Day 17 of Preparing Your Heart for Advent

Matthew 2:1-12

(1) Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking

(2) "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him."

(3) King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.

(4) He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, "Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?"

(5) I"n Bethlehem in Judea," they said, "for this is what the prophet wrote:

(6) 'And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.'"

(7) Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared.

(8) Then he told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him , too!"

(9) After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.

(10) When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!

(11) They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. They they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

(12) When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

Day 16 of Preparing Your Heart for Advent

"Believe it or not, a Christmas carol describes Herod's horrible deed.  Set in a minor key, this haunting lullaby, with words from a song written in 1534, is titled 'Lully, Lullay,' but is often called 'Coventry Carol.' The song originated in Coventry, England, where the local crafts guild performed a pageant depicting Herod's slaughter and the subsequent sorrow.  During the pageant mothers sing the children to sleep with 'Lully, Lullay' so Herod's soldiers can't find them.  The words themselves sound like a mother lullying her baby to sleep."--Ann Marie Stewart

Lully, Lullay

Lully, thou little, tiny child

By, by lully, lullay

Lully, Thou little tiny Child

By, by Lully, Lullay.

O sisters, too, how may we do for to preserve this day

This poor young ling for whom we sing

By, By, Lully, Lullay.

Herod the King in his raging, charged he hath this day

His men of might, in his own sight, all children young to slay.

Then woe is me, poor Child, for Thee, and ever mourn and say

For thy parting, nor say, nor sing,

By, by, Lully, Lullay.

Day 15 of Preparing Your Heart for Advent

To understand the birth story, we need to understand a bit about Herod. Here is a short rundown. Very short, I know, but feel free to study him for yourself.

• Ruled Judea from 37BC until his death in 4BC.
• Known as Herod the Great.
• Known for his impressive architecture. He used Jewish labor to complete his designs.
• He lived in a multi-story, fortress-like place. it was called the Herodium. It was strategically placed to sit on a hill so that he could see the entire region from his palace.
• He was a horrible person with no regard for human life.
• He married ten times.
• One of those times of marriage, he actually married a woman from the royal Jewish family. Ironic, huh?
• He had his uncle, mother-in-law, (favorite) wife Mariamme, father-in-law, his three sons: Antipater, Aristobulus, and Alexander, his barber, and a close friend all executed.
• He had the high priest and his brother-in-law drowned.
• Five days before he died, he had 3,000 of Jerusalem's most respected citizens arrested and ordered for them to be executed when he died. It has been said that he wanted the people to mourn on the day he died, even if it wasn't necessarily for his own death.
• He had all children, age 2 and under (including his own son) killed because he was afraid of losing his position as King. It is believed that 30-60 children who lived in a village of three hundred were killed. The range is said to be between 200-2,000, though. Despite the true numbers, that is a lot of mothers with broken hearts, wailing for their child. I can't even imagine the grief that was heard that night.

Taking all of this into consideration, can you see why the wise men could have been afraid to NOT return to Herod? They could have been executed for their disobedience. However, they followed God and chose to return home via a different route.

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Info taken from Preparing My Heart for Advent by Anne Marie Stewart. She used the information from Vander Laan and Focus on the Family Video (video production) and from Joseph J. Walsh's book, Were They Wise Men or Kings? The Book of Christmas Questions.

The Christmas Singing by Cindy Woodsmall

The Christmas Singing (Chapter 1 Excerpt)

Day 14 of Preparing Your Heart for Advent

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, Thou long expected Jesus,

Born to set thy people free;

From our fears and sins release us,

Let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel's Strength and Consolation,

Hope of all the earth Thou art;

Dear desire of every nation,

Joy of every longing heart.

Born they people to deliver,

Born a child and yet a King.

Born to reign in us forever,

Now Thy gracious Kingdom bring.

By Thine own eternal Spirit,

Rule in all our hearts alone;

By Thine all-sufficient merit,

Raise us to thy glorious throne.

Day 13 of Preparing Your Heart for Advent

Luke 1:46-55

Mary responded:

Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For he took notices of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me. He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him. His mighty arm has done tremendous things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones. He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful. For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.

Watch: You'll be shocked. I promise.

Day 12 of Preparing Your Heart for Advent

We know this song by heart, but have we truly stopped to read the lyrics?  What a beautiful picture of the summary of that first Christmas.  Read through the lyrics to this song with fresh eyes and see before you the scenes found throughout Scripture.

The First Noel

The first Noel the angel did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
In fields as they lay, keeping their sheep,
On a cold winter's night that was so deep.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Born is the King of Israel.

They looked up and saw a star
Shining in the east beyond them far,
And to the earth it gave great light,
And so it continued both day and night.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Born is the King of Israel.

And by the light of that same star
Three wise men came from country far;
To seek for a king was their intent,
And to follow the star wherever it went.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Born is the King of Israel.

This star drew nigh to the northwest,
O'er Bethlehem it took it rest,
And there it did both stop and stay
Right over the place where Jesus lay.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Born is the King of Israel.

Then entered in those wise men three
Full reverently upon their knee,
And offered there in his presence
Their gold, and myrrh, and frakincense.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Born is the King of Israel.

Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord;
That hath made heaven and earth of naught,
And with his blood mankind hath bought.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Born is the King of Israel.

Day 11 of Preparing Your Heart for Advent

Zechariah and Mary.  Both are expecting babies that they can't fully comprehend they why or even the how.  Zechariah with his old age and his wife's old age and Mary by being a virgin.  When the angel, Gabriel, comes to both of them, he is met with a different responses given by each.

When Zechariah is told that he will give birth to a son, he doesn't say, "Okay."  He doesn't even say, "I don't understand how or why, but if you say it, I'll believe it."  I think Zechariah represents many of us today, in all honesty.  I don't know that my response would have been any different.  I would hope it would have been, but having met an angel, not so sure!  Zechariah's response is "please give me a sign."  So, God does....He takes aways his communication (but he gets by with the flailing of his arms). 

When Mary is told she will give birth to a baby boy, and oh, that baby's name will be Jesus by the way, she responds with "But how can this happen?  I am a virgin."  Gabriel then tells her how it would happen, with the Holy Spirit coming upon her.  Her final response? "I am the Lord's servant.  May everything you have said about me come true."

Two completely different responses.  When we are presented with tests of our faith, we have two options.  We can believe that God stays true to what He says or we can doubt.  Regardless, God is still God whether we choose to believe in Him or not.  Ann Stewart sums it up best: "Our lack of faith does not make God any less; we just fail to experience His power."

Day 10 of Preparing Your Heart for Advent

The Advent Wreath

This year, I finally found the Advent wreath that I wanted to use at home.  I had been searching for the past couple of years and finally found an Irish store (which is fitting since I'm part Irish) and decided that we'd get it.  I love it because it has the candles that are bigger than tealights but smaller than the candlestick.  They are the small and chunky ones and they sit in a vase.  I figured with kids around, that would be the best thing to get.

We light it every night before dinner and then B gets to blow it out after we eat.  Of course, after we light it, B insists that we sing happy birthday to baby Jesus.  One night he got upset because baby Jesus wasn't blowing out His candles but I told him that I was sure baby Jesus was okay with B blowing out the candles for him.

We have just celebrated the first week of Advent, so we lit the first candle.  That was the Prophecy Candle or Candle of Hope.  It signified that we have faith that God is/has/will continue to keep all of His promises that He has made to us that are found within the pages of Scripture.  The second candle that we will light starting today is the Bethlehem Candle or Candle of Preparation.  We are preparing to receive God and for His second coming.  It also reminds us of peace.  Next to be lit in the coming weeks will be three more candles.  We will light the Shepherd Candle or Candle of Joy, in remembrance of the joyfulness of Christ's birth and the angels that sang.  We will also light the The Angel Candle or Candle of Love, which reminds us to love others and most importantly, that God loves us so much to send His only Son to us.  Last to be lit on Christmas Day is the Christ Candle.  This reminds us of Jesus Himself and why He came in the first place.

With B being so little, this has opened up some great conversations for us to talk about Jesus.  Granted, he can't go deep, but he can understand the basics.  If you don't already have an Advent wreath, consider getting one.  It's probably my favorite part of the day when we light it and talk about what the candle means each day.