Our third week in studying hope, this truth became more and more evident each day …

He is our hope both now and for our future days.

We looked at five Scriptures which breathed hope into our days:

1. We can have hope for our children. As parents, we would have no greater joy than to know our children are following the Lord. This is our hope for our children and grandchildren. “There is hope for your future, says the Lord. Your children will come again to their own land” (Jeremiah 31:17). We can believe today for our children. May they return to their own land of Promise – the future our God has planned for each one of them.
2. We must return to our Fortress of Hope. “Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.” (Zechariah 9:12). Return to where your strength lies — the fortress of hope. This quote was shared in my commentary: “Our personal afflictions involve the living God; the only way in which Satan can persecute or afflict God is through attacking the people of God. The only way we can have personal victory in the midst of these flying arrows raining down on us is to call upon the Lord for help. It is his strength, supplied to us in our weakness that makes victory after victory possible” (Edith Schaeffer). We must not give up but press on in and through Him.
3. Our hope is seen by those around us. “No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety” (Psalm 16:9). We can rest in safety because our hope is in a God able to keep us safe. Acts 16:25 comes to mind. Paul and Silas did not know or see a way out of prison. Their praise not only brought their freedom but those around them came to know their God. They praised God anyway. There will those around us – other “prisoners”, who will be listening. They need to hear our praise, our song of freedom. May our hearts rejoice as our bodies rest in hope.
4. We can’t misplace our hope. “You grew weary in your search, but you never gave up. Desire gave you renewed strength, but you did not grow weary” (Isaiah 57:10).  This is a wonderful verse to look at in terms of hope because at times, we misplace out hope. Instead of placing our hope in God, we place it elsewhere, and it is wearisome. God is not impressed with, nor will He bless, hopes placed in other sources besides Him. He wants us to humbly come to him in our trials and distress. He will let us tire ourselves out, until we come to our senses and surrender our hope to Him.
5. Declare His Word until hope enters. “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again – my Savior and my God!”
   (Psalm 42:11). David is talking to his own soul, encouraging his  heart to trust God with a positive expectation, confident in God’s ability. God alone has: perfect wisdom; perfect plans; perfect timing; perfect power. My commentary shared this quote: “Instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way … remind yourself of God, who God is, and what God is, and what God has done, and what God has pledged himself to do” (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones). Muttering may not be a commonly used word any more. But it was used in biblical times along with “murmuring” and described the way the Israelites complained against God while in the wilderness. In fact, it is what kept that first generation from entering the promiseland. It will keep us from seeing any hope, blinding us to the promises of God. What will you remind yourself or do today instead of muttering? We need to remind ourselves of the promises God has given instead of muttering. “I will put my hope in God!”

This month I am sharing the lessons learned from the devotional “31 Days of Hope” by Susan Chamberlain Shipe.  Here are Week One and Week Two . I hope you will return next Tuesday as we wrap up our final week. And in the meantime, you can read more about the book on the author’s website HERE.

Today I am joining … Trekking Thru the Week and #RaRaLInkup and Teaching What Is Good  .