Behold He Comes, Bringing Hope

(Advent, waiting for the coming of Christ. He came once, as the Christmas babe we greet; one day He will come again to set things right. For the four Sundays of December we will celebrate Advent by finishing the statement: Behold he comes, bringing... with a final installment on Christmas Day.

Jesus entered a dark world. For 400 years God had been silent. His promise of a Savior must have seemed empt, just words. But Jesus came, and with Him, hope!

Today, in a world where all hope seems to be vanishing, our Lord comes to us, bringing a hope that will endure!

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
(Lamentations 3:21-26)

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27)

...we wait for the blessed hope -- the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good (Titus 2:13-14).

My prayer for you this Christmas day, and for the year ahead, is this:
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13)