Advent Meditations Week 1--Hope

December 4: Psalm 89:1-4

• If you are a Christian, you are part of the forever family line of David through Christ. Spend a few moments in prayer today thanking God for his love and faithfulness to you. Be specific!

• Find hope today by recalling God’s faithfulness in your past and his promises for your future.

Psalm 89:1-4English Standard Version (ESV)

I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord

A Maskil[a] of Ethan the Ezrahite.

   89 I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;
    with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
  2 For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever;
    in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.”
  3 You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
    I have sworn to David my servant:
  4 ‘I will establish your offspring forever,
    and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah

Advent Meditations Week 1--Hope

December 3: Deuteronomy 18:15-22

• How were the Israelites to know that a prophet was from God and spoke in His name? Did Jesus meet this standard? See Matt. 16:21 and Mark 10:32-34.

• How was Jesus like Moses? See Deuteronomy 34:10, Acts 3:22-23 and Hebrews 9:15.

• Trust Jesus’ promises for your life. He cannot lie.

Deuteronomy 18:15-22English Standard Version (ESV)

A New Prophet like Moses

15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or[a] who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

Advent Meditations Week 1--Hope

December 2: Genesis 15:1-6

• What did Abram do to deserve God’s promise of a son? How did he become righteous before God?

• What is the only way for us to become righteous? See Romans 3:20-22 & Philippians 3:7-10. Are you, like Paul, passionately seeking to know Christ more and more?

Genesis 15:1-6English Standard Version (ESV)

God's Covenant with Abram

15 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue[a]childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son[b] shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Advent Meditations Week 1--Hope

December 1: Genesis 3:8-15

• Our sin is always followed by shame (conviction) but instead of owning and confessing it we often resort to blaming someone or something else. Have you blamed anyone or anything for your recent sins? 

• What hope for salvation do you see in this passage from Genesis? Compare Col. 2:13-15 & 1 John 3:8. Be cleansed of your sins today through confession (1 John 1:9).

Genesis 3:8-15English Standard Version (ESV)

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool[a] of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”[b] 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
    cursed are you above all livestock
    and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
    and dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring[c] and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
    and you shall bruise his heel.”

Advent Meditations Week 1--Hope

November 30: Isaiah 40:9-11

• Isaiah invites us to “go tell it on the mountain” that God (Jesus) is coming in power to reward and take care of his people.

• How are you planning to share the good news this Christmas: take a friend out to lunch, sponsor a Christmas open house at your place for unchurched friends, invite friends to a church service or event, etc. 

Isaiah 40:9-11English Standard Version (ESV)

The Greatness of God

9 Go on up to a high mountain,
    O Zion, herald of good news;[a]
lift up your voice with strength,
    O Jerusalem, herald of good news;[b]
    lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
    “Behold your God!”
10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
    and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense before him.
11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
    he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
    and gently lead those that are with young.

Advent Meditations Week 1--Hope

Isaiah 52:7-10

• When was the last time someone told you some really good news? What was it about? Did you share it with anyone else?

• Who told you the good news of the gospel? How long did it take before you believed and received it?

• Good news is hard to keep secret. Do you still believe the gospel is good news? Who do you need to tell about it?

Isaiah 52:7-10English Standard Version (ESV)

7 How beautiful upon the mountains
    are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
    who publishes salvation,
    who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice;
    together they sing for joy;
for eye to eye they see
    the return of the Lord to Zion.
9 Break forth together into singing,
    you waste places of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people;
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared his holy arm
    before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
    the salvation of our God.

Advent Meditations Week 1--Hope

Isaiah 40:1-5

• When Isaiah spoke these words Jerusalem still had 100 years of trouble before the city would fall and then 70 years of exile. The seeds of comfort may take root in the soil of adversity. 

• Are you anxious and stressed about something? Are you feeling overwhelmed or trapped in your circumstances?

• God has prepared a way in your wilderness. Ask Jesus to lead you through it and give you hope.

Isaiah 40:1-5English Standard Version (ESV)

Comfort for God's People

  40 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that her warfare[a] is ended,
    that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
    double for all her sins.

3 A voice cries:[b]
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”