Thanksgiving Theology For 2017

Here we are at the end of 2016. It is also the last night of Chanukah. I wrote earlier this week that I would celebrate Chanukah by acknowledging the special miracles that God performs on my behalf each night. I would love to report that each night I experienced the Lord by way of  the wind, earthquake, and fire {1 Kgs. 9: 9-13}. I did not, but God is so faithful to me; just like He sustained the oil in the lampstand for the Israelites as they rededicated the Temple, He has sustained me—not only through Chanukah, but through the whole of 2016. I have so many reason to be thankful to God. He not only sustains and holds me together, He holds everything together. 

Recount all that He has already done on our behalf:

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven {Col. 1: 13-20}.

We don’t have to look far to find God’s Grace in our lives. What else could we possibly need Him to do for us?

This has been quite a year; and as I look back, I can see how God sustained and carried me through this year. School was especially challenging, as I went straight through the year without a break (not even a weekend in between classes) from January to December, right before Christmas—taking no less than three class per term. It was worth it though, as I only have two classes to complete between January and March and I will be done!! Yay!

I endured many personal trials that I am not able to discuss here, but they too, took their emotional toll on me. But I can see God’s grace through it all. He truly carried me through. These past couple of weeks have been sweet rest for me, rest that I truly needed after the grueling school year, and I am so thankful to Him. Was it a rough year? Yes. But God is faithful; His mercies are new every morning.

 I wrote at the beginning of Advent, that I desire to nurture a thankful heart, to cultivate a theology of thanksgiving. That means that I desire to be more grateful, and to make worship part of who I am—that I can’t breathe without giving Him praise for breathing His life into me. Being grateful fills us with Joy; Joy need not elude us, we only need to be grateful, and worship. Worshiping opens our hearts so that the Lord can fill it with His joy, and a thankful spirit helps us come to the Lord in humility, acknowledging that it is God’s gift to us, that we would be lost without Him. The brilliant author of Hebrews tells us that we can come in confidence before the throne of Grace to receive what we need; He always hears our prayers.  

We don’t have to search to find God’s fingerprint on our lives. We don’t need to wait for Advent to be grateful or to be more purposeful in bringing Him praise. I am going to be very determined to be worshipful and to fulfill my calling in 2017, but that means spending more time with Him and in His Word, and in prayer. This is how we should spend 2017; He deserves our devotion. Practicing His presence in this way, will grow and mature us in our faith. They are treasures worthy of our searching. Turning my heart to Him, and placing Him above all else in my live is to count it all loss and gain for Christ. Everything else is a waste of our God-given breath. Time is too short, He is coming soon, and we must be about His business. When we focus on the Kingdom first, everything else we need will be given—that is His promise. 

Happy New Year! Have a blessed 2017! 

A Broken Hallelujah

Saturday night was Christmas Eve, the end of the Advent Journal, and the beginning of Chanukah. Though I am not Jewish, I love celebrating the feast and festivals, because they speak to the person, ministry, and work of our beloved Savior. I wrote to you on Saturday, that I will, to follow along with the Chanukah story, reflect each night on the great things the Lord has done for me. How what is impossible for me, God in His Grace and Mercy performs on my behalf. The Chanukah story tells of a miraculous story; sometimes though, my life can be a little less spectacular.

The Israelites found only enough oil for one day, when they were dedicating the temple anew, but God caused it to burn for eight days. They only found enough for one day, even though they knew it would not be enough, they lit it anyway. If the lampstand burned for only one day, then it’s one day; better than not burning at all. They lit it anyway. It is okay if you didn’t find anything spectacular in these last few days, we don’t need to create anything, or over sensationalize small things to make them look big. God doesn’t need our help to prove Himself miraculous.

I love that they lit the lampstand anyway. That keeps glaring me in the face, because oil in the Bible is very symbolic. The Israelites were instructed in the constructing of the Tabernacle, to bring pure Olive Oil, beaten for the light {see Ex. 25:6; 27:20; 35:14, 28 and Lev. 24:1-4}. Jesus was the fruit of the olive tree {Rom. II} beaten and pressed for us in Gethsemane and He was beaten, bruised, and died a torturous death for us on Calvary. The Oil also represents the Holy Spirit; He fills us with power to be lights and witnesses. The oil was to burn continuously in God’s Temple; it was a sign that He dwelt there. Just like the loaves and the fishes,  He took what little they brought and He multiplied their faithful, obedient offering. What if this is what God does for us? Maybe your story over the past few days of the Festival of Lights, is one of God’s sustaining oil, burning longer than you can muster on your own?

I began the Advent Journal so that I would nurture and cultivate a thanksgiving theology; to become more grateful to the Lord for all that He has done for me, and all that He will do. It is my worship and gratefulness that brings Joy. But life can be hard; suffering and pain seems to surround us, and it can be hard to praise God in the midst of so much hurt and pain. Sometimes our hallelujahs are broken. Not broken in that we don’t offer them, but that we offer them even in our brokenness.

I am flabbergasted that I am staring 2017 in the face; I have prayed and confessed to the Lord that I need a New Year. What if during this beautiful Festival of Lights, we set our eyes on our Light of the World, Jesus Christ, and bring whatever oil we can find each day, deep down inside, and offer it to Him as a sweet-smelling fragrance, and believe Him to ignite a new fire in us that burns for Him—hotter than we have ever known. What if we rededicate our temple {1 Cor. 6:19-20} and bring the oil—even if it is only enough for today? He will be faithful with our offering. I pray that you bring yourself to Him with all the oil you can muster. That He will fill you to overflowing, so that we will not be ill prepared and found asleep when He returns, but that we will be about His Kingdom and that we will burn bright for the world to see. 

Hanukkah: The Light of the World and Re-dedication Of The Temple

Hanukkah or the Feast of Dedication is a celebration not included in the Feasts of Jehovah, this celebration finds its origin during the intertestamental period—the time between the Old and New Testaments. It is an epic story of the deliverance of God’s people from yet another attempt by Satan, through his puppet Epiphanes, to annihilate the Jewish people.
Tonight is the first night of this special celebration and its symbolization is remarkable. Jesus celebrated the Festival of Lights, and the importance of this festival is significant. First, I do not celebrate this holiday as the Jewish people do, but I do recognize its importance and significance. I love studying and meditating on these precious Holy Days, because of the Christology contained therein and how all of these feasts speak to the person, life, and ministry of Christ. 

Hanukkah commemorates the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem by Judah Maccabee in 165 BC after a standoff with Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who nearly succeeded in wiping out the Jews. The Maccabees won the standoff. {My own little note: it is no accident that the heroic leader of the Maccabees is named Judah—the line of the Messiah}.

When the Maccabees took back the Temple from Epiphanes, it had been completely desecrated—so the Jews went to work to clean and rededicate the temple. They cleaned out the liter left by Epiphanes and tore down the altar built to Zeus. The Jews offered incense on the golden altar and placed the shewbread on the table. The lampstand in the Tabernacle and the Temple was required by God to be lit every day. The high priest tended the lamps day and night by trimming the wicks and filling the cups with oil. However, only one jar of oil was found, and that would last only one day. But out of faith in God, and a desire to rededicate the Lord’s house, they miraculously lit the lamp from that one jar of oil for eight days.

Not only was this a miracle at God’s hands to rededicate His temple, but it was also a miracle that the Jews defeated Epiphanes. Satan purposed to wipe out the Jews in hopes of extinguishing any hope for the Messiah to come. Satan though is no match for the plans and purposes of God or the power of the Almighty.

John 10:22-23 tells us that Jesus celebrated the festival:

At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon {NASB}.

What does this festival mean for us? It certainly does not mean you need to light a menorah each night, though sometimes I do. I celebrate that the plot to wipe out the Jews failed and it reminds me that I need to keep my temple clean. It also is a reminder of what a wonderful, miracle-working God we serve. The hope in the Advent of the Messiah was renewed with the victory over Epiphanes.

 The miracle of the oil was preceded by a desire to renew—rededicate the Temple. Let us during this time of Hanukkah, in this Advent Season, clean out the liter (the Braze Laver), renew our study and love for the Word (Table of Shewbread), allow the Holy Spirit to guide us again (The Lampstand), and reignite our prayer life (the altar of incense). Let’s rededicate our temple to the Lord, and renew the hope in the advent of Christ.   Jesus is the Light of the world; let’s shine His light in this season of Hanukkah and Advent.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1 Cor. 6:19 NASB)

To read all the posts on the Lord's feasts click here!

A Kiss of Thankfulness

This past week, Chanukah and Thanksgiving met; yet one event also graced this week of celebration; Advent kissed us in the midst of Chanukah, both celebrations express our longing for the Light to come. A kiss of thankfulness—I do not believe it is an accidental encounter. 

In Chanukah we celebrate the precious oil; though they didn’t have enough for eight days; they chose to honor God and thought it better to light the golden Lampstand regardless, and God honored their act of faith. One more truth remains in the Chanukah celebration we Gentiles take for granted; at the time of the rededication of the temple, the Devil crafted yet again a plot to wipe the Jewish people from the earth. No Jews—no Messiah. We can celebrate the Christology in this blessed event—Jesus Christ the Light of World; the one in which we hope. The Maccabees overthrew the plot and rededicated the temple, the very temple that spoke of the Temple to come—the Messiah. This alone should be enough for us, Jew and Gentile alike, to throw a thanksgiving feast worthy of the King of Glory. 

Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle. 

Ps. 24:8 

 

The first Advent has come, fulfilling all that the Old Covenant promised. Sunday began the Advent season celebrating that fulfilled promise, Jesus Christ, born in a stable to humble Jewish parents. His only coronation audience- cows, sheep, donkeys, and a few frightened shepherds. His glory laid aside to dwell among us—Immanuel. 

The first Advent candle to light is the ‘hope’ or ‘prophecy candle; reflecting the hope we hold in our hearts—He will come. We hope in His coming, the promise that dripped like honey off the lips of our Savior, His prophetic promise that He will return. He came once; He shall come again. 

Three separate celebrations in a week saturated in thanksgiving. We began with the Feast of Lights celebrating the Light of the World and end it with the beginning of the waiting season of His precious birth; and sandwiched between is Thanksgiving, a time to remember all that we are thankful for; all the Lord has done for us. It is time to cultivate a thankful heart. Thankfulness does not just appear in our hearts, we have to cultivate it, practice it. Thankfulness does not always come easy, in the face of hurt, loss and disappointment. Pain and hurt screams to drown out any hope of joy, yet we have the Light of the world and a journey to a manger, to break any threats of darkness. God is so faithful to us, His faithfulness should rest atop our thanksgiving list…If you can think of nothing to be thankful for…Jesus was beaten and bruised to redeem us because His love for us was too great, He could not even fathom spending an eternity apart from you, He could more easily fathom the Cross, if He does nothing else for me—I am forever awed at this act of love.

 Cultivate a thankful heart;

It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night. Psalm 92:1-2 

This is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100

O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. Psalm 95: 1-6

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Psalm 107:1

 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endurethforever. Psalm 136:1

O LORD, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness. Isaiah 25:1

Do you not think it the devil’s work to steal the joy from so many during a season that should bring us such joy? 

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.

Thanksgiving brings joy. 

Thanksgiving may be over, but our thanksgiving to Him should not rest. Sundown on Wednesday marks the last night of Chanukah, but we should not cease searching for the Light of World to give us light on our path and to break through the darkness in our lives. Twenty-one more days lay before us, a path to Christmas morning. Seek for the Holy Child every day until He comes. Cultivate thanksgiving, find joy, feel His peace and keep your eyes on Jesus. For He is why we celebrate.

In His Grace,