Advent Joy: The Treasure Of His Word

The word advent comes from the Latin word for “coming.”

Jesus is always coming to us. The problem becomes when we don’t have eyes to see Him.

As I mentioned in my last post, I am going to be recording ways that Jesus is showing Himself to me during this season of advent.

This morning, He came to me in a powerful way in His Word.

The first Scripture I saw was Jesus asking, “What do you want Me to do for you?” (Luke 18:41).

That is such a beautiful question, isn’t it? Jesus asked it often of the people who came to Him seeking something. It reveals His open hand and open heart. His tenderness and the fact that He sees. He sees our need and He doesn’t ever turn us away. He always seeks to draw us in deeper and closer to His heart.

I came to Him feeling overwhelmed with fatigue and the weight of long-standing, unresolved issues.

I felt like I had absolutely no strength to face the day ahead so I asked Him to speak to me through His Word, to allow His strength to fill and overflow my weakness.

And He did.

When I questioned His ways, He reminded me that His way is perfect. ( 2 Samuel 22:31)

When I told Him I was tired of living in a wilderness where I can’t see a way out, He told me that He is my Rock, my Fortress in the midst of that very wilderness, and my Deliverer. (2 Samuel 22:2).

He told me that He delights in me and dearly and tenderly loves me (2 Samuel 22:20; Revelation 3:19).

Through Him, He expects me to conquer and be victorious. (Revelation 3:5).

When so much seems to depend on the actions of other people, He reminded me that He alone opens doors that no man can shut. (Revelation 3:8).

He encouraged me to “always pray and do not faint, lose heart, or give up.” (Luke 18:1).

He assured me that “what is impossible with man is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27).

He prompted me to remember that as one of His own, I am to walk by faith and not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7).

He guaranteed that those who mess with His own will answer to Him because they are tormenting the very ones who are the apple of His eye. (Zechariah 2:8; Luke 18:7-8).

He promised that He is working all things…even the seemingly little, inconsequential things) for my good. (Romans 8:28).

And above all, He assured me of this, a Scripture that has comforted me on SO many occasions: “I KNOW what I am doing! I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not to abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” (Jeremiah 29:11, The Message).

I left that time with Jesus revived, restored, refreshed and strengthened.

It was a fresh reminder that no matter what struggles and trials exist in my life on this day, He has already given me e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g I need: He has given me Himself…the endless, extravagant, beautiful Gift that never stops giving, either now or into eternity:

In the beginning (before all time) was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself…For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received…one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift heaped upon gift. —(John 1: 1, 16)

I am rich beyond measure.