The Expectant Season: An Advent Study We've Been Waiting....

posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Lesson 4: Dec. 16 We've Been Waiting....

There was one other advent carol in the hymnal of the church in which I grew up...'Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus', written by Charles Wesley and set to the tune 'Hyfrydol.' It was one of my favorites, too...another good alto line.

But, if you look at the words, it is not about a coming baby...although it does reference His birth:

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 ev'ry nation
Joy of ev'ry longing heart.

Born thy 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.

Now, look at them again. It isn't even about a physical kingdom...on earth OR in heaven...at all.
set Thy people free...release us from our sins and fears...deliver us, reign in us forever...bring your kingdom...rule in our hearts, raise us to your throne.

This is about the Kindgom Jesus talked about over and over in his earthly ministry. Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." - Luke 17:20-21 NIV. The kingdom is, as I've heard said, wherever the King reigns.

So...if I say 'Come, you whom I have been expecting for a long time,' I kind of have to admit to myself that maybe I've been just expecting Him to come when I should've been opening the door upon which He has been knocking.

I once had a dream that was rather odd in many ways, but I remember one line that has stuck with me. Someone in the dream asked me what I thought about the kingdom of God, and I replied, 'Jesus said the kingdom of God is within us...so I think that it behooves all of us to do what we can to enlarge His kingdom by bringing more of ourselves under His authority and dominion.' I've pondered that and pondered that...I can enlarge the Kingdom of God by allowing Him to increase in my own life.

Or, as John the Baptist put it when he was looking for the coming of the Messiah, 'He must increase and I must decrease'.

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit -- 2 Cor. 3:18 NIV

And I look at my house, which is not exactly modeled after Better Homes and Gardens (someday I want to subscribe to a magazine titled Good Enough Homes and Gardens) and I look at how I have spent my last few days...weeks?... running to do What Must Be Done, and I see a lot that is not terribly glorious.

But you know, it's not so much the circumstances that need to change, it's my attitude. Because I kind of have the feeling that once I bring *that* completely into His kingdom, the rest will follow.

So yes, Lord, come into my perspective, my perception, so that I see circumstances through Your eyes. Bring Your kingdom into my actions and reactions. From my fears of rejection and judgment, and my sins of selfishness release me, so that I can find my rest in You in the midst of whatever I have to deal with each day. Unseat my 'self' so that you alone rule in my heart and I know who I am in You...one who has access to the throne itself.

And God Raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. - Eph. 2:6-7

Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus.


Syllabus:

Introduction: Nov. 18

Lesson 1: Nov. 25 Prepare Ye

Lesson 2: Dec. 2 Look at that Rose

Lesson 3: Dec. 9 The Chant