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F I N D I N G
"Joy to the world, the Lord is come, Let earth receive her King, Let every heart prepare Him room, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven, and heaven and nature sing." Isaac Watts ~ 1719 ~ This beloved poem written by Isaac Watts was taken from Psalm 98 and meant as a poem of JOY that the Lord is come! It was not written as a "Christmas" song. It wasn't until over one hundred years later in 1839 that Lowell Mason put melody with the words. Mr. Watts intended this poem to be a declaration of Joy at the second advent of Christ. Either way, it's words are deep and powerful and one of my favorites. It is also rumored that the melody may have originated from Handel! In preparations for Thanksgiving I am always very aware of the fact that we decorate for Christmas immediately following Thanksgiving, not wasting any time switching from Fall decor to Christmas, so while organizing the meal and activity lists thoughts of advent and candles and devotions came to me. We always have a Thankful Tree every year during the months of October and November and during the month of December we do advent. I am using Ann Voskamp's book, The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas. We used this last advent season and found it very inspiring. I love this time of year as it makes time for reflection, not only of Christ's first appearance, but also His second appearance and how we should be "preparing Him room" now...always. This is just an extra reminder of what we should be doing all year, every day. "Let every heart, prepare Him room..." "...Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." Isaiah 40:3 Feeling very burdened lately, my heart has become full, not of faith and room for the Lord, but full of fear, full of sadness, full of questions... These lyrics caught my attention today...Let every heart, prepare Him room... Prepare ~ to turn, behold, look...to make yourself ready. Sensing great need of a heart 'detox,' I am very thankful for the season of advent that is coming, and yet I see that need daily, not just in December. Allowing things to cultivate fear, confusion, and chaos in my heart shows me that I have left it unguarded and so full of other things that, NOW, is the time to prepare Him room...Let Him reign again and take these things that I have let grow for way too long. Take time this season, not only to be thankful, but also to ~ prepare our hearts to receive Him and all that He has for us. It's too easy to allow things of this world to take our thoughts and compassions away from serving Him purely and wholly. I can almost hear John the Baptist's voice..."Prepare ye the way of the Lord.." Mark 1:3 One of my husband's favorite verses, and one he preaches from often, is found in II Chronicles 12:14 "And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord." Sin is deceitful, and starts small... Let's not be deceived because we didn't prepare. I thank God for these reminders today and for His faithfulness to show me the way. As Women Finding Grace ~ Let's seek the Lord in repentance and allow Him the room in our hearts that is deservedly His.
1 Comment
Sara Benson
11/20/2015 07:36:54 pm
I think you wrote this for my heart! I know God has closely fit my life to cross paths with yours. I have nothing but pure thankfulness for your whole family! I am blessed to have you all. I too have felt the heaviness of heartache lately. I search to be deeper in my walk with Christ but many times old past hurts lead me down that fearsome road. O how I need to prepare him room! In prayer ladies for all this season! AMEN!
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