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Advent Peace
Happy second week of Advent! This week’s theme is peace. “This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.” From the Book of Acts Chapter 10 verse 36. This message of peace is not just for Jewish people; it is for all of us! We need a whole lot more PEACE in this world of ours. This Bible verse talks about having peace with God. Maybe if more of us had peace with God, there would be fewer wars and violence.
Your Advent Wreath
Here’s what I created for my Advent “wreath” display five or so years ago. It was rather simple, but I liked that simplicity because my mantle was usually covered with photos, awards, sea shells, driftwood, rocks, etc. The cross-stitched dove and peace symbol was done by my mother-in-law, who was a lovely woman. It is not new anymore, but it belongs just as much as the bamboo plant in the red Solo cup given to me by my daughter. The Advent message is at once old and new. Be creative with your Advent display!
Peace Advent Music
Here is an a cappella version of O come, O come, Emmanuel done by Peter Hollens in a beautiful setting:
Advent Reading
This year I bought myself a copy of The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas by Ann Voscamp. I love this part in Day 3 where she says
“And your God, He’s coming now, everywhere, for you. In all humanity’s religions, man reaches after God. But in all His relationships, God reaches for man. Reaches for you who have fallen and scraped your heart raw, for you who feel the shame of words that have snaked off your tongue and poisoned corners of your life, for you who keep trying to cover up pain with perfectionism. Three words come through the dense thicket of failure: Where are you? Your God refuses to give up on you. Your God looks for you when you’re feeling lost, and Your God seeks you out when you’re down, and your God calls for you when you feel cast aside. He doesn’t run down the rebel. He doesn’t strike down the sinner. He doesn’t flog the failure….Jesus is calling for you: ‘Where are you?” (pp 23-24)
Ann Voscamp
The scripture for this day is from Genesis 3:6-9 (NLT):
6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” God is looking for us; longing for us to spend time with Him. Will I spend time with Him today? Will you?
If you missed the first Advent post click here to read it: https://www.upbeatliving.net/a-collection-of-advent-writing-and-song-to-soothe-your-soul-week-one/
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Till next time, Kathy
