{"id":16065,"date":"2013-12-04T00:30:08","date_gmt":"2013-12-04T06:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=16065"},"modified":"2013-12-04T06:39:39","modified_gmt":"2013-12-04T12:39:39","slug":"hope-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/12\/04\/hope-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope In Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SeekingHimLogo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Each week during the season of Advent \u00a0our blogs will focus on a central theme associated with the coming of Christ\u2014His Advent. \u00a0This week\u2019s theme is\u00a0HOPE<\/em>.
\nChristians throughout the world celebrate Advent. Some light candles or sing songs; some give gifts or \u00a0hang\u00a0wreaths. \u00a0All of these are simple joyous\u00a0ways of extending the celebration\u00a0of Jesus\u2019s coming beyond a mere 24 hours on\u00a0December 25.\u00a0Our prayer is that these devotionals\u00a0throughout\u00a0this season of Advent would help you to celebrate His first Coming and anticipate with joy His second Coming.<\/h4>\n

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *<\/p>\n

\n

But those who hope<\/span> in the LORD will renew their strength.
\nThey will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
\nthey will walk and not be faint.
\nIsaiah 40:31<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Hope<\/em><\/span> is the feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. Over 2,000 years ago, Jews were hoping<\/span> for the arrival of their Savior\u2014the Messiah\u2014Jesus Christ. Today, we have the same hope<\/span> of Jesus\u2019 return after His Resurrection. We, as Christians, are very expectant of His return. When Christ does return, we will have eternal life if we have accepted Him into our hearts. Today, instead of anticipating the birth of Christ, we are now anticipating His return.<\/p>\n

During Christmas, hope<\/span> is more abundant than at any other time of the year. Kids hope<\/span> for the perfect gift from Santa. Adults hope<\/span> for a better New Year or for a way to provide a nice Christmas for their families. Sick people hope<\/span> for a cure for their ailments. Hope<\/span> springs eternal. Everyone is hoping<\/span> for something.<\/p>\n

However, during the holidays, we should be hoping<\/span>\u2014not for a birth, but for a return\u2014Christ\u2019s return. Yes, we celebrate His birth during this season, and we celebrate the Resurrection during the Easter season. However, instead of being reminded about Jesus\u2019 birth, we should be reminded that His birth signaled the hope<\/span> for a reconciliation with God. His birth brought us the hope<\/span> for an eternal life spent with God because God already knew that Jesus would die on the Cross for our sins. We should hope<\/span> for the gift of salvation, not only for ourselves, but for those who have not yet received that gift to receive it. As Christians we need to be spreading the hope<\/span> of Christ\u2019s return.<\/p>\n

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son
\nso that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
\nJohn 3:16<\/p>\n

John 3:16 gives hope<\/span> to us that we will have eternal life in Heaven at the end of time if we believe in Jesus Christ. We have to have hope<\/span> and<\/strong> faith that Jesus will return soon. This verse itself gives us hope<\/span> that as believers we will spend eternity with God. This is the greatest gift that has ever and will ever be given. \u00a0We only have to accept the gift.<\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son to us so that we may be reconciled with You. We cannot do it ourselves. We are not perfect nor will ever be. Your Son is perfect, and He brings hope to all those that believe in Him. \u00a0We pray in His Name. \u00a0Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Each week during the season of Advent \u00a0our blogs will focus on a central theme associated with the coming of Christ\u2014His Advent. \u00a0This week\u2019s theme is\u00a0HOPE. Christians throughout the world celebrate Advent. Some light candles or sing songs; some give gifts or \u00a0hang\u00a0wreaths. \u00a0All of these are simple joyous\u00a0ways of extending the celebration\u00a0of Jesus\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[4652,4651,3173,1287,425,518,536,4639,4684,566,3211,3174],"class_list":["post-16065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-1st-week-of-advent","tag-advent","tag-daily-devotional","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-hope","tag-isaiah-4031","tag-jesus-birth","tag-jesus-return","tag-john-316","tag-laura-pattillo","tag-seeking-him-devotional","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-4b7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16065"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16080,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16065\/revisions\/16080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}