Welcome to the Blue Ocean Advent devotional podcast. This is day two. I’m Emily, and I’ll be your guide.
Let’s start with a moment of gratitude. I’ll give you 15 seconds of silence to think about something you’re thankful for, why you appreciate it, and to thank God for whatever it is. Let’s begin now.
[15 seconds of silence]
Now we’ll move on to a petitionary prayer. Today we’ll pray for someone we care about, saying, “God, give [my loved one] hope for _________.” For example, “God give my mom hope for a happy future.” Let’s take 20 seconds of silence to pray.
[20 seconds of silence]
Our Scripture reading today comes from Genesis 15:5–18a.
[God] took [Abram] outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?” So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land …”
We’ll close today by meditating on the verse that says:
Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him …
Take a few moments now to meditate on what it means for God to speak to us in thick and dreadful darkness.
Our Concluding Prayer:
Creator, almighty and everlasting, you have brought me in safety to this new day: Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus my Lord. Amen