This Is Just the Beginning
Hey, friends! It's our final week of this wonderful Advent study with Lisa & Chris. I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am! As we're in this special season of intentional and expectant waiting, and as we celebrate Christmas today, I pray that your heart is aligning with Jesus', that you sense His presence and His love for you, and that the glory of God even in the waiting feels weighty and pregnant with hope and joy.
This week, we're diving into Dr. Luke's gospel (my personal favorite because it was written by a gentile [non-Jew] for shegetzes and shiksas like many of us so he writes from the outsider's perspective) into the story of Simeon and Anna. I love these two. Both are elderly and have been devout followers of Yahweh for many, many years. Both move in the power of the Holy Spirit, attuned to His voice, watchful and hopeful. That's what we want to be like, friends!
Let's not let anything sideline us from our purposes and callings as we grow older!
"If you're well-along in years, I just want you to know — God is not finished with you. He's got a great plan and purpose for you!" ~ Chris
As Chris indicated, between anointing and appointing (just like in the life of King David), we might have a bit of a wait! Old age is a ripe age for God to fulfill what He has intended, so let's be watchful and hopeful. Simeon and Anna went to the best place and internal space with their waiting… They trusted God, prayed, listened, and served. What witnesses!
I hope their example encourages you as it does for me. No matter what we've gone through, no matter what we're enduring right now, God has good purposes for our lives. He has good plans. And, He has all the power to redeem everything past, present, and future.
Your problems have not been solved by Him yet. Neither have mine. We carry them with us through Advent, waiting on God to do what only He can do. And, He will!
"He will make all things new and that is what we long for and that is the hope of this Advent season." ~ Chris
"We long. We hope. And, we hold on." ~ Chris
Listen, I can't imagine going through life, both the good and the hard, without Jesus. Can you? He is our rock and our strong fortress, our hope and our mainstay. Let's not give up. If He promised it, He will do it.
I love the nickname that Chris gave to Anna — super-granny for Jesus. I want that to be me! Don't you?
Let's go for it!
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