Advent Week 1 Devotional: Waiting on the Lord

For more than two thousand years after God made a promise to Abram that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you”, the descendants of the patriarch and matriarch of the Israelites waited for it to be fulfilled (Genesis 12:3 NIV). During that season of waiting in about 587 or 586 BCE, the Babylonians overtook Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple of God, and burned down the city. The final kingdom of the descendants of Abraham and Sarah was no more. For hundreds of years after the fall of Jerusalem the people of God waited for the long-foretold Messiah. And then, that first Christmas day in the little town of Bethlehem, the waiting was over. Jesus, the Messiah, the one who would bless all people of the earth, arrived to usher in a new kingdom, God’s kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 1:18-25 and Isaiah 9:6-7). The God who created the universe and all that exists came to the earth to be with us in the person of Jesus (Colossians 1:15-16). We don’t know much about his life between his birth and the start of his ministry. After his three-year ministry from about age thirty to thirty-three, his death upon a Roman cross, and resurrection, Christ ascended to heaven. As Jesus’ earliest followers were “looking up into the sky” witnessing Christ ascending into heaven, angels reminded them that “Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go” (Acts 1:10-11 NIV).

 

Advent is an annual reminder that there was a very long season of waiting for Christ’s first arrival. We continue to wait with hopeful expectation for Jesus’ second coming (Matthew 24:36-44). This Advent season during weekly worship services and as part of this Living Faith Devotional you are invited to use your time of waiting, preparing, and celebrating Jesus’ arrival to focus your heart and mind on the source of hope, love, joy and peace. This daily devotional for the first week of the season is designed to help us set our thoughts on “Waiting on the Lord.” The format is designed for you to use as much or little as you have time to use each day. Below is a guide for the weekly and daily use of this Advent devotional:

 

Each Day

• Read the brief hymn, confession, or message about Jesus from the New Testament verses

• Spend a few minutes letting the message about Jesus roll around in your mind as you quietly wait in the presence of the Lord
• Read The Bible verses for the day
• Answer the question(s) using a journal or notebook, or simply think about your responses

• Listen to an Advent Hymn or Song
• Pray using the written prayer and/or your own
• Live in Response to Jesus

 

Week #1 New Testament Confession of the Earliest Christians:

To prepare your heart and mind to focus on “Waiting on the Lord,” each day this week read the verses below to begin your time set apart to be with and encounter the God revealed in and through Jesus, the one we continue to wait for:

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets

at many times and in various ways,

but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,

whom he appointed heir of all things,

and through whom also he made the universe.

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory

and the exact representation of his being,

sustaining all things by his powerful word.

After he had provided purification for sins,

he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

So he became as much superior to the angels

as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. – Hebrews 1:1-4 NIV

 

Silence & Solitude:

You are encouraged to spend a few minutes quietly alone with God after reading the verses from Hebrews. You may find it helpful to sit, kneel, lay down, or walk as the message about Jesus rolls around in your heart and mind.

 

READ the Daily Bible Verses:

Sunday – Psalm 27:13-14

Monday – Genesis 15:1-6 and 21:1-7

Tuesday – Exodus 24:12-18

Wednesday – Isaiah 25:6-9 and 40:28-31

Thursday – Jeremiah 29:10-14 and Lamentations 3:22-26

Friday – Matthew 1:1-17

Saturday – Psalm 62 (The Sabbath theme for today is “Rest.”)

 

Daily Questions:

What do these Bible verses reveal about God or Jesus?

What do these verses reveal about waiting on the Lord?

What do these passages reveal about hope?

How should I respond to God’s message from scripture today?

 

Listen to a Hymn:

You are encouraged to listen to the hymn for this week at least on a few days either using the links below for the YouTube videos or using versions that are familiar to you that you have available:

“Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus”

Meredith Andrews’ version

 

Keith & Kristyn Getty’s version

 

Pray:

You are invited to conclude your devotional time using this prayer, your own prayer, or a combination of both:

God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you are the source or our hope.

In the darkest moments, days, and seasons you provide hope.

I place my trust in you because you are trustworthy.

You fulfill your promises according to your timing, not mine.

You, Lord, came to set people free, which includes setting me free.

Release me from my fears and sins as I wait for you, my God.

I am coming to you to find rest from my restlessness.

I want to cease from striving to find contentment in sources other than in you.

Guide me to live as a person of hope who shares my hope with others

during this season of waiting for Jesus to return.

Right now I’m imagining myself putting on the virtues of Christ

like I would put on clothes, remembering that I represent Jesus.

Help me to wear the hat and gloves of humility so that my thoughts are on you,

Lord, and my hands are used to humbly serve like Christ.

Help me to put on the shoes of compassion so that I go to those who

are suffering and offer them the comfort you give me.

I want to experience what it is like to walk in their shoes.

Each time I touch my cell phone help me to remember that I am forgiven

by you through what you have done through your Son.

I want to repeatedly offer forgiveness to others

as I continually receive forgiveness from you, Lord.

Help me to put on the cross of love around my neck like a necklace

so that I can follow Jesus’ example by offering others selfless

and self-sacrificing love through my actions and words.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit I pray. Amen.

 

*If you do not have a Bible, consider downloading the YouVersion Bible App for free from the Apple App Store or Google Play for your smartphone or tablet. You can also use www.BibleGateway.com to look up and read various translations of Bible verses online.