Emmanuel

No, I’m not trying to rush Christmas. But before it arrives, I want to share a Christmas Advent book with you so you can pick up a copy if you are interested in using it this upcoming season.

Emmanuel: An Invitation to Prepare Him Room at Christmas and Always by Ruth Chou Simons has 25 days of readings designed to begin on December 1 and end on Christmas Day. I read it last year, and I absolutely loved it. Each day begins with a passage of scripture, and the devotion is followed by a thought to ponder and a prayer. The book is beautifully adorned throughout with the author’s original floral artwork.

In the insightful content, Simons explores the depths of the name Emmanuel, which means God with us. She wants to help her readers dig deep into the truths of what it means for God to be with us so their lives will be changed, not only during the Christmas season, but for the rest of the year.

The first set of readings centers around Our Heart Posture. Simons says it is the position of our heart that determines how we will enter into the Holy season and what our journey will be like. Will we be stressed out from the beginning and burned out halfway to Christmas? Or will we be able to see what God wants to show us and share in His joy?

For example, Day 1 looks at the posture of being Expectant rather than having expectations. Unfulfilled expectations leave us unsatisfied, frustrated, or hurt. Simons says if we go into the Christmas season expecting it to make us feel good about family relationships or feel loved, we will be disappointed. Expectations leave us doubting that God wants our good. “But expectancy is…believing God is who He says He is while waiting patiently for His good to be revealed, however He chooses to reveal it…Expectancy sets our sights on God’s promises rather than the empty pursuit of all that cannot truly satisfy in this season.”

In the past year since first reading this, I have intentionally chosen expectancy over expectations on numerous occasions. I must confess, it was originally a survival technique to avoid the overwhelming frustration and emptiness that inevitably follow my expectations. But it still worked. I would throw off those confining garments of expecting outcomes I wanted and, instead, wrap myself in the expectancy of anticipating the wonderful and perfect plans I knew God would reveal. And I can testify that he never disappointed me.

Here’s a quick look at the other desirable heart postures Simons writes about:

• Worshipful – Instead of fretting from focusing on less important (don’t read unimportant) things like menus or a clean house, we can choose to find rest sitting in Jesus’ presence.
• Generous – Instead of concentrating on what we think we lack, we can embrace Jesus as our greatest treasure and experience generosity flow from our abundant hearts.
• Invited – Instead of feeling left out and lonely, we can find our true place of belonging in Jesus.
• Grateful – Instead of living in the stress and anxiety of trying to fix all that isn’t right in our life on our own, we can talk to Jesus about everything with a grateful heart because he is our source of peace.
• Joyful – Instead of allowing our joy to be stolen by seeking happiness in what others have, we can recognize Jesus as our ultimate joy.

Adjusting our heart posture is a perfect way to begin this Holy season.

The second set of readings explores God’s Promise, the birth of Christ, the story of redemption. Simons writes that “we will experience the magnitude of Christmas only to the extent that we understand the grace and mercy of God’s plan of redemption.”

We must be aware of our depravity and rebellion without Christ in order to understand how great a gift he is. In God’s mercy, he allows us to experience the desperation of our brokenness so we will long for a Savior and surrender our heart to him. The baby in the manger was a miracle only because he was the promised Messiah who came to conquer our bondage to sin and death and to restore our fellowship with God.

The next set of readings addresses Our Response to the gift of God’s fulfilled promise. Simons says it “compels us to respond with our entire lives.”

God making a way for us to come to him should cause us to respond with reverence and awe for our great God. We respond in faith to the truth of our redemption through Jesus. Becoming aware of our present path of destruction, emptiness, and self-sufficiency calls us to change direction to pursue the living God, a response of repentance.

When we turn our attention from what we don’t have to all the blessings we have in Jesus, our response is thanksgiving. When we personally experience the immeasurable love of God that was manifested in the manger and on the cross, our response is an overflow of that love to all around us. And in contrast to worshipping the perfect holiday decorations, lavish gifts, and other things that don’t satisfy, the good news of Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection invites our response of the worship Jesus deserves.

The last section of the book looks at Jesus the Messiah, who he truly is and why we can trust him.

Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor, “the only one who can truly satisfy the questions and wrestlings of our hearts” since he knows everything about us and his plans for us. When he sent his Son, Jesus, to earth, our Mighty God did not show his might through displays of power, but through humility, and he wants to quiet our chaotic mind and heart with his mighty love. Knowing Jesus and his Everlasting Father enables us to experience eternal life right now.

Only by knowing the Prince of Peace can we be rescued from our sin and know “the peace that replaces disagreement with unity, turmoil with calm, strife with harmony, restlessness with contentment, angst with joy.” Jesus is Lord of Lords, the highest authority, and there is nothing we can submit our lives to that is more loving and satisfying. If Immanuel had not come to be with us, there would be no way back to fellowship with God, and we would still be broken with nothing to celebrate.

These short devotionals in Ruth Chou Simons’ 25-day journey of Emmanuel might be the daily oasis you crave during an often too-busy season. Discovering that Jesus is the one we have longed for all of our life will help us to experience Christmas differently and more deeply. And Christmas will extend all through the year because we will experience “God with us” every day.

Quotations are from Emmanuel.

Feature image is from a Christmas card by Sheena Ting.

Images within post are from Emmanuel.