Friday, October 31, 2014
How Great Is Our God?
Most of us have heard the saying, "Nothing is greater than our God." We use these words lightly and we often AMEN this saying, not really taking the time to think about what we just heard. We could think of this problem or that problem, or this situation or that situation but we know that God is bigger than any problem that we could ever face. But why is God so great? Is it his mercy, or his kindness?
The Lord is full of grace and righteousness; truly, he is a God of mercy. Psalms 116:5
Truly nothing is greater than God, nothing is too difficult for him. Is God so great because of the great things that he has done? He delivered Daniel from the mouth of the Lion. He brought down the walls of Jericho. He delivered Jonah from the belly of the whale. And each of us can think of times in our lives in which we know that God intervined and brought us through difficult situations. Surely we can know that God is greater than anything because of his mighty deeds.
Who can speak about all the mighty things the LORD has done? Who can announce all the things for which he is worthy of praise? Psalms 106:2
There are many things about God that I could list that shows his excellent greatness, I've only mentioned a tiny bit of his wonder and his might. Nothing that we could say about him, or what he has done can compare to who he is, and who he is explains his greatness. How can we describe God? One of the ways the Bible describes him is simply God is love. (1 John 4:16).
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16
God is love and 1 Cor. 13:8 says that love never fails. God is love, and love never fails, HE NEVER FAILS. We often think of love as something vague, a feeling or a gesture. In our culture, we don't really even understand what love is in this world. God is greater than anything that you will ever face, he is mighty in deed and his love for you never fails. God's love for you is not a passive love, his love for you is reaching out.
We have no need to fear tomorrow because God is love, and love never fails. We have no need to worry about the past. God is love and love never fails. He will not fail you, he will rise up and take care of those who seek him for shelter. He makes all things beautiful in his time. "Nothing is greater than our God."
The Lord is full of grace and righteousness; truly, he is a God of mercy. Psalms 116:5
Truly nothing is greater than God, nothing is too difficult for him. Is God so great because of the great things that he has done? He delivered Daniel from the mouth of the Lion. He brought down the walls of Jericho. He delivered Jonah from the belly of the whale. And each of us can think of times in our lives in which we know that God intervined and brought us through difficult situations. Surely we can know that God is greater than anything because of his mighty deeds.
Who can speak about all the mighty things the LORD has done? Who can announce all the things for which he is worthy of praise? Psalms 106:2
There are many things about God that I could list that shows his excellent greatness, I've only mentioned a tiny bit of his wonder and his might. Nothing that we could say about him, or what he has done can compare to who he is, and who he is explains his greatness. How can we describe God? One of the ways the Bible describes him is simply God is love. (1 John 4:16).
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16
God is love and 1 Cor. 13:8 says that love never fails. God is love, and love never fails, HE NEVER FAILS. We often think of love as something vague, a feeling or a gesture. In our culture, we don't really even understand what love is in this world. God is greater than anything that you will ever face, he is mighty in deed and his love for you never fails. God's love for you is not a passive love, his love for you is reaching out.
We have no need to fear tomorrow because God is love, and love never fails. We have no need to worry about the past. God is love and love never fails. He will not fail you, he will rise up and take care of those who seek him for shelter. He makes all things beautiful in his time. "Nothing is greater than our God."
Lay Down Your Burdens
There are times when we just come up short. There are times when it is obvious that we don't have what it takes to get the job done. Most of us feel this way at one time or another in our lives. The higher the mountain you are trying to climb, the more you feel the heaviness of your own weight pulling against you. Those that are putting out the greatest effort to acheive something in life are often the ones that face the most opposition. Have you ever wanted to do something good, but felt powerless to accomplish the task? Most people go with the flow in life and never step out of the status quo to try to make a real difference. God gives us strength, and his power as well as the endurance and patience that we need to step out and really make a difference in this world.
We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. Col. 1:11-12
We are living in a time when parents are killing thier kids, and kids are killing thier families. People feel overwhelmed by feelings of hate and depression. We can get this way when we try to carry the weight of our lives all by ourselves. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing. We put out our best effort at dating, at raising our kids, at earning a living, at loving our spouse...but our best efforts will always fall short and leave us feeling empty and void. Each day we have a choice to make, we can let God carry our weight, or we can try to do it ourselves. When we are prayerless and thankless, we are trying to do things in our own best efforts. What we believe is important, but what we actually do is just as important as what we believe.
Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. Zech 4:6
How can we be strong in the Lord? I have taught children for a long time, and I have learned to say things in a way that a child could understand the lesson. I often ask the kids if they have ever watched the ants on the ground. You see this little tiny ant, he is so small that if you picked the ant up and put him in your hand the ant would have no idea where he was...the ant would not know that he was safe in your hand. When you pick this ant up, he goes crazy. He is searching and looking for a way to get out of your hand. You can speak to the ant and say, "Settle down, I will help you." But, the ants ears are so tiny, your voice just sounds like a giant clap of thunder. The little ant hears the thunder of your voice, and gets more afraid. Finally you put the little ant back down, and he finds the biggest load he can and puts this tiny piece of leaf on his back, and he struggles, and he groans and labors. He moves the leaf three inches and he thinks he has done a marvelous thing. To him the leaf is so heavy, but to you it is as if a sneeze of your nostrils would blow the leaf away. Now you are looking at this crazy ant and you are thinking, "If only you would let me help you." But there he is struggling inch by inch with this leaf, that to him is a heavy load. Finally you get bored and just walk away. The enormous power and might that you could have given to the ant to move his little leaf is unused.
Jesus said, Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Will you rest in the hands of Jesus today, or are you running crazy like the little ant. All though we see similarities here between God and ourselves we have got to realize that we are closer to the size of the ant than what we are to the size of God. Why won't we trust him with our burdons? Think of his might and his power, and yet, we chose to struggle along in our own efforts. Lay down your burdons, and he will carry you.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Eph. 6:10
We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. Col. 1:11-12
We are living in a time when parents are killing thier kids, and kids are killing thier families. People feel overwhelmed by feelings of hate and depression. We can get this way when we try to carry the weight of our lives all by ourselves. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing. We put out our best effort at dating, at raising our kids, at earning a living, at loving our spouse...but our best efforts will always fall short and leave us feeling empty and void. Each day we have a choice to make, we can let God carry our weight, or we can try to do it ourselves. When we are prayerless and thankless, we are trying to do things in our own best efforts. What we believe is important, but what we actually do is just as important as what we believe.
Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. Zech 4:6
How can we be strong in the Lord? I have taught children for a long time, and I have learned to say things in a way that a child could understand the lesson. I often ask the kids if they have ever watched the ants on the ground. You see this little tiny ant, he is so small that if you picked the ant up and put him in your hand the ant would have no idea where he was...the ant would not know that he was safe in your hand. When you pick this ant up, he goes crazy. He is searching and looking for a way to get out of your hand. You can speak to the ant and say, "Settle down, I will help you." But, the ants ears are so tiny, your voice just sounds like a giant clap of thunder. The little ant hears the thunder of your voice, and gets more afraid. Finally you put the little ant back down, and he finds the biggest load he can and puts this tiny piece of leaf on his back, and he struggles, and he groans and labors. He moves the leaf three inches and he thinks he has done a marvelous thing. To him the leaf is so heavy, but to you it is as if a sneeze of your nostrils would blow the leaf away. Now you are looking at this crazy ant and you are thinking, "If only you would let me help you." But there he is struggling inch by inch with this leaf, that to him is a heavy load. Finally you get bored and just walk away. The enormous power and might that you could have given to the ant to move his little leaf is unused.
Jesus said, Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Will you rest in the hands of Jesus today, or are you running crazy like the little ant. All though we see similarities here between God and ourselves we have got to realize that we are closer to the size of the ant than what we are to the size of God. Why won't we trust him with our burdons? Think of his might and his power, and yet, we chose to struggle along in our own efforts. Lay down your burdons, and he will carry you.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Eph. 6:10
Show Me Your Glory
We are living in the land of the free. Let freedom ring! Since this is the land of the free, home of the brave, why are so many people in bondage and fear? The path of sin offers us freedom but delivers us to bondage. God promises us a yoke, but leads us to freedom. People are in bondage to many different things. Acarophobia, Bacteriophobia, Claustrophobia, Demophobia, and one of the worst yet, Cacophobia, that is the fear of ugliness. We fear and we fuss and we cuss and we gripe. We do everything except Praise God. Seems like alot of people can't find a church to go to, or a time set aside to praise him. We are in bondage to drugs, lust, cursing, cheating, hating, we have forgotten what it is to truly be free.
In Egypt, the nation of Isreal had become the slaves of the Egyptians. It was the only way of life that they knew. They didn't know any other way to live. That is how we get. We curse and drink, and gripe and fuss and hurt, and we have done this so long that we don't know any other way to live. We just belly up to the bar, and order another one, to try to make it all go away. We fret and worry, and complain and moan, then we go to the doctor to get some pills to make it all go away. We are a nation in bondage.
God sent Moses to deliver the nation of Isreal from their slavery. Once they had left Egypt and were in the wilderness with Moses, many times the presence of God would come down and envelope the mountain, or the tabernacle. This cloud was sometimes described as smoke and it contained the Glory of God. Why were they needing his Glory? They needed the Glory because the Glory contains his power, it means that he has come near. They were in bondage and they needed delivered, and God sent his Glory before them to lead the way.
When God gave the 10 commandments to the nation of Isreal while they were in the wilderness, they saw the Glory of God and heard his voice. And they became afraid, because of their sinfulness.
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die." Exo. 20: 18-19
The people who wanted to stay at a distance from his voice, and that wanted to avoid his glory died in the wilderness. They never did obtain the fullness of God's promise of a land of milk and honey, they never got their full freedom. This is how it is today. If you want to be free, you must approach God yourself. You can't stand at a distance and get your mom to approach God for you, or your priest, or your friend, or even your kids. Sometimes we want others to bring us before God, rather than to approach him ourselves. This will never bring you freedeom, but will always leave you in bondage. Still today, people are afraid of God's voice, and afraid to approach him in all of his glory.
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8
God longs for you to draw near to him, because one touch of his glory, and you will be changed forever.
In Egypt, the nation of Isreal had become the slaves of the Egyptians. It was the only way of life that they knew. They didn't know any other way to live. That is how we get. We curse and drink, and gripe and fuss and hurt, and we have done this so long that we don't know any other way to live. We just belly up to the bar, and order another one, to try to make it all go away. We fret and worry, and complain and moan, then we go to the doctor to get some pills to make it all go away. We are a nation in bondage.
God sent Moses to deliver the nation of Isreal from their slavery. Once they had left Egypt and were in the wilderness with Moses, many times the presence of God would come down and envelope the mountain, or the tabernacle. This cloud was sometimes described as smoke and it contained the Glory of God. Why were they needing his Glory? They needed the Glory because the Glory contains his power, it means that he has come near. They were in bondage and they needed delivered, and God sent his Glory before them to lead the way.
When God gave the 10 commandments to the nation of Isreal while they were in the wilderness, they saw the Glory of God and heard his voice. And they became afraid, because of their sinfulness.
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die." Exo. 20: 18-19
The people who wanted to stay at a distance from his voice, and that wanted to avoid his glory died in the wilderness. They never did obtain the fullness of God's promise of a land of milk and honey, they never got their full freedom. This is how it is today. If you want to be free, you must approach God yourself. You can't stand at a distance and get your mom to approach God for you, or your priest, or your friend, or even your kids. Sometimes we want others to bring us before God, rather than to approach him ourselves. This will never bring you freedeom, but will always leave you in bondage. Still today, people are afraid of God's voice, and afraid to approach him in all of his glory.
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8
God longs for you to draw near to him, because one touch of his glory, and you will be changed forever.
Attitude speaks louder than actions
You have heard it said that actions speak louder than words, well attitude speaks louder than actions. When Bobby and Kristi were little, if they got in an argument I would have each of them apologize to the other. Well, they did the right actions, said the right words, but OH boy what attitude. Do you know that you can say "I'm sorry." with your teeth clinched! The attitude in which we do something means alot. It isn't the gift that a husband brings to his wife that impresses as much as the attitude that he brings it. An attitude that throws the gift on the table, and then says, here it is, without even looking at her- is just useless. My dad coached sports alot, and he was never impressed with the players that had attitude. He would often say, "Put some mustard on that hotdog." Dad was right, players that had attitude had a way of ruining the game for us all.
Have you ever found yourself in the position in which someone else's attitude was the thing that was giving you an attitude. One of the hardest things is when a spouce, a child, a neighbor, a teacher, or someone that we care about comes at us with a bad attitude. I have watched as people spent hours of thier time straining and struggling trying to figure out how to change someone that they care about, so that they would have a better attitude. It's bad to have a loved one say, "I hate you." But, it is even worse for them to utter those words only because you refused to give them MORE money, as if they hadn't already asked for enough! We have to get ourselves in the place where we are no longer willing to let someone else's bad attitudes and bad decisions give us a bad attitude and bad decisions. Attitude is what people use to control other people, it is our nature to do so.
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being
corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; Eph. 4:22-24
God wants us to have a new attitude, but how do we do that when we are so frustrated by someone else's attitude? The scripture says that attitude resides in your mind. Our attitude effects our emotions, but, an attitude is developed in the mind. What is the secret to peace in the mind? God will keep us in perfect peace if our mind is constantly upon him. The more we think about that hurtful thing other person is doing, the more we destroy our own mind. If we place our mind on Christ Jesus and look to him for help, in time, he will bring peace and hope to all things. Why is it that we don't like to take things to God and leave it there? Sometimes it is because we are concerned that we will have to suffer some things before God finishes his work. When someone hurts us, and that is their attitude towards us, it is in our nature to put on the same attitude and hurt them back, but in doing so we lose our own peace of mind and give way to strife that stays with us long after that other person is gone. We must refuse to lower ourselves to their standard, we must keep the attitude of Christ.
Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. 1 Peter 4:1
It is our pride that gets hurt the most when someone is mean to us and causes us strife, and that makes us want to lash out. Don't let your pride get the best of you. Humble yourself under the hand of God and in due season, he will lift you up.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Phil 2:5-7
God can give you the attitude of a peacemaker in your home, your work, even in your own mind.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matt. 5:9
Have you ever found yourself in the position in which someone else's attitude was the thing that was giving you an attitude. One of the hardest things is when a spouce, a child, a neighbor, a teacher, or someone that we care about comes at us with a bad attitude. I have watched as people spent hours of thier time straining and struggling trying to figure out how to change someone that they care about, so that they would have a better attitude. It's bad to have a loved one say, "I hate you." But, it is even worse for them to utter those words only because you refused to give them MORE money, as if they hadn't already asked for enough! We have to get ourselves in the place where we are no longer willing to let someone else's bad attitudes and bad decisions give us a bad attitude and bad decisions. Attitude is what people use to control other people, it is our nature to do so.
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being
corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; Eph. 4:22-24
God wants us to have a new attitude, but how do we do that when we are so frustrated by someone else's attitude? The scripture says that attitude resides in your mind. Our attitude effects our emotions, but, an attitude is developed in the mind. What is the secret to peace in the mind? God will keep us in perfect peace if our mind is constantly upon him. The more we think about that hurtful thing other person is doing, the more we destroy our own mind. If we place our mind on Christ Jesus and look to him for help, in time, he will bring peace and hope to all things. Why is it that we don't like to take things to God and leave it there? Sometimes it is because we are concerned that we will have to suffer some things before God finishes his work. When someone hurts us, and that is their attitude towards us, it is in our nature to put on the same attitude and hurt them back, but in doing so we lose our own peace of mind and give way to strife that stays with us long after that other person is gone. We must refuse to lower ourselves to their standard, we must keep the attitude of Christ.
Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. 1 Peter 4:1
It is our pride that gets hurt the most when someone is mean to us and causes us strife, and that makes us want to lash out. Don't let your pride get the best of you. Humble yourself under the hand of God and in due season, he will lift you up.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Phil 2:5-7
God can give you the attitude of a peacemaker in your home, your work, even in your own mind.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matt. 5:9
The World has Enough Hope Suckers
Have you ever been in a situation in which the doctor is offering you no hope? You have no idea how wonderful it is to hear you have a 50% chance, or 40% chance when you are told there is no hope. I remember the day that the doctor told me at Children's hospital that there was no hope for my daughter. He said, "There is nothing we can do, take her home and make the best mother that you can for her." \ I told the doctor that I believed that God would help her and that she would eventually be able to do things. Later, I looked on the doctor's chart and these words were written, "Mother is in denial" HA! When you are offered NO HOPE, you should be in denial!
We have all heard testimonies of the world that offer no hope. Often people will say things like, "Once an addict, always an addict." Or something like, "All teenagers rebel, it is a part of life." I myself have prayed for many addicts that stayed clean, witnessed several teens that went all the way through puberty without ever rebelling. The world often offers us little to no hope.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Prov. 13:12
There are hope suckers out there in the world. They suck the joy and life out of everything. It is very hard to be paired up with a hope sucker. What does hope do for us? It is hope that causes us to carry on, instead of dragging along.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Rom. 15:13
Our God is a God of hope, and joy and peace. What would happen if every person in the world was overflowing with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit? As many of you know, Angela was born blind, and her eyes roamed different directions at birth. It looked alot like the cookie monster on sesame street, one eye went one way, the other eye went the other way. I still remember the doctor telling me that my baby could not see, and never would see. If I hadn't believed that she could see, I wouldn't have spent all those hours holding up pen lights to see if she would turn to it, and putting different objects in front of her view. Against all hope, I still believed, because I serve a God of hope. Yes, it was hopeless, but, I still had hope because of my faith in God. It became obvious at about age one that she could see some, and her vision has continually gotten better, so then they began saying, likely she will never walk. If I had believed that she could never walk, I would have never spent all those hours leading her from object to object, showing her how to feel her way along. And yes, she can walk independant of me or any objects to help her along now. Then they started saying that she would never be potty trained more than likely. That is a hard thing to hear when your child is already 6 years old. If I had believed that she would never be potty trained I wouldn't have spent all those hours putting her on the potty. I got to the place in which I would put her 15 minutes on the potty, and 15 minutes off of it, but I'll never forget the day that her eyes got this spark, and she went over to her potty chair and sat down to tinkle on her OWN. What a glorious day! We had a party in the McCann household that evening, it was the hope that caused us to carry on, the hope that God was more than able to take a child, no matter what the handicap or IQ and help her move beyond her level of possiblities. My faith was in God.
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be. Rom. 4:18
I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that someone is reading this right now who feels as if they are in a situation, and it is completely hopeless. It may be a hopeless marriage, a hopeless financial crisis, a hopeless relationship with a child, a hopeless drug addiction, a hopeless physical condition like my daugther faced, a hopeless past. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed! There may not be one reason to have hope in the natural way of thinking, but put your mind on the supernatural, there is hope in God no matter how dark the problem is right now. We are living in a day in which everything just sucks the hope and the joy and the peace out of you. We are living in a time in which people are just overwhelmed with the impossibilities, and the darkness of this world begins to close in, because we have lost our hope of a brighter day. It is God that restores, it is God that renews, it is God that fills, it is God that cleanses.
where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me? Job 17:15
You are not without hope and without God in this world. Get up and brush yourself off and press on in the hope in which you were called. What if I had taken the doctor's words concerning my daughter to heart? It took alot of time and effort to help her learn things that she was likely to 'never be able to do' If I hadn't held out hope to that child, today she may not be able to see, or walk, or use the toilet...what are you missing out on in life because you lost hope to get up and make an effort. We lose hope and we stop praying. I have heard people say, "Well, you can pray, but it won't do no good..." Hope suckers. I can't, never did. But to say that God can't or won't is calling him a liar. The truth is that my daughter received help from God to do the things that she is able to do, but, I had to hold on to hope. Will you hold on to hope today?
But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Rom. 8:25
We have all heard testimonies of the world that offer no hope. Often people will say things like, "Once an addict, always an addict." Or something like, "All teenagers rebel, it is a part of life." I myself have prayed for many addicts that stayed clean, witnessed several teens that went all the way through puberty without ever rebelling. The world often offers us little to no hope.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Prov. 13:12
There are hope suckers out there in the world. They suck the joy and life out of everything. It is very hard to be paired up with a hope sucker. What does hope do for us? It is hope that causes us to carry on, instead of dragging along.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Rom. 15:13
Our God is a God of hope, and joy and peace. What would happen if every person in the world was overflowing with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit? As many of you know, Angela was born blind, and her eyes roamed different directions at birth. It looked alot like the cookie monster on sesame street, one eye went one way, the other eye went the other way. I still remember the doctor telling me that my baby could not see, and never would see. If I hadn't believed that she could see, I wouldn't have spent all those hours holding up pen lights to see if she would turn to it, and putting different objects in front of her view. Against all hope, I still believed, because I serve a God of hope. Yes, it was hopeless, but, I still had hope because of my faith in God. It became obvious at about age one that she could see some, and her vision has continually gotten better, so then they began saying, likely she will never walk. If I had believed that she could never walk, I would have never spent all those hours leading her from object to object, showing her how to feel her way along. And yes, she can walk independant of me or any objects to help her along now. Then they started saying that she would never be potty trained more than likely. That is a hard thing to hear when your child is already 6 years old. If I had believed that she would never be potty trained I wouldn't have spent all those hours putting her on the potty. I got to the place in which I would put her 15 minutes on the potty, and 15 minutes off of it, but I'll never forget the day that her eyes got this spark, and she went over to her potty chair and sat down to tinkle on her OWN. What a glorious day! We had a party in the McCann household that evening, it was the hope that caused us to carry on, the hope that God was more than able to take a child, no matter what the handicap or IQ and help her move beyond her level of possiblities. My faith was in God.
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be. Rom. 4:18
I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that someone is reading this right now who feels as if they are in a situation, and it is completely hopeless. It may be a hopeless marriage, a hopeless financial crisis, a hopeless relationship with a child, a hopeless drug addiction, a hopeless physical condition like my daugther faced, a hopeless past. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed! There may not be one reason to have hope in the natural way of thinking, but put your mind on the supernatural, there is hope in God no matter how dark the problem is right now. We are living in a day in which everything just sucks the hope and the joy and the peace out of you. We are living in a time in which people are just overwhelmed with the impossibilities, and the darkness of this world begins to close in, because we have lost our hope of a brighter day. It is God that restores, it is God that renews, it is God that fills, it is God that cleanses.
where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me? Job 17:15
You are not without hope and without God in this world. Get up and brush yourself off and press on in the hope in which you were called. What if I had taken the doctor's words concerning my daughter to heart? It took alot of time and effort to help her learn things that she was likely to 'never be able to do' If I hadn't held out hope to that child, today she may not be able to see, or walk, or use the toilet...what are you missing out on in life because you lost hope to get up and make an effort. We lose hope and we stop praying. I have heard people say, "Well, you can pray, but it won't do no good..." Hope suckers. I can't, never did. But to say that God can't or won't is calling him a liar. The truth is that my daughter received help from God to do the things that she is able to do, but, I had to hold on to hope. Will you hold on to hope today?
But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Rom. 8:25
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