What Are You Hoping For?

We have arrived at the season of Advent and there seems to be mixed emotions about this Christmas season.

There is so much upheaval in the world that many people are just physically and emotionally tired. People are skeptical that the future could hold anything good. Their hope is hanging in the balances.

However, the atmosphere of our world today is not unlike the climate Jesus was born into about 2,000 years ago.

Jesus was born into a world that was ruled by ruthless leaders. Caesar Augustus, Emperor of Roman, was tax-hungry. He had made a decree that all the world be taxed, and heavily taxed it was.

Herod the Great, was king of Judea, over the Jews. He was known for being brutal. He was a murder and behaved like what we could call today, a terrorist.

Jesus came into a world under dictatorship rule and oppression.

If you think about it, knowing what we know now, having gone through so much upheaval, makes a person wonder why God would send His only begotten Son into this world during such an unpleasant time? And why in such a peculiar way, Mary, being a virgin and unwed?

An oppressive time and controversial circumstances. This would sound to many as being so far fetched and what they would believe to be so unlike God. “God would never do anything like that!”

The story of Jesus’ birth proves to me that God can manifest in my life beyond what I think is “logical” or what is “practical”.

In a time when there seems to be no Hope, this gives me Hope!

What are you hoping for?

This is not the time to stare at the world circumstances or your personal circumstances and decide they are hopeless!

God brought to earth His Son, Jesus, in the worst of times. This is the time to believe that the greatest things you will ever see are about to arrive on your door step.

Many people are afraid to hope. They are afraid that they will be disappointed. I look at it this way: if I believe my whole life for something and it doesn’t happen, then it wasn’t because I was not willing to believe. I didn’t lose anything because I didn’t have it to begin with.

One of my fears is to get to heaven and have the Lord tell me that I could have received a healing. I could have helped my neighbor get their healing. I could have had blessings to share with others but I stopped believing!

It takes hope to believe. The thought that my loved ones and I could miss out because I gave up believing, because all of a sudden it looked hopeless, is a terrible thought to live with.

Romans 8:25 (AMP)

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait eagerly for it with patience and composure.

How do you keep your Hope strong?

Pray! Pray Everyday!

Pray Fervently!

There is a saying that “Christmas is for Children.” Matthew 18:3 says, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Part of what this scripture refers to is the condition of a person’s heart.

Do you have wonder? The wonder of a child? Do you have expectation? The expectation of a child that anything can happen? Do you have delight in your heart? The delight of a giggling child at the simplest of things?

If you do, it is easier to stir your hope because children believe in the impossible.

I did a search on the internet for unbelievable things children ask for Christmas. This is what I found posted by three different mothers:

When my daughter was 3 she asked for a real humpback whale.

My daughter, when she was 4, asked for a mountain & a rainbow. We got her a light that reflected a rainbow on the wall. She was out of luck on the mountain.

My 3-year-old son asked me for an ice cream truck that he could drive to school.

In Grand Forks there is a store I love to visit. Recently, the store had a Christmas Open House. George was with me and I saw this Christmas decoration. It was five feet tall and I actually had seen it in the store the previous year at Christmas time. I said, “Look George it is still here!” I was so excited and I was just in wonder over it. George said “Yes, it is only $245.00.”

I smiled to myself because I could then see how ridiculous this item was to George. It was not practical to him to have such a big thing to store ten or eleven months of the year because you only display it for a month and a half out of the year and it was to the tune of $245.00.

But I started to laugh because it wasn’t ridiculous to me at all. The child in me was saying “Why Not? It isn’t Impossible.” I didn’t allow his point of view to rob me of my joy and wonder.

When we are faced with an illness in our lives that the doctor has diagnosed terminal, that child in our hearts should come to life as a child at Christmas time. “Be Healed! Why Not? It’s not Impossible for Jesus!”

So . . . What are you Hoping for?

You are never too old to have wonder or expectation or delight in your heart. No pandemic, no economic melt down, and no corrupt leaders can steal that from you if you don’t let them.

This last year has been a challenging time for all people. People have lost loved ones, lost jobs, and lost their businesses. People have retreated into their homes and are afraid to come out.

John 10:10b (NIV)

“I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

Jesus said these Words in the book of John. If we are not intentional about keeping our hope strong and if we are intentional about coming before the Lord as a child, then we can’t receive the promises of the scriptures.

I don’t know about you but I want what Jesus promises. I want the life He has to offer and I want it more abundantly.

Merry Christmas

George and I wish you all a blessed Christmas!

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We are so thankful for you!

In His Service,

George and Lorraine Halama

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