"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In HOPES that St. Nicholas soon would be there"
IN HOPE~
confident expectation that something good was going to happen.
Aren't we all waiting for something or someone.
What are you waiting for?
Did you know your wait stops now,
because whatever you are waiting for is found under
the swaddling cloths that clothed
THE BABY
that the world waited for.
When JESUS was born
there was a desperate need in a helpless hopeless world,
due to the 'ole sin nature inside all of the people
who were just like us.
Sin~
that separates us from GOD
It was at that time
when the external sacrificial practices to atone for sin,
had no power to change the hearts of man.
I feel GOD threw up HIS hands, and said to JESUS~
"Go down there my boy. They just don’t get it.
They just can’t get it right.
It is time to help them once and for all "
So
THIS BABY
became
the BETTER WAY
the ONLY WAY
because the old way wasn’t working.
The BETTER HOPE~
"A better hope (JESUS) is introduced,
by which we draw near to GOD” (Hebrews 7:19).
THE BETTER HOPE
which brings us into the presence of GOD!
THE BETTER HOPE
in all things,
than anything or anyone where we place our HOPE.
HOPE born into our helplessness.
Isn’t that what HOPE is~
HOPING things change, HOPING that they get better?
THIS BABY
birthed a better way,
when HE became the LIVING HOPE
because
JESUS is the PERFECT GIFT.
HOPE~
A confident expectation and desire.
A confident expectation that good things are coming.
HOPE is certainty.
It isn’t the “maybe it will happen" kind of HOPE,
because
THE BABY
could be touched!
HOPE is strong confidence in the promises of GOD.
"HOPE is not a granted wish or favor performed;
no, it is far greater than that.
It is a zany, unpredictable dependence on a GOD
who loves to surprise us out of our socks
and be there in the flesh to see our reaction" (Max Lucado).
HOPE fulfilled in THE BABY.
NEW BIRTH!
“Behold I make things new” (Isaiah 43:19).
Where do you need a newness, a new birth?
What are you HOPING for?
I HOPE I get the job.
I HOPE I can make it through this.
I HOPE my relationship gets better.
I HOPE he/she changes.
I HOPE I can pay the bills.
I HOPE I can get out of bed.
I HOPE I lose 10 pounds....and keep them off.
If JESUS is your HOPE
then the answers to your HOPES do not matter
because
HE IS
always the answer.
JESUS is the HOPE that completes HIS answers for you.
HOPE
is a precious gift that we have to cleave to.
just as a baby cleaves to it's mother we are to cleave to
THE BABY~
our HOPE
for
JESUS is
"THE HEART AND SOUL OF CHRISTMAS" (listen to the song below)