Daily Devotional #1,571

It was 1968. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated and then Bobby Kennedy killed in LA. There were televised riots at the Democratic National Convention that summer in Chicago. It was a time when America was running low on hope. Then in the Fall of that year NASA was afraid that the Russians were going to make a run at going to the moon, so they put together what some believe was the most dangerous Apollo mission we ever had. They sent three men to the moon in December, not to land, but to prove we could make the trip and come home safely. On Christmas Eve Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders rode Apollo 8 sixty-eight hours to travel the distance to the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times over the course of twenty hours, during which they made a Christmas Eve television broadcast in which they read the first ten verses from the Book of Genesis. At the time, the broadcast was the most watched TV program ever. Afterwards one lady wrote to NASA and said “You saved 1968”. I remember hearing the familiar words from Genesis being broadcast from the moon and it was a reminder to all of us that the God of all creation was still in control. When we lose hope in our lives, God’s word, the Bible points us back to the one who not only created us but redeemed us. We just have to read it, hear it and allow it to open the door to the Jesus of the Bible who came to earth that first Christmas for the purpose of dying on the cross so that anyone who believed could live with God forever. He gave us hope. If your well of hope is running dry, open up that Bible and read this love letter that the God of creation has given to humankind. It is there…it points to this Jesus…it reminds you that no matter what you see happening around you, there is hope.

Here’s our Bible verse...

1 Timothy 1:1 NLT This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, appointed by the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus, who gives us hope.

Remember I’m praying for you!
PJ