By Verlyn Mahaffey
Do you remember the two bands mentioned in Sunday’s testimony by Jen Goss? I don’t! She said this is what we would probably remember. But what I do remember is the word HOPE! Within her testimony she shared how the people in a certain country for 20 years told the story through art of how people were killed when a bomb was dropped and many, many died. And this is what was passed on from generation to generation! Then she shared a wonderful truth with these artists that they should begin to pass on a story of HOPE! I said yes, the story of HOPE! We have this Lord, a wonderful, powerful, life changing HOPE, a LIVING HOPE in Jesus to live in and pass on:
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you.” (I Peter 1:3-4 NIV)
Life has pain, hurts, disappointments, disruptions, but my HOPE is in God, not my circumstances, not in this world, not in other people! We are promised that there is an inheritance that will never perish and is kept in heaven for us. The Psalms are rich in expressing man’s feelings and thoughts and the thoughts of God in showing us Himself. Look at Psalm 33:18-22:
“But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.”
Now this is true HOPE to be passed on, a HOPE that is based on the true nature and character of God. You can with all confidence say that you are never hopeless. Think about it! There is no circumstance, no time in your life that you could possibly be hopeless if you are trusting in God. Now if I can only live like I truly believe this!
A prayer from the Psalms for this week: “Lord, when doubts fill my mind, when my heart is in turmoil, quiet me and give me renewed hope and cheer.” Psalm 94:19 (Living Bible)
(A plug for our spiritual journey starting August 29: Psalms: Lament to Praise….Encounters with God!)
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