Thoughts for Life: Living With Hope

Jean Oathout - When a person has hope, there is a substance of thought that's real to him.

It is as true as being held in his hands.

Without hope, a person will give up and terminate what could be an opportunity of change to someone's circumstance.

Whether the dream is for ones own benefit, or someone else, hope will become a matter of choice to believe or not.

We can hope and expect for a better future simply by exercising our faith to believe that things are going to improve, regardless of what we may be experiencing.

When faith in the Almighty to move on and in a situation, it allows God opportunities to exhibit His power to work things together for our good. Rom. 8:28

To understand that He is interested in our lives, as His Word tells us, is the blessing of hope we can put our trust in.

What is best for us, is what He sees could be.

It is to our advantage, and for His glory, to ask for His will to be done, as Jesus in the garden.

The glory of man is his freedom to choose. Yes, everyone has a will and God leaves us with the great task of choice.

It is often His good plan to affect things that will cause a person to seek His way.

We can pray they’ll have a mind to do so.

We can rest in the patient expectation that it is God's desire that they find their way into His grace. 2 Peter 3:9 This is hope exercised.

I had to walk out some Hope a few weeks ago, when my blog, with over 600 posts, simply disappeared! {The notice was that it had been removed!}

I tried everything I knew to do to retrieve it, but was unsuccessful. I then notified a computer friend for advice.

My confidence in God gave me hope that eventually the blog would be back up again, and I would be able to continue this ministry of Faith Messages on the internet.

My hope in God's ability to solve my problem through prayer, is what allows me to trust He is working on the solution.

My young computer friend, Josh, stopped by after work. He discovered and deleted the cause of the problem, along with several other things that I didn’t need. (God is so good!)

Josh strongly encouraged me to not allow anyone to make changes on my computer, unless I had advice to do so!

I have also taken my son's advice, and have posted a notice of this on my computer; to remind me!

It’s true that when hope is deferred, or waylaid, we are tempted to give up.

It is then that God asks us to keep our eyes on Him, and to focus on the truths of His Word.

As we submit to our confidence in Him, His indwelling Holy Spirit will not disappoint. Rom. 5:4,5

This becomes our hope for a "good" change.

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Prayer: Father, it is my desire to look to You for answers for ways of getting my various needs met. It's true, You know everything there is to know,and You want to help me with my projects, ministries, home, and dreams. I ask for Your help in them all. In Jesus' name, amen.

Biblical Virtues to pray for your children: #12 Courage. "May my children always be strong and courageous in their character and in their actions" Deut. 31:6

Our Scripture for today: Prov. 21:23 "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles."

Today’s quote: Eddie Jones – “The cool thing about the Gospels is we get snippets of Jesus as a man, son, brother, friend, teacher, student, savior, servant, and God. He laughs, scolds, councils, and yes, cries. This is the God we serve and worship -- not a vague, cosmic, starry-heavens deity, but a God with skin on and tear ducts that weep."

Our thought for today: If we don't grow in our trusting God, we are not maturing.

Tomorrow’s post: Cities Transformed: Prayer Note #128 Dutch Sheets