Tis the Season for Receiving... a Five Minute Friday post.

Oh what a surprise Kate gave us last night... This week flew by and even though I am 'ready' for the holidays, I have not quite been feeling them just yet.  So when Kate decided to let us all choose a word for ourselves, well-- I really wanted someone to boss me around just a little bit! So instead of writing right away... I took a break, sat in my comfy chair without a screen in sight, and I let the One who bosses me best give me a Word... a truth... to write on.  So - here we go... let's see what happens!

This is Five Minute Friday (- a five minute timed free write) and our One Word Prompt for the day is actually all up to us! We each got to pick our own word. So the Word I picked, or that picked me, is: RECEIVE

{GO}

"Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing..."

Tis the season, right? The season for Joy... for rejoicing... for preparing Him room... for receiving our King... 

And yet...

Joy feels far away and the rejoicing has yet to really pull us up out of this heaviness we may find ourselves under.

We prepare many things, but often we forget about preparing our hearts. 

And receiving our King? Well, yes... that would be great. 
We should remember to do that.

I don't know about you... but I know for me --I sung the words to this Christmas Carol for years before truly knowing Joy... 



...before knowing (and receiving) my King! And I am reminded of the vision I shared not too long ago, of Jesus standing in front of each of us, holding a gift... and all we need to do is receive it!

I believe from that first Night Divine to this very one right here and now, He is the greatest gift and He is the Joy that has come to this world... He is the One who came and Who is coming still.

Our job is simple... it always has been, but we just make it so hard.

Our job is - and has always been - to receive.

We have not because we ask not, yes. 

But there is also this: We have not because we ask... and we ask... and we ask for more, but we don't always actually receive.

A gift is wonderful... but we only find it wonder-filled when we untie the ribbons and tear open the box.

Ah yes... that.

Let's untie what is bound this Christmas and tear open any boxes that we have limited Him too. Let's receive all that He has for us... however He gets it to us... Let's once again gather 'round the cradle and let heaven and nature sing... But let's also remember that we are to gather around the Cross when all of heaven fell silent.  That too, was a holy night.

That was a Night Divine when Life defeated Death and Christ was warring on our behalf... paying the price and handing us gifts nail-scarred hand over fist...

And, again, our job:
  To receive.

Receive Him... Receive your King. 

Prepare your heart and your home and make room for a bit of Holy to come crashing into your night... and watch and see how He makes all things new and turns the darkness into light... the downtrodden, Divine.

Because He comes... He came...
  He is coming for you still!

"Joy to the World...
    ...and heaven and nature sing..."

{STOP}

So I was hoping to somehow come back around to this... verse 4:

"He rules the world with truth and grace 

And makes the nations prove 

The glories of His righteousness

And wonders of His love."

Because... you know... Wonders!  Wonder was my OneWord for 2015. I guess I will work on a wrap up post on how Wonder showed up and showed off for next week!

Until then, let's all remember to:

Linking up with Kate Motaung and the #fmfparty Community today.  Five Minute Fridays gives us the chance to dive right in and share what He puts on our hearts! Click HERE to read what others have to say as everyone picked their own word today!

The FMF lowdown: The gathering happens on Twitter on Thursday nights & then we write our hearts out & hit publish all over the interwebs on Thursday & Friday (& sometimes on Tuesdays!) It's where we encourage & uplift... where we share prayer requests & praise reports... where we talk food & friends & we find support & kindred hearts. It's where we are reminded that life is good & God is good & we're not alone... & then we all write for five minutes flat, a flash mob of wordsmiths letting our hearts & our fingers do the talking tapping & we hit publish before we can second guess it all away. 


We are taking a little break from our usual Five Minute Fridays for the rest of the year --but look for a few more fun link ups and for the return of One Word Prompts in January! We'd love to have you join our tribe!