Day 1 - 40 Days of HOPE
Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days of HOPE
Day 1 | THE BEGINNING
40 Days of HOPE
Day 1 | THE BEGINNING
THE BEGINNING
Today we begin a NEW 40 day series of devotionals I’m calling
“40 Days of HOPE.”
The number 40 has some interesting significance in science, literature, and Scripture:
⇒ “F-o-r-t-y” is the only number in English whose letters appear in alphabetical order.
⇒Minus 40 degrees is the only temperature that is the same in both Fahrenheit and Celsius.
⇒When the bubonic plague gripped Europe during the Middle Ages, ships would be isolated in the harbor for 40 days before passengers could go ashore. The Italian word for 40 is quaranta — hence quarantine.
⇒Forget nine months… the typical pregnancy lasts 40 weeks.
⇒It took chemists 40 attempts to develop the magic spray we call WD-40.
⇒ “40 winks” is considered the perfect nap.
⇒Forty hours is the typical American workweek.
On the Biblical side…
⇒Moses, Elijah, and Jesus each fasted in the desert for 40 days.
⇒The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years.
⇒Ezekiel was instructed to lay on his right side for 40 days to “bear the iniquity” of Judea’s sins.
⇒Three great Hebrew kings reigned for 40 years each: Saul, David, and Solomon.
⇒Judges in the Bible who served for 40 years include Othniel, Deborah, Barak, Eli, and Gideon.
⇒Goliath taunted Israel for 40 days before David defeated him.
⇒God destroyed every living thing on the Earth by flooding it for 40 days.
⇒Forty different human authors wrote the Bible.
And so, we shall consider 40 Days of HOPE – from the Scriptures – for the next 40 days.
Why HOPE?
1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “Now abides faith, hope, and love and the greatest of these is love.” We agree that LOVE is the greatest. However, without all three, like with a 3-legged stool, you can’t remove one of the legs and have it work. And in my opinion, we hear a lot about FAITH and LOVE in church and in Scripture… but not as much about HOPE. So here we go!
Prayer: LORD, teach me about HOPE during this 40 Days of HOPE emphasis. Help my HOPE to grow strong as You will. And thank you that faith, hope, and love are available to me now. Amen.
Today we begin a NEW 40 day series of devotionals I’m calling
“40 Days of HOPE.”
The number 40 has some interesting significance in science, literature, and Scripture:
⇒ “F-o-r-t-y” is the only number in English whose letters appear in alphabetical order.
⇒Minus 40 degrees is the only temperature that is the same in both Fahrenheit and Celsius.
⇒When the bubonic plague gripped Europe during the Middle Ages, ships would be isolated in the harbor for 40 days before passengers could go ashore. The Italian word for 40 is quaranta — hence quarantine.
⇒Forget nine months… the typical pregnancy lasts 40 weeks.
⇒It took chemists 40 attempts to develop the magic spray we call WD-40.
⇒ “40 winks” is considered the perfect nap.
⇒Forty hours is the typical American workweek.
On the Biblical side…
⇒Moses, Elijah, and Jesus each fasted in the desert for 40 days.
⇒The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years.
⇒Ezekiel was instructed to lay on his right side for 40 days to “bear the iniquity” of Judea’s sins.
⇒Three great Hebrew kings reigned for 40 years each: Saul, David, and Solomon.
⇒Judges in the Bible who served for 40 years include Othniel, Deborah, Barak, Eli, and Gideon.
⇒Goliath taunted Israel for 40 days before David defeated him.
⇒God destroyed every living thing on the Earth by flooding it for 40 days.
⇒Forty different human authors wrote the Bible.
And so, we shall consider 40 Days of HOPE – from the Scriptures – for the next 40 days.
Why HOPE?
1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “Now abides faith, hope, and love and the greatest of these is love.” We agree that LOVE is the greatest. However, without all three, like with a 3-legged stool, you can’t remove one of the legs and have it work. And in my opinion, we hear a lot about FAITH and LOVE in church and in Scripture… but not as much about HOPE. So here we go!
Prayer: LORD, teach me about HOPE during this 40 Days of HOPE emphasis. Help my HOPE to grow strong as You will. And thank you that faith, hope, and love are available to me now. Amen.