ALWAYS LIVING IN HOPE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone. For my enemies speak against me; those who wait to kill me conspire together. They say, “God has forsaken him; pursue him and seize him, for no one will rescue him.” Do not be far from me, my God; come quickly, God, to help me. May my accusers perish in shame; may those who want to harm me be covered with scorn and disgrace.

As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise You more and more.

My mouth will tell of Your righteous deeds, of Your saving acts all day long — though I know not how to relate them all. I will come and proclaim Your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord; I will proclaim Your righteous deeds, Yours alone.

Psalm 71:9-16

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

“As for me, I will always have hope.”

These words from David are ones we should not allow to go unnoticed or unsaid ourselves.

For David, difficulty and danger came through enemies who conspired against him with the intent to kill him. Those opposing David thought that he was without God to help and rescue him, and thus easy pickings for capture and subsequent murder. But his enemies were wrong. 

For even in the midst of hardship and possible harm, David declared the one thing he had that no one could ever take away from him. He had hope and not just any hope but a hope he would have always.

Do you see yourself as a person of hope? Do you in any life circumstance show others that you will always have hope like David had? If you are a Christian, your answer should always be yes.

For Jesus Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice when He died for the sins of all mankind. He died for my sins and yours – and asked for nothing in return except that we would receive His gift of life eternal freely by committing our lives to Him completely, just as He committed His life fully to us. When we do this, we not only receive the gift of eternal life but we also receive the gift of eternal hope, a hope that cannot be surrendered or taken away, a hope that is always with us. You might lose sight of hope but it is always still there with you all the same. And when this temporal worldly life if over, it is still hope that remains and ushers us into an eternal existence with God the Father and Jesus, His Son and our Savior.

Do you have this hope in your life today?

The Bible has more to say on hope. Consider these passages:

“We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 1:3

As Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, he acknowledged that the endurance the church had shown in their infancy was born from their hope in Jesus. In other words, hope is what allowed the church to make it day by day – and it’s what will help get us through as well. Hold onto your hope and you will persevere through any and all difficult times. 

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” Romans 15:4

Where would we be without God’s word? We would find ourselves void of the teaching and instruction the Lord brings through the scriptures and miss out on the encouragement the Bible provides us. Through it, we are ever reminded of the hope we have in Christ Jesus, a hope given to us through the love of God the Father.

Finally, look at this word from Paul’s letter to the Hebrews:

“God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.  God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.  We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Hebrews 6:13-20

When we receive Jesus as Savior, we become co-heirs to a great inheritance started by Christ Himself when He ascended to sit at the right hand of God the Father. As co-heirs, we too will join God and Jesus one day forever eternally and as Paul writes, this truth becomes “an anchor for the soul.” Indeed, we are secure in life, tethered down when faced with life’s storms by the anchor of hope, a hope that is always with us.

It’s this eternal hope that allows us to persevere as we know that no matter what life brings, the best is yet to come when this life journey ends. It’s this hope that brings us encouragement as we consider the joys of living forever with none of the things that afflict us in our worldly existence, things like sin and suffering and pain. And it’s this eternal hope that keeps us anchored no matter what life brings our way. Through Jesus and His promises, we will not be moved or shaken as we place our full faith and trust in Him.

Yes, hope is with us always and is our constant companion. I pray you have the hope found in Jesus today. If not, why not accept Him as your Savior and receive the eternal hope that is only found in Him. It’s free and ready for you to receive today.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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