Good Morning
All,
Romans 15:13; “May the God of hope fill you with all joy
and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in
hope.”
If
you are a Hallmark movie kind of a person, this is the time of the year for
you. These past few days have had a story
of a man who has been estranged from his father for years but finally this
Christmas they get back together. One
movie took place on a ranch in the Rockies.
One movie took place in Los Angeles and the third movie took place in
New England on the coast. Three
different movies but the same basic plot.
Sometimes the movie is about a single parent who finds their true love
who also loves the children involved.
Sometimes it is long lost lovers getting back together never to part
again. They can change the location, the
era, the gender of the protagonist, or add either a cantankerous relative or an
angel. That pretty much sums up Hallmark
movies.
I am not trying to be cynical but these movies all hope for the best in
mankind and it always works out. The guy
always gets the girl and the parents and the kids always make up. Everyone always lives happily ever
after. There is nothing wrong with a
feel good movie; there is nothing wrong with living with hope but where does
your hope come from?
The first thing we must do is to define hope. Most of us use the word “hope” as a wishy
washy last desperate shot. I hope this
thing starts, knowing full well it probably won’t. Or perhaps we “hope” this stuff tastes better
than last time. When we use “hope” this
way, it takes all the power out of the word.
It makes it hollow and without form or structure.
When the Bible uses the word “hope”, it is with a definite
certainty. I “hope” gravity still works
this morning when I get out of bed. I “hope”
the sun rises in the east today. Hope is
the certainty of knowing that God has, is and will do something wonderful in
your life. Our hope is in God’s promise
of eternal life. Our hope is in the
forgiveness of sins that we receive because of Jesus. Because of God’s love for you, you have hope.
Knowing that we possess this hope, this certainty, we can live in
peace. We can live in peace knowing that
God is on our side. His love sustains
and lifts us above all our struggles and challenges. We can face the battles because we will
eventually overcome the battles, they will not defeat us. God’s grace is there to keep us going, so we
have hope, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a salvation that has been given
to us, hope for the promise of eternal life.
We can abound in hope because of God’s love.
Father
of all hope, in you are all of our fears and battles destroyed for in you is
hope. Protect us by your mighty
arm. Keep us certain of our hope. Be with those who battles cloud their view of
your hope for them. Strengthen them and
give them the clear vision of your love.
In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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