Week of December 22nd, 2025
5-Day Advent Devotional: Living in Light of the End
Day 1: The Promise of Newness
Reading: Revelation 21:1-5
Devotional: "Look, I am making everything new." These words from Jesus aren't about repairing what's broken—they're about creating something better. When we look at our world filled with pain, division, and suffering, we can lose hope. But God doesn't promise to patch up the old; He promises to make all things new and better. This Advent season, as we celebrate Christ's first coming, let us also anticipate His return when every tear will be wiped away, every wrong made right, and every heart made whole. The incarnation we celebrate at Christmas is God's down payment on this promise. What areas of your life need God's transforming newness today?
Reading: Revelation 21:1-5
Devotional: "Look, I am making everything new." These words from Jesus aren't about repairing what's broken—they're about creating something better. When we look at our world filled with pain, division, and suffering, we can lose hope. But God doesn't promise to patch up the old; He promises to make all things new and better. This Advent season, as we celebrate Christ's first coming, let us also anticipate His return when every tear will be wiped away, every wrong made right, and every heart made whole. The incarnation we celebrate at Christmas is God's down payment on this promise. What areas of your life need God's transforming newness today?
Day 2: Knowing the End Changes Everything
Reading: Hebrews 12:1-3
Devotional: Watching a recorded game when you already know the outcome changes your entire experience. Similarly, knowing how God's story ends should transform how we live today. Jesus endured the cross "for the joy set before him"—He lived with the end in mind. When we face trials, persecution, or ordinary struggles, we can walk with boldness because we know the final chapter. Christ is victorious. Evil is defeated. Death has lost its sting. This knowledge isn't meant to make us passive, but rather to embolden us to live faithfully in the present. How does knowing God's ultimate victory change your perspective on today's challenges?
Reading: Hebrews 12:1-3
Devotional: Watching a recorded game when you already know the outcome changes your entire experience. Similarly, knowing how God's story ends should transform how we live today. Jesus endured the cross "for the joy set before him"—He lived with the end in mind. When we face trials, persecution, or ordinary struggles, we can walk with boldness because we know the final chapter. Christ is victorious. Evil is defeated. Death has lost its sting. This knowledge isn't meant to make us passive, but rather to embolden us to live faithfully in the present. How does knowing God's ultimate victory change your perspective on today's challenges?
Day 3: It Is Done
Reading: John 19:28-30; Colossians 2:13-15
Devotional: "It is done"—paid in full. At the culmination of His first advent, Jesus didn't say "to be continued." He declared completion. The atonement for sin, the fulfillment of prophecy, the victory over Satan—accomplished. Yet we live between two advents, between "it is done" and "I am making all things new." This tension is where faith lives. We trust in what Christ has already accomplished while we await what He will yet complete. The work of salvation is finished; the work of restoration is underway. As you prepare your heart this Christmas, remember that the baby in the manger came with a mission He would fully accomplish. What does Christ's finished work mean for your life today?
Reading: John 19:28-30; Colossians 2:13-15
Devotional: "It is done"—paid in full. At the culmination of His first advent, Jesus didn't say "to be continued." He declared completion. The atonement for sin, the fulfillment of prophecy, the victory over Satan—accomplished. Yet we live between two advents, between "it is done" and "I am making all things new." This tension is where faith lives. We trust in what Christ has already accomplished while we await what He will yet complete. The work of salvation is finished; the work of restoration is underway. As you prepare your heart this Christmas, remember that the baby in the manger came with a mission He would fully accomplish. What does Christ's finished work mean for your life today?
Day 4: Meeting Us in Darkness
Reading: Isaiah 9:2-7; John 1:1-5
Devotional: The Christmas story doesn't ignore darkness—it confronts it. Jesus was born into a world of Roman oppression, political violence, and spiritual darkness. He entered our mess, our pain, our brokenness. Revelation 21 doesn't ask us to pretend everything is fine when it's not. God acknowledges our grief, our hardships, our tears. The incarnation means God meets us in our darkest moments. He doesn't stand at a distance shouting encouragement; He enters in. This Advent, you don't need to hide your struggles or manufacture joy. Bring your authentic self—your fears, doubts, and pain—to the One who came precisely because we need Him. Where do you need God to meet you in your darkness today?
Reading: Isaiah 9:2-7; John 1:1-5
Devotional: The Christmas story doesn't ignore darkness—it confronts it. Jesus was born into a world of Roman oppression, political violence, and spiritual darkness. He entered our mess, our pain, our brokenness. Revelation 21 doesn't ask us to pretend everything is fine when it's not. God acknowledges our grief, our hardships, our tears. The incarnation means God meets us in our darkest moments. He doesn't stand at a distance shouting encouragement; He enters in. This Advent, you don't need to hide your struggles or manufacture joy. Bring your authentic self—your fears, doubts, and pain—to the One who came precisely because we need Him. Where do you need God to meet you in your darkness today?
Day 5: Joy to the World—Not Yet, But Soon
Reading: Mark 13:24-31; Revelation 22:12-21
Devotional: "Joy to the World" is actually a second advent song. Has every heart received the King? No. Have sins and sorrows ceased? Not yet. Jesus Himself warned that things would grow worse before His return—wars, earthquakes, famines. But this doesn't rob us of hope; it anchors our hope in the right place. We don't expect perfection now, but we anticipate completion then. Until that day, we work for justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God, knowing our labor isn't in vain. We live as people who know the end of the story. As you celebrate Christmas this week, hold both advents together: rejoice that He came, and live expectantly because He's coming again. How will you live today as someone who knows how the story ends?
Reading: Mark 13:24-31; Revelation 22:12-21
Devotional: "Joy to the World" is actually a second advent song. Has every heart received the King? No. Have sins and sorrows ceased? Not yet. Jesus Himself warned that things would grow worse before His return—wars, earthquakes, famines. But this doesn't rob us of hope; it anchors our hope in the right place. We don't expect perfection now, but we anticipate completion then. Until that day, we work for justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God, knowing our labor isn't in vain. We live as people who know the end of the story. As you celebrate Christmas this week, hold both advents together: rejoice that He came, and live expectantly because He's coming again. How will you live today as someone who knows how the story ends?
"Even so, come, Lord Jesus." - Revelation 22:20
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