Friday, December 24, 2010

Alleluia He is coming

Michael Card sings "A Better Freedom"

Joy in Journey

God rest ye merry gentlemen (with Lyrics)

Mary's Boy Child (With Lyrics)

Tonight we celebrate our freedom

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:


to set us free from the hand of our enemies,

free to worship him without fear,

holy and righteous in his sight

all the days of our life.

DRAW ME CLOSE TO YOU

Capturing the Day's Message! (Thursday)

Today, the Lord spoke to me about silence. Or better yet, 'fasting' from all that tempts to enslave me...be it actual noise (environmental or otherwise), incessant activity, or perhaps gluttony. Everything we do in life needs to be tempered...if we have any sort of disordered attachment then the practice of 'fasting' can be beneficial. We in a sense offer that particular  area of our lives up to the Lord and it opens us up to tremendous blessings.

On the subject of fasting...I learned that Christmas Eve was historically a day of abstinence and fasting. That is how my own Portuguese heritage derived at the traditional  salted cod (bacalhau) meal for Christmas Eve. Interesting...and makes perfect sense to me.

Anyway, this 'silence' is necessary in order for us to sense the presence of the Lord and to be able to hear Him and be in relationship with Him.  You can think of it as cleaning the static out of the lines of communication...lol. 

Thursday, December 23, 2010

David Archuleta- Silent Night

A 'freed' tongue...

"Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God."

After a certain amount of 'God mandated' silence, Zechariah acted in obedience and his tongue was freed to offer God praise and blessings...there has got to be a lesson there somewhere. 

Silence and Presence

Christmas is the Feast of Silence and Presence

"Such dispositions of faith, abandonment, simplicity, humility, detachment produce the peaceful silence in our lives which attracts the Word of God."

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The Messiah and his forerunner

Luke 1:68-79



Blessed + be the Lord, the God of Israel;

he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior,

born of the house of his servant David.



Through his holy prophets he promised of old

that he would save us from our enemies,

from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers

and to remember his holy covenant.



This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

free to worship him without fear,

holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.



You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

to give his people knowledge of salvation

by the forgiveness of their sins.



In the tender compassion of our God

the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,

and to guide our feet into the way of peace.



Glory to the Father, and to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit:

as it was in the beginning, is now,

and will be for ever. Amen.

Morning Hymn

Of old the prophets cried aloud,


Foretelling Christ would surely come,

Theirs was the special grace to know

That man's redemption was at hand.



Hence radiates our joy at dawn,

Our happy hearts rejoice and sing,

Proclaiming now our earnest faith

In glory long since promised us.



This humble coming known to few,

Was not to judge a sinful world

But all our wounds to tend and heal,

By saving what had gone astray.



His second coming will declare

That Christ is at our very doors,

To crown all those who love Him well

And welcome them to lasting bliss.



Eternal light is promised us,

The star of our salvation shines,

Already its bright gleaming rays

Call us to keep the law of love.



Lord Jesus Christ, we seek but You,

To see You, God yet truly Man,

So that this vision blest may be

Our never-ending hymn of praise. Amen.

The prophet

Lo, I will send you
Elijah, the prophet,
Before the day of the LORD comes,
the great and terrible day,
To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,
and the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike
the land with doom.


Our current day and age is in desperate need of prophets...those people of God who have the courage, strength and determination to speak up for TRUTH!  As a Lay Carmelite, I have a special place in my heart for the Prophet Elijah. His quiet yet powerful ways are to be imitated. He was greatly loved by the Lord and aside from Mary is the only other human being whose body was carried up to heaven.

Days of Elijah

Capturing the Day's Message! (Wednesday)

Today's message for me was about accepting God's will in life with great joy...no matter how insignificant and tedious (or maybe even painful) it may seem right then and there. Godly rejoicing goes beyond the moment and sees into the future...to what the outcome of a situation will be, even if the present looks dire. With God in control there is always something to rejoice about. Don't know what God's will in your life is? Start with your to-do list.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Nobody Knows

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones


and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.






Marie Bellet in Ordinary Time

Crazy-mess

http://www.elizabethfoss.com/reallearning/2010/12/how-internal-dialogue-colors-our-perception.html

I love Elizabeth's article above...it really brings home today's message. We are going to hear and see in our situation exactly what is inside of us. Are we made out of faith stuff and thus able to rejoice no matter what or does fear and anxiety lead us to whining and complaining?
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Today I am grateful...

Stakerz Xposed: Today I am grateful...

A modern day Magnificat.

My spirit rejoices in God my savior

USCCB NAB - December 22, 2010:
"Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name."


Mary was a young, unmarried girl...looking at it with earthly eyes she had very little to rejoice about in this un-planned pregnancy. I'm not sure how much she knew or didn't know about all that her 'yes' entailed, but her faith told her that no matter what, an abundance of grace would follow. Mary had eyes of faith and knew that whatever God willed would be for the greater good...and thus she rejoiced.

How much do we rejoice over our own 'assignments'...those 'jobs' that the Lord has entrusted us to complete. If you are anything like me, I bet there is often much more grumbling and complaining then there is rejoicing.

Dear Lord, help me to meet this day with joy and gratitude. Amen.

Magnificat

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Foreigner - I Want To Know What Love Is (With Lyrics)

http://www.markmallett.com/blog/2010/12/christ-in-you/

And Jesus is the One that can show me. Maybe that is why we choose to stay hidden from Him...because deep down we know what a relationship with Him REALLY entails. To accept the love that He is freely giving us means that we are to turn around and love in the same way. This is a scary thing to do in the natural...it's easier to keep others in pre determined boxes and therefore at arms length. However, He never said that we had to go about it all on our own...in fact that would be a recipe for disaster. We have Him with us every step of the way.

Oh Lord, teach us to love like You.






I remember my mom (who was a very wise woman often saying 'everyone loves, loves, but no one is willing to do anything to help each other'.  I can now see the great wisdom in those words. The great love story that is Christmas is only complete when it is put together with Good Friday and Easter. God's great love for us in not reflected so much in the fact that He came to live as one of us, but that He came to suffer and die for us.

While I'm Waiting by John Waller {Fireproof music video with lyrics}

The waiting game...

I was feeling His call to start blogging again, I log on here and find that it has been exactly one year since my last post...WOW..God is good!

USCCB | NAB - December 21, 2010

The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a mighty savior;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love,
He will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.


In this season of Advent as we wait on the Lord let us keep in mind that He awaits on us also. Eager to bestow on us all that we have been seeking...salvation, renewal, love, joy.

He is in our midst, why do we keep travelling to "foreign lands" to fill our needs? Everytime that we immerse ourselves and seek gratification in our own passions, we turn our backs on Him and His loving provision for us. We in a sense pack our bags and eventually flee His presence...whether we fully realize it or not. He doesn't move...we do. He instead waits patiently like a good and loving Father and watches for our return...any gesture that signifies our readiness to return no matter how small or insignificant is met by His loving embrace. Can you imagine the Lord, the Creator of the Universe singing for the love of you? Can you think of a better reason to start heading back home to Him?