Hope - Advent Devotional Day #1

“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” -Romans 5:5

Hope is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen”. Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, prophets were preaching that a savior would come, these prophets and those who believed their prophecy had this feeling of hope. They expected and desired the day Jesus would come. On the first Sunday of Advent, we light the hope candle. Also known as the “prophecy candle”, we light this so we can have a reminder that God fulfilled the prophecies in the Old Testament about Jesus.

Our bible verse says “hope does not put us to shame…” When Paul said this, he meant that our hope for God’s kindness and generosity is valid and upheld. Paul says “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us,” which gives us the reassurance of our beliefs and that God will always keep his promise.

Having hope will give us the determination to get where we want to go, to get what we wish. Hope will keep us going toward our goals. Wishing for something is not enough, we must work for what we hope.

Prayer

Dear God,

Thank you for this day and this season of preparation for the coming of Your Son. I thank You for Your unconditional love that makes us full of hope. Amen.