ALWAYS HOPE
No matter what the circumstances, we must always hope. Life can be and often is very hard, but God gives us peace through His Son, Jesus. Because He walked on this earth, experiencing life as a human being, Jesus understands how we feel. He knows what it’s like to feel pain, even to the point of death.
Jesus persevered to the end, through all the trials and beatings and cruel taunting. It was not easy, but Scripture tells us:
For the joy that lay before him,
(Hebrews 12:2b CSB)
he endured the cross,
despising the shame,
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
We, too, can endure to the end with the help of God, through His Holy Spirit working in us. In my searching the Scriptures looking for passages that speak of hope, I find great encouragement.
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith,
we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege
where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Romans 5:1-5 NLT
BOASTING IN AFFLICTIONS?
These verses tell us we should rejoice in trials. That seems like an impossibility, doesn’t it? Why would we even want to boast in our problems? As we read further, though, we see there is a pattern. The trials we suffer help us to develop endurance, which we all need. As we endure, our character is proven which strengthens our hope. This is a sure hope that will never disappoint us, because God has filled our hearts with His love through the Holy Spirit.
The first part of the above scripture passage reminds us of the peace with have with God, because we have been justified by faith. So, we stand by His grace, and trusting in Him, we boast in His glory. Since we now have peace with God, we can enjoy life here on earth. Even with the trials, we still have blessings.
Daily we can look for the beauty and blessings that our come into our lives. We can intentionally spend time in creation, lingering, observing, breathing deeply, exploring and pausing to rest. As we do so we also picture with hope the brilliant life awaiting us at the end of our journey. It is a place with no sorrow, sadness or decay, forever with our Lord.
Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.
(Romans 12:12 CSB)
HAIKU AND PRAYER
God made us righteous Through Jesus we stand in grace Justified by faith Boast in God’s glory Endurance, character, hope Gained through our trials God pours out His love Through His Spirit in our hearts Hope won’t disappoint Unceasing in prayer With patience in afflictions We rejoice in hope
Dear God,
Thank You for faith to believe, that through Christ, by faith, we stand in grace. Your Holy Spirit pours out Your love in our hearts. Please enable us to trust you through our trials with patience. May we be persistent in prayer and full of joy as we hope in You. Amen
Surrounded by trees
Explore the magic and laugh
Look, linger and breathe
Picture sacred joy
Brilliant life perfumed with peace
Never to decay
I’m linking up with: #InspireMeMonday and One Word Linkup for May.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this tonight. I love the haikus .
Thank you, Shannan! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Blessings to you!
Thank you Dear Gayl for being one of those blessings and bringers-of-hope to me, especially during this latest trial with Shingles. I have appreciated your poetry and photos and Scriptures so much! No matter what we face, we can know that because of Jesus we have “Brilliant life perfumed with peace
Never to decay.” Love and hugs to you!
Thank you, so much, dear Bettie, for your sweet comments. I am so glad to bring a little encouragement and hope into your life. You bless so many with your words and I appreciate you! Blessings and love and hugs to you! xoxo
Amen. I truly love your writing. Have a blessed week! 🙂
Thank you so much, Melissa! I so glad you enjoyed it. Blessings to you! xo
Certainly hope is our anchor. I really appreciated the poems you shared.
Thank you so much, Michele. I’m glad you enjoyed the poems. Blessings to you! xo
How on earth did I miss this when it was published?
I guess God knew that I needed to read it today!
God’s timing is always perfect, Barb. 🙂 Blessings to you!
I’m thankful His hope sustains our faith, Gayl! And I’m so thankful the Prince of Peace gives us peace in this life.
Amen, Lisa. He is our True Hope. Blessings to you!
I like the verses you shared from Romans 5 in the NLT. I hadn’t read that version. The phrases underserved privilege, confidently and joyful stood out to me. Worth meditating on. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Jodee. Yes, I thought that translation helped to convey that hope and confidence of salvation and the love poured out on us. Blessings to you!
Very Uplifting, Gayl-love your poetry!
Thank you so much, Donna. Blessings to you!
Thank you so much for sharing the prayer and the whole message. Amen, even with the trials, we still have blessings.
Thank you, Aritha! Yes, even with the trials. I’m glad you visited. Blessings to you!
I keep thinking I’ll sit down to try writing poetry after I read your beautiful creations, but maybe I’m just meant to enjoy yours alone. 🙂 I love your post on hope. It really does help me have more hope when I read about it. Glad you linked up, Gayl!
You can do it, Lisa! I’m glad you enjoy mine, and I’d love for you to write some of your own! I don’t think we can have too many reminders of hope. With all the negativity in the world, we need the reminders of the sure hope we have in Jesus. Blessings to you! xo
Your post is so relevant in today’s times, Gayl. Just today I read another hope-filled line from Scripture (John 29:33) : “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” It keeps me hopeful as I look around and see the hatred and the violence.
Thank you, Corinne, and thank you for sharing another hope-filled scripture. Yes, when we see all the hatred and violence, etc, turning our eyes to Jesus and to scripture reminds us of the true hope we have in Him. Blessings to you!