now place my heart. All control over my future, my security, I yield now into Thy+ Hands... because I want to be part of Thy+ Kingdom. 

Make me as Thy+ Servants, the Angels who are intent to do Thy+ will ... turning neither to the left hand nor to the right... until Thy+ Will be done. 

I thank THEE+, O HOLY ONE+ of Israel, for establishing Thy+ Great Plan, which no man nor Angel can thwart. 

What a Mighty GOD we serve!

+  +  +