The First Sunday of Advent 2023

 

Jesus Is

Advent Devotional Guide
December 3-24, 2023
by Patience Fort

First Sunday of Advent: Jesus is HOPE

Sunday, December 3, 2023

Today we light the first candle of the Advent season which is the Prophecy Candle. In short, this candle reminds us that Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament and that He is the Hope of the whole world.

Ever since the fall of man recorded in the first book of the Bible, humanity has been spiraling out of control. For centuries, people have wondered if situations could possibly get any more dire or hopeless. When left to make our own decisions, we are, indeed, hopeless.   

Isaiah 2:14 is a familiar verse at Christmastime. “Therefore the Lord, himself, will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” God inspired this passage many, many years before the birth of Jesus. He would be the Messiah. He would save the people. They looked forward with hope to the fulfillment of this promise.

Revelation 3:20 is another familiar verse. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone opens the door I will come into him and dine with him and he with me.” Jesus promised in this passage that He would come inside us and dwell there if we would invite Him in. He fulfilled that promise countless times in those who are Christians. He is our only Hope.

John 14:3 says, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Jesus has promised that he will return to take us home with him. This Second Coming might be through the action of our death or by his global return foretold in The Revelation. Regardless, we have every reason to believe that because he promised it, He will return.

Jeremiah 20:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future.” Jesus is the fulfillment of this declaration. He is the Hope of the world.  

Lord, Thank you for the prophecies about Jesus – those that have come to fruition and those for which we wait. We thank you for the hope we have in Him. Help us to pass this Hope to those around us, that they may experience the coming of Jesus in their lives this Christmas season.

"Jesus Is" -- My Introduction to the Advent Devotional Guide for 2023

 

Jesus Is

Advent Devotional Guide
December 3-24, 2023
by Patience Fort

Introduction

Saturday, December 2, 2023

According to the dictionary, “advent” is the arrival of a notable person or event. We might say, “our lives have changed since the advent of electricity,” for instance. In the Christian church, the beginning or “advent” of the liturgical calendar is four Sundays before Christmas, or Advent.

In this devotional guide, I will touch on the Advent of Jesus – His beginning, His coming to earth in the form of a baby, His coming to us individually, and His second coming. Mine is not an in-depth, critical study but rather an effort to show Jesus’ deity and his humanity from my own perspective as a believer.

I ask that you, my reader, commit to doing several things throughout this study. 

(1)Begin each reading with prayer, seeking God’s direction in your life.

(2) Read each day’s entry with an open heart. Please don’t focus on how I present the material as much as on how God can use it in your life. 

(3) If you feel lead to do so, share the post on Social Media in an effort to get the Good News about Jesus to more people.

Here is what you can expect.

(1) Every day’s devotional will automatically appear on my blog, “Magnolia Blossoms,” in the wee hours of the morning. If you are an early riser, you won’t have to wait for me to post it on FaceBook. Just go directly to that site: https://magnolia-blossoms.blogspot.com 

(2) As soon as I can each morning, I will post the Magnolia Blossoms link on my FaceBook page and will tag my husband, Bill, in the process. Hopefully you will be able to find it in your FaceBook feed if you are “friends” with either one of us.

As we study the Scripture together during this Advent season, my prayer is that we will come to a renewed understanding of who Jesus Is. Will we ever truly comprehend the complexity of the Trinity or of Jesus as both God and Man? Probably not on this side of heaven. But hopefully this guide will bring to light the beauty and majesty of our Lord as creator, savior, and comforter as we study His “advent” – His beginning and His coming. 

I want to close this introduction with some Scripture about Jesus.  

(1)John reveals that Jesus “was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.” John 1:2-3 And in John 10:30 Jesus declares that “I and the Father are One.”

Jesus is Creator.

(2) According to Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

Jesus is Savior.

(3) Judges 6:24 uses the Hebrew word which translated is, Jehovah Shalom or Adonai Shalom – The Lord Is Peace.

Jesus is Comforter.

(4)Throughout the New Testament, Jesus starts several narratives by using the words, “I am.” For instance, “I am the Gate for the sheep.” John 10:1-10  Or “I am the Way.” John 14:1 Or “I am the Bread.” John 6:35

(5) In Exodus 3:7-8 God presents Himself to Moses as “I Am” meaning that he has no beginning and no end. 

God (Creator, Savior and Comforter) is.

Tomorrow we dive head-first into Advent. And we will see that “Jesus Is.”

Lord, Thank you for the opportunity to look closely at the Advent of Jesus. Teach us. Direct us. May your Name be glorified. Amen.

Advent Introduction - November 30, 2019

Saturday, November 30, 2019

The Wonder of What God Has Done Through His Son:

An Advent Devotional Guide

Introduction

Written by Patience Fort

Many of my readers knew my mother, Patience Nave. When she was 50 years old, she graduated from Western Kentucky University with her Bachelor’s degree. She went on to earn her Masters in English and then taught in South America, China, and Florida. After serving for eight years on the Citrus County School Board in Homosassa, Florida, she began a short career as Education Coordinator/Minister in two churches: Homosassa First United Methodist Church and Rehobeth United Methodist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina (where, by the way, she celebrated her 80^th birthday).

As a minister in church education, mother did all kinds of things. She went to Haiti I-don’t-know-how-many times. She wrote the curriculum for and directed vacation Bible schools. She discipled many. And she taught countless Bible study classes.

Some of the things that I cherish from Mother’s years at her churches in Florida and North Carolina are the devotional guides she developed for Advent and Lent.  I have about six years of them. And now I enjoy reproducing them on my blog for all to read and enjoy. Feel free to share them with your friends.

This particular devotional guide is from December of 2009. She was still living in Florida and working at First United Methodist Church of Homosassa. Here is an excerpt from her introduction.

I enjoy writing devotionals, thoughts about Scripture for our own congregation. Every year, I choose a theme that I hope will cause us to contemplate the wonder of what God has done in sending his Son to us and then in sacrificing his son for us. This year, I’m using the Advent wreath….

Advent wreaths are relatively new to U.S. Protestants, only coming to America in the 1930s. In Europe, however, they have been part of the Church’s Christmas worship for a long time, some say since as early as the Middle Ages; others say that they were introduced in Germany in the early 1800s

The wreaths usually have four candles, and one is lighted each Sunday, beginning on the first Sunday of Advent (this year, December 1). Some churches, ours is one, add the Christ candle to be lighted on Christmas Eve.

What each candle represents may vary from year to year. This year (2009), Pastor Mark and I chose the following:

        Week 1 – Faith

        Week 2 – Hope

        Week 3 – Peace

        Week 4 – Joy

        December 24, Christmas Eve – the Christ Candle

I pray you will enjoy these devotional thoughts, realizing that faith, hope, peace and joy are God’s gifts through Christ. I pray God will use us in this coming year to bring others to know Jesus, as we move close to his Second Coming to this earth.

There are many traditions regarding the colors of the candles and their names. My husband, Bill, uses three lavender, one pink, and a white Christ candle.

As you prepare for Christmas 2019, my prayer is that this devotional guide will bless you beyond measure – that you will see our Lord in a whole new light – and that you will reflect His light to the people around you in the days to come.

The Wonder of What God Has Done Through His Son:

An Advent Devotional Guide
prepared for First United Methodist Church of Homosassa, Florida
Winter 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

The Sixth Day of Advent

The Sixth Day of Advent

Friday, December 8, 2017

Jesus said unto them,

“Verily, verily I say unto you.

Before Abraham was. I am.”

John 8:58

Sometimes the uninformed want to argue that Jesus never claimed to be God. They credit him with being a good teacher and a kind man, but they are unprepared to admit that he is God or that he believed himself to be God. Obviously they have not heard – really heard – the above verse.

Do you remember when Moses was up on a mountain and God told him to go down to the people because he was going to use him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt? Moses quaked in his sandals and timidly responded that the people would never believe such a message. And he asked who he should say had given him such a message. God’s response was very brief and to the point: “I AM who I AM.”

Today’s Scripture from John follows a long conversation with the scribes and Pharisees about Abraham. Finally, they confront Jesus about how he could know and say the things that he was saying. After all, Abraham had lived centuries before. How could he know and say the things he did about Abraham? They were totally unprepared for his answer!

“Before Abraham was, I AM.” This was no unfamiliar verse to them. They knew it well! Every male child of Israel could quote that verse and the ones leading up to it from Exodus 3. The name became such a holy one to them that they did not speak it or write it. “I AM that I AM” was the name of God.

They had asked Jesus how he knew that Abraham looked forward to the day they were now in, and he did not answer, “I was,” or “I was there.” No, he answered in the same way that God had answered Moses! “Before Abraham was, I am.” His declaration was so clear to them that they took up rocks to stone him for blasphemy! They were so intent on killing him for his words that he had to bodily remove himself – maybe even supernaturally – from their presence so that they could not take his life in the manner in which God had not intended. Oh, they would take it. But not by stoning and in God’s time and manner: “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.” (John 12:32)

Imagine! That the tiny, innocent baby depicted on many Christmas cards was/is the great I AM.

Father, the one who was and is and is to be, the great I AM, we thank you that you would come here to us as a tiny child, making yourself vulnerable, subjecting yourself to the cruelty of creatures who should have bowed to you in awe and worship. Thank you for coming. Thank you for making it so clear to us exactly who you are. Thank you for forgiving us when we don’t recognize you. Amen.

The Light of the World
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, 2008,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator. 

The Fifth Day of Advent

The Fifth Day of Advent

Wednesday, December 7, 2017

I am Alpha and Omega,

the beginning and the end,

the first and the last.

Revelation 22:13

Jesus – the beginning and the end. That’s what he says of himself. And though this is one of those difficult sayings, we can almost understand. Before anything was, he was. “In the beginning was the Word . . . . “ (John 1:1) And in the Revelation – at the very end – we read, “Surely I come quickly.” Before there was a world and at the end of what we know to be the world, Jesus is. Our minds can almost grasp that, even though untold numbers of years lapse from the beginning to the end.

But if there is a beginning and an end, isn’t there also a middle? Where does he fit in the middle? Only for thirty-three years or so, or is there more? We had no control over the beginning nor will we have control over the end, but have we not some modicum of control of the “in between?” He said he would send a Comforter to help us get through this life. Where does he, in the person of that Comforter, the Holy Spirit, fit in our part of the middle?

It’s Christmas, one of the most important of our Christian holidays and we have lots to do to get ready. There is shopping for all the things that must be wrapped and placed under the tree or double wrapped and mailed to go under someone else’s tree. And cards to be addressed, and baking, and decorating. We cannot possibly have Christmas without lots of food and aromas and at least a little confusion. Where is Jesus in this part of the “in between?”

We carefully place our little manger scenes on our tables, in our yards, in our offices. Somehow we feel warm and comforted, remembering his entering the world just as we did, as a tiny infant. But over the manger of that infant Jesus, meek and mild, lurked the shadow of a cross, planned from and for all eternity to be a part of his very existence in between the beginning and the end. How do we treat his “in-between” time and that ugly shadow? Is Christmas for us only about a baby, or is the crucified and risen Lord a part of our celebration?

Father, as we move through this Holy Season, remind us often that Jesus is not just the beginning and the end but everything in between. Remind us that if we do not invite him to be a part of our lives in this in-between time, we miss the meaning that you have planned for us. Remind us that the season only becomes a Holy Season when Jesus has his rightful place in all that we do there. As we fill our homes with the aroma of evergreens and pumpkin pie, please also fill them with the sweet aroma of your Holy Presence. Amen.

The Light of the World
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, 2008,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator.