You left your Throne (Thou didst leave thy throne)

Thanks for the feedback I received from a few of you regarding the songs/hymns you would like me to write about this advent season. One of the requests concerns this beautiful song:

“Thou didst leave thy throne
And thy kingly crown
When thou camest to earth for me
But in Bethlehem’s home
Was there found no room
For thy holy nativity:
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus!
There is room in my heart for thee.” – Emily Elizabeth Steele Elliott

When Emily wrote the words of this song she was trying to use music to teach young children the powerful story of Christ’s birth. It is thought that she wrote the song for the church her dad (Rev. Edward Elliott) was leading – St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Brighton, England. She based this song on the words from Luke’s gospel: Luke 2:7 “but there was no room for them in the inn.”

It seems as if writing and music was in the Elliott blood. Emily’s famous aunt was Charlotte Elliott, who wrote the well-known hymn ‘Just as I am.’ One of Emily’s works ‘Under the Pillow’ was a collection of her hymns, which was used especially to bring encouragement and hope to those who found themselves in hospitals and infirmaries.

For me there are 2 powerful statements that I am left contemplating today:

1. Jesus left his throne (and Kingdom) to come and live among us. Although the kingdom of God has no boundaries and is limitless, Jesus was initially given no room to sleep in, except for the dusty stable in Bethlehem.

 2.      Is there room in my heart for the Christ-child this year? Or have I allowed all the complications of this world to take up all the space in my spirit and therefore given God no room to bring me peace, joy, love and hope?

What do you think?

Living in Grace

D3LM3

The Silence can be deafening

Some people say that there were 400 years of silence after the book of Malachi was written. This was not silence in a general sense, but rather that the Israelites heard nothing from God for the next 4 Centuries! That is a very, very long time!

As the last voice of the Old Testament, the prophet Malachi called on the people to hear his crucial Messenger (remember that the name Malachi actually means 'messenger of Jehovah'). However, the people of Israel ignored this message and so they had to endure 400 years of silence.

This silence was eventually broken by the birth of John the Baptist, followed shortly afterwards by the birth of Jesus, son of Joseph and Mary.  It is the Incarnation that changes everything for us - God breaks the silence with the greatest of all PROCLAMATIONS - The king has come! Hallelujah.

The birth of Jesus Christ reminds us that God wants us to hear His message of grace and love. God wants us to remember that the WORD has been made in human form (flesh) and that God has dwelt amongst his people.

May you have a blessed Christmas and remember to heed the message of the Nativity.
God is with us.

Living in Grace
D3LM3