I Can Hardly Wait! - Encouragement for Today - December 9, 2019

Peace and perspective from God's timeless truths. [View this email in your browser]( Encouragement for Today --------------------------------------------------------------- December 9, 2019  I Can Hardly Wait! [KAREN EHMAN]( [ Listen to this devotion]( “My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.” [Philippians 1:20]( (CSB) Is there any more precise picture of expectation, hope and excitement than young children ready for bed on Christmas Eve? When I was a child, every Christmas Eve my big brother and I would happily cooperate when taking our bubble baths and donning our plaid flannel pajamas. Then, we’d pile into our parents’ station wagon and cruise our hometown to look at the Christmas lights on display. We could hardly wait for this annual excursion. One family had vintage stockings for all 10 of their children meticulously hung in their huge picture window. Local businesses also got in on the act with twinkling lights and larger-than-life Christmas characters smiling from atop their buildings. My parents discovered this Christmas lights excursion served two purposes: First, it distracted us from our excitement for a while so our yuletide yikes could calm down a bit. Additionally, it completely tuckered us out so we would fall asleep in the back seat of the car. Then, they only needed to carry us to our beds so the visions of sugar plums could begin their annual dance as we slumbered, awaiting the celebration of Jesus’ birth. In today’s key verse, the Apostle Paul voices his own, “I can hardly wait! How much longer?” sentiment. [Philippians 1:20]( states, “My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.” Paul describes this longing by calling it an eager expectation and hope. This great anticipation pertained to honoring Christ in his body, whether by life or by death, and living in such a way that Paul would not be ashamed of anything. The particular Greek word that Paul used for expectation is an out-of-the-ordinary word. In fact, no one else in all of Scripture ever uses the word! It could be that Paul himself concocted and coined it. It is the word apokaradokia. Let’s break down this long and awkward-looking term. In the Greek, apo means away from, separate, free from. The word kara means the head. Dokein means to look, spear or seem. When you crochet them all together, the word apokaradokia paints a picture of strained expectancy, anxious longing, or earnest expectation — an intense stare that causes one to look away from every lesser thing and fix their gaze on the only thing of true importance. [Continue reading...]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Read about Salem Web Network]( | [Subscription Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe]( --------------------------------------------------------------- © 2019 Salem Web Network. All rights reserved. 111 Virginia Street, Suite 500, Richmond, VA 23219. This email is never sent unsolicited. You are receiving this email because your email address, {EMAIL}, is signed up to receive newsletters, updates, and special offers from Encouragement for Today. [Link](