Sometimes I am accused of being too joyful and hope-filled. But come on! Is there such a thing as being too hopeful? Not in my book because my hope is in Christ and there is not such a thing as having too much Christ. You see, my joy or hope is not based on circumstances, wishful thinking, or denial of pain. My hope is based on God and his Word telling me God will have the last word and not…
As long as there’s life there’s hope, they say. And sure, that’s true: nothing is over until you take your last breath. What about turning the saying around: as long as there’s hope, there’s life. Because that’s how I see it. As longs as we have hope, we are alive. Even beyond death. As long as we have Jesus, we have Life. And when we have Jesus, we do have hope always. Nothing can take it away from us. Because hope…
Christian hope is a different kind of hope. It’s not based on wishful thinking or false hope. Christian hope does not depend on our own positivity and we are not hope-makers either. Instead, Christian hope is based on Christ and what he has done for us. Jesus is our hope. And that hope never lets us down. How freeing it is to realize that God is the source of hope. He is always the same. Hope is also not something…
Do you dare to hope when there’s no reason to hope? Do you dare to hope when your life as you’ve known it has been taken over by a razing storm? Do you dare to hope when life has become bitterness and poison? I hope so. I’ve been there. Everything but God was taken from me. But God was more than enough. I can testify that God is faithful. That’s why I can assure you: God will also see you…
I didn’t realize the word ‘hold’ is such a hope-filled and faith-saturated one. I was doing a search at Biblegateway.com and found an abundance of faith-affirming and uplifting verses that had the word ‘hold’ in them. Here are my favorites: Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands. (Matthew 10:28, MSG, emphasis added*) We…
Do you know it is possible to hope even when there is no hope? I was stunned by this discovery as I was once again reading the fourth chapter of the letter to Romans. That’s where Paul reminds us of Abraham as an example of faith. How Abraham did not focus on his impotence but on God’s competence. Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping (NLT). Hoping against hope, he believed (NRSV). For Abraham, human reason…
Hope is not dead. Hope is very much alive. No matter what the world wants you to think. No matter what you are experiencing. No matter what is going on in your life. Sure, we must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope like Martin Luther King, Jr. put it. Hope is not dead. How do I know this? Because the Bible tells so. Hope is not dead because the tomb was empty. Hope is not dead because Jesus…
