Category: Advent 2018 – I will

Thanks to all of you who have stayed with these “I WILL” promises throughout this entire season of Advent! Today I offer you the last of the series and wish you a joyous Christmas celebration tomorrow!

The promise from God for today is a simple one. It is found in Jeremiah 32:38: “They will be my people, and I will be their God.” Over two dozen times, God has affirmed that promise throughout the Old Testament. He has repeatedly chosen to associate himself with those who claim him as their God.

Such a wonderful promise demands a response from us. And so we close this series with one final oath. Only this one is not an “I WILL” by God but a “WE WILL” declaration by Joshua. In Joshua 24:15, the author of that book challenged those around him to follow the Lord: “But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

The greatest gift you can give to the Lord this Christmas is to make that choice. The question today is what “YOU WILL” do.

As Christmas draws ever nearer, some people dread the arrival of this holiday. For them, there is no joy. They may have lost a loved one. Their bodies may be wracked with pain. They have faced persecution, beatings and even death. Their tears flow at the thought of another holiday spent in sorrow.

But God provides a promise for these who weep. In Isaiah 25:8, we read:

“He will swallow up death forever!
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears.
He will remove forever all insults and mockery
against his land and people.
The Lord has spoken!”

Someone might point out to me that this is not an “I WILL” promise but a “HE WILL” promise, which I grant is true, but go back and reread the last line of the verse: “The Lord has spoken.” The oath is God’s own.

In Rev. 7:17, an angel explained to the apostle John that one day, “The Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” The Sovereign Lord of the universe promises that he himself will wipe away our tears! What’s more, we learn in 21:4, that there will be no more death, no more sorrow, no more pain. All these things will be gone forever.

Why not sing the favorite old carol “Joy to the World”? Pay special attention to the verse where it says, “No more shall sin or sorrow reign!”

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Only three more days until Christmas! And I have three more very special “I WILL” promises from God that I want to share with you.

Not so very long ago, parents hid their gifts for their children and did not put them under the tree until Christmas eve. Children would run downstairs on Christmas morning and be astonished by the pile of bright packages awaiting them. Only then did the children realize that all through the season their parents had been busy preparing wonderful surprises for those they loved.

Our heavenly Father is no different. He loves to surprise his children. On Christmas, we remember how he sent his Son to be born in – surprise! – a stable! And on Good Friday we remember how Jesus laid down his life for those he loved. Surprise! On Easter, he resurrected!

Before Jesus left this earth, he explained to his followers that he would be going back to the Father in order to prepare a place for those he loved. Then, in John 14:3,he made a very special promise: “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”

Jesus has promised to return again. That day will be full of surprises. Isaiah says the eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf will be unstopped, the lame will leap, the tongue of the mute will shout for joy! Then we will all be together with him forever.

If you already have eyes to see, ears to hear and a tongue to shout, why not use them today to express your thanks for Jesus’ promise to return when all is prepared for you in Heaven?

Thankyou for staying with me through this Advent season. We have just a few more stories about God’s “I WILL” promises, though you’ll find plenty more in the Bible.

When my husband was a child, Christmas holidays were difficult. Gene’s mother was hospitalized for many years. Family finances were tight. His father felt exhausted being a single parent. As a boy, Gene would bring up their meager holiday decorations from the basement, set them up in the living room, and send out Christmas cards, because no one else had energy to do it. While his friends looked forward to school vacation days, for Gene the holiday celebrations often took on the flavor of grim determination.

After we married, things changed. One day, while Gene was at work, I set up the Christmas tree and decorated the house. He came home to a wreath on the door and the warm glow of colored lights. His eyes lit up with wonder like those of a child as he took it all in.

In Joel 2:25,27, we read a poignant promise from God: “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, . . . Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.”

The prophet Joel was right. For years, Gene missed out on the joy of family celebrations, but God eventually gave him a new family and restored the joys he richly deserved as a child of God.

Someone you know may be facing difficulty this season. Why not share the hope of God’s restoration with your friend?

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We are almost through Advent. Do you have a favorite “I WILL” promise from God? I’ve been looking forward to today because, of all God’s promises to me, this is my favorite.

My son John’s youngest girl, Lydia, will be experiencing her first Christmas this year. Her dark hair and brown eyes glow as she looks at the ornaments on the tree. Lydia cannot yet walk, so John or his wife Kelly carry her everywhere in their arms. Watching them, I think of the message of Isaiah 46:3,4:

“Listen to me, descendants of Jacob,
all you who remain in Israel.
I have cared for you since you were born.
Yes, I carried you before you were born.

I will be your God throughout your lifetime—
until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.
I will carry you along and save you.”

Reading the previous chapters, you’d find that the craftsmen of the land have been carving idols out of wood. When people needed the idol in a different place, however, the priests had to carry the figure in their arms or haul it in a wagon because the god could not walk on its own strength. The wooden idol had no power to meet its own needs, let alone the needs of those who worshiped it. How different our God is: He has made us and he carries us!

Over a decade ago, I remember our son John tenderly carrying his frail grandfather up our front stairs so that Opa could join the family at the table for a holiday meal. What a picture of our God’s gentle care for us when our hair turns gray!

Where has the Lord carried you this day? Pause to give him thanks.

In a few days, people all over the country will be traveling home for Christmas. I am glad that wherever you settle for the holidays, you can still read about God’s “I WILL” promises here.

As I mentioned once before, 2017 marked our first Christmas in our new apartment. We lived in our previous home for over 40 years, and we experienced lots of laughter and blessings there. In all that time, however, I never felt a strong emotional attachment to the house. If God had asked me to pack up and move at any time in those years, I could have said goodbye to that physical structure without regrets.

I feel very different about our new apartment. I love every square foot of it (with the possible exception of the piles of papers that clutter my desk). What never happened in my previous home, occurred here the first night: This is home. This is where I can relax and kick off my shoes. This is where I hope to settle in and dwell for years to come.

In John 14:23, Jesus said to his disciples, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.” We know God is preparing a place for us to live with him in Heaven, but in the meantime, He promises to make his home within us!

Does the Lord feel at home in your heart? Is he merely a visitor sitting primly in the living room of your heart, or does he dwell there? Why not invite him to settle in, relax, and kick off his shoes?

God’s “I WILL” promises keep coming. Here’s another for you to ponder during this Advent season.

Every year we receive Christmas letters from friends with news of how God has blessed them in the past twelve months. Recently, we had a face-to-face reunion with old friends over lunch. We hadn’t seen Roger and Bobbie for about thirty years. Back then, we babysat for each other’s kids as they toddled about the house. Today, those kids have grown up and have children of their own!

What gave us great encouragement was seeing how, despite the decades apart, God had been faithful to each of our families during the intervening years. Roger shared amazing ways God had protected their children. My husband and I talked about how God had blessed us with a new home and renewed health.

Isaiah 41 is a wonderful chapter about encouragement. It begins with people inspiring each other, saying, “Be strong!” or “It is good!” The message seems to be a positive one until you discover that the craftsmen were in the process of making wooden idols! Verse 8, however, begins with the word “but.” Suddenly the passage shifts its focus. God speaks and says that if the people want real encouragement they shouldn’t look to each other but to him. In verse 10, he says, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t look anxiously about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”

Look around you today. Do you see anyone who is feeling low and needs a word of hope? Can you point them to the only true source of encouragement?

Thanks for hanging out with me during Advent. Here’s another of God’s “I WILL” promises!

During Christmas, families gather, and for many families, that means sky-rocketing stress. Voices get louder, harsher. Old wounds reopen. But for my family, I am grateful that times together are marked by explosions of laughter and love. My daughter has an uncanny ability to find gifts that exactly fit the recipient. Her gift may fill a need or produce chuckles, but each one is an expression of her love.

All my life I have felt inadequate in the area of loving others. I feel I can never begin to measure up to all I receive from others, let alone from the Lord. For a long time I felt guilty not being able to fulfill the most basic of Jesus’ commands, “Love one another.” But then I read Rom. 13:8, “One debt you can never finish paying is the debt of love that you owe each other.”

In contrast, God owes us no debt, but he offers his love exuberantly. In Zeph. 3:17, we read, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

I don’t know if you need to enjoy the quiet blanket of God’s love today or whether you are ready to dance with him in loud singing, but I am confident that God rejoices over each one of his children, including you!

Glad you are back! This series of Advent devotionals on God’s “I WILL” promises is my own Christmas gift to you!

As a child, were you ever tempted to get a sneak preview of what was hiding under the Christmas tree? Did you shake a gift to see if it contained a new Lego set? Or did the wrapping paper somehow tear a wee bit, just enough to reveal the contents of the package? Those colorful packages with their bright bows made it hard to resist temptation!

When God inspired Paul to write a letter to Corinth, he may have had you in mind! In 1 Cor. 10:13, we read: “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” Again, in Revelation 3:10, God wrote to his people saying, “I will keep you from the hour of testing.”

The Lord promises a way to escape temptation. The problem is that all too often we ignore the way of escape. Or we make up arguments that justify our giving in to temptation. Worse, sometimes we don’t even bother with an excuse. We simply give in, like me eating Christmas cookies. That is why, as Jesus prayed in the Garden before his arrest, he reminded the disciples, “Pray that you will not be overcome by temptation.” (Luke 22:40,46)

This Christmas, we may no longer be shaking gifts to guess at their contents, but we all still face temptations. Take a moment today to reflect on the Lord’s Prayer, especially the part where it says, “Don’t let us yield to temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

Here we are on Day 15 and we still have not exhausted the supply of “I WILL” promises from God!

Every year in December, familiar jokes appear about the dad trying to assemble his daughter’s dollhouse or mom struggling to put together her son’s bicycle on the night before Christmas. No one ever looks at the instructions until long after some key steps have been ignored.

God has promised us something far better than a printed set of directions for assembling our future. In Psalm 32:8 he promises, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” He himself will instruct us the whole way, guiding us step by step from point A to point Z.

Jesus added in John 16:13: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” Only our God can know all the past (‘what he has heard’) but also prepare us for what is to come (‘about the future’).

No wonder we read in James 1:5: “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.”

Do you need wisdom for the new year? The Holy Spirit is like our private tutor, teaching us about the Father and the Son. Sit quietly and listen for his voice today, and then pay careful attention to the lessons your tutor has for you. Don’t omit any steps!