OAD 25 DAYS ADV DEV SEA IND: 25 Days of Advent Devotional (Once-A-Day) - Softcover

Boa, Turner

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0310419131 ISBN 13: 9780310419136

Verlag: HarperChristian Resources, 2012

Inhaltsangabe

This Once-A-Day softcover booklet features 25 days of devotions for the season of Advent. Each daily reading includes thematically tied selections from Scripture, along with a statement that encourages meditation or a question to ponder, and ends with a simple prayer.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Ken Boa (PhD, New York University; DPhil, University of Oxford) is the president of Reflections Ministries and Trinity House Publishers. His recent publications include Conformed to His Image, Face to Face, Pursuing Wisdom, The Art of Living Well, Wisdom at Work, Living What You Believe, and Sacred Readings.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Once-A-Day 25 Days of Advent Devotional

Once-A-DayBy Kenneth Boa

Zondervan

Copyright © 2012 Kenneth Boa
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-41913-6

Contents

Author Preface......................viiDay 1...............................1Day 2...............................4Day 3...............................8Day 4...............................11Day 5...............................14Day 6...............................17Day 7...............................20Day 8...............................24Day 9...............................27Day 10..............................30Day 11..............................33Day 12..............................36Day 13..............................40Day 14..............................44Day 15..............................48Day 16..............................51Day 17..............................54Day 18..............................57Day 19..............................60Day 20..............................63Day 21..............................66Day 22..............................70Day 23..............................73Day 24..............................76Day 25..............................80

Chapter One

day 1

GENESIS 1:1,26–28,31

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground." God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

John 1:1–5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

EPHESIANS 2:10

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

MEDITATION

As we begin this Advent season, we look forward to Christmas, to the celebration of the birth of Christ. The whole world seems to be focused only on the baby. But this is no ordinary baby. As difficult as this may be to understand, let us not forget that this baby was present from the beginning, long before his birth on this earth. Nothing was created without him, not anything in the heavens above, not anything on the earth below, and certainly not us. "Then God said, `Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness'" (Genesis 1:26, emphasis added).

The secrets of time and space and eternity are found in this One, the Son of God, our Creator, our Sustainer, the One whose image we bear. It is only in him that we find our true dignity and purpose as people. He is the author and finisher of our faith, the One who remains faithful even when we are faithless. His entrance into our world means that we too can become all that God intended for us when he created us, that we may become more and more like his Son, who is "the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being" (Hebrews 1:3).

PRAYER

Thank you, sovereign Lord and Creator, for this day of beginnings and remembering. Thank you for making us in your glorious image, for honoring us with dignity and purpose. We praise you in this season of remembering who you truly are and how you have drawn near to us because of your great love for us. Give us wisdom as we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Son you sent to us. We will rejoice in this season of remembering, knowing that everything you have ever given and done is always not simply good but very good. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

day 2

GENESIS 3:4–5,7–8,14–15,22–23

"You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat from [the tree] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Then the eyes of both [the woman and her husband] were opened, and they realized they were naked ... and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

So the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this ... I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

And the Lord God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil" ... So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden.

ISAIAH 59:1–2

Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

ROMANS 5:12–19

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—

To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone's account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

MEDITATION

All people are important to God. But all are deeply fallen. God's original perfect creation included flawless creatures with a spiritual and moral capacity. In the garden, they were given the ability to choose, so that they would be responding to God in a meaningful relationship. But choice always involves responsibility, and they were warned there would be consequences if they chose to disobey. Despite the richness of their relationship with God, they listened to a powerful evil being who came into their home. They fell to his tactics of doubt and deception. And they fell into sin by choosing their will over the Creator's. It is a mystery how beings who were created as moral and rational could succumb to the immorality of sin. But it happened, and it has left us in a constant battle and lifelong enmity with that serpent, that dragon, the devil.

The desire of the first two created beings to be like God led them to deny him and ignore his warning, and the consequences were heavy. There were ramifications in every area. There were physical and spiritual repercussions, and there was the separation—a great separation—from the Creator who had sustained them.

We are deeply fallen, yet we are greatly loved. The fall that took away our purity could not take away God's love for us. Nothing can. And so the need for the baby who was born on Christmas became inevitable, and the great plan was set in motion. The response of our holy and loving God to the disastrous effects of wickedness is ... surprisingly ... love.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Once-A-Day 25 Days of Advent Devotionalby Kenneth Boa Copyright © 2012 by Kenneth Boa. Excerpted by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: HarperChristian Resources
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2012
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0310419131
• ISBN 13: 9780310419136
• Einband: Tapa blanda
• Anzahl der Seiten: 96
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: CINEDIGM; www.sony.de; ; Sony Center, Building D, Kemperplatz 1; Berlin; 10785; Deutschland