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ADVENT 8 : JESUS – CONSOLATION OF ISRAEL

December 8, 2022November 30, 2022 joymargetts

SIMEON

There is a little story in Luke 2:25-30 that introduces us to Simeon. Simeon was an old man, a devout lover of God who had waited for years for the promised Messiah. He was led to be in the Temple by the Holy Spirit at just the moment that Jesus’ parents arrived with the infant Christ, and got to hold his Messiah in his arms and to prophesy over Him

CONSOLATION: COMFORT

Luke tells us that Simeon was waiting expectantly for the ‘Consolation of Israel’. Now the word ‘consolation’ can be translated as ‘comfort’, ‘help’ or ‘encouragement’ and that is great. At the time of Jesus’ birth, Israel was in dire need of comfort, help and encouragement and it was no wonder that Christ was longed for. He is the bringer of comfort. Elsewhere in scripture we are promised the comfort of the Holy Spirit (Acts 9 : 31), the comfort of the Scriptures (Psalm 119:50) and the comfort of God Himself (2 Corinthians 1:3).

Text of 2 Corinthians 1:3, within a wreath of evergreen and berries

ADVOCATE

But a more exact translation of the word ‘consolation’ is ‘advocate’: it has legal implication. It is the one ready to stand by your side before the judge and give evidence on your behalf. Applying this to the person of Jesus makes much more sense. Yes, He would be the bringer of comfort, but He was also coming as an advocate.

He is our advocate before the Great Judge, His Father. He is our great High Priest (Hebrews 4 :14). What a comfort it is to picture Him standing beside us before God. When we know we need someone to speak on our behalf, because we mess up so easily. What a consolation to our troubled spirits, when guilt and shame threaten, to know that He gave His life, so that we can be free of those once and for all. He is our great encourager, our consolation.

Thank Him for being your consolation, in every sense of the word.

Text of Hebrews 4:14, within a wreath of evergreen and berries

Image of front cover of the book The Pilgrim

Where can I go from your Spirit? He had read that. He couldn’t remember when, but now he could almost see the words written on the page in his imagination. He closed his eyes and there they were.

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ Even the night shall be light about me;
Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.[1] The words comforted him, and his mind stilled. The darkness suddenly didn’t seem as dark. Hywel turned over onto his side and sleep came quickly.

THE PILGRIM p202

[1] Psalm 139:7-12, NKJV.

Joy Margetts is a published author and blogger. Her books are works of Christian Historical fiction. Set in medieval Wales against the backdrop of Cistercian abbey life, they tell stories of faith, hope and God’s redemptive power. Her debut novel ‘The Healing‘ was published by Instant Apostle on 19 March 2021. Joy has also self- published a short novella, ‘The Beloved‘ as both a companion to ‘The Healing‘, and as an easy to read standalone story, which is available to buy on Amazon Kindle.

‘The Pilgrim‘, her second full length novel, was published by Instant Apostle on 22 July 2022

More information on Joy, and her books can be found here www.joymargetts.com

advent, Bible, Christian Writer, Jesus, Names of Christ, The Word of God

ADVENT 7 – JESUS – THE BRIDEGROOM

December 7, 2022December 7, 2022 joymargetts

THE BRIDEGROOM

One of the most beautiful descriptions of Jesus for me is that of the bridegroom.

John the Baptist exalted Christ, describing Him as the bridegroom coming for His bride. He described himself as the friend of the bridegroom (John 3:29). Jesus also described Himself as the bridegroom. He did so in response to the Pharisees who were criticising His disciples for not fasting . Why should they be fasting and miserable when the time they have left with the bridegroom was time for celebration (Matt 9: 15)?

The bridegroom theme was one that Jesus’ listeners would have been familiar with; God Himself described Himself as the bridegroom, the one who rejoices over His people as His bride (Isaiah 62: 5).

text of Isaiah 62 v 5 within a red heart. Above the heart is a string of Christmas lights, below it pine cones and berries.

COMING FOR THE BRIDE

In Hebrew tradition the bride would get herself prepared on her wedding day, and sit beautifully dressed waiting patiently at her home until her bridegroom and his friends came calling. Her bridegroom would then come and take her back with Him to His own home. What a wonderful picture for us. Jesus our bridegroom is coming for us to make us fully His.

Do you not feel you are worthy? Well in Rev 21:2 He tells us that the bride (the church) He is coming for is already beautifully adorned, dressed ready for her bridegroom – because He has made us pure and spotless for Him.

Photograph of the upper body and hand of a bride, in bridal dress, taken through a thick veil.

BESOTTED BY THE BRIDE

And how does He feel about us His bride? Well just turn to Song of Solomon, which is a beautiful love song between the bridegroom and His bride, and a glorious picture of Christ wooing us. Song 4: 9 says ‘you have ravished my heart, My sister, My bride’. He is completely besotted with us. The romantic in me loves that Jesus is described in this way. He is the lover of our souls. Transfixed by our beauty, He can’t wait for the day when He comes and makes us fully His for all eternity.

Do you struggle to see Jesus being besotted by you?

text of Song of Solomon 4 v 9 within a red heart. Above the heart is a string of Christmas lights, below it pine cones and berries.

Image of front cover of the book, The Healing

‘He wants me to have it all, doesn’t He?’ The realisation of that truth was beginning to sink in. ‘God wants me to be happy, to be loved, to be fulfilled, to be useful. For me that could be as a husband, a custodian, a father, even. I still can’t quite believe it, that this is the reason He restored my life? I wanted to believe there was some great act of service I was to do for Him, some noble sacrifice on my part, a life of devotion to Him to pay Him back for what He has done for me.’

THE HEALING p 205

‘The Pilgrim‘, her second full length novel, was published by Instant Apostle on 22 July 2022

More information on Joy, and her books can be found here www.joymargetts.com

advent, Bible, Christian Writer, christmas, Jesus, Names of Christ

ADVENT 6 : JESUS – RULER

December 6, 2022December 5, 2022 joymargetts

RULER IN ISRAEL

When the Magi came to Jerusalem they were looking for the promised King of the Jews and were expecting a prince born in a palace. But this King was born in much more humble surroundings. The scholars of Herod’s court knew where to send the Magi, because of the prophecy in Micah 5:2 – that out of Bethlehem would come ‘The One to be Ruler in Israel’.

Text of Micah 5 v 2 in a wooden frame, on a background of Christmas decorations

As we saw yesterday it wasn’t just the promised King Israel was waiting for, but also for His righteous reign. Many of our favourite fairy tales and stories, from Robin Hood to Narnia, and including ‘The Lord of the Rings’, explore the theme of a good ruler coming whose power and authority would turn bad to good and restore society to what it should be. In this new King of the Jews the great expectation would be that He would be a ruler to crush Roman cruelty and restore peace and prosperity to Israel. But He was to be a different kind of ruler; a King of hearts and minds. His reign would be a spiritual one bringing the realities of the kingdom of heaven to earth.

RULER OF HEARTS AND LIVES

Our response to Jesus must be to submit to Him as ruler of our hearts and lives. He does restore, He does turn bad to good; He makes all things new, but requires us to acknowledge Him as King. It is His right, and one day He will reign over all creation. The government shall be upon His shoulders (Is 9:6).

Text of Isaiah 9 v 6 within a wreath of evergreens and berries.

The child the Magi found in Bethlehem was a king that would turn the world upside down; by His life and death He would prove Himself ruler of all. The ‘Lion of the tribe of Judah’, the one who carries the sceptre and wears the crown (Rev 5:5, Gen 49:10), who stands in heaven as the one worthy of all our praise and adoration.

Is Jesus the ruler of your heart and mind?

Image of a lion's face with the words 'Lion of Judah', and a golden crown.

‘Have you given your heart and your desires over to God, the lover of your soul, Carys? Have you asked Him to give you your heart’s desire?’

‘But I don’t know what it is my heart truly desires!’

‘The wonder of it is, when we surrender our lives to His love, and commit ourselves to His ways, then He gives us the desires of our hearts – not necessarily the things we think we want and desire – but He gives us a desire for the things He wants us to have. The things He knows are best for us.’

THE BELOVED p 25

‘The Pilgrim‘, her second full length novel, was published by Instant Apostle on 22 July 2022

More information on Joy, and her books can be found here www.joymargetts.com

advent, Bible, Christian Writer, christmas, Jesus, Names of Christ, The Word of God

ADVENT 5 : JESUS – THE BRANCH FROM THE ROOT OF JESSE

December 5, 2022November 30, 2022 joymargetts

MY SERVANT THE BRANCH

We are back in the book of Zechariah today. Another picture of the Messiah found in the book of Zechariah is in 3 : 8, ‘I am bringing forth My servant the Branch’, God declares.

In Jeremiah 23 : 5 we read that the branch will be a ‘branch of righteousness’ and from ‘David’. Isaiah 11:1 also describes this ‘branch’, this ‘shoot from the stem of Jesse’.

A GLORIOUS KING

When we think of a branch we might picture the branch of a tree, but the meaning here is more like a sprout of new growth with the potential to become a strong branch. If a great tree like an oak is felled and a stump left, with it’s roots still in the ground, there is the potential for a new branch to begin to sprout and grow from it. The stump or stem in this case is the kingly line of David and his father Jesse, and the branch that will sprout from it a new and glorious King. Although a King not born in a palace but in a Bethlehem stable.

The prophets Zechariah, Isaiah and Jeremiah were speaking at a time when the Kingdom of Israel was disintegrating and suffering under a succession of evil and godless kings. The promise was for a King who would have a reign of righteousness; like David the great King who had once ruled a great Israel. But this new King’s reign would even surpass that of David’s.

FULL OF THE SPIRIT

The features of this King and His reign are described in Isaiah 11:1-10. Full of the Spirit and wisdom, fully submitted to God, and delighting in Him, the branch King will reign with righteousness, justice, faithfulness and compassion. His reign (Kingdom) will see the lion lying down with the lamb, and the earth full of the knowledge of God. Gentiles (the nations) will seek Him and His kingdom.

This is our Jesus, the King whose reign has begun but will come into its fullness in eternity, when the heavens and earth are made new, and sin and death, evil and darkness will have no longer have any power.

Is Jesus King in your life? He is righteous and trustworthy.

‘The tree will bear fruit again. We have seen it so many times before to know that it is true. Spring always follows winter. While the tree lives, even through the winter, then there is hope that it will flourish again when spring comes. So it is with us. We are sometimes defined, and altered, by the hard things that life throws at us, but we can learn to even appreciate the winter seasons. It is often in those hard times that God is doing the deepest and most important things inside of us, to prepare us for the more fruitful seasons of our lives that will inevitably follow. Our responsibility is to make sure our roots are deep and grounded in truth. In God, and what He says.’

THE HEALING pp 34-35

‘The Pilgrim‘, her second full length novel, was published by Instant Apostle on 22 July 2022

More information on Joy, and her books can be found here www.joymargetts.com

advent, Bible, Christian Writer, Names of Christ, The Word of God

ADVENT 2 : JESUS – SHEPHERD

December 2, 2022December 1, 2022 joymargetts

Text of Psalm 23 v 1-2 on a background of festively wrapped gifts

TRUE SHEPHERD

Psalm 23 is perhaps the most familiar and most quoted of all the Psalms. David, the Psalmist, describes the Lord as his shepherd, the one who leads, feeds and protects. The theme is explored with even more depth in Ezekiel 34, where God describes Himself as the true shepherd to His people. In v 23 of that chapter He talks of the ‘one shepherd’ to come, calling Him his ‘servant David’. Now as Ezekiel was prophesying long after the death of King David this can only refer to Jesus, David’s greater son.

Isaiah 40 :11 describes this shepherd as feeding, gathering, carrying and leading His lambs.

Text of Isaiah 40 v 11 on a background of festively wrapped gifts

GOOD SHEPHERD

In John 10 :11 – 16 Jesus describes Himself as the Good Shepherd, as the one who would give His life for His sheep, and as the one who intimately knows His sheep. When He came, Israel was a people without a true shepherd (Matt 9: 36), weary and scattered. Sheep without a Shepherd are vulnerable in every sense. A good shepherd in Jesus’ time was much more than just a leader, he was one who cared deeply for the sheep in His care, would ensure they were fed, rested, and safe. He would give his very life to protect them and cared that not even one sheep went astray.

Image of a a flock of sheep being led by a shepherd in biblical times

Jesus came to offer Himself to the people of Israel as the true Shepherd His Father had promised them, and for those who accepted Him that is what He became. He offers the same for us. When we belong to Him, we are the sheep of His pasture and He is the Shepherd of our souls (1 Peter 2 : 25) who has brought the wandering ones back to Himself. We can trust Him, to feed us, care for and protect us, even to carry us close to His heart when that is what we need.

Is Jesus your Shepherd in every area of your life?

He was reading the Psalms mostly in his private study. He thought back to when he had read them in the early days of his recovery at Grand Selve, where it was the complaints of the psalmist that spoke most to him. Now as he read the Psalms, it was the cries of praise, the promises of hope, and the testimonies to God’s faithfulness that spoke most into his situation. He could meditate on these, and hear God’s voice speaking into his spirit and soul. He loved the Gospels also, and these he found himself reading as he was illuminating them, his pen being put to one side as the story of his Saviour gripped his heart. The man Jesus came to life in the words, and made him yearn to live a life modelled on His. THE HEALING p 151

‘The Pilgrim‘, her second full length novel, was published by Instant Apostle on 22 July 2022

More information on Joy, and her books can be found here www.joymargetts.com

advent, Bible, Christian Writer, Jesus, Names of Christ, The Word of God

ADVENT 1: JESUS – SERVANT

December 1, 2022November 30, 2022 joymargetts

This year I am going to attempt to do something I have never done before, on this blog at least. Today marks the first day of Advent and I am going to attempt to post a blog every day, right up until Christmas.

A few years ago I did a series of studies on the names and descriptors of Jesus, primarily taken from the Old Testament Messianic prophecies. I have long wanted to develop these and so this year I am going to include them in this blog, in association with quotes from my books. I want to focus on Jesus, more than ever this Christmas, when there are so many difficult things going on in the world. I hope that you will follow along with me, and be taken up with the myriad ways Jesus is presented in Scripture. That you will see more and more just how wonderful He is.

SERVANT

Isaiah is an Old Testament book full of prophecy, and within it’s pages are many references to the coming Messiah. These use many different names and ways of describing the coming Saviour. The one I want to focus on today on mentioned in Isaiah 42:1, and echoed in Is 43:10 and Isa 49 : 6.

Image shows the words of Isaiah 42 v 1 surrounded by a wreath of evergreen and holly berries

Through Isaiah’s prophetic words God describes the one to come as ‘My Servant’. We know this was a prophecy about Jesus as Matthew quotes it in Matt 12:18-21. Reading Isaiah 42:1-4 we can see that this Servant will carry the Spirit of God and will bring justice – a form of justice that doesn’t crush the already bruised. In Isaiah 49 : 6 it tells us He will come bringing light to the gentiles, and salvation to the ends of the earth.

Image shows the words of Isaiah 49 v 6 surrounded by a wreath of evergreen and holly berries

BOND SERVANT

In the New testament, in Phil 2:7, Paul describes Jesus as the one who came as a ‘bond servant’ – one who knows they have no rights of their own and yet are willingly submitted to obey and serve the one in authority over them. Jesus willingly left behind any rights He had as God’s Son and took the form of a servant, demonstrating this in the washing of the disciples’ feet in John 13. He came willingly submitted to God’s authority and lovingly enslaved to Him, obedient to the cross. It was His choice and God honoured Him for it ‘my elect one in whom my soul delights’ (Is 42:1).

Image shows a mans hands holding and drying another man's foot with a rag

Image courtesy of freebibleimages.org

He came as a servant in order to bring about our salvation, and in doing so Jesus gave us the supreme example. But did coming as a servant lessen His power, authority or kingship? No! That is the most amazing thing. He came as a servant, but also as a king. He showed us that true leadership requires humility, compassion and a servant heart. To those we are called to serve, and towards the One who calls us.

The Servant King shows us that we are called to be lovingly enslaved to God, and lovingly enslaved to one another.

In the areas of your life where you have authority, how can you follow Christ’s example of being a servant?

‘But kneeling to serve doesn’t lessen Father Abbot’s authority, or the respect he engenders. In fact, it does the opposite. We watch him pour himself out and we want to follow his example. He leads us with a quiet and loving authority, even disciplining us when necessary. But because we know the goodness of his heart, his inert humility, his love for his fellow man, we take the discipline and the encouragement with equal gratitude. He is being as Christ was, you see, the Servant King. He does not abuse his position of authority by lording it over us, rather he uses it to teach us a better way. The mark of a true godly leader.’

‘The Pilgrim’ pp 176-177

‘The Pilgrim‘, her second full length novel, was published by Instant Apostle on 22 July 2022

More information on Joy, and her books can be found here www.joymargetts.com