In2theRiver

Good morning from Westminster, MD!

Are you excited for Christmas? This was the topic of my last post (click here to read the post). In the midst of the busyness of the Christmas season, Advent invites us to take a step back and get excited for Christmas. Focusing on hope, peace, joy, and love, Advent reminds us that the arrival of Jesus as a baby changed everything as we anticipate His promised return.

Over the past couple of years, my wife, Jen, and I would do an “Advent Experience Box” with our kids. However, this year the resource we used was no longer available so my wife felt this was an opportunity—an opportunity for us to make our own Hope Realized kids advent activity. I was a bit apprehensive at first but became excited to think about how we could help kids, specifically our own, gain a greater understanding of the hope found in the Christmas story.

Over the past three weeks, Jen and I have sat down to talk about the first three themes of Advent: hope, peace, and joy. This week, as the final week of Advent approaches, we will consider the theme of love. It has been a challenging but fun exercise to consider what specifically we would want to say about these powerful words and their connection to the coming of Jesus. In today’s post, I want to share some of what has come out of this process. So, here we go!

It probably won’t surprise you that I have thought a lot about the meaning of hope. As I went through the process of writing my book Hope Realized, I had to ponder the real meaning of hope. In writing a kids advent devotional, my wife and I really wanted to help our kids grasp the concept of hope as it is topic that can be hard to understand. To do this, we picked the story of the Israelites crossing the Jordan River, a passage that is not necessarily associated with Christmas and Advent. The Israelites had been waiting for a gift God had promised generations before and this was the moment of truth. The Promised Land was right on the other side of the river, but receiving it would require them take a step, both literally and figuratively. God said he would stop the Jordan River, which happened to be at flood stage, so they could cross, but they would have to step in first. They did and the rest is history.

When they crossed the river, their hope was realized—God did just what he said he was going to do. Just like the Israelites, many people were waiting for Jesus, the promised Messiah. Our connection with God was broken and Jesus was coming to fix it. They needed to put their hope in God, that he would once again do what he had promised.

Advent is a season of waiting and the birth of Jesus reminds us that God always does what he says he is going to do. This speaks to the true meaning of hope. It’s not hoping circumstances will turn out the way we desire, it is putting our trust and belief in a God who loves us and wants the best for us. Like the Israelites, we can place our hope in God, trusting that he will keep His promises.

The second week of Advent is focused on peace. We often think of peace as just a lack of conflict, but it is so much more. Humans were created to have a perfect relationship with the God who created them. Unfortunately, this relationship was broken as they chose to walk away from him, and we continue to do the same today. The good news is, from the very beginning, God had a plan to fix it. It was this mission to save us that people were waiting for before the birth of Jesus. In fact, over 700 years before Jesus was born, a prophet named Isaiah prophesied that a king would be born to save the world and would be called prince of peace.

If a king was coming, you would think the announcement of his coming would be given to famous and powerful people. This was what everyone expected as the waited for the Savior God promised. Except that is not what he did. Instead, the first people God chose to tell that Jesus was coming was a group of shepherds. Even they were surprised. Everyone looked down on shepherds and considered them dirty, unimportant people. Not God. He picked the people no one would ever choose to welcome Jesus, the long-promised Savior of the world. As recorded in the Gospel of Luke in the Bible, angels shared the news with the shepherds, declaring, “peace on earth.” That day the angels announced that Jesus came for everyone and that everyone was special to God.

Through Jesus, everyone would be able to find true peace. This was not a temporary peace but rather a lasting peace that comes from a restored relationship with God. When we feel unimportant, we can remember that God loved us so much that he came to earth to prove it and fix his relationship with us. When life is confusing, we can find peace by remembering this truth and trusting that God is with us.

The theme of the third week of Advent is joy. Often, we associate this word with the momentary happiness we experience in life. While being happy is a good thing, joy is something more foundational.

When the angels visited the shepherds, they referred to this joy. Again, as recorded in Luke 2, the angels proclaimed that Jesus came to bring, “great joy.” Different from circumstantial happiness, this joy would be unending. It is a joy that comes from understanding that in Jesus, God came down from his throne and was born as a baby to show you how much he loves and cares about you. To put it another way, the very God who created the world made himself vulnerable so that He could be in a relationship with you.

What does this mean? Well, for one, it means even when we don’t feel happy, we can still feel the joy that comes from knowing Jesus. We can find the great joy the angels promised the shepherds, even when circumstances in our lives aren’t making you happy. It is a joy that flows out of the hope we have in a God who keeps His promises. You were made for joy, and Jesus came to help you find it.

As we enter the final week of Advent, the focus turns to love. My wife and I still need to create a devotional for this theme. This presents an opportunity for you as well. How would you connect the theme of love to the birth of Jesus in a way that brings hope to you and others? I hope you take on this challenge as the Advent season comes to a close.

Christmas presents an opportunity for us to be excited for the day everything changed–the day God came near as a baby. I hope this becomes even more real for you this Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

James Belt

​​Click here​ for more resources to help you bring hope to others, including more information about my book, Hope Realized!