Posts with the tag “advent”

Light the Christmas Candle (White)Read: Luke 2:14Thoughts for Parents:Angels had watched in awe as the Son, the second person of the Trinity, the Word, entered into an ovum of a young girl. They had w...  Read More

Light the final purple candle (the Angels’ Candle), which represents peace.Read: Psalm 85Thoughts for Parents:In Psalm 85, we find ourselves, once again, with the people of Israel who are lamenting ov...  Read More

Read: Nehemiah 8:10Thoughts for Parents:As punishment for the nation’s incessant unbelief and idolatry, Israel had been captured and forced into slavery in Persia. After many years, in God’s kindness,...  Read More

Read: Rev. 21:4Thoughts for Parents:Truthfully, there are days when it seems like crying, death, mourning and pain will never end. Of course, by His grace not every day is a day of overwhelming sorrow...  Read More

Read: Hebrews 12:1–2, 12Thoughts for Parents:Jesus was joyful. In fact, Hebrews 1:9 says that because He loved righteousness and hated wickedness, His Father had caused Him to be gladder than anyone a...  Read More

Read: Psalm 20Thoughts for Parents:If all you knew about Christianity was the story of Calvary, you wouldn’t think that it was very good news. If the message ended with, “And Jesus uttered a loud cry ...  Read More

The religion of Christ is the religion of joy. Christ came to take away our sins, to roll off our curse, to unbind our chains, to open our prison-house, to cancel our debt. . . . Is not this joy? Wher...  Read More

Read: Matthew 11:2–10Thoughts for Parents:I’ll admit it: sometimes I rejoice about the wrong things. Sometimes I smirk with glee when some ne’er-do-well gets his comeuppance. Even though I really love...  Read More

Read: Isa 35:1–10Thoughts for Parents:I’m in the mood for some good news. Aren’t you? My life isn’t really any different from yours. I have to get up in the morning and try to figure out how I’m going...  Read More

Light the third candle (pink; the Shepherd’s Candle), which represents joy.Read: Psalm 92, Luke 2:8–20Thoughts for Parents:This week we will be focusing in on joy, the joy of the Psalmist as he consid...  Read More

Read: Romans 8:28–39Thoughts for Parents:Oh, this passage! What a glorious assurance is here for us! No matter what you are facing today, no matter how far from God’s purposes and love you believe you...  Read More

Read: Romans 5:8Thoughts for Parents:Are you beginning to get a picture of how amazing God’s love is for you? How can we ever relegate the thought of it to white noise or a yawn? To be loved by God is...  Read More

Read: Romans 1:1–7Thoughts for Parents:How does the Holy Spirit refer to you? What does He call you? He calls us those who are loved by God and called to be saints. That’s so amazing. How should He re...  Read More

Read: 1 John 4:9Thoughts for Parents:Yesterday we read about God’s love from John 3:16. We thought about how that beautiful passage might have become old hat to us. Today, we’re going to think more ab...  Read More

Read: John 3:16 Thoughts for Parents:Do you know what white noise is? White noise is a type of noise that is produced by combining sounds of all different frequencies together. If you took all of the ...  Read More

Light the second (purple) candle (the Bethlehem Candle), which represents love.Read: Psalm 36, Luke 2:1–7Thoughts for Parents:Psalm 36 reminds us that even though there is wickedness in this world, Go...  Read More

Read: Isaiah 9:6–7 and Matthew 1:18–25; 4:16Thoughts for Parents:Today, many parents are aware of the gender of their child before he or she is even born, and, consequently, they have the privilege of...  Read More

Read: Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23Thoughts for Parents:Is there any sweeter name by which to call Jesus than Immanuel? He is God with us. Our familiarity with this name has numbed our senses to the sh...  Read More

Read: Genesis 12:1–3, 7Thoughts for ParentsYesterday we read that God promised to crush the head of the serpent, our enemy, Satan, through the weakness of a Man born to a weak, shamed woman. Today we ...  Read More

Read: Genesis 3:15Thoughts for ParentsEverything had gone terribly wrong. The beautiful paradise was ruined. Their sweet transparency and vulnerability and intimacy was shattered. For the first time A...  Read More

Read: 2 Peter 3:8–10Thoughts for Parents:Many people in Christ’s day didn’t recognize His coming, but that didn’t stop Him from loving them and saving them. And many people today don’t recognize Him e...  Read More

NOVEMBER 28, 2022Light the first (purple) candle (the Prophecy Candle), which represents hope or expectation in anticipation of the coming MessiahRead: Psalm 113Thoughts for Parents: It is right to be...  Read More

Most every family has their holiday traditions such as meals, gift giving, or community service.  My family has several traditions such as Christmas Eve dinner at Granny and Paw-Paw's, cutting down a ...  Read More