The Hope of Advent

Hold Onto the Prince of Peace Evermore

I wish you a most blessed second week of Advent!  Last week’s theme was peace.  I pray you are successful in ‘being the peace’ in your world.  It is not always easy but with intention you can live in the peace Jesus died to give you.

Live with purpose seeking first the Kingdom of God and all will be added unto you.  Keep His peace in your heart (for it is always a heart issue) throughout the year and it will emanate to those around you.

What is Your Hope?

This week let us concentrate on hope.  The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines hope as both “a feeling that something good will happen or be true” and “someone or something that may be able to provide help:  someone or something that gives you reason for hoping.”

To hope is to expect and to believe that in time the good thing you desire will come to pass.  What are you hoping for?  Is it for a healing of relationship, mind, or body?   Do you hope for employment, relocation, safety?

Whatever your hope is, couple that hope with faith and prayerful belief and know that if it is God’s best for you He will provide in His way and in His time.  Continue to hope even if you do not yet see change.  God is a God of fulfilled promise and He is never late.

To live with hope is to live with expectation refusing to accept defeat. 

 His promises are yes and amen to those who seek Him and are called according to His purpose.  Stay ever close to Him and He will be ever close to you, directing you to His best for you.

Who is Your Hope?

The second part of the definition of hope is that “someone” gives you reason for hope.  For Christians hope lies in Jesus Christ.  He is the hope of your calling. His Word is the hope to sustain you each day.  His promises are the hope for eternal life.

To live without Christ is to live without hope.  In the darkest hour His light shines hope into every situation. 

Whatever you may have done that you feel keeps you from Him, leave it behind today.  His forgiveness covers all and His love heals all.  With a repentant heart (for it is always a heart issue) seek Him today and know that once forgiven your sins are recalled by Him no more.

Do not let another day go by that you are plagued by past iniquities.  Seek forgiveness, seek Him, and receive the hope of His salvation.

If you have never accepted Jesus into your heart, or, if you have drifted away in any capacity take a moment now to welcome Him as Lord of your life.  He will never leave you or forsake you.  This is the hope of your calling in Him.

Be Hope

With hope in your heart spend this week supporting others in their hope.  Each person holds hope in their heart for something.  You need not know any specifics.  Just know that hope keeps people going forward.  Be kind, be loving, and be hopeful to all you encounter.

Remember to post the word ‘hope’ where you can see it this week as a reminder. You may be the very messenger God sends to fuel another’s hope! 

Quotes to Ponder This Week

 “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”  Jesus, Mark 11:24

“And now, Lord, what do I wait for?  My hope is in You.”  Psalm 39:7

“For You are my hope, O Lord God…”  Psalm 71:5a

“I hope in Your word.”  Psalm 119:147c

 “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”  Romans 5:3-5

“But if we hope for what we do not see, then we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.”   Romans 9:25

 “…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints….” 

Ephesians 1:17-18

 “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”  2 Corinthians 1:20

“For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?  Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.”  1 Thessalonians 2:19-20

“But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.”  1 Thessalonians 5:8

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope…grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.”  1 Timothy 1-2b

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  Hebrews 11:1

“And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”  1 John 3:3

A Prayer Request

Thank you for your continued faithfulness to pray.  Please keep all who serve our country, our servicemen and women and their families in prayer for salvation and safety.  They are our front-line on the battlefield, let us be their front-line in the spirit.  Also, let us cover all who have come home wounded that they and their families will receive the kindness, help and support they need to go forward in their lives.

God bless all our diplomatic and military personnel and their families.  May the Lord keep them safe.  Pray for all throughout the world for hedges of protection against radical Muslim extremists and all forms of terrorism.   We have long prayed for spiritual victory over radical Islam in Esther’s Warriors Ministry. We now see the reality of this threat come to the forefront in this time in world history.

Please pray for all in authority over us.  May God richly bless the United States of America, bring to light every single crooked place and keep her safe.  May we may arise united once again as One Nation Under God in this auspicious season in our country’s history.

We continue to pray for truth to prevail as we saturate this country in prayer and stand for all that is right in America and for all of us who call ourselves American.  These are treacherous times and now more than ever we must maintain our walk.  Fail not in this hour.

 It Is Never Too Late!

If you have not yet made the decision to accept Jesus Christ into your heart, do it now.  Do not wait another minute.  Speak to Him from your heart (for it is always a heart issue).  Tell Him you have fallen short in your life.  Sincerely apologize for your sins.  Ask Him to cleanse you and come into your heart and be Lord over your life.   From this moment forward, let His Spirit guide you along the narrow road that leads to everlasting life!

Calling all Prayer Warriors

Please join us in prayer:  https://drmicheleburke.org/esthers-warriors-ministry/

Please keep our military and their families in prayer. Their life is a life of service to keep us all free and safe.

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Remember, it is always a heart issue!

For it is written:

“Yet who knows whether you have come to the Kingdom for such a time as this?”

Esther 4:14

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