{"id":1605,"date":"2019-12-20T21:55:24","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T21:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/?p=1605"},"modified":"2020-05-13T20:41:49","modified_gmt":"2020-05-13T20:41:49","slug":"advent-devotional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent Devotional"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Josiah Kennealy \u201913, MA \u201917<\/em><\/p>\n

As we celebrate the birth of our Savior this advent season, it\u2019s a gift to reflect on the four candles of advent: hope, faith, joy, and peace. As we do, here are some rhythms of remembrance you might also enjoy:<\/p>\n

Pause<\/strong> to ponder the 90-mile journey Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem in Israel.\u00a0Whether they walked, or had Mary ride on a camel or donkey, that is quite a distance to voyage. Especially when you consider that even a 90-mile car ride today would have the possibility of several restroom pauses from productivity for an expectant mother. The blessing I have found during this time of year is that things tend to slow down near Christmas as classes come to a close, companies give time off, and families come together. These breaks and pauses are divine and glorious, soothing to the soul.<\/p>\n

Praise<\/strong> is our priority. Just like the magi who came from afar when they saw a star, we also have the privilege of adoring our savior on silent nights. We worship a wonderful savior because we delight in He who came as a baby in a manger, died on a cross, and rose triumphantly from the grave. Not out of an obligation \u2013 but in response to the greatest opportunity to praise the greatest being \u2013 and celebrate the greatest story ever told.<\/p>\n

Present <\/strong>your presents. I often think back to the first Christmas play that I was a part of when I was in pre-school. I held a little drum and rum-pum-pumed to a powerful song, Little Drummer Boy<\/em>. The lyric that speaks deeply to me is: \u201cI have no gift to bring that\u2019s fit to give our king.\u201d The reality is when you\u2019re invited into an audience with a king in any culture, the custom is to bring a gift. When you consider who you are and who He is, there\u2019s no gift that\u2019s sacred enough, but we do bring what is in our hands, our heads, and our hearts.\u00a0That is where celebrating a savior starts.<\/p>\n

Presence <\/strong>of a Prince, and not just any royal majesty, he\u2019s the King of all Kings, with a name higher than any name. A wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.\u00a0If your life is like mine, it’s all too easy to be hurried and rushed, filled with anxiety in this time of year and every time of year. Yet our Prince of Peace offers a presence so powerful that the only right and reasonable response is to bow in honor, in reverence, in awe, in adoration, and in worship. His presence is unlike any other \u2013 and my prayer is He draws you in near this season!<\/p>\n

Peace<\/strong> is promised. Wherever you find yourself this Christmas, be empowered and confident of this; in the hurry, in the waiting, in the working, in the darkness, in the chaos, in the valley, He is in control.\u00a0 Your life, your family, your circumstances are safe and wise to be entrusted into the hands of He who was scarred with nails. That is a promise that brings peace. Rest in this.<\/p>\n

Josiah Kennealy \u201913, MA\u201917 \u00a0and his wife, Micah \u201816, lead the movement called Minnesota Young Adults. Josiah is a college pastor through Chi Alpha, also the co-host of the youngadults.today podcast and is the author of the book Debtless: Helping Students Take On Less Debt<\/em>. You can learn more and connect online @josiahkennealy or www.josiahkennealy.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Josiah Kennealy \u201913, MA \u201917 As we celebrate the birth of our Savior this advent season, it\u2019s a gift to reflect on the four candles of advent: hope, faith, joy, and peace. As we do, here are some rhythms of remembrance you might also enjoy: Pause to ponder the 90-mile journey Mary and Joseph […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":1606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,35,44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-friends","category-christian-college-community","category-devotionals"],"yoast_head":"\nAdvent Devotional - Table Salt | NCU Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Josiah Kennealy writes an advent devotional for this holiday season. As we celebrate the birth of our Savior this advent season, it\u2019s a gift to reflect on the four candles of advent: hope, faith, joy, and peace.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Advent Devotional - Table Salt | NCU Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Josiah Kennealy writes an advent devotional for this holiday season. As we celebrate the birth of our Savior this advent season, it\u2019s a gift to reflect on the four candles of advent: hope, faith, joy, and peace.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Table Salt | NCU Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-20T21:55:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-13T20:41:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/adventblog.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Advent Devotional\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-20T21:55:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-13T20:41:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/\"},\"wordCount\":591,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/adventblog.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni & Friends\",\"Christian College Community\",\"Devotionals\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/\",\"name\":\"Advent Devotional - Table Salt | NCU Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/adventblog.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-20T21:55:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-13T20:41:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"Josiah Kennealy writes an advent devotional for this holiday season. As we celebrate the birth of our Savior this advent season, it\u2019s a gift to reflect on the four candles of advent: hope, faith, joy, and peace.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/adventblog.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/adventblog.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Advent 2019 Blog\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Advent Devotional\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Table Salt | NCU Blog\",\"description\":\"A University blog with a Christian twist\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Table Salt | NCU Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/blog-logo.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/blog-logo.avif\",\"width\":576,\"height\":153,\"caption\":\"Table Salt | NCU Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/author\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Advent Devotional - Table Salt | NCU Blog","description":"Josiah Kennealy writes an advent devotional for this holiday season. As we celebrate the birth of our Savior this advent season, it\u2019s a gift to reflect on the four candles of advent: hope, faith, joy, and peace.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Advent Devotional - Table Salt | NCU Blog","og_description":"Josiah Kennealy writes an advent devotional for this holiday season. As we celebrate the birth of our Savior this advent season, it\u2019s a gift to reflect on the four candles of advent: hope, faith, joy, and peace.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/","og_site_name":"Table Salt | NCU Blog","article_published_time":"2019-12-20T21:55:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-13T20:41:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/adventblog.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Advent Devotional","datePublished":"2019-12-20T21:55:24+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-13T20:41:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/"},"wordCount":591,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/adventblog.jpg","articleSection":["Alumni & Friends","Christian College Community","Devotionals"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/","url":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/","name":"Advent Devotional - Table Salt | NCU Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/adventblog.jpg","datePublished":"2019-12-20T21:55:24+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-13T20:41:49+00:00","description":"Josiah Kennealy writes an advent devotional for this holiday season. As we celebrate the birth of our Savior this advent season, it\u2019s a gift to reflect on the four candles of advent: hope, faith, joy, and peace.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/adventblog.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/adventblog.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"caption":"Advent 2019 Blog"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/advent-devotional\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Advent Devotional"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/","name":"Table Salt | NCU Blog","description":"A University blog with a Christian twist","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/#organization","name":"Table Salt | NCU Blog","url":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/blog-logo.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/blog-logo.avif","width":576,"height":153,"caption":"Table Salt | NCU Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}