This Week…HOPE (Advent, week one)

This week, here on the Seeking Him devotional blog, Ann, Ahmee, Cynda, and Tina have written such wonderful devotionals encouraging us to hold onto the hope that comes through our Lord, Jesus Christ.

At the beginning of the week, in Advent Week One…Hope, Tina shared a wonderful resource that outlined some ideas about Advent and specifically about the symbolism and Scriptural background of lighting the candles on an Advent wreath.  She also wrote,

“The first week of the Advent season is to acknowledge hope. Hope is where we realize that God will always fulfill His promises. It does not mean we will not see troubles, but we will see God’s best, as long as we seek His Will first. As we celebrate this Christmas season, let’s just forget the political correctness…let us worship and proclaim our Savior’s birth as never before!”

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In Living Hope, Cynda shared this great perspective.

“Look at it this way:

• Without Christ…there is no Christmas.
• Without that miraculous birth…there is no crucifixion or resurrection.
• Without Christ’s resurrection…there would be no hope.

Christ alone is our eternal hope, our living hope.”

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In False Hope, Ahmee helped us to see what TRUE hope is…and what FALSE hope is.

“Hope is a good thing. Hope means ‘to trust in, wait for, look for, or desire something or someone; or to expect something beneficial in the future‘. I’ve also heard it said that hope is a confident expectation of good.

False hope is a powerful tool, as well. I would say that false hope is hope in something that either is not real, distorted, (but most clearly) not grounded in God Almighty. False hope is putting your trust in human beings and believing that they have the ability to do what only God can do.”

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In Hope in the Lord, Ann reminded us what God has promised in Isaiah 40:31—

“Those who hope in the Lord have His promise of…

• strength to revive them in the midst of exhaustion and weakness and suffering and trial
• the ability to rise above their difficulties like an eagle that soars into the sky
• the ability to run spiritually without tiring
• being able to walk steadily forward without fainting at God’s delays”

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Dear Lord, we rest on the promises You have made knowing You are a faithful God.   Thank You for Your promise of a Savior, a Redeemer and the birth of Your Son that fulfilled that promise.  Thank You for Your promise, Lord, that You will return and Your will gather Your church and You will bring us to our eternal home.  As we continue through this season of Advent…focusing on all that the birth of Immanuel means…may our hope be sure and steadfast.  We love You and adore You…and pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

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