Tag Archives: Willing

December 17, 2018

Celebrating His Coming: Thoughts for the 3rd Week of Advent – Day 2

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. -Luke 1:46-50, KJV

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

During Jesus’ first advent to among His people, we must remember that the God of all Creation came as a baby.

Contrary to recent ideas being offered, God did not force Himself on young Mary against her consent. In verse 38, we see her response to learning she would be mother to “the son of God”: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” She felt honored to be the one chosen for such an opportunity.

Do we feel this way about God’s plans, will, and expectations? Are we able to hear the call to serve, even when it will be inconvenient, potentially ruinous to our reputations, and possibly painful?

Can you reply like Mary? Can you say, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior?” Are you willing to to praise God and let Him do great things through you, especially sharing the good news of Jesus Christ to redeem lost souls?

Are you willing to help usher in Christ’s second advent?

Heavenly Father, give us a heart like Mary’s: willing to serve to and sacrifice for Your glory, even when it is inconvenient and painful, and praise You in the process.

1 Comment | tags: Advent, Christmas, Christmas Hope, Coming, Father, God, God the Father, God's Will, God's Word, Humble, Lord, Luke, Magnificat, Magnify, Mary, Mother, Rejoice, Rejoiced, Rejoicing, Second Coming, Servant, Son of God, Soul, spirit, Willing | posted in desire, Love

December 16, 2018

Celebrating His Coming: Thoughts for the 3rd Week of Advent

By Daniel M. Klem

Welcome to the third week of Advent!

Tradition holds that the third week of Advent is about the joy and peace we find in the Messiah, with Mary, the mother of Jesus, being our example. We finally begin to see the the connection from seeing our need for a Savior to discovering and sharing the news of that Savior to beginning to see some of the rewards of following the Savior.

Photo by George Dolgikh on Pexels.com

And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. -Luke 1:38

But those rewards rest on our response to what God has done.

(This is not to claim that we can do anything to earn salvation. This is also not the place to have a major soteriological debate [hash out matters and merits of salvation, i.e. over Calvinism, Arminianism, and the like]. Please enjoy the thoughts today, and head over to the Proverbial Thought Extra Facebook page if you want to dialogue with us, or you can leave a respectful comment.)

Contrary to what many teach today, God will give us more than we can handle. It encourages us to rest in Him, trust that He knows what He is doing, and let His power flow through us by the Holy Spirit.

Case in point, young Mary – who is yet to be married to Joseph at this juncture in the story of Christ – is told she is to carry the Son of God and give birth to Him.

Think about it: a young female, not yet married, in a society that limits what women can do with a religion that shuns the sexually impure, being told she is about to be pregnant. She is risking being ostracized by family and friends, thought a liar and a slut, and severely limiting her prospects for the future.

And how does she respond to this news?

“I am the Lord’s servant.”

How willing are we to be willing to the call of God?

We do not have to carry the baby Jesus to term, but we are tasked with carrying His Gospel to a fallen world.

We do not have to risk being labeled liars, but we risk being ridiculed for believing a man is God in the flesh, was killed, and came back to life.

We may not have to risk family and friends thinking we are crazy and abandoning us …

Actually, yes, we do.

Such is the cost of believing in and following Jesus. It may even cost us our lives.

If we want to find the joy and peace that comes with following Jesus, we first must be willing to actually follow Jesus. With all that it may cost us.

Emmanuel, thank You for coming to save us. Give us the resolve to pursue you throughout the world, or even to our literal neighbors and family.

2 Comments | tags: Advent, Christmas, Desire, faith, Faithful, Faithfulness, God's Will, Handmaid, Joy, Mary, Mother of God, Peace, response, rewards, Servant, Son of God, Willing, Willingness | posted in desire, Faithfulness

September 30, 2018

My Presumption of Tomorrow

By Daniel M. Klem

Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. -Proverbs 27:1, KJV

As I write this, it is the day before this posts online.

That seems rather presumptuous of me to assume that you are reading this the next day (or farther in the future).

The thing is, I am not sure anyone is reading this. For all I know, before anyone gets the chance, the Lord has returned and brought the world as we know it to an end.

However, this is scheduled for a Sunday. Therefore I continue this by encouraging you to get to your local church and worship God through song, hearing the preached and taught Word, and enjoying fellowship with other Christians. (If you went on Saturday, cool.)

In terms of being confident you are reading these words, though, I explain my presumption.

Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
James 4:13‭-‬15, KJV

Do you not see that James and Solomon were in agreement? But James explains Proverbs 27:1 in more detail.

To explain, I presume people are reading these words because I trust that God is in control. At the very least, I have obeyed His command to expound on scripture. At best, I have done so to your benefit in Christ.

Maybe no one is reading these words, but, if the Lord will, you are.

I do not boast in any skill I have or that I know you are reading this.

No, I boast that the Lord has spoken, has sacrificed Himself for me and for you, and He has risen to glory. And He is in control.

And I shall continue as long as it is called Today. For Tomorrow (capital “T”) shall be with the Lord, and all boasting shall cease, for He is fully present with us and all sin and rebellion and fear is gone.

Lord willing, you are there, too.

Leave a comment | tags: Boasting, Book of Proverbs, faith, Faithful Witness, Faithfulness, God's Will, God's Word, Knowledge, Lord, Lord Willing, Presume, Presumption, Promise, promises, Return, Today, Tomorrow, Will, Willing | posted in Faithfulness, Knowledge, Promises, Word of the Lord