Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

and cry to her

that her warfare is ended,  

that her iniquity is pardoned,

that she has received from the Lord's hand

double for all her sins.

- Isaiah 40:1-2  

      Through His prophet Isaiah, God is bringing words of great hope to His people. If you think about it, hope is only necessary in times of great suffering and brokenness. We wouldn't need hope if everything was right in the world.  

      Yet, we know that this world is broken and suffering exists and therefore, we hope.

      What do we hope in? How is the world going to get better? How will your life come out of your own brokenness? How will all your hopes be fulfilled? The answer from Isaiah is God Himself.  

      The more we realize how desperate our situation is without God, the more we realize just how sinful we really are and how much we need God to cleanse us, restore us, forgive us, and heal us, the more HE will be our hope.

      In this Advent season, we remember that God in Jesus came near so that our hopes may finally be fulfilled. May Christ Jesus be your hope in all of life.

      你們的神說：「你們要安慰，安慰我的百姓！ 要對耶路撒冷說安慰的話，又向她宣告說，她爭戰的日子已滿了，她的罪孽赦免了，她為自己的一切罪從耶和華手中加倍受罰。」        以賽亞書 40:1-2  

      神通過祂的先知以賽亞給祂的子民帶來充滿盼望的說話。如果你想一想，你會發現人只有在遭受極大痛苦和破碎的時候才需要希望。當世界上所有事情都穩妥時，我們不會需要希望。

      然而，我們知道這個世界是破碎的，苦難亦存在，因此我們盼望....    

      我們盼望什麼？世界將如何變得更好？你將如何從破碎的生命中將自己解脫出來？你的所有希望將如何實現？以賽亞的答案就是上帝自己。    

      我們越認識到當沒有上帝，我們的境況將變得多麼絕望，我們就越認識到自己真正有罪，越知道我們需要神的潔淨﹑與祂復和，需要祂赦免我們﹑醫治我們，越知道祂才是我們的希望。    

      在這將臨節期，我們當記念主耶穌的臨近，以致我們的盼望最終得以實現。願耶穌基督成為你一生的盼望。

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