HOPE

There is so much to cover in scripture on hope.
I am overwhelmed by it.
God has been speaking so clearly to me the last few days about hope.
There is one verse He has gifted me with that I have to share.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,
so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Romans 15:13

We serve the GOD OF HOPE. There is no hope to be found anywhere else! But our God is the author and source of all hope!
So who are we to ever feel hopeless if we know Him?
I was feeling hopeless in a situation with one of my little ones. I felt discouraged and defeated.
That was wrong and sinful.
There's no place for hoplessness in our lives as believers! Not even a smidge of it!
We so easily forget, like foolish, ridiculous Israelites, we serve the GOD OF HOPE.
And in the midst of something horrendous, He can fill you with all joy and peace.
JOY AND PEACE.
That's something I haven't had lately in this trial.
I can not only be filled with hope to overflowing, but I can also have joy and peace in the midst of it.
Can I have any of this on my own?
No way Jose.
"...by the power of the Holy Spirit." Only by the powerful God living in us as believers can this happen. If God can raise the dead, He can give me hope, joy, and peace. In fact, He can produce all of the fruit of the Spirit in me. (Gal. 5:22 "And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, and self control.")
Without the Holy Spirit, we are unkind. We are impatient. We lack joy and peace. We are not good. We are certainly not faithful. We are not gentle, and we cannot control ourselves.
Praise God that He decided to come live inside of us when we accepted Him.
Without Him, there is no hope.
With him, there is ALL HOPE!
This sounds simple, elementary. But how many of us are living with hopelessness hidden in our hearts?
Hopeless that things will change.
That our loved ones will come to know God.
That our circumstances will change.
That God will move.
We envision God to be about as powerful as we are. He's not.
We envision Him to be as faithful as we are. He's definitely not.
We think we know what love is aside from Him. We don't.
So take heart. Be filled with overflowing hope today.
Memorize and meditate on this verse as I am. He's faithful and good. He keeps all of His promises.
Praise God today that we serve the God of hope.
And if you don't know Him, today is the day! Enter into a forever union with true love and hope in Him.
To read some good scripture and insight into putting your hope in God alone, read my friend Tamra's blog about this. It's great!