{"id":7694,"date":"2020-12-13T07:46:46","date_gmt":"2020-12-13T12:46:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lyndalambert.com\/?p=7694"},"modified":"2020-12-27T14:51:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T19:51:16","slug":"the-third-purple-candle-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lyndalambert.com\/wordpress\/the-third-purple-candle-joy\/","title":{"rendered":"JOY – The Third Purple Candle – The 3 KINGS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Advent, Week 3<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

December 13, 2020<\/p>\n

Christians around the world will \u00a0light\u00a0 a candle every Sunday for the 4 weeks prior to Christmas Day each year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

~ Today \u00a0we light the\u00a0\u00a0THIRD \u00a0\u00a0PURPLE Candle – JOY<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Listen to “We Three King” and watch video – Here<\/a><\/h3>\n

\u00a0We light the \u00a0Candle of JOY\u00a0 for the WISE MEN today!<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

because we \u00a0are a<\/strong>nticipating\u00a0 the JOURNEY of the Magi – Wise men.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The history of antiquity, as recorded in the Old and NEW \u00a0Testaments \u00a0of the Holy Bible, \u00a0provides facts, events \u00a0and discoveries that influence our present day. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2020. Lynda McKinney Lambert. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0~\u00a0 The Third \u00a0Purple Candle<\/a> by Lynda McKinney Lambert<\/p>\n

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Week Three \u00a0\u2013 December 13, 2020<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n

by Lynda McKinney Lambert<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Third \u00a0in a series of five essays for Advent.<\/p>\n

During ADVENT –<\/span> <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Christians around the world will \u00a0light\u00a0 a candle every Sunday for the 4 weeks prior to Christmas Day each year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

~ Today \u00a0we light the\u00a0\u00a0Third \u00a0\u00a0PURPLE Candle ~<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

See it here<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0We light the \u00a0Candle of JOY<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The\u00a0 3 Kings Candle of JOY<\/span><\/h3>\n

because we \u00a0are a<\/strong>nticipating the Birth of Jesus.<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

I love to read the primary sources of things and events that we see every day in our own time period. I like to seek out the origins of present day celebrations and events.<\/span><\/p>\n

The history of antiquity provides facts, evidence, cultural artifacts, events \u00a0and discoveries that influence our present day. To learn our history, we go back to the primary sources to find our roots – our faith in God our creator. The foundation of our faith is the Old and New Testament of the Holy\u00a0 Bible.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Celebration of the 3 Kings – Light the Candle of JOY<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Blog_2014_Shepherdand<\/a>\"Blog_2014_PHOTO_Shepherds\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Listen to\u00a0 Christmas music while you enjoy the photos and read about the Shepherds who had a visitation from a HOST of ANGELS on the night of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.\u00a0\u00a0 Here.<\/a><\/p>\n

What do I know of\u00a0 ROYALTY? \u00a0 Not much!<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

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I visualized the scene:\u00a0 Wealthy men who left everything behind to follow a star in the sky – a brilliant star that led the way.\u00a0 They knew they were seeking to find a baby – a newborn baby – at the end of their long journey. <\/span><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/span>One IDEA kept recurring to me as I quietly thought about this week\u2019s activities surrounding the Birth of Jesus in the manger in Bethlehem. It came to me that the one thread connecting EVERY character in this story is that each person was required to make an unexpected, unplanned trip from one place to another. Every single one! I felt like there is somber loneliness that underlies this miraculous story \u2013 everyone had to give up something familiar and travel to an unfamiliar place to do foreign things with unknown people.<\/span><\/p>\n

From the beginning of this story, there is the central theme of traveling – leaving familiar places to go to a new place – inconvenience and pain, and sacrifice of something.<\/p>\n

Travel \u2013 Journey \u2013 Go \u2013 Trip \u2013 Excursion \u2013 Passage \u2013 Flight<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Mary and Joseph had to leave their home at a time when no pregnant woman would choose to be going anywhere on a trip \u2013 especially by foot and by donkey. Yet, the trip was mandated by the law, and they had no choice but to go.<\/span><\/p>\n

My Story<\/span><\/h2>\n

When I was nineteen, I gave birth to our \u00a0first child. Eighteen months later, our \u00a0second daughter joined the family circle.<\/span><\/p>\n

At age twenty-five, our third daughter\u00a0 arrived in time for Thanksgiving Day that year.<\/span><\/p>\n

For those three \u00a0births, I was living in a comfortable home with my husband. When the time came to deliver the babies, I had a local doctor who assisted me in our local hospital which was only 2 miles from our house. I remember how frightening it was \u2013 every time \u2013 when the pains of labor were intense enough that I was bent over double, unable to even stand up straight, and I knew it was time to leave for the hospital and give birth. <\/span><\/p>\n

My Reflection on \u00a0Mary<\/span><\/h2>\n

OH, how did young Mary bear the long days of rugged travels when her body was heavy with her baby boy? <\/span><\/p>\n

How did she straddle the back of a donkey and ride those many miles? Mary\u2019s bones and muscles would have ached and cramped. How did Joseph bear the sight of his sweetheart so uncomfortable, in pain?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Oh, Mary! My heart is sad when I realize \u00a0you did not even have a warm bed or the comfort of your family or friends that night. Mary, you knew you were carrying God in your womb, but how you must have wondered WHY you had to be so far from your comfortable home.\u00a0 I feel like you were so lonely\u00a0 in such a strange place as an animal shelter at night.\u00a0 As a mother, I feel your \u00a0discomfort and pain – and fears.\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, I know you were \u00a0prepared\u00a0 for this journey in advance when an Angel came to you to let you\u00a0 know God had selected you\u00a0 for this \u00a0moment.\u00a0 And, I know you had a choice to make – and I know that you said, “Yes!”<\/span><\/p>\n

Personally, I know that God always provides us with a choice. He calls us, and we respond in the way we decide to go. It is either “yes,” I will follow you – or – it is “No” I won’t. I came to this crossroads myself and I remember it\u00a0 well.\u00a0 As we ready about Mary’s calling from God, we can relate to it in a personal way.<\/p>\n

The angel told you\u00a0\u00a0not to fear.\u00a0 I think you remembered those words as you labored\u00a0 to bring your \u00a0baby\u00a0\u00a0 on a dark, cold night. <\/span><\/p>\n

Depictions of the Nativity<\/span><\/h2>\n

I know that in art through the ages, in songs, and now, in contemporary depictions of the Nativity, we see Angels, the Holy Family, Shepherds, and Three Kings all there together with the animals. As I read the scriptures that recorded this event, I can see that modern Christmas depictions are not accurate in the characterizations. The nostalgic Christmas card scene has been pieced together into a fantasy world that never existed in that way. The centuries of lore have put together a very odd mixture of Christian history mingled with pagan practices, ideas, superstitions, and speculative myths. Add to this fantasy ethnic confusion and altered timeline that is not historically correct.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Come Away, My Beloved.\u00a0 I make a choice…<\/span><\/h2>\n

One evening in October 1973, I heard a whisper, \u201cCome away, my beloved!\u201d I turned, walked towards Him that night, changed the course of my life forever. Oh, but that is not all. You see, as I was walking to meet Jesus, I so clearly heard the voice of another man, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, \u201cWhen Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.\u201d I knew I was laying down my life, as I had known it, and I stepped into a new one. You see, I was reading Bonhoeffer’s writings, as well as a book by\u00a0 professor Frances Roberts – Come Away My Beloved<\/a>. It was not by accident that\u00a0 I was thinking about\u00a0 these two Christian authors. \u00a0As we read, we absorb \u00a0ideas that we can either reject or embrace.\u00a0 The writings of these two brilliant authors was speaking to my heart. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Discovery<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

The shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem traveled that night to find the infant, who would one day be known as The Good Shepherd.<\/span><\/p>\n

There were only a very few worshippers around the manger in Bethlehem \u2013 just a handful of shepherds. Oh, yes, the Three Kings were on the way, most likely, but it would be quite a long time before they traveled the distance and bowed before the little boy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Luke 2:7<\/span><\/a>\u00a0sets the scene:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[Mary] gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When I look at this account of the birth, I can feel the loneliness of a woman as she takes her newborn child and wraps him in clothes, and places him on the straw\u2014no room for them anywhere, except for a barn.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe very nature of shepherds\u2019 work kept them from entering into the mainstream of Israel\u2019s society. They couldn\u2019t maintain the ceremonial washings and observe all the religious festivals and feasts. Just a few miles from Jerusalem, these shepherds were undoubtedly caring for sheep that someday would be used as sacrifices in the temple. How fitting it is that they were the first to know of the Lamb of God!<\/span><\/p>\n

More significant, they came to see Him the night he was born. No one else did. Though the shepherds went back and told everyone what they had seen and heard, and though \u201call who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds\u201d (v. 18), not one other person came to see firsthand.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

(<\/span><\/em>John MacArthur)<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We are left to wonder when we search the historical scripture accounts \u2013 about the shepherds. We don\u2019t know how they knew where to go. I imagine they just came into Bethlehem and began walking about, asking, \u201cDo you know where a baby has been born tonight?\u201d The important thing for us to know is that they came! They came because angels had visited them while they were taking care of their flocks at night. They had a visit from God, and they left their fields and followed the angels\u2019 direction to go find the baby. The shepherds became that night, the first Christian evangelists. They went out of the manger, and they told others what they had seen.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was hanged on April 9, 1945 for his part in the conspiracy to assassinate Adolph Hitler. It is here that he throws down the gauntlet for all people who choose to follow the path of the Messiah.\u00a0\u00a0 There is suffering on this path.\u00a0\u00a0 We accept this suffering when we choose to walk with Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is the context of his most famous quote:<\/span><\/p>\n

The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man, which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship, we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death\u2014we give over our lives to the death. Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ.\u00a0<\/span>When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die<\/span><\/em>. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow him, or it may be a death like Luther\u2019s, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world. But it is the same death every time\u2014death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at his call. (<\/span>The Cost of Discipleship<\/span><\/em><\/a>, 99)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Now, I have talked my way through the meaning of the shepherds. I can better understand Psalm 28. (NIV). This passage is where I find the connection between \u201cjoy\u201d and the journey of the shepherds. I wish you a joyous journey to the Christ Child tonight, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cMy heart leaps for joy,<\/span><\/h3>\n

and with my song, I praise him.<\/span><\/h3>\n

8\u00a0<\/strong>The Lord is the strength of his people,<\/span><\/h3>\n

a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.<\/span><\/h3>\n

9\u00a0<\/strong>Save Your people and bless Your inheritance;<\/span><\/h3>\n

be their shepherd and carry them forever.\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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BONUS:\u00a0<\/span> <\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Listen to Dr. Crystal Grimes\u00a0 play and sing an old German Song_Come Ye Shepherds<\/a><\/p>\n

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Read each Advent article. Use se the links below:<\/span><\/h2>\n

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Read each Advent article. <\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n

Use se the links below:<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n

Week 1 \u2013 The First Purple Candle \u2013 The Candle of HOPE \u2013 Here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Week 2 \u2013 The Second Purple Candle \u2013 The 3 Kings Candle \u2013 Preparation \u2013 Here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Week 3 \u2013 The Third Purple Candle \u2013 The Shepherds Candle \u2013 JOY \u2013 Here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Week 4 \u2013 The Pink Candle \u2013 Angel Candle \u2013 Here!<\/a><\/p>\n

Christmas Day \u2013 The White Candle \u2013 Jesus Candle \u2013 Here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Christmastide \u2013 The 12 Days of Christmas Here.<\/a><\/p>\n


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*This feature is brought to you through the courtesy of Pennsylvania author, Lynda McKinney Lambert. Please share with friends and always respect my copyright.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2020. Lynda McKinney Lambert. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

NEW<\/span> –Star Signs: New & Selected Poems<\/span><\/h1>\n

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\nNEW ~ Star Signs: New and Selected Poems<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n

Did you know?<\/span><\/h3>\n

If you have difficulty reading\u00a0 print books, you can\u00a0 read<\/p>\n

Star Signs\u00a0 in e-book format on Smashwords for only $2.99 – HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

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NEW – My Latest full-length Book \u2013<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n

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Poems by Pennsylvania Poet<\/h2>\n

Lynda McKinney Lambert<\/h2>\n

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54 poems<\/h3>\n

\u00a0from 1990 to 2019<\/h3>\n

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$9.50\u00a0 Paperback<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n

Stop what you are doing and order now!<\/h2>\n

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Lynda\u2019s Themes:<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Creation & Nature<\/h3>\n

Landscape & Place<\/h3>\n

History & Passage of time<\/h3>\n

Worldview & Pilgrimage<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

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*<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n

Published by Lynda McKinney Lambert. December\u00a0 13, 2020.<\/p>\n

Exclusive for Walking by Inner Vision Blog<\/p>\n

Lynda McKinney Lambert<\/strong><\/em> \u2013 Author\/Artist<\/em><\/p>\n

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My MISSION STATEMENT<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n