Hosanna Restoration Church

Simeon had a promise from God and when he saw the baby Jesus and sensed the presence of God at the temple he was ready to die in peace and he prophesied that Jesus was the light to reveal God to the nations.
In a sense, once we meet Jesus and we are born again we die and enter God’s peace. We are made dead to sin and alive to God. The Bible does not tell us how long Simeon had been waiting for the promise to be fulfilled. We just know that He was sensitive to God and waited patiently. The Holy Spirit led him to the temple that day! I wonder how many days he went to the temple on his own hoping it was the day or how many times he was drawn to the temple thinking it might be the day. No matter what, it is always good to enter the presence of God.
It is good to practice the presence of God. It is good expect the presence of God and the performance of God. He is performing wonders all the time. We would be amazed to know how many wonders we miss. I feel reminded and encouraged to anticipate great things from God. I think maybe we lose sight that in the rush of our lives at times.
A good thing to consider is what it is that fulfills us? What is it that means the most to us? I think that considering these things moves God up quickly on our lists. It helps us see what we may have been missing. Once when I was doing this I thought about what I would be willing to trade my relationship with God for. It was easy to get a quick answer to that and say, ” nothing!” So then I had to be honest and ask myself what things I had actually been putting above my relationship; you know those things that seem so important at times? There may have been days was Simeon forgot about the promise just as there are days when we take our eyes off of what is most important as well. We all need reminders to get our eyes on the most important.
Another thing I asked myself was how I would feel if God told me I would not die until He returns? The truth is that none of us knows when He is coming back, but that would narrow it down a bit depending on how long I am going to live. Of course that brings us back to the fact that it could be tomorrow when He returns or it could be Christmas Day or it could be any day. So today if we hear his voice it is a good day!
Peter tells us that the Lord is not slack in His promises; He is patient because He does not want anyone to perish. That verse makes me wonder who He is waiting for and it reminds me to be thankful that He waited for me. Is He waiting for you? Are you, are we, waiting for Him? Are me anticipating Him? Are we focused on Him? Have we died to self and are we enjoying His peace? Wait for it. There it is. Have a very Merry Christ-filled Christmas. God bless!