November 4

Ezekiel 10:1-11:25, Hebrews 6:1-20, Psalm 105:16-36, Proverbs 27:1-2

Pray: What’s your greatest hope? Hope is essential to faith, for faith is essentially a confident hope in things not yet seen. When God speaks, it is as good as God acting because God is faithful and His word never returns void. Begin in prayer by naming your hope that springs up from God’s word.

Read: Look for the undercurrent of hope throughout the Old and New Testament. What has God done? What has God said He will do?

Edify: Amidst all the looks into the spiritual world as well as a lot of doom and gloom in Ezekiel’s day; God begins to make promises of the people’s return to their homeland as well as their repentance for idolatry and rebellion. This “will” happen. And when this happens, God will do heart renovation, give them His Spirit in a new way, and they will no longer be rebellious. It’s so beautiful that God is revealing 600 years before Christ His plan to fulfill His ultimate promise that runs as a thread until Revelation that “they will truly be my people, and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 11:20). Hebrews tells us that Jesus fulfills the promise to Abraham, and this furthers our confidence in God’s promises because it is impossible for God to lie. This is why we have a confident hope as an “anchor for our souls” (Hebrews 6:19).

Practice: We are to follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises through faith and endurance (Hebrews 6:12). In which area of your life do you need hope to increase your endurance? Share your need to endure with a trusted friend who will watch over you in love, encourage you, help you set goals, and hold you accountable.