I wrote this series for a presentation at my church. The reader read what I had written and then lit a candle on the communion table. A holy hush entered the room during the reading of these concepts. It was a beautiful moment of glorious transcendence in honor of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

• Post 1 – Love at Christmas
• Post 2 – Joy at Christmas
• Post 3 – Peace at Christmas
• Post 4 – Jesus at Christmas
• Post 5 – Hope at Christmas

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HOPE

WHAT COMES TO MIND when you think of hope?  Is hope what makes the future bright or helps you with the struggles of the day? We see the face of hope in the smile of a baby looking up at its mother. Hope is a bill that gets paid when it didn’t seem possible. There is hope in a sunrise with its promise of a new beginning.

We find hope in the smallest blessing that is ours each day. The presence of hope often parallels the shadows of our steps.

Were we to search for hope’s place of origin, I believe it would lead us on a journey back through time to the ancient garden of Eden. There we would see a young couple distressed with their new found awareness of personal guilt, a burden of fear and sadness. But next to them we would see God speaking words of comfort as He unveils a reason for them to persevere.

We could then see it, hope, in the form of a promise, a promise to be fulfilled in the birth of the Lord Jesus, the Savior of the world.

Yes, it is God who gives us a reason to hope.

If we look at the blessings which are hidden in our days, we will find God. In finding Him, we receive hope.  Hope speaks to the future and says; each day has its purpose, each heartache its comfort, and each gift, its Giver.

Hope is found in a promise.

JESUS

The blessings of love, hope, and peace can be likened to strands in a rope that when wrapped together as in twine become something strong and mighty. The rope’s strength and power is derived from its source, a material that is like no other. 

In our lives what is that source? The Source is Jesus: He who came to this world as a little infant in swaddling clothes; He who was and is the foundation of all these wonderful blessings.

Jesus came to offer us hope to help us each day. He came to give us peace to calm our hearts. But Jesus did not stop there. He said that if we surrender and rest in Him we will know abundant joy and the fulfilling of our heart’s desire.

Jesus through the sacrifice of His own life is able to extend grace to us with a redeeming love. Only Jesus and His heavenly Father could write the Christmas story that we celebrate today.

Through these words connected with the first Christmas story, I hope you have turned your gaze toward Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and have seen Him in His glory and His majesty.   

To God be the Glory.

Next: Post 5: HOPE at CHRISTMAS