{"id":2983,"date":"2017-12-13T21:17:23","date_gmt":"2017-12-13T21:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.wordpress.com\/?p=2983"},"modified":"2017-12-13T21:17:23","modified_gmt":"2017-12-13T21:17:23","slug":"advent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/?p=2983","title":{"rendered":"Advent: The Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, (whose wife was Elizabeth). \u00a0Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord\u2019s commands and decrees blamelessly<\/strong>. \u00a0But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Once when Zechariah\u2019s division was on duty and he was serving as priest …<\/span>\u00a0an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. \u00a0<\/span>When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. <\/span>But the angel said to him: \u201cDo not be afraid, Zechariah; <\/span>your prayer has been heard<\/strong>. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. <\/span>He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, <\/span>for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.<\/span><\/p>\n

Luke 1:5-14<\/span><\/p>\n

Reading this story with my family this morning reminded me that righteous living does not insulate us from suffering. \u00a0The privilege of being a part of God’s plans is often accompanied by dark times. \u00a0Elizabeth and Zechariah were chosen to be the parents of John the Baptist, whom Jesus called the greatest man ever born of woman (Matt 11:11). \u00a0This privilege starts with decades of gut wrenching, disappointing, humiliating infertility.<\/p>\n

In the sixth month of Elizabeth\u2019s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth …\u00a0to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph … \u00a0The virgin\u2019s name was Mary. \u00a0The angel went to her and said, \u201cGreetings, you who are highly favored<\/strong>! The Lord is with you<\/strong>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Luke 1:26-28<\/span><\/p>\n

Mary is revered as the mother of our Lord Jesus. \u00a0But this favored status brought her much grief: \u00a0an out of wedlock pregnancy, her new born son hunted by King Herod, watching this son tortured and crucified on a cross …<\/p>\n

Surely we all suffer in this life with the consequences of our sins. \u00a0But is it possible, that some of your trials have come because you have been entrusted with a great purpose? \u00a0That your suffering, from the point of view of heaven, is an honor? \u00a0A privledge? \u00a0When we are called to love and that call brings suffering, we are being given a gift<\/strong>, an opportunity to know in a deep and rich way the Savior of the world<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him …\u00a0I want to know Christ\u2014yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings<\/strong>, becoming like him in his death<\/strong> …<\/span><\/p>\n

Apostle Paul in Phil 3:8-10<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*bold face emphasis mine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, (whose wife was Elizabeth). \u00a0Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord\u2019s commands and decrees blamelessly. \u00a0But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. Once when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2983"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2983\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deeperricherfuller.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}