Advent Day 7

The last day of the first week of Advent.

Going back to the first day of Advent 2013, my worries about a grueling week of work were unwarranted. My Monday gate duty, 6-9 p.m. is tomorrow, not last Monday. We got another big snow storm that resulted in school closing at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday and all day on Friday. I also was able to skip work at the public library due to the snow and cold (it was 1 degree Friday night/Saturday morning).  This isn't the first time I worried about nothing.

This week's Advent theme has been hope and today is the last day of that theme.  I've recently experienced lessons on hope from two different sources, each with a very different presentation style.  Oddly, both people are called Beth.

The first Beth is Beth Moore.  We are watching her DVD series "Believing God" at a women's Bible study.  She is a loud, robust person, preaching God's word with authority. She was speaking about miracles and how God still performs miracles today just like he did in New Testament times. One of her statements, punctuated with volume, was that if you don't believe in miracles then you steal my hope from me." I'm not really sure how what someone else believes can steal anything from another person; but maybe I missed something when I stopped listening.

The second Beth is Beth A. Richardson whose Advent book I am reading. It's easier to absorb written information (for me anyway); for one thing, you can re-read passages if you need to. This Beth writes about spending time in silence with the Lord and the benefits of being quiet.  A gentle and peaceful spirit is evident in her words. This is the presentation style that most appeals to me.

There isn't a right way and a wrong way to share about God.  It takes many ways to connect with all the different people. The important thing is that we all find a way to find our way and then help others on their journey.

Advent Day 6

Hope

Romans 8:24-25 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

I've always wondered about the scripture verse I Corinthians 13:13 that says: In a word, there are three things that last forever: faith, hope and love; but the greatest of them all is love. (The New English Bible, the first Bible I read and reread). I wondered what we would be hoping for in heaven. I have the notion that heaven is a finalized place; a place that is, not a place that will be.  It make you wonder.

I think I've solved the mystery, and it's so simple.  When I looked up the verse online, the website had it listed in dozens of translations, most of which begin with the word "Now."

New American Standard:  But now faith, hope, love, abide...

Common English Bible:  Now faith, hope, and love remain...

King James Version:  And now abideth faith, hope, charity...

New International Version:  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love... 

New Revised Standard:  And now faith, hope, and love abide...

Lastly, the translation that states it most clearly and of which I have become so fond, The Message:  But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: 
Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Perhaps love is the greatest or best of the three because it is the only one that will remain after completeness.

As for Advent, faith, hope and love are all elements.