Hope in Jesus by Courtney Smith, Contributing Writer
We often look for hope in many situations. As the holidays come to fruition we hope for families to be together. We hope for love to blossom. We hope for that one special gift on Christmas day. We hope for relationships to come back together in reconciliation. Christmas seems to be the holiday full of miracles and joy which results in an abundance of hope.
Hope can be an amazing feeling of excitement for what is to come. It can also be the only thread that holds us together as we go through tough seasons. Do we really understand what hope means from a biblical perspective? Real Hope should always be found in the Lord. Hope is the confident expectation of Joy. Joy in knowing that we have eternal life with Jesus Christ as long as we have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior.
Real Hope is found everyday through Christ, and we now only have this hope because of what He did for us. God sent Jesus to this earth so that He could die on the cross for our sins. It all started with His birth, which is the true meaning of Christmas. So when we see that hope is ever more present at Christmas time, it is no wonder why.
In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus empowered His disciples to go out and heal the sick, raise the dead, drive out demons, and cleanse those with skin diseases. He had a very important message though for His disciples. He wanted His disciples to go out and do all of this freely. He didn’t want them to take money or even a travel bag, but wanted them to live off of what people offered them.
Instead, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, announce this: The kingdom of heaven has come near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with skin diseases, drive out demons. You have received free of charge; give free of charge. Matthew 10:6-8 NIV
Jesus was empowering His disciples to go out and find the lost sheep to give them hope. He wanted everyone who was broken and lost to be found in Him and to know there is a better life in surrendering to God.
That message has not changed 2,000 years later. Our purpose here on earth is to live a life that sets an example of Christ’s love and exudes the hope that is within us because of our relationship with Him.
The question then remains are we giving freely the message of Christ to others as it was given freely to us? Are we living a life full of the very essence of hope that Christ provides His children?
As Christmas approaches and we celebrate the birth of Christ we have an opportunity to share the love of Christ and bring hope to many people who may have lost it. We can bring that confident expectation of joy to people all around us this season.
Are you up for the challenge?
“You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds, God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.” Psalm 65:5 NIV
Thank you to Courtney Smith for contributing this article to the #RealHope series
Courtney Smith writes for her blog, Women180.
She is also a contributing writer at Sweet Jesus Ministries.
This article is part of the #RealHope blog series and Hope Is Holiday Devotional Study.
For information regarding our current and future studies, visit our Bible study page.
Leave a Reply