Light a Candle for Hope

Hello Beloved! Seasons change swiftly. Not so long ago we were in full preparation for Thanksgiving. Now, we are googling turkey left-over recipes! Sunday, December 1, 2019 marked the beginning of advent. Advent, meaning “coming”, is a time when the Church remembers the first arrival of its savior, Jesus the Christ, and looks forward to His second coming. Each Sunday, in the month of December, a candle is lit and Scriptural reflection shared to celebrate four major Biblical expectations that became flesh in Jesus Christ: hope, peace, joy and love. Join us over the next three weeks as we reflect on how we can eat and drink in a manner that makes the Jesus who gives us hope, peace, joy and love known. 

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So then, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of [our great] God. 
(1 Corinthians 10:31).
[Read in context: 1 Corinthians 10: 20 - 31, AMP]

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Light a Candle for Hope 
Hope is the expectation of a better future tethered only to the reality of who God is. It is a believer grasping to the intangible based on a knowledge of who God is and what He has promised. When we survey His Word and take into account all that He has assured us is yes and amen in Jesus Christ, we cannot help but be moved to offer up thanksgiving. (2 Corinthians 1:20). There is no greater expression of thanksgiving than a life surrendered totally to Him: a life that is colored and perfumed by His very presence and character so that in things great and small He is made known. (Romans 12:1).

It is because He is our hope that we surrender all things now. It is because we’ve believed (relied on) His finished work that we have a future that will not disappoint. (Proverbs 23:17 - 18). And we live in light of what He has done and with anticipation of what He will do each day. We eat and drink in a way that  shows we’ve been with Him and that it is He alone on which we wait. (1 Corinthians 10:31). In our choices about what and when and with whom and how we eat and drink, we seek to be like He is: loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled. (Galatians 5:22 - 23). We are always declaring the worth of what has been done and what is to come-our victorious King!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank you for the hope that we have in your only begotten son, Jesus Christ. We thank you that after years of prophecies, those who waited on You were not put to shame. You arrived via the Virgin Mary in a manger as a babe, lived a holy life, died for our sins and rose on the third day victorious over sin, death and the grave. We thank You for giving us your Holy Spirit to live out our identity as your beloved children-the very righteousness of You in Christ Jesus. We pray for wisdom about how to honor You in everything that we do. We surrender all our lives, including how we approach eating and drinking as a platform for your great love to be put on display. Show us how to walk out, even the most minute details of our lives, in light of our great salvation and your future return. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Learn more about the biblical definition of hope here: 

Jeanette recommends this devotional to center our hearts and incorporate movement for wellness into our lives this Advent. Get yours here:
Walking to the Manger: Four Weeks of Daily Devotions for Advent (2019) By Butch Odom

Happy temple building!

Take care. Bless many.