Hope Is Here Devotional | Day Eight

The First Christmas Gift – John 3:16

In a world where there often seems to be little optimism, and the reports we hear often offer nothing but bad news, conflict and war, disease and death, storms, earthquakes, famine and disaster, where can we find hope?

In recent weeks, some song lyrics have been ‘stuck’ in my head, reminding me about where my hope is: “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.”
 

Hope Is Here Devotional | Day Seven

The title of this series, ‘Hope is Here’, is applicable to all scripture from Genesis to Revelation. God’s Word is a letter of hope to a hopeless world, and a love letter to lost people. It contains a message which was suitable for past generations, is relevant for society today, and one that will endure forever!

I have chosen two passages of scripture which highlight the amazing message of ‘Hope is here’.

Read more: Hope Is Here Devotional | Day Seven

Hope Is Here Devotional | Day Six

When traditions have been around for a long time, there can often be uncertainty, and even disputes, over how they originated. For example, the beloved Christmas tree. There are many stories of how the tradition began, but no one is quite sure.
 
One story credits Martin Luther, the towering figure of the Protestant Reformation, with starting the tradition of having a fir tree in his house during the dark winter months. The story goes that Luther brought an evergreen into his home to encourage his wife and children through a cold, dark winter. The evergreen, he said, represented ‘the eternal love of God and the steadfastness of their own faith’. The candles he decorated it with represented the star that led the Magi to Christ.

Hope Is Here Devotional | Day Four

One of my favourite verses in the whole Bible comes from Jesus’ birth narrative in Matthew’s Gospel, words that we hear regularly at Christmas time. The story of Jesus’ birth is admittedly quite strange. Mary was pregnant, yet still a virgin; a baby conceived “from the Holy Spirit” (as Matthew says) rather than naturally; and a disappointed husband-to-be having it all explained to him by an angel in a dream! And another thing that’s strange is that neither Mary nor Joseph are to name the baby. The name comes from the angel: “You shall call His name Jesus.”

Read more: Hope Is Here Devotional | Day Four

Hope Is Here Devotional | Day Three

The cost of living crisis. COVID-19. Global warming. War. Flash flooding. Traffic collisions. Cancer. Shootings.
 
The world is filled with immense pain and suffering. Every single day our TVs, phones, and colleagues inform us of the next bit of bad news. Nobody can escape it. It’s everywhere.
How could there be any sort of good, or hope, in the midst of all the pain?
 
Jeremiah, a prophet who we read about in the Bible, knew all about this. Jerusalem had just been destroyed by the Babylonians, and Jeremiah was heartbroken. With the city in ruins, the temple destroyed, and many people displaced or sold into slavery, we see Jeremiah’s immense grief described in the book of Lamentations, as he wept continually and considered all that had been lost (1:16-17).

Read more: Hope Is Here Devotional | Day Three