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* Stage design by Gary Brownell This photo wasn't taken on Epiphany, but it is an actual church service where the Lord's power was present as they worship. The color and light come from stage design, but the illumination signifies God's presence, which you may not see, but feel.. |
By Ada Brownell
The twelfth night of Christmas for some ends
in the Feast of Epiphany. In the United States it is known as Three Kings Day
and falls on Jan. 6, 2015.
EPIPHANY
IS A BEAUTIFUL WORD that even sounds like its meaning: Revelation, Shining
Forth, Manifestation.
Striking appearance, an experience of sudden and awesome realization
I
WROTE ABOUT EPIPHANY OBSERVANCES in other churches as a newspaper reporter, but
I’ve never attended an epiphany service. Yet, as with every
Christian, I experience epiphany often. I’ll be reading the Bible and suddenly
a scripture will pop out, as when we lost our daughter to cancer: “But we
see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of
death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste
death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9)
THERE
WAS THE DAY WHEN I WAS HAVING A PITY PARTY and telling the Lord He even said in
this world we would have tribulation. Then I recalled the rest of what Jesus
said in John 15:33, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
THEN
AS I WORRIED ABOUT MY NEW BOOK, Swallowed
by LIFE: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal, coming on Amazon then I worried about how well it would do. We had other mountains in
our lives that needed conquering and I was studying the faith chapter in
Hebrews 11. One day I backed up into the last words of the previous chapter:
“Do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of
endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the
promise.
MATTHEW 4:16 IS A FLASH OF INSIGHT SHINING
FORTH all year, but especially this season. “The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a
light has dawned. For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the
government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called, Wonderful,
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Matthew 4:16).
GOD WARNED THE FIRST COUPLE if they ate the
forbidden fruit, they would die. There in God’s garden, they became mortals.
Their flesh would be subject to illness and dying, and it would affect every
person born thereafter. YET, GOD IN HIS LOVE told them a Redeemer
would come. Jesus is the Redeemer promised in Genesis 3:15 right after Adam and
Eve sinned, and people walking in darkness have seen a great light.
Knowing the Redeemer has come and you can accept Him is EPIPHANY.
ADA NICHOLSON BROWNELL,BA mass communications,
Colorado State University at Pueblo (formerly University of Southern Colorado),
retired after 17 years as a newspaper reporter (the last seven years on the
medical beat), mostly at The Pueblo
Chieftain in Pueblo, CO. Certificate of Ministry, 1992, Berean College,
Springfield, MO.
She has sold more
than 350 articles and fiction stories to 45 Christian publications and did one
story on assignment for US Magazine. Author of Confessions of a Pentecostal (Gospel Publishing House 1978) and Swallowed by Life: Mysteries of Death,
Resurrection and the Eternal (Amazon’s CreateSpace, 2011); Joe the Dreamer the Castle and the Catapult;
Imagine the Future You; Facts, Faith and Propaganda; The Lady Fugitive, runner-up for the 2015 .
Additionally, her writing is
included in:
21 days of Faith, edited by Shelley Hitz (2013)
The Christmas Miracle Book, edited and published by Cece Murphey
and Marley Gibson, 2011.
A Cup of Comfort for Cat Lovers (Adams Media 2008)
A Cup of Comfort for Christians (Adams Media 2006);
What I Learned from God While Cooking, (edited by Cristine Bolley;
Barbour Publishing, 2006)
50 Tough Questions, (Pentecostal Evangel Books, 2002).
Under His Shadow, compiled by Pat Broomfield Bradley (2015)
Amazon Ada Brownell author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06
Barnes and noble Ada Brownell author page: http://ow.ly/PUWHO
©Ada
Brownell
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