My hope is in You Lord

So often we place our hope in people, organisations, governments, or we just try to fix everything ourselves. From my own personal experience, I find that the hope we place in earthly things/beings, just end up in disappointment.

Every day I find myself in conversations where people admit that they have lost hope, they have lost hope in our country; they have lost hope in our government; they have lost hope in humanity – well isn’t this just more reason to place your hope in God??

Look at Abraham – he didn’t know where he was going when he packed everything up, but his hope was in the promise that God made to him, a promise of many children and a promised land. Genesis 12

Look at Moses – God told him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to a land flowing with milk and honey. Moses never entered the land that God promised, but Moses still places his hope and faith in the Lord. Deuteronomy 34

Look at Paul – A man who once murdered anyone who believed in Jesus Christ, then Jesus himself changes Paul’s life. Paul ended up in prison for proclaiming the Gospel. But Paul always urged people to keep hope in the Lord.

One message from Paul that stands out is Romans 5 where he says:

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.

You see, hope is when we have an expectation for a positive outcome, we have a hope for something that we cannot yet see.

Romans 8: For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Let us place our hope in God! Even when we run into problems and trials, and even when it seems as if there is no hope left when we look at the world, let’s remember that God is, and has always been in control, and in that we can have a confident hope of salvation.

May you be filled with the Holy Spirit to be a beacon of hope where there seems to be no hope left.

Blessings,

Stephanie

We are not from this world

When I look at what is going on in the world, it actually gives me goosebumps… there are so much hatred and selfishness…  but when I turn to God’s Word it reminds me that I am just simply in this world and I am not of this world.

You might ask ‘what does that even mean?’, well let me explain:

In John 17 from verse 6  Jesus says a prayer, He prays for his disciples, asking God to protect them from the hatred and evil that is in this world. Then in verse 16 Jesus says: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it”.

We are Jesus’ disciples on this earth today, and (according to gotquestions) we as believers should be set apart from the world. This is the meaning of being holy and living a holy, righteous life—to be set apart. We are not to engage in the sinful activities the world promotes, nor are we to retain the insipid, corrupt mind that the world creates. Rather, we are to conform ourselves, and our minds, to that of Jesus Christ. This is a daily activity and commitment.We must be the

One promise that I hold on to when I look at the world is John 16:33:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jesus has already overcome the world, it is up to us to now go out and bring hope to others, to be prepared for the wonderful eternal life that He has gone to prepare for us.

May you find peace and hope in God’s promise, and may you be in this world, but not of it!

Blessings,

Stephanie*

 

Are you willing to empty your jar?

This morning when I heard the story of the widow who used the last bit of her flour and oil to provide food to Elijah, it truly inspired me!

You can read this amazing story in 1 Kings 17.

Sometimes we think: “What do I have to give? I am not qualified as a Theologist/Pastor, or I don’t have my own ministry, I’m just a normal person with an everyday life…”

Well, allow me to remind you that God used normal ‘everyday‘ people, like us. He used Peter who was just a fisherman, and he used David who was just a shepherd in the field, and I am sure there’s no need for me to remind you what great work God did through them.

We all have something in our everyday lives that we can use in honour of God and to glorify His name!

In the middle of a great drought, this widow was asked to use the little flour and oil she had left, to provide food to Elijah. Her words struck me in verse 12:

“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

She had already given up hope, she was already prepared to die of hunger, then this man still asks her for the last bit of her food. But by giving the last bit of what she had, the Lord provided unlimited flour and oil to last them until the drought was over.

If you don’t know what you have to give, then pray and ask God to reveal to you what you have to give. Maybe it is 5 minutes talking to your colleagues about the Lord Jesus, maybe it’s helping someone in need, maybe it’s volunteering at your church or a local charity… Whatever it is, do it to Glorify His name!

 

May you empty your jar this week, may you bless someone else with the love a grace that Jesus showed to us! May you discover what you have to give, and then give it!

Blessings,

Stephanie*