It's the first week of Advent! Is your tree up yet? We decorated ours yesterday and the house feels wonderfully festive now 😊 I've been looking forward to writing these Advent devotions for weeks now, so let's dive right into it!
Traditionally, the first week of Advent focuses on the hope Jesus brings us and what a hope it is! Because of Jesus, we have the hope of an eternity spent in heaven, where we will be in the presence of God forever. We usually take the word hope to mean little more than a wish or a desire for something. I hope it doesn't rain or I hope I get some fabric for Christmas. But the biblical meaning of hope is a confident expectation that what God has promised will come to pass. It is deeply rooted in our belief that He is faithful and that His promises are true. Our hope of eternity with Jesus is not wishful thinking, but rather an expression of confidence in a promise given by One who "never changes or casts a shifting shadow" (James 1:17).
There is so much good contained in the promise He has given us! Recording his vision of the future, John wrote, "Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever" (Revelation 21:3, 4).
First of all, our home will be with God. He will be among us, walking with us as He did before sin entered the world. What an amazing thought!
Then just think about an eternity with no death, sorrow, crying or pain. It's hard to imagine, isn't it? Those things are such a constant in our world that trying to imagine life without the fear of disease or tragedy is pretty much impossible. There will be no heart attacks, no car accidents and no cancer. There will also be no abuse, no addiction and no mental illness. It sounds too good to be true, but it is absolutely true.
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| Background quilt is my Christmas Knots and Crosses quilt |
Indeed.
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