November 17, 2014

Hope: November 17, 2014




TODAY'S WORD FOR MONDAY NOVEMBER 17, 2014.

HOPE

DEFINITION:

To want something to happen or be true and think that it could happen or be true; the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out well; to desire with expectation of obtainable.

SCRIPTURE:

Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Several weeks ago we were watching television and listened to a reporter who was on the streets of New York City. He was asking questions of those who were walking by him. He asked one of those he was talking to if they were hopeful for good things to happen in America. Her response was quick and short: “I have no hope in my life. This world offers me nothing so I just live for what is good for me each day.”

We begin our conversation today about hope by asking if you have hope in your life. With today’s headlines we need hope for our future and that hope begins with us having a relationship with Jesus and putting our trust in Him.

Hope is a blessing we receive as a result of our faith in a righteous, all knowing, all powerful God who loves and cares about us and sent His Son Jesus to die for us on the cross, paying for our sins, and to give us a hope and a future.

We want to share with you today the hope that David, Joshua and Paul had in their lives that kept them going. We can learn from what they found to be true in their lives.

Psalm 31 is David’s prayer to God. In it he speaks of his problems and his afflictions, his need for God’s mercy, his complete trust in God, and praises God for His goodness. He closes in verse 24 by reminding us who have hope in the Lord to be strong and take courage because God will be with us just as He was with David.

These same words were spoken by Moses to Joshua in Joshua 1:7. Courage is used 20 different times in the Old Testament and is always used in anticipation of a battle and always at least inferred that His promise is to those who have their hope in the Lord.

David experienced many battles in life. He was a giant killer, a victorious warrior, and a great King. In his personal life he did make serious mistakes, but he always sought God’s forgiveness. It is neither his failures nor his greatness that David is remembered for. He is respected and remembered for his faithfulness to God. David put his complete trust and all of his hope in the Lord.

We as believers today can take this Psalm and apply it to our lives when we feel our situation is hopeless. When we feel hopeless we feel defeated. If we want victory in our life over hopelessness we must remember wherein our hope lies.

This is the necessary key factor that cannot be ignored, which David points out in the last few words of this verse: “all you who hope in the Lord.” Our hope must be in the Lord who is the one who gives us strength and courage. When our hope is in the Lord we can have confidence that God will be with us in the battles of life.

We all have seen or been in situations in life where things seem hopeless. David knew what it was to be in great despair because he had often felt he was in a hopeless situation. In life we are all in need of hope. Hope is what keeps us going.

The reason David encourages us to be of great courage is because in God he found his hope and we can do the same. God will give us strength, just as he gave David, to get through our times of hopelessness. Only a person that believes in Jesus can have this hope and that is why we continually in these devotionals remind you that you need to know Jesus as your Savior.

When you commit to living your life honoring God, He will be faithful to you and will always hear your cry for help in your time of distress and hopelessness. For those that do not know Jesus, they do not have that hope available to them. Their hope is in themselves and in their own strength or in things of the world. Hope in the wrong things or in the wrong people will doom them to a life of discouragement and hopelessness because in troubled times these things will fail and they will have no one to turn to.

Paul tells us in Titus 2:12-13 that we should live godly lives in this present age, looking for the blessed hope. Paul refers here to the second coming of Christ to this world and the blessed hope we have as believers to return with Him to an eternity with God.

In Romans 5:5 we are reminded that our hope in God does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit to reassure us of our salvation. Keep your hope strong in the Lord and each day He will bless you and not disappoint you. He is our hope.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Colossians 3:16.

Let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

PRAYER:

How thrilled I am to have the hope of eternal life in my heart. I am grateful that my hope in You does not disappoint. Keep me strong and courageous as I face the struggles and concerns in my life.




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