Month: December 2023

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Titus 2:11-14

Hope

Daily Devotion – December 3, 2023

Devotion based on Titus 2:11-14


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We went shopping at a local mall on a Saturday afternoon in September. As we rode the escalator to the second floor, my wife looked beyond me and said, “Don’t turn around!” I knew what she meant: “Turn around, but you won’t like what you see!” What terrible sight was about to greet us on the second floor? A fully decorated Christmas tree with lights, garland, and ornaments! Did I mention that it was September?

Our US culture observes its secular version of Christmas long before Christmas Day. The day after Thanksgiving used to be the start of the secular Christmas season. Now the starting date seems to be the day after Halloween—or even earlier! Impatient Americans don’t wait to celebrate the holidays. We exhaust them long before they arrive on the calendar!

How very different is the Christian’s Christmas celebration! Christmas Eve and Day don’t end the celebration but begin it. We spend the weeks leading up to Christmas not in celebration but in hopeful anticipation. We light the first candle of the Advent wreath as we take our place in the sandals of Old Testament believers who looked up to the heavens, waiting and watching and hoping for the Lord to keep his promise to send the Messiah.

God promised to send his Son to undo the damage of sin caused by Adam and Eve and each one of their descendants. That includes you. Jesus would have had every right to come into this world with his wrath and anger aimed squarely at us. He would have had every right to fill us with fear instead of hope. Instead, God’s promised Messiah came with grace and humility aimed solely at saving us. His mission from cradle to cross would remove the guilt of sin and restore the relationship between God and humankind.

Old Testament believers waited and hoped for God to send the Messiah as he promised. New Testament believers now wait and hope for Christ to return in glory and bring us to the glories that he won for us. Despite many attempts to predict that day, we cannot know when it will be. And so we patiently wait and hope. We hope in Christ, knowing that he who kept his promise by his first advent will come again in his good time for his final advent. With hopeful anticipation we cry, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, fill our hearts with patient hope as we wait for your triumphant return. Keep us faithful to you and fix our eyes on the promises of your Word so that when you return in glory, we may joyfully receive the salvation that you won for us at your first advent. Amen.

This Advent devotion is brought to you by Forward in Christ magazine. For an enhanced version of this devotion including a flipbook and video or to read other devotions in this series, visit forwardinchrist.net/advent-2023.

“As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.”
Daniel 7:9,10

A Sight to Keep In Mind

Daily Devotion – December 2, 2023

Devotion based on Daniel 7:9,10


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You don’t often think about the memorabilia you have stuffed into storage. Unless you’re a mechanic, you don’t often think about your vehicle’s engine. Out of sight, out of mind.

Then suddenly, you find yourself thinking about those things. You crave to see some old pictures because a dear friend has died. You pop open your car’s hood because that one noise has gotten so much louder.

Too often, God drifts out of our regular thoughts. We see and experience people, things, joys, and the struggles of life—they’re right in front of our faces. But God doesn’t visibly occupy a chair at the supper table. He doesn’t physically hug you when you cry. Is God out of sight and often out of mind?

One day, God will be very much “in sight.” About 550 years before Jesus was born, God showed Daniel a vision. As Daniel described that vision, he wrote how God appeared. God’s clothing was white as snow, and his hair white like wool. The throne he sat on was flaming with fire. Daniel was seeing God in his holiness and power. God was seated to judge.

One day, you will stand face-to-face before God, who will judge you. But if you believe in Jesus as your Savior, you will not be alone. Jesus will be at your side. Through faith in Jesus, God has credited you with the perfection of his Son’s holy life, and God has declared you not guilty of your sins on account of Jesus’ innocent sufferings and death for you.

Keep that day in mind—the day you’ll stand face-to-face with God. Keep Jesus in mind—his life, death, and resurrection for you. Keep in mind your forgiveness and peace with God, and even though God is now out of sight, one day that will change, and you will see God face-to-face.

Prayer:
Dear God, it is so easy to forget about you and the day I will see you face-to-face. Forgive my sins for Jesus’ sake. Fill my heart with your peace and my life with love for you and others. Amen.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven . . . we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

A Never Ending Joy

Daily Devotion – December 1, 2023

Devotion based on 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18


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Trumpets. Angels. Flying. Reunion with loved ones. You’ve contemplated some or all of those things. God willing, you have been encouraged by all of them. And yet, they fail in comparison to the encouragement of the words before us today. We won’t just meet our loved ones in the air, “we’ll meet the Lord in the air. We will be with the Lord forever.”

When we’re with the Lord, nothing else matters. Think of some of the commercials you see this time of year. Some of the tear-jerking commercials are military members coming home for the holidays and being reunited with their loved ones. When a daughter runs into her G.I. dad’s arms at the airport, you don’t hear her complain, “Daddy, it’s really warm in this airport.” Her joy of being with her once-deployed dad supersedes any discomfort. Likewise, when a deployed daughter surprises her mom with coffee in the kitchen on Christmas morning, you don’t hear the mom complain, “Folgers? Why not Starbucks?” She’s just glad to be with her daughter.

On the day Jesus returns, so many exciting things will happen. But nothing will compare with our supreme joy of being with the Lord—a joy that will never end. Therefore, be encouraged with these words and that your King is coming to be with you.

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, I can’t wait to be with you. Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly! Amen.