Day 21 - 40 Days of HOPE
Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days of HOPE
Day 21 | WHY WE CAN BE FULL OF HOPE
40 Days of HOPE
Day 21 | WHY WE CAN BE FULL OF HOPE
WHY WE CAN BE FULL OF HOPE
1 Peter 1:20-21
“God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake. Through Christ, you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.” (NLT)
We are living in a time of great hopelessness. People – in general – are NOT optimistic about the future or hopeful that things will “get better” any time soon.
Most professionals – counselors, psychologists, ministers, teachers, and others – KNOW, based on their interactions, how vital HOPE is to individuals.
Dr. Neel Burton, an author who writes about emotions, reports that he always asks patients for what they hope for because if they say “nothing,” then that is a sign of depression or worse.
Having hope is fundamental to people. Dr. Judith Rich writes, “Hope is a match in a dark tunnel, a moment of light, just enough to reveal the path ahead and ultimately the way out.”
I like defining HOPE as “confident expectation.” And fortunately, the Scriptures are FULL of reasons to be hopeful.
The fear of death is perhaps the most common fear amongst people and probably the TOP reason people lose hope – because their FEAR of death has grown out of control.
God showed His ability to conquer death by raising Jesus from the tomb. Thus why Peter – who, like the other disciples, was afraid and feeling hopeless after Jesus died – was FULL OF HOPE after seeing the resurrected Jesus!
Easter needs to be more than one Sunday. Easter – the Resurrection of Jesus – needs to be on our minds ALL year-round to help us fight the tendency to feel hopeless. We never need to be!
Prayer: LORD, thank You for what your resurrection means and what it does for me. Help me live fearlessly in this world, realizing that YOU have overcome the world! Amen.
1 Peter 1:20-21
“God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake. Through Christ, you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.” (NLT)
We are living in a time of great hopelessness. People – in general – are NOT optimistic about the future or hopeful that things will “get better” any time soon.
Most professionals – counselors, psychologists, ministers, teachers, and others – KNOW, based on their interactions, how vital HOPE is to individuals.
Dr. Neel Burton, an author who writes about emotions, reports that he always asks patients for what they hope for because if they say “nothing,” then that is a sign of depression or worse.
Having hope is fundamental to people. Dr. Judith Rich writes, “Hope is a match in a dark tunnel, a moment of light, just enough to reveal the path ahead and ultimately the way out.”
I like defining HOPE as “confident expectation.” And fortunately, the Scriptures are FULL of reasons to be hopeful.
The fear of death is perhaps the most common fear amongst people and probably the TOP reason people lose hope – because their FEAR of death has grown out of control.
God showed His ability to conquer death by raising Jesus from the tomb. Thus why Peter – who, like the other disciples, was afraid and feeling hopeless after Jesus died – was FULL OF HOPE after seeing the resurrected Jesus!
Easter needs to be more than one Sunday. Easter – the Resurrection of Jesus – needs to be on our minds ALL year-round to help us fight the tendency to feel hopeless. We never need to be!
Prayer: LORD, thank You for what your resurrection means and what it does for me. Help me live fearlessly in this world, realizing that YOU have overcome the world! Amen.