Advent Season
Week 51 Day 2
Pray:
Ask God to reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
Read:
Rev. 21:1-5 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Reflect:
What are you waiting for today? Are you waiting for a new job? New child? New relationship? New health prognosis? New season of the year? Waiting is the common fare of human life. We spend brief moments “living” in the moment and the bulk of our lives “living in the future.” We wait for something that is not currently true to become true. When we get what we have waited for we don’t spend long enjoying the experience, we most often move on in our minds to what is next and next after next. What we wait for in the future shapes who are becoming in the present. What we wait for captures much of our mental capacity and imagination. What captures our minds and imaginations is the most powerful shaping force in our lives. Think about what you think about the most. It is most likely something that is yet to happen. Either something you hope will happen or something you hope will not happen. Now reflect on the fact that what you think about the most shapes your life. Your “inner” self will eventually become your “outer” self. So, can you decide what you will “wait” for? That sounds ridiculous, or course you cannot decide that. The things you wait for are outside the realm of your will; you cannot control them. But is that really the case? By choosing the things you wait for I mean choosing the things that are in the future that you will think about the most. If you fix your thoughts on things that shape you into a person who is full of angst, or fear, or greed, or insecurity, or discontent…then the things you are waiting for are in fact misshaping you. On the other hand if you fix you’re thoughts on things that are good, true, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy then you truly being “shaped” by the future. People who are seriously ill or very old think much about death and less about life. They tend to believe, and are often right…that the bulk of their earthly existence is behind them. They “wait” for the life to come. They can do this with dread or with expectancy. If you love the Lord you must, whatever you age or health status…fix your “waiting” on your future life with Jesus. These kinds of waiting thoughts make you into a person who lives more fully and more joyfully and more wisely in the present. Decide today to wait on your future with the Lord. Let that waiting shape your living today.
Pray:
(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)
Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today.