Advent is a season to intentionally slow our pace, contemplating and celebrating the first coming of Christ while also anticipating His promised return. Take time today to pause from the busyness of the season to catch up on your reading, make space for prayer, and rest in the presence of the Lord.
Revisit “Advent Rhythms” on pages 18–19 to help reorient your rhythms of rest and celebration.
I wait for the LORD; I wait
and put my hope in his word.
—Psalm 130:5
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67 thoughts on "Grace Day"
Lord I thank you
Same❤️
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Can you share the Advent rhythms? Is it only in the book?
What is Avent Rythms?
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Love
I agree
Must remember to breathe
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Time to purposely slow down and think om God’s word!! Ahhh
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@Lehua K. @Churchmouse praying for you guys!
@Rhonda J. Love the story about Jay. Such a great reminder to trust the lord. He has nothing and has every right to be scared and frustrated yet his only hope is in the Lord. How powerful. Love the song!
@GramsieSue praying for Steve’s scan to come back clear. I could use a sense of patience and I pray everyday it will become easier. Love that you have such a positive perspective on everything you’ve been through this last year. I too have been through a lot these last six months after my dads accident. I pray I can see the light behind the situation and not let it make me hard and angry.
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Taking more time to be intentional in the Word is a reminder I for sure needed. Simple but so meaningful.
Wait
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Thank you for sharing GramsieSue…So good!
Prayers for your cough Mari! I loved the vision of you and your two kids decorating the tree! Let me tell you…I had to force my son and hubs to get off the couch and decorate with me most years, and a few days ago, now with my son on his own…it was me by myself! I didn’t even bother with the hubby! lol Oh, time marches on, and different seasons come and go in our lives! What a blessing to be aware of God, know Him, and love Him through it all!!!
I am so humbled after homeless ministry, of how abundant our life is, even after a hurricane and losing many things, neighbors losing their homes…most still have somewhere to stay and a bed to lay their head on at night. The one man I have come to know in the last several weeks showed me all the medication he is on and even goes for dialysis, yet he sleeps on the ground. It literally breaks my heart. Can you all join me in prayers for him as well, his name is Leroy. Have a good night! I’m ready for your bookend comment still Mercy! :)
Churchmouse, prayers for a speedy recovery! ❤️ I love that you are going to take this time to refocus on God.
Thank you all for your prayers. Kelly, my doctor & I are discussing the alternatives you mentioned. Churchmouse, I love what you’re doing in this down time. Praying for your recovery. For all the requests this morning. The story about Jay & his new little one just tore at my heart. While I wait I hope the Lord teaches me to trust more fully, too. ..to remember how much He loves me, all of us.
Hugs & love to all y’all.
Me too
Thank you for this!
Sending prayers your way Churchmouse for quick recovery and a sweet time of rest.
Good Morning sweet SRT sisters and Happy Saturday! Taking a break from running today as I recover from my ongoing dry cough that won’t go away. I’m praying for you Churchmouse as you are home recovering. And Luhua K. for healing regarding your hormones and for your husband to come to a relationship with Christ. I know there’s many more, but have to sign out for the moment. If you all could pray for complete healing for my dry cough. I’m much better today. Staying home from work yesterday helped. Also I have SO much homework! I’m at the end of my class which will end December 15. I need to make sure to get it done on top of a FINAL exam and still make time for family. And I hope this is not too much to ask. Please pray for finances. My kiddos are older and understand, but I would still like to put something under the tree. Last night the three of us joyfully decorated our tree. My son has such a sense of humor and it was SO much fun decorating with my kiddos! I love them SO much! Pray for my son as he continues college online and for my daughter as the semester is coming to an end and finals approach. She’s a junior in high school and doing great, but she’s so hard on herself!
In the beginning of the book there are two pages.
One had us list out “Rhythms for this Advent Season” or ways we’re going to make intentional time to sit in God’s presence this season
The second was “Ways to Celebrate This Advent Season” where we listed ways to celebrate through activities, traditions, praise and thanksgiving!
In the beginning of the book there are two pages.
One had us list out “Rhythms for this Advent Season” or ways we’re going to make intentional time to sit in God’s presence this season
In the beginning of the book there are two pages. One had us list out “Rhythms for this Advent Season” or how we
Waiting…
Oh yes, that is so difficult for me when it’s something or someone I want NOW!
But oh how blessed I have been in the waiting. ❤️
This year has been one of the hardest of my 63 years on earth.
And one of the most blessed.
How is that possible? Only through God.
When we got Steve’s diagnosis of brain cancer our world was rocked. That was in January. And here it is December and this week we go for another MRI with hopes for a clear scan. But we have learned that having a clear scan doesn’t mean that all is well. This cancer could still be hiding in his brain. But it has also caused Steve to have so many other problems in other parts of his body. Life is not what we had planned as we prepared for his retirement.
But God…
We have spent more time praying this year and digging deep into the Word of God than ever before. We have learned more about God’s love and His timing. We have learned more about God’s character.
We have spent more time together because Steve isn’t able to go to work. He has had to rely on a core team of employees to run his business. But that in itself has relieved him of so much stress!
We have taken time to get away and enjoy family.
Two of our daughters announced they were pregnant. One granddaughter was born in early November. A grandson will be born near Christmas. Those will make our total of grands 9!!
Each day is a blessing.
So, yes, waiting is difficult, but oh so worth the wait.
Sometimes, I wonder at God’s patience with me. Why has it taken me 63 years to learn some of these things? LOL
I’ve added my prayers to your husband’s health @Vicki
Praying for your health @Churchmouse
Lifting prayers for your family @Christina Schmidt as your husband’s deployment is nearing
Emily Vahle praying for you to find joy this season
Hugs to all ❤️
Praying you are resting comfortably after your surgery yesterday Mia!!
The Lord is having me live out today’s Grace Day verse. I’m home, isolated with RSV. All the to-do lists for Christmas have been put on hold. I don’t want to spend this ‘down time’ by focusing on how I feel, my physical health. Rather, I want to make this an ‘up time’ whereby by focus is my spiritual health, deepening my trust in my Savior. I want to experience Emmanuel in a new and fresh way. What a blessing it is to be forced to rethink and release my priorities AND have the time to rest in His.
Ladies, if you could please pray for me. My hormones have been out of whack this year since I stopped birth control. Earlier in the year I didn’t have a period (sometimes for several months) but now I’ve been bleeding for 3 weeks straight and occasionally have really bad cramps like I did when I was a teenager (which was almost 20 years ago). I think of the woman in the Bible who bled for 12 years straight and what faith she had to pursue Jesus in the crowd, to think she could just touch His cloak and be healed. Verses like today’s have brought me to my knees in prayer for my health, for my parents (mom’s anxiety and my dad’s memory which has recently been getting worse), and for my husband who is not yet a believer… just to name a few.
Blessings to you ladies for being so fervent in the Word and hungering for His Truth. I have been on YouVersion and the Abide app a lot lately, I need to catch up on here. I’ve missed this community. Have a wonderful weekend.
I put my hope in His word ❤️
Wow, amazing how this verse popped up recently for me on YouVersion, and now on here today for Grace Day. I made it my home screen a few days ago so had to do a double take (lol). Praise God, He is so faithful to His promises and is the source of our Hope! There is hope in the waiting.
@Rhonda J- praying for this young family you are ministering to. Sometimes it is so hard on our hearts to not be able to “fix” all the problems we see, and with them, we have to wait on God to do what only He can. But sharing your love and care is just what Jesus asks of us. ❤️ Praying for joy and comfort in all of our sister’s waiting this day!
This was so beautiful Vicki, thank you for
Thankful for the gift of rest He gives us. He has blessed me with a season of rest and it often feels so uncomfortable to me in a society that tells me I should be busy and always doing something “important.” Trying to push all those voices aside and bathe in the gift of His presence and resting in Him. He tells me that’s the most important thing I can get busy doing!
Marveling at and celebrating the 1st coming of baby Jesus, and excitedly anticipating the return of king Jesus, and holding those in my heart with joy today !
Sad we don’t have access to “Advent Rhythms.”
Angie, this is beautiful. Thank you for this. Things we don’t think about what words can mean.
Where to find Advent Rhythms?
I love this “simple” verse today! Which is NOT so simple..when we are in the wait, although it should be, could be when we put our trust in Jesus! I am amazed when I talk to this young man, last night during our homeless ministry, each week in the park where we serve food, share clothes, and giving prayer. His name is Jay, and he has a girlfriend that is (was!) pregnant, and they live out of their car most recently after losing a lease with their apartment. I was excited to learn she just had the baby because that’s the natural reaction when a baby comes into the world. But without having a “home” to bring the baby into the joy instantly turns to muckiness. DCF instantly becomes involved in this case and the baby will most likely have to go to foster care or something, I’m not even sure how it works. BUT in talking to Jay, he tells me his hope is in God, he is not sure what God is going to do, but all he can do is turn it to Him. Such assurance, yes he is scared and wants to scurry and cry and all those emotions, yet he says he has the peace of God that it is going to work out. I pray for a job to come his way and housing, that he can rise above all the things that label him and try to push him down. There are so many needs for these people I could go on and on.
I will share the song again that I have before by Maverick City “Wait on You.” Such a good, powerful song!
Happy Saturday to my She’s! Praying for you all, and what a praise for the husband with the cancer that is clear now! Hallelujah!
Vicki prayers for continued comfort to you and your husband. I understand the waiting. I went through it as we never found answers for a few years as to why my Mother was diminishing in front of us at a young age and passed away last year two months before her 62nd birthday. But I knew God had her no matter what and she is in heaven fully healed now. That is where our comfort lies. With Him. ♥️
Oh the thought of holding baby Jesus.
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Amen! Finding time to rest in the Lord is so important
In a world that pushes us hard to not stop and seek rest. It’s important to be close to Him in His Word so we are reminded of the things we should be focused on and how to prioritize our time. Be still and to know that He is God, and we are His children! Today I pray we can embrace no pace…Just space with Jesus!
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This verse really hit home for me today. I don’t wait well. This past year I’ve found myself waiting …a lot. My husband was diagnosed with cancer at the base of his tongue in April and went through months of chemo and radiation ..so often we waited…fie treatment to start, for scan results and blood work results, for appointments and die the awful side effects of the radiation to diminish. Through all that waiting I found that dear would creep in and dance through my mind and my sleep …but it was also in the waiting that I drew closer to God and the hope that He is here even when here is scary..as pastor Michael Todd said “here is holy” regardless of where here is…so when here was in a cancer center waiting room for much of this year I’m so grateful that my hope remained in the God who’s here with me. My husband is doing well and most recent scans show full remission …best scan in February. He’s now focused on healing and gaining back some of the 59 pounds he lost through radiation.
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In Hebrew, the word “wait” means “to look eagerly for”. The Hebrew word “qâvâh” (kaw-vah’) probably originally had the connotation of twisting, stretching, and binding together as the strands of a rope. Then, the word’s connotation became the tension of enduring and waiting. (Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon found on blueletterbible.org)
Lord, as we wait during this season, as we look eagerly for the celebration of Your birth on Christmas Day and as we look eagerly for the day when You will come again to take Your people to Yourself and reign as the King of kings that You are, may our hearts be bound together with You. May we find hope in Your Word. May Your Word twist itself around us so that it helps to bind our hearts to You. As we endure the tension of waiting here on earth, may we continue to wait and look eagerly for Your coming. Let us not give into laziness or apathy. Let us continue to look into Your Word so we can know who You have revealed Yourself to be and so that we can order our lives according to Your Word. May we read Your Word and study it and do it so that we are as workmen approved by You. May we memorize Your Word so that we can use it along with the shield of faith You have given us, along with the rest of Your armor, against the attacks of evil one. Lord, may Your Word transform us so that we are not conformed to the ways of this world, but transformed by the renewing of our mind. May our waiting and hoping glorify You. In the name of Your Son, Jesus, for Whom we long for and wait for and hope in, Amen.
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Rest in my Lord and His gift of hope
Waiting for the Lord in hope and with His peace. His timing, not mine, is always perfect and for my good.
PAM C – praying the Lord will give you wisdom about new meds. You may want to research if there are grants to help offset the cost or sometimes the manufacturer gives discounts or rebates.
MOLLY R, MERCY, CHARITY SCOTT – praying your children have fully recovered
LAUREN GW and SAMANTHA BEZEMES – praying for your COVID recovery
MIA FAITH – praying all went well with your surgery and your recovery goes quickly
SEARCHING – any updates on Shannon’s mom?
Oh the beauty of the word wait, especially when it comes to waiting on God! So often waiting has a negative connotation, but that isn’t so when we wait on the One who is faithful.
What illuminates this concept for me is thinking of the Spanish verb for wait: esperar. Esperar means to wait, that’s true, but it also means to hope. And I strongly feel that in Psalm 130:5, the waiting here isn’t a passive, bored-filled wait, but an active, hope-filled and expectant wait. We can be hopeful in our waiting because our heavenly Father is loving and faithful and powerful and true. From the start, He promised to rescue us from death, sin, bondage, and darkness; and He was faithful to His word by giving us Jesus. And because of that, we can most definitely put our hope in His word and His promises.
So, as we wait this season, may it be hope-filled, wide-eyed, and expectant; for with God, all things are possible.
Amen ❤
CHURCHMOUSE – thank you for passing along those words of wisdom!
PAMC – praying for wisdom for best meds, and healing
Thankful for SRT and this time to take a deep breath of praise in the midst of the hectic days of the holiday season, to focus on how I can show Jesus to others during these rushed days.
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Amen, He we pray that You restores, heals, delivers, protects, shields, provides, blesses us during the this period of observing the Miracle of Hope to this world, Jesus Christ of Nazareth that was born to us as our Redeemer and Saviour.