Advent Devotion

I know this isn't the way you are supposed to blog--but I've neglected my posts--so I'll just add a few things today that I've written over the last couple of months. This is a devotion that I wrote to go in the Advent Devotion book our church published this December.

1 Peter 1:13
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

At first glance it may seem this scripture is warning us to always be ready for action, for any and all circumstances that come our way. It seems to say if we are ready and in control of ourselves we will triumph over whatever comes our way. But with further study we see a ready mind and self-control are merely a means to an end. The important concept in 1 Peter 1:13 is hope.
Hope is one of those words in our culture that is over used. Much the same as love—I love all kinds of things, from the Divinity that my Noni made every Christmas to my husband Leroy. How can one word adequately convey all these different kinds of devotion? Hope holds a similar concept.
We spent many months hoping for rain during the last year, and we hope our team will win the game this weekend. Our English word hope is derived from the Greek word “elpis” meaning a confident expectation. But, here in the context of this scripture we are looking at biblical hope, a much higher concept. Biblical hope can be defined as biblical salvation. Our biblical hope as Christians is the assurance of the forgiveness of our sin, salvation through Jesus Christ, and an eternity spent with Jesus.
Our biblical hope isn’t a simple wish or an expectation, it is an absolute certainty. Throughout the Old and New Testaments God promises a redemptive hope centered on his Son, Jesus Christ. In Genesis 3, God informs the serpent that Eve’s Seed would crush him. Romans 15, Isaiah says “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations: the Gentiles will hope in him.” Our hope is a gift from God, it enables the renewal of our minds and the self control we will need until Jesus Christ is finally revealed. We look forward, expectantly awaiting the return of our Savior.
Prayer:
Gracious Father,
You alone are worthy of our Hope. Thank you for your gift of Hope, that assurance that we are yours, we are saved for an eternity to be spent with you. Help us to share that gift with everyone around us. Help us to always be ready to give an answer to account for the hope that we possess.
In the name above all names, Jesus Christ I pray,
Amen.
Blessed Assurance
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.
Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.

2. Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
(Refrain)

3. Perfect submission, all is at rest;
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love.