AVBSWGG 2022 - our last day ....

Well friends, we have come to the end of our week. Besides missing the glue and glitter, we won’t be having a program where your family comes to see what you did all week. But I see you. And I loved spending time with you looking at the disciplines.

For our last one we will visit the discipline of Celebration

Did you ever think of celebrating as a discipline?

Me neither. But as I read Richard Foster’s book many years ago, I began to see that celebrating is God’s idea.

In Luke 4: 18 & 19 we see our greatest reason to celebrate:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus came to proclaim the Good News that God’s Kingdom had come to earth.

He was freeing prisoners of sin and sorrow and fear and He was opening the eyes of the blind – physically and spiritually. He was setting those who had been oppressed free and He was proclaiming that He, Himself, was the Jubilee Celebration.

What was the heart of Jubilee?

<3 All debts canceled

<3 All slaves released

<3 A rest from the labor of planting and a rest period for the land itself

<3 The return of property to its original owner

Therefore; we celebrate that our debts are canceled, that we are no longer slaves to sin and selfishness, we are free from striving and we have been returned to God. He made us for fellowship and what was broken has been restored.

We are free from condemnation and free from the bonds of the temporal things of this world being our god.

And as a result, we not only celebrate the beginning of each new day as a fresh outpouring of tender mercies, we attend weddings and graduation parties, gather around cakes with anywhere from 1 to 99 or more candles and sing with gusto, we have ballet cakes after the recital and we make brunches with waffles and toppings.

We celebrate a good grade and conquering a bad habit. We celebrate a lost tooth, and the day the braces come off. We celebrate when a friend loses five pounds or retires or has a great round of golf.

We are intentional to recognize moments that need to be celebrated and we are active in drawing others in for the party…but most importantly remember to invite our Lord as your first and most honored guest <3

God is good and kind and faithful and so we celebrate Him and His work in our lives with joy.

Personally, I like to celebrate Friday as the end of the work week.

So here is your activity for today:

Find some way to make this Friday special. Pick up a treat to have after dinner, really enjoy grilling that chicken tonight, sit for a while and watch the sunset, put some fresh flowers on the table and use the good china….

and as you celebrate…

thank God for your freedom and your joy and His salvation that has given us new life <3

Snack time….

Here is a really refreshing beverage to share with someone you love:

Ginger Pear Defense (from Nutri Ninja Inspirations)

1/4 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled

1 ripe pear, cored and cut in quarters

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

2 1/4 cups cold water

Honey, to taste

Place all ingredients in a Ninja type blender ( I would assume this could work with a regular blender, but I would grate the fresh ginger.

Press auto-Extract – or whatever high speed function your blender has.

If you don’t have a Ninja type blender, a second best is to boil some fresh ginger and let cool. Add a couple Tablespoons to a cup, squeeze a lemon into it, add honey and hot water and then pour over ice <3

I hope this series of AVBSWGG has blessed your week. I really do. Thank you for joining me.

Have a great weekend and I will see you on Monday <3

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