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the power of HOPE

NOTE: This will be the last devotion for the week as my family will be taking some vacation.  Pray for us as we travel and enjoy time together.  E-Devotions will resume on Tuesday, June 16th.

I have watched over the years the difference in people who have hope from those who don't have hope.  I'm talking about people who see God not as an option but as the only option.  This is about faith put into practice, believing God when all else fails or when everything is alright.  Do you have hope?

1 Thessalonians 4:13 (nlt) ---  And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.

It may be a situation of death or heal problems or relationship issues or thousands of other things.  When you have no hope, there is little left to believe in, to hang on to or really to live for.  Hope is a person, and His name is Jesus.  Have you met the people that I have?  Many call on the pastor when "all hell is breaking lose" or when there seems to be no other option.  They are looking for a bail out or a magic fix for life and their situation.  Yet when you find someone who has hope firm in their lives, you will find a person that will live, strive forward in life because they know that there is more to live for.

That is the power of hope.  We began our One Prayer series this past Sunday as we talked about "GOD IS ... OUR HOPE".  Here are some take aways from that messasge:

Colossians 1:27 (niv) --- To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

1 Peter 1:3 (cev) --- Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In God's great mercy he has caused us to be born again into a living hope, because Jesus Christ rose from the dead.

Place your hope in an object or something that is not fact and not real, and then you are in trouble.  Christians and those who follow Jesus place their hope in CHRIST who is the hope of glory and our living hope.  He is not something that we hope we will have or hope will care for things.

We learned this about HOPE: I am Safe because of Salvation from my big God who Holds me.

The power of hope is a guarantee from someone bigger and more powerful than us.  Do you have the power of hope in your life?  If not, meet Jesus.  Is yes, hold on tight!

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