Lent Words Day 29: Surrender ~ Guest Kris Camealy

Today our guest writer is Kris Camealy. Kris is an author, Refine Retreat host, and a conference speaker. She has authored two books: Holey, Wholly Holy: A Lenten Journey of Refinement and Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting an Advent devotion. In addition, Kris is a fellow Ohioan! I have followed Kris' blog, kriscamealy.com,  for years and in 2016 I was so honored to sit on the book launch team for Kris' Advent book. My 2016 Advent art journal and blog posts were a journey through her book. 

I want to especially thank Kris for contributing to Lent Words this week as her Refine Retreat begins on Friday. Please pray for her and all who will be attending.

Thank you Kris for contributing to our Lenten journey!

Please follow this link to Kris' post for today's Lent Word, surrender: 

http://kriscamealy.com/on-surrender

Kris' books:

Merry Christmas!

Our Advent journey is done. Today we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! May you know His Presence and His blessings to day and in the year ahead. May Christ be alive in your heart and in your life in fresh and new ways in the coming year. 

Merry Christmas!

Advent Day 22 ~ Love

Today's word is Love.

"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

1 John 4:9-10

I should have included verse 8 when I set up the daily Scripture readings because verse 8 gives us our foundation: "God is love." 

Love is not simply a characteristic of God or somethings He does. Love is who God is. It is His very nature and being, just as holiness is. God is holy and God is love. All that He is and all that He does is holy and loving. His most holy and loving act was in the Incarnation. He sent His Son into the world for us as the ultimate act love. We did nothing to earn or gain this loving act. In fact, the Bible tells us that there is nothing we can do, no act worthy of gaining God's love. Why? Because of sin. Sin entered this world through the act of man in the beginning and separated us from God's favor. But God had a plan to restore His favor on us. Paul says it this way in the book of Romans:

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:6-8

And again Paul describes it  in the book of Titus:

"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."

Titus 3:4-7

We were powerless to earn His love. We did nothing. We were separated from God because of sin; yet this did not stop a loving God from repairing the breach that stood between us. "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." ~ 1 John 4:10

This is love ~ the Incarnation. God sent his one and only Son into the world.

Love came down at Christmas,

Love all lovely, Love Divine,

Love was born at Christmas,

Star and Angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,

Love Incarnate, Love Divine,

Worship we our Jesus,

But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,

Love be yours and love be mine,

Love to God and all men,

Love for plea and gift and sign.

~Poem by Christina Rossetti, 1885

Advent is a celebration of waiting and preparing for the love God sent into the world in the birth of His Son and our Savior at Christmas. 

Officially, Advent ends today on Christmas Eve, yet I'll post one last time tomorrow. Today, however, I want to thank all of you for joining me this year on this Advent journey. It has been great fun interacting with everyone through Instagram and the FaceBook group. It has been a thrill for me to share the art and creativity of those who joined in! As I said in the beginning, I am going to study the Christian calendar in 2018 and Advent is actually the beginning of the Christian year. So I invite you to stick around as I explore the "Sacred Time" known as the Christian Year. 

My art journal pages for today:

I have one page left for tomorrow, Christmas day, but other than that my journal is complete!

The Advent Words 2017 prompts and Scripture reading calendar can be found in this post or in the Facebook group.

Advent Day 21 ~ Glory

Today's word is glory.

"The sun will no more be your light by day,
    nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
    and your God will be your glory."

Isaiah 60:19

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

John 1:14

God is our glory! We see God's glory most brilliantly in His Son, Jesus Christ. The Incaration -God with us - reveals God to us.

Glory to God in the highest

Glory to God evermore

Good news, great joy for all

Melody breaks through the silence

Christ, the Savior is born!

Jesus, the love song of God!

Christ Tomlin - Midnight Clear (Love Song)

My art journal pages for today:

This is the last Saturday in Advent and I wanted to make sure art was highlighted for everyone who participated. If you posted art in the FaceBook group or on Instagram using #adventwords2017 and I did not post your art, I apologize for the oversight and ask you to email me marybrack@gmail.com or message me on IG or FB. Previous posts that highlighted art from the group were Advent Day 7 and Advent Day 14.

More art from group participants:

Autumn Clark has been lettering her Advent pages. Find Autumn on Instagram @sewpaperpaint.

Christina Farnell Post wrote that she has been loving the opportunity to meditate on Scripture during Advent.

Fiona Kennedy is keeping it simple to make art and manage her time through Advent.

Merri Dennis is doing paper collage in her Advent art journal. Find Merri on Instagram @merridennis.

Pamm Moore-Haley is filling her Advent art pages with painted backgrounds and lettering the Scriptures.

Robin Jeree is doing mixed media art for her Advent pages. Find Robin on Instagram @robinjeree.

Robin Laroue Nichols-Meshelle is mixing art journaling and images on her Advent art pages. Find Robin on Instagram @cajuarobin.

Susan Nickolson is lettering and drawing on her pages as she reflects on the Scripture passages.

Victoria Guyadeen is mixing photography and digital art for her Advent art.

I have been so amazed and impressed by the wide range of creativity and talent in the group that has participated in the Advent art challenge. It has inspired me so much to see your art on Instagram and in the Facebook group! 

The Advent Words 2017 prompts and Scripture reading calendar can be found in this post or in the Facebook group.

Advent Day 20 ~ Messiah

Today's word is Messiah.

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn." 

Isaiah 61:1-2

"But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

John 20:31

In Isaiah 61:1-2, the prophet Isaiah speaks of the Messiah that is to come. In Hebrew the word Messiah means "anointed one". This word is not used of items, but specifically of a person. In Greek, this same word is translated "Christos" - Messiah, anointed one, Christ.

Isaiah says of the Messiah that the Lord has anointed Him and sent Him. To anoint someone is to set them apart for special service for God, and through that anointing of the Lord that person receives empowerment for that service. Thus Isaiah says, "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on" the Messiah. The Messiah is filled with the Spirit, enabled and sent specifically to:

• Proclaim good news
• Bind up the brokenhearted
• Proclaim freedom for the captive
• Release from darkness
• Proclaim the year of the Lord's favor
• Comfort all who mourn

Early in His earthly ministry Jesus will stand in the synagogue, read these words written by Isaiah, and announce that He is the One who fulfills these scriptures - He is the Messiah. (Luke 4:16-21)

Chris Tomlin, in his song "He Shall Reign Forevermore", captures the significance of the Messiah's arrival at Christmas"

Here within a manger lies

The One who made the starry skies

This baby born for sacrifice

Christ the Messiah

Into our hopes, into our fears

The Savior of the world appears

The promise of eternal years

Christ the Messiah

At Christmas we celebrate the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah - The Savior!

My art journal pages for today:

The Advent Words 2017 prompts and Scripture reading calendar can be found in this post or in the Facebook group.

Advent Day 19 ~ Word

Today's word is Word.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind."

John 1:1-4

More than the Christmas story told in Matthew and Luke's gospels, my favorite Christmas passage is John's prologue in John 1:1-18. In this section of his gospel John shows us Christ incarnate - God in flesh. In these first four verses John reveals so much truth about who Jesus is. He is God, the Word, Creator, life, and the light of all mankind.

I stumbled on the blog of pastor Tim Deatrick (timdeatrick.com). I like how he describes the incarnation:

"The eternal, pre-existent Christ stepped out of the splendor of heaven, limited His glory, and became like us. During His brief time on earth, Jesus revealed God to us. His claim was, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father” (John 14:7-11). He was the “icon” of God, revealing God to each of us. He helped us know who God is and what He is like.

Not only did Jesus reveal God, He also communicated God to us. John’s gospel account begins with this affirmation, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God” (John 1:1). What is a “word,” other than a means of communication. Jesus was God’s megaphone to the world that He had and continues to have something to say to creation.

Finally, Jesus came expressing the nearness of God’s presence. One of the names of Jesus ascribed through his advent was Emmanuel, meaning “God is with us” (Matthew 1:23). He tangibly represented the presence of God in the world, and did so through his words and deeds."

Jesus reveals God to us...

"The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word."

Hebrews 1:3

My art journal pages for today:

The Advent Words 2017 prompts and Scripture reading calendar can be found in this post or in the Facebook group.

Advent Day 18 ~ Star

Today's word is star.

"After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east

went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh."

Matthew 2:9-11

In addition to art journaling I enjoy photography, and more specifically, I enjoy photography in nature. I enjoy taking photo walks in the many parks surrounding our area. I think nature, more than anything else, reveals God to me. I am often in awe of His creation as I look at sunsets and clouds decorating the sky. Nature often draws me closer to God.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of his hands." Psalm 19:1

 Nature is also what God used to draw the Magi to the Christ child ~ "We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." ~ Matthew 2:2.

God used His creation to draw these men and reveal the Messiah. The Magi were scholars of the stars and the appearance of a new star in the sky drew them on this journey that would ultimately draw them to Christ. The heavens declared God's glory! 

"the star they had seen in the east went ahead of then until it stopped over the place where the child was" ~ Matthew 2:9.

God spoke to these men who studied the stars in the language they knew, He spoke through a star. And that star revealed Christ to them.

"When they saw the star, they were overjoyed...and they bowed down and worshiped him." ~ Matthew 2:10, 11

I am in awe that upon seeing a new star in the sky, these men follow it. The star becomes to them a divine calling. It announces to them the birth of the Messiah, and then, in a divine manner, they have no problem recognizing this baby for who He really is. They were overjoyed - overwhelmed with the joy of the Lord - the NASB says the Magi "rejoiced exceedingly with great joy". Immediately they bow down and worship Him. They followed a star and found a Savior. 

May our response to the Savior this Christmas season be one of exceedingly great joy as well!

My journal pages for today:

The Advent Words 2017 prompts and Scripture reading calendar can be found in this post or in the Facebook group.

Advent Day 15 ~ Joy

Today is the third Sunday in Advent. This week's Advent theme and today's word is joy.

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 
An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, 
and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 
“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people."
Luke 2:8-10

I love the image that this scene in Matthew's gospel brings to mind. Shepherds doing their nightly job of tending the sheep, when suddenly the sky is bright as daylight as God's glory shines and His angel appears. I imagine their great surprise and then immediate fear. But the angel of the Lord reassures them: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people."

During Advent we celebrate with joy Christ’s first coming – His coming in the flesh to walk and live among us. During Advent we also look forward with joy anticipating Christ’s second coming, “looking forward to [the promised] new heaven and new earth, the home of righteousness.” (2 Peter 3:13)

“ADVENT IS A JOURNEY TO JOY, BUT IT IS NOT WE WHO ARE TRAVELING. JOY IS COMING TO US.” 
JOHN PIPER

At Christmas we are reminded that joy has come to us in human form. Joy has come to us to be our salvation, “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) We join with those who witnessed His first arrival. We respond with joy as they did:

Mary’s response to having been chosen to bear God’s child: “And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” Luke 1:46-47 

The Magi: “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” Matthew 2:10-11

The Angels: “The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:10-14

“GOOD NEWS THAT WILL CAUSE GREAT JOY FOR ALL THE PEOPLE"”

A Savior has been born! Jesus, the one who would save people from their sins has come to earth. Emmanuel has come – God is with us. This is the Good News we still celebrate! Joy is at the heart of the life of the Christ-follower, for joy is our response to God’s gracious gift of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.

"Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.
    They will enter Jerusalem singing,
    crowned with everlasting joy.
Sorrow and mourning will disappear,
    and they will be filled with joy and gladness."
Isaiah 35:10 (NLT)

This week allow the journey of Advent to remind you of your joy in God’s gifts of grace, love and salvation given us through His Son Jesus Christ. And anticipate the joy we have to look forward to when He comes again.

My journal pages today:

The Advent Words 2017 prompts and Scripture reading calendar can be found in this post or in the Facebook group.