ABOUND IN HOPE

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)

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

Jesus encouraged his followers to “always pray and never lose hope” (Luke 18:1). 

Never lose hope? 

Never be fainthearted? 

Never feel overwhelmed? 

Never find yourself deep in despair? 

Can you imagine?  No day lost to anguish.  No decision driven by fear.  This is God’s will for you and me.  He wants us to “abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).” 

Abound…what an extraordinary verb to use with hope.

Abound means…

be full of, overflow with, teem with, be packed with…

Ask yourself today, “How’s my hope”?

Am I full of it?

Overflowing with it?

Jesus has encouraged us today to ALWAYS pray and NEVER lose hope. 

One of the things that is remarkable about the LORD is He has a corner on the words ALWAYS and NEVER.  Only He can stand up to them.  So, if He is encouraging us to ALWAYS pray and NEVER lose our HOPE it is because He didn’t. 

Faced with temptation in the garden, He never flinched because His hope was in the Lord. Faced with the anguish of the cross, He continued in prayer for us. 

What an example to take into this week.

To:

ABOUND in HOPE and PRAY continuously. 

Yesterday I participated in the DECLARE DAYTON event.  It was focused on bringing the BODY of CHRIST together to offer HOPE to the addicted and their families in our community.  And while the music was great and the atmosphere electric, it was the simple conversations that I had with folks in recovery who turned out to DECLARE VICTORY over addiction that I found most energizing.

To see one set free from the chains of addiction is the personification of HOPE.  When someone gets it like Christopher who is staying in one of the sober homes in Dayton or the countless others that stopped by for a hug or an update, HOPE certainly abounds in them.

It is contagious.

You see the obvious question coming, don’t you?

How is you HOPE quotient today?

Are you abounding in it?

Teeming with it?

Packed up?

If not, remember an endless supply waits for you to tap in today.

But the Lord looks after those who reverence Him, those who put their HOPE in his love. – Psalm 33:18 (NCV)

Have a blessed day…

I love you all.

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE