Yesterday we lit the 4^th candle of the Advent wreath,

so we are six days away from Christmas and our theme for this fourth week of Advent is Love.  (Sigh)  I don’t know about you but of all the Advent themes this one feels especially hard, but in a really different way.  Hope begins with a choice and gives ways to peace.  And once you sit with peace joy comes forth, but love?  How do we reconcile our heart, soul and mind to the message of perfect love when hate is ever-present?

 

There is a lot going on now.  Every news cycle carries in another wave of stories filled with gory details that erode the soul.  It’s six days until Christmas and I feel conflicted.  There is this internal tension that wars between a desperate desire to press into love and a profound guilt that love seems to be there for me and not for others.  I see the atrocities happening, half a world away, horrified, powerless, and sad.  It’s not fair, and nothing about any of it is right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

But this is not new.  There is nothing new about any of this.  Jesus came into a dark weary world because he knew LOVE was the only antidote powerful enough to breakthrough.  The LOVE of God is THAT powerful because it is actually an impartation of God, Himself.

 

 

 

 

 

Can I be really honest here?  Sometimes I just want to squeeze my eyes closed and block the sound from coming in.  I want to stop the collection of bad news because I don’t know what to do with it all.  Every broken word just sits on my chest strangling my ability to breath.  Mercy can be heavy to carry…

 

But wait…

 

The news cycle doesn’t get the final word.  And news stories only tell one part of the whole picture.

 

Love has come and HE won.  The enemy is every ready to come against that truth but we must remember that circumstances do not give all the details.  2000 years ago, Jesus was born—God became flesh.  He arrived rather quietly and then at the appointed time released perfect love—the healing balm for every human heart willing to receive it.  Love is powerful, but it needs a receptacle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ONLY way to love is to receive it first.  We try hard, but human love is broken and flawed.  The kind of love that heals comes from God and that kind of love that wins, because it is the impartation of God to us.  Think about it.  It is a gift, given by God, so powerful that it births in us the ability to do the same, not by human strength, but by the Spirit.  Wow.

 

I accept that and believe it.  I trust God and believe him for the impossible.  I accept that He imparts love, but then the news cycle spins and the details of hate and loss are downright overwhelming.   How on earth can I enjoy love and all its benefits when there are people all around and half a world away suffering because of hate and loss?  How is that fair?

 

Well, it’s not.  There is nothing fair about people being murdered in a war zone.  There is nothing fair about burying a loved one or facing disease and death—it’s a thousand kinds of wrong.  But that is exactly why LOVE came.  That is why love lived in the midst of all that.  I know hate looks like it has the upper hand, but I realized something.  It is time to change the lens and perspective.  Because the truth of the matter is that LOVE already WON.

 

This season can become so mixed up with secular celebrations exalting greed and gluttony.  We have to separate our hearts from that.  Love absolutely lives in the midst of war-torn broken places.  Love lives in prisons and sick beds.  Love is God’s perfect solution to the condition of our hearts.

 

Christmas is all about helping us to position our hearts before the throne.  Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, is the embodiment of LOVE.  This holiday is a sacred remembering that Christ came as a babe and became a man.  Christmas remembers that the mission of Christ was love, which he demonstrated through the finished work of the cross.  Jesus died and rose again breaking the curse of sin and death.  Love has already won.  When we celebrate Christmas, we prepare Him room so that this impartation of love can be manifest beyond ourselves.   Christmas celebrates God, what He did, and is still going to do.

 

 

 

 

When Hate and despair look like they have the upper hand we need to look at Jesus.  We cannot ignore the news cycles.  We CANNOT ignore Aleppo, terrorism, and racism.  We CANNOT ignore grief and suffering.  We cannot ignore the bad things that happen all around us, near and far.  But even more than that, we must learn to look upon it, as horrific as it feels, so that we can see where the love needs to land.

 

Breathe.

 

Did you know that Mercy is a gift of sight?  It enables us to see so that we can love.  If we don’t look, we can’t see, and while that keeps the soul safe, it cuts off the life flow of love.  We were never meant to hold it all in.  God loves us (demonstrates mercy) so that we can love.  This is how love gets the upper hand.  We become receivers of love and givers of grace.  We become the tangible source of love for all the broken hearts in need of healing.   We must not give into the twisted lies of the enemy when he throws a guilt trip about love.  We must not get distracted by the bad news and draw a martyr complex.  We must stand with the gift given.  Love came down and continues to pour into those hearts who will receive.

We owe it to the world to let love rule.  We owe it to the world to raise a hand to the liar and put him in his place—we have authority to do that, you know.  We owe it to the world to listen to their stories and   see their pain so our hearts can be moved.  We owe it to the world to release the good news and exalt truth.

 

Six days until Christmas…

 

Let’s press in.  Take a deep breath and open your hands as a prophetic act of declaration.  It’s time to receive the full measure of love because that is the only way anything will change.  There is nothing we can do without this impartation of love, so go ahead and lay down.  Let love touch you and heal you so that you can effectively impart the same to those who are standing right beside you.  Because that’s how it works, you know.  It’s a ripple effect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

“I love the LORD because

he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. 

Because he bends down to listen,

I will pray as long as I have breath.” 

Psalm 116:1-2

 

---

 

Six days until Christmas…

 

Let’s ask him, just like the psalmist!  Let’s turn our eyes and ears to this King of Glory and ask him to impart good news, grace, peace and love.  Let’s do this!  Let’s create wave of love as we intercede on behalf of one another as the bad news streams.  This is my tangible call to action…my invitation to you to join the sacred Chorus, releasing a refrain of love.  I’d love it if you would add your prayer or testimony of love in the comment section below.  Let’s pray together and rehearse the Good News, declaring the love of God.  Who’s in?