Advent – December 22, 2023

December 22, 2023

The Twentieth Day of Advent

Today, I did not wait until the lighting of the  candles on the Advent wreath, to step back in time, thinking, just thinking.  The everyday matters which distract us, with finances, health, family issues, are always with us.  And this occurs no matter who you are, even if you happen to be a man and a woman, following guidance from dreams and angels, even if you happen to be the doorway to Earth for Immanuel.  So, I thought about that and remembered due to a governmental decree Joseph had to travel to the town of Bethlehem to register for a census when Mary’s time was near.  Even when you are doing, as you are led, the things of the world continue.  Wow!  How could this be that the sacredness of their time of waiting was interrupted by the world of man?  I have experienced times, especially when Michael and I were fully in the ministry of The Quiet Place, that the world would hand us a bill just when funds were low.  Some of you have probably experienced something similar.  The wonder of it all, the miracle of it all, is that you will have what you need to comply with the laws of the world, just because you have said “yes,” to The Ways of God.   

          On this twentieth day of Advent, 2023, the reading I have chosen is from Luke 2:1-5.

The Reading

December 22, 2023

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.”  Luke 2:1-5