Abounding in Hope

This world is full of disappointments, heartaches and sadness. Wouldn’t it be great to have hope?! How about to be abounding in hope?

Abounding means to have or possess in great quantity, existing in or providing a great or plentiful quantity or supply.

I do not know your situation or what you have been dealing with, but God knows. There have been times in my life when I have felt a sense of hopelessness, stemming from helplessness. I think we all go through it at one time or another. The important thing to note, is to NOT stay in the state or feeling of hopelessness. Easy to say, but harder to do.

How can you and I find hope? The world shifts under our feet, people let us down, we let people down, life is hard. Can someone just tell me how?!

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 (NKJV)

God has the answer. in fact, He IS the answer. He IS a God of hope and He fills His children with hope. Filled, not just a tiny quantity…but abounding in hope! He knows we need it to survive and thrive here. Not that all of our problems magically disappear but it puts them in a brighter perspective, knowing that God IS in control.

We are given a hope that does not disappoint, because this hope comes from Gods love directly poured into our hearts, it is a hope that helps us hold on and endure hardships and pain.

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:5 (NKJV)

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and we walk with God, we receive within us, the power of the Holy Spirit.

After Jesus was resurrected and ascended to heaven, a Helper was given to all believers. Look up John 16:5-15 and see the Power believers are given!

The Holy Spirit was given to us by God to help us. If we choose to allow the Holy Spirit to guide and help; we can experience joy and peace during our darkest times. He will walk with us through our troubles, sorrows and heartaches.

We need to hold on to hope. There will come a day when all will be made right and evil will be defeated and forever erased!

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, as the former things have passed away.” Revelations 21:4 (NKJV)

May you abound in the hope of God, and may He fill you with His peace and joy.

I AM the Life

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” John 14:6

Life, a precious gift given to us by our Creator God. From the first breath He breathed into Adam to the last breath He breathes into mankind, it is a gift. The opposite of life is death.

Death came into the world in the garden of Eden. When Eve was tempted by the serpent and she believed a lie. The lie was that God was not trustworthy.

“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’? And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;  but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:1-5 NKJV

The serpent says, “Surely you will not die.” He made Eve doubt the God she knew. She doubted His guidance. Maybe she thought about what could happen…she could be like God. She never thought about the long- term consequences of her disobedience. Consequences we are still reeling from today.

SIN. Sin entered our world.

The perfect garden. The perfect relationship with God was gone.

What do we get from sin? From being disobedient? Romans 6:23 gives us the grim answer, “The wages of sin are death.”

We all have sinned, which equals dead in our sin and separated from God.

” For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Romans 3:23 NLT

Remember what Jesus said! “I am the Life.” Read on my friend, we have Hope.
“And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Romans 8:10-11 NLT

Jesus sets us free

If we believe in Him, He will give us life. Death no longer has a hold on us. We are no longer slaves to sin. He sets us free. Perfect Jesus, His ultimate sacrifice on the cross reconciled us with the Father. He gave His life to redeem us. He rose again on the third day! Woo Hoo! He conquered the the grave to set us free from sin and death and give us new life.

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2 NJKV

“Therefore if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed.” John 8:36 NKJV

Jesus tells us the truth that He is the Truth & Way and again He says He is the Life

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26

Do you believe this?” You have free will to choose for yourself.
Choose Jesus, choose LIFE.

Sorry, I am not an artist but I hope you can see my point 🙂