Advent Upon Us
Let’s Focus On Our Hope
I have been researching for weeks the origins of Advent. This past Sunday was the first day of Advent. Advent means the coming or arrival of a notable person or event. Scripture does not tell us to practice Advent, and there are no actual origin dates when the Church began to practice it.
When the Church set December 25th as the day of celebrating the birth of our Savior, then the early Church began to practice Advent. They focused on the second coming of our Lord for the first two weeks of Advent and then would focus on the manger the last two weeks leading up to Christmas Day. Today, we focus on the coming of the babe in the manger for four weeks.
For the next four weeks, amid all the crazy Christmas goings, let’s focus on the babe. The One who gives us hope when there seems there is no hope for the world we live.
Galatians 4:4 reads, But when the fullness of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons and daughters.
For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6
I can say that we are definitely in need of a shot of hope! We can have HOPE. I don’t know where you find yourself today, but we can place our hope in God, who saw our need for a Savior and met that need when we were desperate for hope.
The world around us needs hope. We ministry leaders need hope. As we focus on the fulfillment of prophecy, we can renew our hope. We serve a God who sees and has a plan. We can place our hope in Him and know He will do what He says He will do in His time.
Bible Scholars have concluded that over three hundred and fifty prophecies from the Old Testament are fulfilled in the New Testament. Please look at these and rest secure in HOPE. Hope that comes from the One we worship this season.
Loving you and cheering you on in hope this season!
Diane
Meet Diane
Diane is the director and founder of Contagious Joy 4 Him, a network of encouragement to ministry wives around the globe. Thirty-six years ago, she married her husband, pastor/professor, Dr. Preston Nix. He is a professor of evangelism and evangelistic preaching at NOBTS. They have two biological daughters, two spiritual-grown daughters, two grands, and two son’s in-laws.
Diane’s life bears the scars of addiction, abuse, loss, and dysfunction. She remembers being drawn to spiritual things. Searching for the One who could bring peace, she found her Savior, Jesus Christ! And soon after her salvation, she surrendered to ministry. She has never looked back!
Diane has lost all material possessions on two different occasions. Once by a house fire and another by Hurricane Katrina. She has survived a life-threatening illness, with aftereffects that still impact her today. A speaker and author of the book, When God’s Woman Wants to Give Up! Diane sheds light on “never giving up” amid trials. She is also a contributing author to LifeWay’s Ministry to Women blog, and most recently Broadman and Holman’s Daily Devotional for Women and The Psalms and Proverbs Devotional for Women. She is an author, speaker, vlogger, and blogger. Connect with her personally on Facebook and Instagram, or her ministry at Facebook and Instagram.
