H. O. P. E. - Holding Onto Promises Eternal

Do y'all remember that old movie "Hope Floats?" I love the aspect of our hope is floating and not sinking! Some of us at times may feel like that our hope is drowning or we have given up on any hope at all. Before Tim's radical repentance and miracle, he would always say, "I don't want to get my hopes up."  This is a place that the enemy will deceive us to keep us from fulfilling God's will and destiny in our lives. If we lose hope, we lose faith. In Hebrews 11:1, it says, "Now faith is being sure of what we HOPE for and certain of what we do not see."

I know that through life we get disappointed; it can be really big stuff or really small stuff like the store bakery is out of my favorite cookies. The small stuff is easy to think, “well I didn't need those awesome cookies anyway; thank you Jesus for giving me a way out of that temptation.”  I may be disappointed for the moment, but it's easy to move on past it because it's just cookies, but what if it's the really big stuff: the disappointment of not getting that job, that gig, that promotion, etc. At that point of the big stuff, what happens to our hope? Did we put our hope in ourselves for that job, gig, promotion and so now our hope turns to major disappointment in ourselves?  And now we think, well I am not enough or I am a failure or we blame God; "If you loved me, you would have given it to me." I think God knew we all would face disappointments and He gives us a way to hope and have faith. That hope is in Him! Hope in Him through all of our life circumstances. Jobs, gigs, promotions that seem so disappointing He is right there with us, wanting us to look past the disappointment and have supernatural hope in Him. In Romans 5:5 it says " And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."

If you have been praying and hoping for an answered prayer, don't give up hope and the power of faith in Jesus!  Psalms 119:114 says, “You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my HOPE in your word.” Hope is powerful through Jesus.

Tim and I had always hoped for grandbabies. When Camille got a medical report that she  would never have children, the report was more than a disappointment. That was a moment when your knees go week and tears start gushing from a deep, deep gut-wrenching disappointment for her and Jesse and for loss.  But with God, that hopelessness turned into a supernatural hope in Him and His Word. Hope and faith arose in our family in the midst of what seemed to be no hope at all. Within 2 months, Camille was pregnant with our first grandbaby, Lucy. At the time of this writing of this blog, she is now 4 years old and our second grand baby Adaline is 2!  

My favorite verse is Jeremiah 29:11, which says, " For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a future."  

Whatever you are praying, hoping and having faith for, Jesus's Word is our promise to our hope. His word is our hope for any of the desires of our hearts, whether they are:hoping for bakery cookies, hoping for healing, hoping for a restored marriage, hoping for children returning to the Lord, hoping for a new house, hoping for a new job, or (fill in your blank).  

H O P E...holding onto promises eternal.

Don't let your hope drown in disappointments, let hope overflow like a raging river of life!!!

My prayer for us is in Romans 15:13, which says, “May the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,so that you may overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit.”