HOPE: THE PROPHECY CANDLE

“God chose Him as your ransom long before the world began, but He has now revealed him to you in these last days. Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and ​hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave Him great glory.” 1 Peter 1: 20-21 (NLT)

God loved us so much that He gave us His one and only Son, Jesus as a ransom for our sin. Scripture says that God chose Him before the world began because of love. God’s love through Jesus Christ gives us HOPE. What better way to begin celebrating that JESUS IS COMING! Jesus is our HOPE.

Above all else, there is HOPE in God. On Day 4 of the Advent Devotional , “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Even in our darkest hour, Jesus gives HOPE.

One of my precious friends lost her newborn son to a rare genetic disorder. She and her husband grieved, her family grieved, and her friends grieved. Our community grieved with them. As I watched her walk, along with her husband, in the shadow of their son’s death, I heard HOPE in her cries. I saw HOPE in her tears. I felt HOPE in her hugs. While her heart was breaking, God was mending the broken pieces because His HOPE was shining through the darkness. Her heart is still being mended, but the thread of HOPE is holding her dear. Jesus truly is close to the broken hearted (Psalm 34:18). Because of Jesus, her son is healed and his body is restored. She will see her son again because JESUS IS COMING! He is coming to gather His church.

As believers, we are called to share our HOPE. This week, take time and read the HOPE Advent Devotional scriptures. Highlight them in your Bible and in the margin, write the word “HOPE”.

There is HOPE in Jesus.

When you light the Prophecy Candle, remember the HOPE that Jesus offers you. Jesus stepped down from His throne in Heaven, became a man, and bore the weight of our sins upon the cross. He suffered a horrible death to give us HOPE. His death, burial, and resurrection provides a way for us to have HOPE and have it eternal.

Seek Him. Praise Him. Share Him. JESUS IS COMING!

Time to Unfold

• • Pray: Seek God for who He is this Advent season. Remind yourself of the HOPE that only comes from the manger to the cross.
  • Read God’s Word: Follow the Advent Devotional, learning about HOPE in Jesus.
  • Do: Seek HOPE. Share HIM – Share HOPE.

 “Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.” 1 Peter 3:15 (NLT)

• • Repeat: Keep shouting JESUS IS COMING!

Your sister in Christ,