hope – Fourth Day Adventures

The first candle of Advent represents Hope.

Merriam Webster defines hope as follows:

intransitive verb

1: to cherish a desire with anticipation <hopes for a promotion>

2 archaic:trust

transitive verb

1: to desire with expectation of obtainment

2: to expect with confidence :trust

Where is my hope?

People like Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:26-38) longed to see the Messiah. They were rewarded for their faithfulness. When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple, they knew he was the promised one. Imagine they held in their arms the one they long to see.

Meditation: Do I long for Christ’s return? Do I even think about Jesus’s return on a regular basis? If I daily think about HIs return and have confidence that He will return, would I live my life differently?

Prayer: Each day during this season, I will pray “Come, Lord Jesus” an echo of John’s words in Revelation 22.

Action: Go out each day and look towards the eastern sky. And think about Christ’s return and talk with the Lord about helping me to live my life in expectation of his return. I want to hear the words “Well done my good and faithful servant.” I know I am cleansed of my sins. I know I will live with Christ forever. But I want to know He will be pleased with how I lived my life.

First bible verse I ever memorized.

Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

Hope is the belief that a desire we have will happen. Or to wish for something with the expectation that it will occur.

Our hope for salvation in this life and the next rest in Jesus.

John 3:¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life

I understand my hope in Christ; it provides my purpose in life. I think about the lyrics to an old hymn when I think of the word hope.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

But when we look at agape love; a characteristic of this type of love is hope. Agape hopes always. This is a hope not directed towards ourself, but a hope focused on others.

I started looking up quotes on hope and hopelessness. The concept of hopelessness almost depresses you just thinking about the word. People face moments of hopelessness during their lives, we are called to share our hope with others. Not just the hope of salvation and heaven. But we should share our hope in the day to day.

But I also think we are to hope for our fellow Christians, our brothers and sisters in Christ. We desire good things in their life and we believe through Jesus these good things will come to them. We share hope for the day to day.

Think about it. Agape hopes all things. We hope for others the good things of God. We desire the rich life, the full life, the promises of Christ and we believe the Holy Spirit will provide them. When you invest this level of care for another, it is hard to tear them down. You build up those who you desire to see reach the heights of the Christian life. You won’t sabatoge them, you will be patient with them because you trust they will succeed.

Hope directed towards others makes it difficult to not care.

Tag: hope

Where is my Hope?

Day 20:Investing Hope in Others