God Our Promise Keeper: A 5-Day Devotional Journey Through AdventНамуна

God often fulfills His promises in unexpected ways. And the way He fulfills His promises often reveal aspects of His character.

Jesus, during His ministry on earth, describes His heart as this: “gentle and humble” (Matthew 11:29 NIV). So, if we believe that Jesus is fully God and the “radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (Hebrews 1:3 NIV emphasis added), it makes perfect sense for Jesus’s arrival on earth to be gentle and humble.

God came to us in gentleness and humility. His heart for us is of gentleness and humility.

And there are still promises God has made that are yet to be fulfilled.

So what do we do with that?

This is an opportunity for us. It’s an opportunity to trust Him. When His promises seem delayed or unfulfilled in ways we don't expect, we can look back at how He kept His word in Christ's birth. Reflecting on the promises fulfilled in the past will fuel our trust in Him.

His first coming fulfilled a promise of humility. His next will fulfill a promise of power.

A Question to Ponder: What do the circumstances of Jesus’s birth communicate about what God values?

A Prayer to Pray: Lord God, your heart toward me is gentle and humble. Thank you. Thank you that you pursued us by coming to earth. Thank you that your Spirit is with us now. And thank you for your promised return to usher in your eternal, beautiful, glorious kingdom that I get to be a part of because of your love for me. Almighty God, incline my heart toward you today. Make me more gentle. Make me more humble. For your glory and for the good of those around me. In Jesus’s name and power, I pray, amen.