Advent: A Calendar of Devotions
GET THE DEVOTIONAL
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Read Hebrews 6:
10 For God is not so unfair as to forget your work and the love you showed for him in your past service to his people — and in your present service too. 11 However, we want each one of you to keep showing the same diligence right up to the end, when your hope will be realized; 12 so that you will not become sluggish, but will be imitators of those who by their trust and patience are receiving what has been promised.
13 For when God made his promise to Avraham, he swore an oath to do what he had promised; and since there was no one greater than himself for him to swear by, he swore by himself[
Hebrews 6:13 Genesis 22:16
] 14 and said,
“I will certainly bless you,
and I will certainly give you many descendants”;[Hebrews 6:14 Genesis 22:17]
15 and so, after waiting patiently, Avraham saw the promise fulfilled. 16 Now people swear oaths by someone greater than themselves, and confirmation by an oath puts an end to all dispute. 17 Therefore, when God wanted to demonstrate still more convincingly the unchangeable character of his intentions to those who were to receive what he had promised, he added an oath to the promise; 18 so that through two unchangeable things, in neither of which God could lie, we, who have fled to take a firm hold on the hope set before us, would be strongly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as a sure and safe anchor for ourselves, a hope that goes right on through to what is inside the parokhet, 20 where a forerunner has entered on our behalf, namely, Yeshua, who has become a cohen gadol forever, to be compared with Malki-Tzedek.[
Hebrews 6:20 Psalm 110:4
.]"This hope . . . is a safe and secure anchor for our whole being"
[Hebrews 6:19]
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When I accepted the writing assignment for the 2015 Advent booklet, I considered it no big deal. After all, I had written the booklet twice in the past, but not since 2004. In the intervening years, I have had the satisfying experience of writing thirteen of my own books and several in conjunction with others. Why, then, could I not motivate myself for this smaller assignment?
The answer soon became obvious. I simply had not completed my grief journey since the death of my husband of many years. Ralph had been a successful minister of the gospel before his retirement. In retirement, he had taught a large Sunday school class, and he had happily taken on the assignment of being the typist for my writing assignments. The memories were so overwhelming for me that it was difficult to move forward.
One day during my devotional time, Christ gave me the gift of hope. In addition to his major gifts from the cross-the gifts of salvation and eternal life-hope began to rise within me. It was like a phoenix rising from ashes to complete empowerment. Christ enables us to walk into the future through the gift of hope.
Prayer: Eternal God, help us to remember that the gift of hope comes when we "live and move and have our being" in you. In the name of Christ, I pray. Amen.
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