Today's post is compliments of my friend Kelly, of Domestic By Design. I am honored to have the privilege of sharing her inspired words with you at Dance And Be Glad! Prepare to be blessed! Oh, and it's a blog swap! You can read the post I wrote for her blog today by clicking here.
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As we anticipate the celebration of the birth of our Lord, I see it as no accident that the Lord has been weaving the theme of hope and adoration in my heart over the past few months. Just in time to celebrate the One who is Hope!
It might sound silly, but I didn’t really understand what adoration was until just recently. Yet this year, through a few painful events, He has helped me understand what it is, and that my adoration has been misplaced. And that my Hope therefore, had yet to really take root in the True source of Hope.
I absolutely love how adoration is described by Bob Hartley in his Adoration Prayer Book. Here is a man who shares my warm affection for Mr. Webster (though I don’t think his definition is from the 1828 dictionary that I’m so fond of) J. He begins his definition of adoration with Webster’s own definition:
1. To honor and admire profoundly and respectfully, implying love and stressing the notion of a personal attachment.
2. To worship or honor as a deity or as divine.
3. To show devoted deferential honor to; regard as worthy of great honor.
4. Synonyms: revere, reverence, venerate, worship.
He goes on to explain that adoration is not about asking things of the Lord, but giving all of our affections--all of our heart to Him. Treasuring Him more than gold or silver (SOS 1:2, Phil 3:8). “To appreciate and value Him for who He is and to give Him the love He is due in all areas and seasons of life.
To adore is to give Him honor and receive His love….to focus on Him appropriately with faith in Who He is….to see that He is more than enough, and that every obstacle and challenge of life is an opportunity for an encounter with Him…”
Honestly, I was blown away and humbled by what I read. As I began seeking to have more focused times of simply adoring God, I began seeing and understanding Who He is in a whole new way. That is what’s so humbling. As I truly understand Who He Is (all the time—fixed and unchanging), my adoration of Him grows.
Words in Scripture that I have read hundreds, maybe thousands of times have leapt off the page. The cry of my heart for the past many months has been that He would take me deeper. And He is, but it’s not been easy. As I’ve seen Who He Is by the help of the Spirit, I’ve been challenged by my own unbelief. My sin has revealed the depths of my unbelief and I have been in a real battle to overcome it as I seek to pursue Him. Especially because my tendency is to sink into despair over how miserably I’ve failed. But here's the kicker:
As I adore Him, I am slowly beginning to see and know Him Who Is Hope.
My words have failed me as I’ve sought to put it into writing. I have known that He is our Hope--that our hope should be in Him, since I came to know him 15 years ago. But somehow, He is helping me to see that this infinite God, who is closer than I understand, is Hope for me in a whole new, deeper, moving way. And it is slowly (very slowly) starting to penetrate down to the deepest fibers of my being.
And it’s affecting everything. I am tasting life!
So as I begin to see and believe Who He Is (adoration), see my unbelief and sin, He is showing me that He is Hope. “Do not despair over your sin! Yes, confess and repent, but don’t sink into despair—Hope in Me! Look at Who I am, how I can help you, who I am for you… at what I’ve done for you.”
I stand in adoration (which is still feeble) at our Lord Jesus Christ. I am small. I am weak. I am wretched. But He came to this earth, died as a ransom for me, and rose again that we might have life through Him. All for the Father’s delight. And now, the Father delights in me…in you who call Him Savior.
Truly, hope has come.
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My favorite Christmas CD is Sovereign Grace Ministries “Savior.” The songs are laced with Scripture, truth about Who Jesus Is, and hope. I love music, and I always listen to the words in a song the very first time I hear it. One of the best songs of rejoicing on the CD is called, “Hope Has Come,” which was the inspiration for what is on my heart today.
Hope Has Come
Let us join with the angel voices
Let us join their happy song
All of heaven and earth rejoices
For the Lamb of God has come
He has come to rescue sinners
Come to meet our desperate need
He was born to bring forgiveness
Born for Calvary
Chorus—
Alleluia, Hope has come
Alleluia, Christ has come
We once were slaves in misery
Till You appeared and set us free
Alleluia, Hope has come
Let us lay our gifts before Him
Let us magnify His Name
With our thankful hearts adore Him
For the Lord has come to save
He has come to break sin’s power
He has come to set us free
Hope was born that glorious hour
Christ the mighty King
Chorus
About Kelly:
Kelly and her husband, Blane have two children and are praying for more. She adores her husband, seeks to delight in her children, and regularly cries out for help in her roles out of a desire to please the Lord and to keep in step with the Holy Spirit. Kelly regularly writes at Domestic By Design on all things domestic, but particularly loves sharing what's stirring in her heart.