HOPE AND POSSIBILITY

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

I have some “neat” benefits with my job and while some days I kind of wish they were bonuses or trips to Tahiti (that is for you KH), they are actually much more valuable than cash or time on the sandy shore.

My benefits come from the friendships and partnerships that have been birthed out of both the FREEDOM and JEREMIAH TREE ministries.

There are times when I pause and take a napkin at the coffee shop and start to jot down all of the friendships and alliances we have been blessed to form over the years and I quickly have to go to the counter to grab a another handful in order to have enough room to write.

One such alliance is the one we have forged with SAFE HARBOR HOUSE in Springfield Ohio. (http://www.safeharborhouse.org/)

This is a truly remarkable place staffed and inhabited by some truly remarkable people. I had the chance to go up there yesterday. When you walk in the door you immediately sense the presence of GOD. The Spirit permeates every crevice and cranny of the house; meandering His way in and among the brokenness of the clients offering healing and hope at every turn. It is hard to describe to someone who has never been there that a house occupied by SO many who are SO hurt could be SO hopeful and SO healthy.

And while I could wax and pontificate about the “Harbor” for hours, I mention them today not so much for who they are but for what they embody and represent.

They represent HOPE and POSSIBILITY; something many of us sometimes sorely lack yet most definitely need.

Far too often we roll out of bed aching from yesterday’s slugfest, dreading what awaits us “out there”. We dread another day in the dead end job; another day with the “less than congenial” boss or bully. More times than not, our days seemingly don’t offer much hope or possibility.

But I want us to take a page from our sisters at SAFE HARBOR today and be reminded that there is ALWAYS HOPE and ALWAYS POSSIBILITY for one who is in CHRIST!

1 Peter 1:3

All honor to God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; for it is his boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God’s own family. Now we LIVE IN THE HOPE of eternal life because Christ rose again from the dead.

In CHRIST we live in and with continuous and eternal hope and that simple message should serve to shake any doldrums, depression or anxiety!

That eternal hope should brighten the bleariest of situations!

The team at SAFE HARBOR daily deals with women who have been sold, trafficked, abused, and forgotten; women who have turned to substances to ease the pain or take the place of relationships; women whose window of hope was small and sadly shrinking.

Yet through CHRIST the “Harbor” is able to offer the unquestionable hope and truth that is JESUS!

And that same hope, that same truth is available to you this morning and in your circumstance! You just need to do what they do. Trust and pray for GOD to deliver it just as He promises He will!

Romans 15:13

…pray that God will help you overflow with HOPE in HIM through the Holy Spirit’s power within you.

If today can be ripe with hope and possibility for a young woman recovering from a life of prostitution and pain, don’t you think HOPE is available for you too?

I do!

The LORD does too.

2 Thessalonians 2:17

God loved us and gave us through his grace a wonderful HOPE and comfort that has no end.

You see?

There it is! HOPE and POSSIBILITY!

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney