THE PROMISE!

No, this is not a misprint, you do not have to make any adjustments to your screen.

This is not a technical difficulty.....but an opportunity to read and reflect.

Jesus should be celebrated all day everyday!

Enjoy.

Waiting for the Promise!






By now most of us have put away the Christmas trees, Christmas decorations, Christmas cards, Christmas music. Well, I do still have a Christmas CD in the CD player that my daughter, Julie gave me for Christmas. It is beautiful piano music and it is so soothing and serene, that it does not even seem like a traditional Christmas CD. It is so relaxing and helps me tackle the roughest of household chores.



Hopefully, in all that packing and putting away of the holly and the ivy and such stuff, you did not pack away the Christ Child! Too often we get all wrapped up in welcoming the baby in the manger that we too quickly pack Him up along with the other Christmas tinsel until next November.



The Bible tells us that the Child grew and found favor with God and man. The Child grew into a young child, then to a young man. It is believed that he worked along side His earthly father, working with His hands, making things, the Carpenter, until it was time to work alongside His Heavenly father. He went from using His hands to build things on this earth, to giving His hands to be nailed to a tree. He is working right now alongside His heavenly Father, designing and completing a place for you and me in Heaven. It will be perfect.



Part of the Christmas story that gets overlooked, skimmed over or just plain forgotten, is found in Luke 2:21-50. These verses remind us that God fulfills His promises. We are told of a prophet named Simeon and a Prophetess known as Anna. They are unique servants of God, not your everyday meet and greet brother and sister that you would encounter on the street, in your church, in your prayer group. Both had heard of the Promise. They got a hold of the Promise. Refused to let go of the Promise.



What was this Promise? It was A Savior, A Redeemer, A Messiah, A King in the form of a child that would be sent to God’s people. Year after year passed by. Waiting, longing, hoping, seeking, searching, aching for the Promise.



What promise are you holding on to? What dream do you keep before you, surging you forward, the reason for getting up and starting over again and again?



I can image both Simeon and Anna eagerly looking and longing to see the Baby that God had promised. Today perhaps. Tomorrow for sure. It can’t be too much longer can it? Much like we look, hope and wish for the good news, the check, the package in the mail. The anticipation, the excitement, the feeling of elation, this is it! Then the let down, the disappointment, the questioning. And this is what separates these two servants from the rest of us. This is why these two are noted and remembered and referred to age after age, year after year. They refused to let the promise of the Promise die in discouragement. They believed.



Now the way the Holy Spirit weaves and orchestrates our lives is absolutely amazing! It is phenomenal how we just know where we are to go, what we are to say, what we are to do…..sometimes. Other times it is like stumbling around in a fog, in utter darkness in total confusion, mayhem and madness. But ahhh those times we are in tune with the Holy Spirit are life changing.



It was through a series of circumstances that both of these servants ended up in the Temple, looking for the Promise. Praying for the Promise. Prayerfully expecting. If not today, tomorrow. If not tomorrow, next week. God is so faithful.




We are not told exactly how, but both the Prophet and Prophetess KNEW when the Promise entered their presence! Now that is something to think about: to know when the Promise has entered your Presence! Perhaps a topic for discussion for another day.



Simeon was led of the Spirit. He was at the right place at the right time in the right mindset-prayerfully expecting! When Mary and Joseph entered the Temple to carry out the rituals, Simeon was there, took the child and gave a proclamation. This Proclamation when paraphrased went something like this, ‘God, you did it! You kept your Promise! I have seen the Promise and now I can die in peace.”



He went on to deliver a Prophecy concerning this Promise. The Promise would bring God’s people deliverance, but at a price.



If that Proclamation was not enough, then enters Anna, the Prophetess who had worshipped in the Temple for 84 years. She spent day after day, hour after hour, week after week, year after year… praying, fasting and worshiping. Translated: a long, long time!



We think we wait a long time for our promises! This lady was determined. She knew it was Him, the Promise. No one had to tell her, remind her, ask her was she sure. It was Him! She too had a prophecy, a proclamation about the Babe. I am sure Mary and Joseph were left speechless, wondering what was going to happen next. Their little heads spinning around trying to grab and connect with these events.



So in saying all this, I am reminded of the Promises God has made me. I have been holding on to some of them a mighty long time. But it does NOT come close to how long these two waited. These servants of God waited and waited for the Promise. Then waited some more. I ask myself, ‘Am I willing to wait that long?’ Hope I can endure to end but I do pray my wait is not that long. I do hope I will be faithful until the end.




I wonder: what if these two had grown weary? What if they had allowed discouragement to creep in? What about doubt? You know how it is! God said it, but the enemy questions it and soon we chime in with him wondering, ”now what did God say, did He really mean it?”



I also came to the conclusion that often we have a Promise in of our own ministries to fulfill. Simeon had his ministry and knew he and only he was the one to bring this particular prophecy to the Child and His family. No one else. Him. His job. His ministry. No time off, no letting up, no giving up, no distractions until he found his Promise and then blessed and prophesied over the Promise. Then and only then could he move on to the next step, his next assignment, his next calling. Similar situation with Anna. She knew she would see the Promise. But she also had a ministry to do to be a part in setting the scene for the ministry of this little One.



Something to think about. Why do some of us stay upon the earth longer than others? Why are some healed, restored, renewed again and again. They are given a second chance; they get their second wind and continue on, holding on to an invisible lifeline. Others it seems are cut short way before their time. Often too soon to our personal liking.



I have known several older servants of the Lord who seemed to battle one health issue after another and still come through. It is as if God is granting them a little more time to see a Promise. They so long to see that child, that grandchild, that loved one saved and safely gathered in the fold. They have prayed, fasted, worshipped God. They have faithfully stood in the house of the Lord. Longing, listening, for the Promise. God is faithful. If you feel like Simeon, and especially relate to Anna, take heart, be encouraged. God will send the Promise and your heart indeed will be made glad and then and only then will you be released for your next assignment.



By the way, these two are not mentioned in the Word again. Perhaps they both were released shortly after this encounter in the Temple. They probably never saw the Christ Child grew into the young child and then into the young man who would perform miracles, raise people from the dead, open blind eyes, cast out demons, open the deaf ears, open the mouth of the mute. They never saw this Child grew up to be hung on a tree, shed His blood, die on a cruel cross. They never experienced the excitement of the news of the Resurrection. But they saw the part of the Promise that they were called to complete. 


But that is the way it is….some plant, some water and some reap…..reaping where they have not sewn. But it is God’s Plan, His Promise. Hold on.




Until another day and another time…. from the Front Porch in Texas…by the way gonna be one of those beautiful days here under the big Texas sky!