Do you not know that those who run in a race all run to, but one receives the prize? Run therefore in such a way that you may obtain it. 1 Corinthians 9:25
My brothers and sisters in Christ, “Everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore, I run thus, not with uncertainty or as one who beats the air, but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, let when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
What a wonderful season it is, when we await with great expectation Christ’s second coming! Oh, come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
Oh, come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant! Oh, come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem. Come and behold him, born the King of angels; oh, come let us adore him, oh come let us adore him, oh come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing, everlasting joy will be upon their heads.” Isaiah 35
“A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God’s people. No traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come upon it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed of the Lord shall walk there.” My brothers and sisters in Christ, let the redeemed of the Lord say, SO!
They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God! The wilderness of the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. Isaiah 35
My brothers and sisters in Christ, “Say to those who are of a fearful heart, be strong, do not fear, here is your God, he will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you. The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped, the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.”
Lord, we don’t deserve your goodness and mercy, but that’s the kind of God you are. Mercifully kind.
“Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us, because we are sorely hindered by our sins; let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen, Come Lord Jesus!!”
Third Sunday of Advent!
A candle is burning, a candle of JOY, a candle to welcome brave Mary’s new boy, our hearts fill with wonder and eyes light and glow, as joy brightens winter like sunshine on snow.
Praise the Lord all you Gentiles! Laud him all you peoples! For there shall be a root of Jesse, and he shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, and in him they will have hope. Romans 15
“Now, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in the hope by the power of the holy spirit.”
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! His judgments and his ways past finding out! Romans 11:33
Our God is awesome! “For who knows the mind of the Lord? Or who has become his counselor? Or who has first given to him, and it shall be repaid? For of him and though him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.”
“O Come O Come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel!”
“Come, Thou long expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free, from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in Thee. Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth Thou art, Dear Desire of every nation, Joy of every longing heart. Born Thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a king, born to reign in us forever, now Thy gracious kingdom bring. By Thy own eternal Spirit, rule in all our hearts alone, by Thy all-sufficient merit; raise us to Thy glorious throne.”
You know what time it is, how the moment for you to awake from sleep for salvation is nearer to us now, than when we became believers; the night is gone, and the day is near. Romans 13 11-12
My brothers and sisters in Christ we are no longer ignorant, we know that the day is near, we are witnessing signs and wonders, so Scripture warns us in Roman chapter thirteen, that we should lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, to live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy, but instead, to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and to make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.