Of Advent and Stories

As I write stories and pen novels God puts on my heart, I accidentally discovered... (spoiler alert)

Every story finally ends with wickedness punished and the good rewarded at last.

But I never noticed this theme until studying Advent on a dawning morning of December. This is why.

I remember writing the end of The Way of the King, my fantasy-allegorical novel, and pausing with a heavy question in my hands:

How can this story portray the hope, mercy, and grace of God our Father... while also not ignoring His righteousness, anger at sin, and position as Judge?

I felt the heart-rending tension and hurt of even the vilest characters in my book and wanted them shown mercy alongside the "kinda bad" sidekicks... yet at some point, it was too late. Their decision was made.

Every person eventually had to receive their just due.

As I penned the end of the story, heart aching, I saw God's mercy even in those terrible moments of just wrath, because His goodness cannot allow any sinful thing to tarnish His coming Kingdom.

But in that moment, I saw other broken, humble characters—unlikely heroes—receive the sweetest of endings to their story, not because of their perfection but because they gave their lives to their King, allowed His mercy to cover them, and He was their trust.

Today, I saw the same themes in Advent.

The word "advent" means "coming" or "arrival." It's the season of days leading up to Christmas as we anticipate Jesus' first coming. 

It's a beautiful time to remember! God-made-flesh—Emmanuel—came as a beacon of hope and tidings of comfort and joy! He fulfilled prophesies from loyal prophets who believed God 700 years before!

What struck me was one of the first messages of the Gospels after the nativity story:

At that time John the Baptizer appeared on the scene, proclaiming a very important message in the Judean wilderness. “Repent,” he declared, “for the Kingdom of Heaven is drawing near!”

Matthew 3:1-2

And the response,

 

... people from Jerusalem and all Judea and the entire region along the Jordan kept going out to him and were being baptized in the Jordan River by him, openly acknowledging their sins.

Matthew 3:5-6

Advent is done, Jesus is on the scene, and the messages begins with repentance.

Then Jesus begins preaching with the same message:

From that time Jesus began proclaiming this message: “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is drawing near!”

Matthew 4:17

Advent opens the stage for the first step of salvation. Jesus' message of salvation, hope, and mercy begins with a call for honest repentance. Then His cross and resurrection made all the difference for the ending of our stories—we can receive full forgiveness and be partakers of His coming Kingdom!

So I'm entering the Advent season enjoying the beauty of white lights, floppy Christmas hats, anticipation, carols (!), but I'm also beginning it with a heart crying out to my Father in repentance and asking Him to reveal any sin in me first.

Because Advent means "coming"... both His first coming as a babe to bring hope of salvation, but we also eagerly await His second Advent when Jesus will reign as King. That Day will be one of justice, punishment, of the wrath of God being poured out because no sinful thing may enter His Kingdom.

But for those who confess their sin and put their trust in Jesus, the second Advent is pure restoration. Ah, that's also tidings of comfort and joy!

For if you acknowledge your allegiance with your lips by professing Jesus as Lord, and have faith in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

If we are willing to confess our sins, however, God is faithful, yes, and true to his name, and so will forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from every kind of wickedness.

1 John 1:9

Today, in the middle, we're invited to "come to the Jordan" in a sense, and that's a joy of Advent! We have an open invitation to forgiveness... just like the villains in my story are invited to repentance, change... until it's too late.

And that's part of the huge love of God: He is waiting, giving every soul time to follow Him!

Sometimes I wonder how much the waiting—while people suffer—hurts His own heart.

That's why I love writing the endings of books, because at last, the character walks in truth and sees the reward of the hardships and trials that wove through their story, and there's reward, rest, restoration!

But their middles determine what their endings are.

I feel Jesus calling me to examine my life and receive forgiveness. To get serious about sin and not let it linger. To come to Him in repentance and walk in a life of forgiven, powerful grace. And then embrace Advent.

That's a beauty and hope as we start Advent.

So happy beginning of December, friend! ♥ May we walk in peace, humility, and unity with our King Jesus until the Day He comes home.

~♥~

This is How You Endure as a Disciple

The start of autumn used to depress me.

I watched frost fall on our flower beds, and petals glowed brilliantly silver in the first rays of sun... then melted to mushy deadness.

Gardens died. Trees wept their leaves.

Then God beautifully changed my vision by showing me the richness of fall, and now He calls me to take it a step further and believe it about the Christian life too:

If I'm called to die, can I rejoice?

It begins with this truth:

When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer 

 

This summer, I wrestled to surrender everything to Jesus.

I've lived in that freedom, and it was beautiful to have Jesus as my sole treasure, my one thing, but surrender doesn't seem to be a one-and-done process; it's continual.

And it's so good to live a life of continual surrender to our King.

But I've grown tired at times. I've let things slip - instead desiring comfort, safety, normality. And this summer, God stirred me up to remember those times of radical obedience and to pray for it again.

To share the Gospel at every opportunity. To give freely. To live without fear. To pour out even if to receive nothing back again. To have a predetermined "yes" to Jesus. To work for Jesus alone. To be willing to suffer for Him.

To let sinful desires die and Jesus live in my life.

At times though, I looked at the death of self like I used to see the death of fall - a bleak, painful, long process. I missed the promised spring at the end.

I read, "take up your cross" and missed what's right after.

Today, I grabbed my Bible and read that account, and what comes after the sacrifice, after this age, is beyond beautiful! I challenge you to read this. If you get nothing else, this is what matters, and the Word of God changes everything. Chew on it, meditate on it, let it sink into you.

 

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If someone wants to be a disciple of Mine, he must deny himself and take up his cross and continue coming along with Me. If someone is set on saving his life, you see, he will lose it. If someone is prepared to lose his life because of Me, however, he will gain it. Is it really worth it for a person if he gains even all the riches in the world, yet forfeits his very life? Or what can a person give in return for his life? The Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, you see, and at that time He will 'repay each person according to his deeds.' Amen, I solemnly tell you this: There are some standing right here who will certainly not experience death while they have a glimpse of 'the Son of Man coming' with His Kingdom."

Matthew 16:24-28

 

 

Did you catch that? Jesus says a disciple of His must lose their life, take up their cross, deny himself, and follow Him.

It's pursuing Him so much that we'll risk losing anything to gain Him.

It's a love and loyalty for Jesus being our one thing. There's a beautiful reward at the end, the prize that a disciple has her eyes on and will run to attain!

Right after the passage above, Jesus has this beautiful transfiguration in Matthew 17, and it reminds me of an early glimpse of what He's promised: to come in the glory of His Father as the ultimate King, punish all evil, destroy death, and then bring His reward.

That's why I love autumn: the frosty death points to the coming newness of spring.

And suffering for the disciple simply points to a coming restoration, reward, and complete healing when Jesus returns!

That's why we endure! That's why we hold on! That's why we surrender our entire lives to discover Jesus, because He is our ultimate Prize!

I still balk sometimes, and I pray so hard that Jesus would enable me to be a disciple. I pray He would give me strength to pick up my cross and follow Him. When it feels like a burden too heavy for me to carry, you can find me,

casting upon Him all your cares, because He cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7 

And then it's light.

I've learned that good isn't the same as easy. Sometimes, following Jesus is hard, but it's so good. And then with His comfort and fellowship and future hope, is hard really that hard?

I love reading magazines by Voice of the Martyrs about believers who risk everything for Jesus... and the forgiveness and joy that comes is radically lovely.

So I'm learning the joy of surrender and that to rejoice in trials leads to patient endurance (James 1), which is so beautiful because the longing of my soul is to endure until that Day of restoration.

 

in the hope that, by any means possible, I will share in the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians 3:11

 

I encourage you: seek Jesus as your Treasure. Desire Him so much that you'll lay your life down as a living sacrifice.

Let love lead to loyalty, trials spur us to endurance, and the promised reward be what we seek to attain.

Let's kill sinful desires and let Jesus live in us.

 

The Spirit himself bears joint witness with our spirit that we are children of God. If we are children, moreover, we are also heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with the Messiah—if, in fact, we share in the Messiah’s sufferings, so that we may also share in His glory. 

In this regard, I am certain that the sufferings of this present age can’t even be compared to the glory that will be revealed with respect to us.

Romans 8:16-18

~♥~

 

Finding Beauty in the Dark || guest post

Hello, dear reader!

I'm here with a beautiful guest post by a fellow author, blogger, and disciple of Jesus, Savannah Jane McCrary! (yay!)

Savannah is a lover of history especially as it points to the truth of the Gospel, and this post was a huge blessing to me. Get ready for some powerful stories of heroes of the faith and a personal challenge to stare darkness in the eyes and find Jesus' beauty in it.

Welcome, Savannah!

In the beginning, God created…

Genesis 1:1

And it was good. It was beautiful.

As God looked over the stars and sun and moon and trees and flowers and animals and seas He had made, again and again, “He saw that it was good.”

Then sin came, and everything changed. There were thorns and pain and sickness and death.

Yes, the world is broken and dying. But still there is beauty amid the decay.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. 

Ecclesiastes 3:11

Creation groans, waiting for the day when Jesus returns and makes all things new. Yet still there are glimpses of beauty. Jesus is still King of Creation. And there is still so much beauty to be found when we look for it.

God paints the sky every morning. And every evening, He does it again. And there are the clouds–puffy white ones, gray, wispy ones…

God could have created plants only to be useful–to be used for food and medicine and building and production. But instead, He made plants that are not just useful, but beautiful. And such variety! He made towering pine and oak trees, plants with leaves of all shapes and sizes, flowers in every color imaginable.

God is still delighting in the beauty He has made. If He delights in it, shouldn’t we delight in it, too?

For the past few years, I’ve been researching the World War II Dutch Resistance for a historical fiction book I am writing, and I have been struck by how these brave men and women found and appreciated beauty in even the darkest of places.

Hans Poley was a university student when the Germans conquered the Netherlands. They demanded all students sign an oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party or be deported to forced labor in Germany. Hans refused, went into hiding, and joined the Resistance. Eventually, he was caught and imprisoned in a concentration camp. Yet, he tells this story of his time in the camp:

“In sharp contrast to the scenes of misery, I remember one clear spring morning as we stood motionless for roll call. We heard no sound except for the movement of the SS guards, counting under their breath. Then, suddenly, a caroling lark took off from the surrounding woods into the sky, and its unrestrained cheer swept over the two thousand prisoners in the square. No one dared to look for it, let alone follow it on its freedom ride. But we all heard it and took it as a symbol of liberation and light.”

Johanna Ader-Appels didn’t end up imprisoned in a concentration camp herself, but she and her husband risked their lives to shelter Jews in their home. At any moment, there was the risk the Germans would come and search the house and find the Jews, and they would all be hauled off to prison and death. Yet in the midst of all that, she wrote,

“It was so wonderful to enjoy the spring, the sun, the birds, and the flowers, which knew nothing of war and were just as exuberant as each new spring arrived… one must take the time to enjoy such loveliness, even amidst a busy life… ja, especially then, otherwise there is the risk of our feeling jaded and dull. And those who receive nothing from such gifts will soon have nothing more to give.”

Diet Eman was a young woman living in the Netherlands during World War II. When the Germans took over, and began persecuting the Jews, she and her fiance, Hein, risked their lives to rescue Jews. Like Hans Poley, Diet was also eventually caught and imprisoned in a concentration camp. She tells this story:

“Outside the four corners of the building stood four soldiers with rifles. The windows were all open, and outside the windows the clouds looked so beautiful that I would stand there for a moment just to admire them. They were just clouds, but they were God’s consolation to me, so beautiful in the sky. Below the clouds, the countryside was full of flowers, lots of purple shooting up to the sun. I would stand there at times and remember how beautiful God created this world, and then I would be reassured that he would certainly take care of me and all my loved ones.”

 

The beauty of creation is God’s gift to us. It reminds us He cares for us. If He created and provides for the birds and the flowers, He’ll care for us, too. In the words of Jesus,

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 

So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 

Matthew 6:26-30

Because, after all, we are the crown of His creation. After He created everything else and called it “good,” then He created man and woman. And He called them “very good,” (Genesis 1:31).

He delights in His beautiful creation, but He delights even more in His children living out their faith in Him, trusting in the care of their Heavenly Father.

“The colored sunsets and starry heavens, the beautiful mountains and the shining seas, the fragrant woods and painted flowers, are not half so beautiful as a soul that is serving Jesus out of love, in the wear and tear of common, unpoetic life.”

Streams in the Desert

We don’t worship the creation. We don’t value trees above children or plants above people. But we do thank God for the good gifts He gives us. We admire, enjoy, and delight in the glories of creation because in them we see God’s glory.

“We see the glory of God when we delight in, reflect upon, and enjoy the world He has created.” 

Thomas Shreiner

Look up in the sky at night and gaze at the stars. I once read that scientists estimate there are 100 billion stars in every galaxy. And how many galaxies are there? We don’t know. Some scientists estimate two trillion. It’s possibly far more.

And yet,

He counts the number of the stars;
He calls them all by name. 

Psalm 147:4

But what’s even more amazing is that the God who counts the stars also knows the number of hairs on your head.

The very hairs of your head are all numbered…

Luke 12:7

That’s how intimately He knows and cares for you.

If those members of the Dutch Resistance could find beauty even in wartime and in concentration camps, surely we can find beauty in our daily lives, too.

So, go, admire the beauty of sunrises and sunsets, fields and flowers, clouds, oceans, the song of a bird, the stars in the sky, a tiny butterfly, a massive, rugged mountain peak…and let it stir your heart to worship.

Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name;
Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. 

Psalm 29:2

 

 

~♥~

about the author

Savannah Jane McCrary is an author, illustrator, history lover, and most importantly a follower of Jesus passionate about creating beauty and spreading hope through her words and art. Though she’s experimented with a variety of genres, her favorite thing to write is accurate historical fiction filled with suspense, beauty, and most of all, the hope of the kingdom of heaven.

The third born in an amazing family of seven children, she was homeschooled all the way through and lives with her family in beautiful western Montana. Savannah loves spending time with her family and their Bernese Mountain Dogs, working on the family homestead, getting together with old friends and meeting new ones, going on adventures, worshiping, enjoying God’s creation, reading good books, and cups of tea. In addition to her authorly pursuits and drawing and painting, Savannah’s many other interests include cooking and baking, midwifery, graphic design, sewing, and making pottery.

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Footnotes:


All Scripture taken from the New King James Version® Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Hans Poley’s story taken from Return to the Hiding Place Copyright © 1993 by Hans Poley, LifeJourney Books™, page 172

Johanna Ader-Appels’ story taken from House of Defiance Copyright 1947 © by J. Ader-Appels, English Translation Copyright © Andrew Healey, page 232

Diet Eman’s story taken from Things We Couldn’t Say by Diet Eman with James Schapp, Copyright © 1994 by Wm. B. Eerdman’s Publishing Co., page 230

Thomas Shreiner quote taken from The King in His Beauty: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), page 4 as quoted in Crown Him King: A Study on the Kingdom of God for Well-Watered Women written by Gretchen Saffles with Maggie Combs and Lauren Weir, Copyright © 2022, Life Lived Beautifully, LLC.