The God of hope

Each morning in my prayer time, I look at one of God's attributes or a facet of His character and praise Him for that.  I also praise Him for how He will bring that quality to bear on some of the situations I will be praying about.

Yesterday morning I looked at the fact that our God is the God of hope.  Romans 15:13, as you see at the top of the post,  tells us that.  It also tells us that He, the God of hope, is able to fill us with all joy and peace in believing.  He does this so that we may abound in hope!  As a believer, I need to be exhibiting that joy and peace and abounding hope right now.  Discouraged, fearful fellow believers need to see that in me.  People who don't know the Lord need to see that in me.  And this can only be done through the inexhaustible power of the Holy Spirit.  Wow!  Therefore,  I need to get out of the way and allow Him to work.  And some days I can't seem to get out of my own way, so this is a challenge for me.

Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary explains that biblical hope is "confident expectancy.  Hope does not arise from the individual's desires or wishes but from God, who is Himself the believer's hope: 'And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in Thee.' (Psalm 39:7)  Genuine hope is not wishful thinking, but a firm assurance about things that are unseen and still in the future.  Hope distinguishes the Christian from the unbeliever, who has no hope.  Indeed, a Christian is one in whom hope resides."

How blessed we are as God's children!

On my front door I have a grapevine wreath twined with silk ivy to which I will add seasonal trims.  In the center of this wreath, for many years now, I have hung a small and very simple chalkboard where I will write brief seasonal messages.  A couple examples are below.

Fall

Winter

For this season, when our state went into the first "Stay at home" order, I tucked silk forsythia into the wreath and added the words "Hope in God" to my little chalkboard.  It just seemed the most appropriate greeting possible in this strange and unprecedented season.  Forgive the blurry photo (and the uneven forsythia sprigs) below:

Just a few more Scriptures from my "God, You are the God of Hope" page in my prayer journal.

"Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God."  (Psalm 146:5)

"Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, 
"Comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work."  (2 Thessalonians 2:16)

"Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD."  (Psalm 31:24)

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?  hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God."  (Psalm 42:11)

I hope these simple thoughts from Scripture have been a blessing to someone today.