Living Hope

"[Praise to God for a Living Hope] Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," 1 Peter 1:3

What I love most about hope is we can't manufacture it ourselves. We can't conjure it out of our emotions. We can't make ourselves feel it. Hope must come from God. I'm talking about true hope; the assurance of things unseen kind of hope - not the feel good, "I really hope this will happen" kind of hoping.

Hope is given to us through who Christ is, what He did on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, and what God accomplished when He raised Jesus from the dead three days later. They did all the work and those of us who truly follow Christ get all the benefit.

Do you know what stands in our way of having LIVING HOPE? What holds us back from receiving it in full? OUR FAITH. OUR BELIEF. OUR TRUST. OUR SELF. As soon as I take the focus off my self, stop staring at my circumstances, drag my gaze off my emotions and turn my eyes toward the resurrected, living Lord Jesus - hope, faith, and trust rush in.

When Peter first got out of the boat, his eyes were fixed on Jesus. Something in the way Jesus looked at Peter compelled him out of the boat and gave him hope. The minute Peter looked at the waves, he sank. There was no possible way for Peter to walk on water without Jesus.

Most of us work as hard as we can to do all the "right things", say the right words, go to the right church, read the right Bible studies. All which are good things. But, without our focus being on the Living Hope of Jesus, they are worthless. The Bible calls them hay and straw. We can do nothing worth anything without the power of Christ moving through us.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of trying to walk on water while I'm looking at the waves.

Where is your focus today? On our living hope or on our self? Are our gazes transfixed on the face of Jesus or are they staring down at the waves of life's circumstances? As we move forward in this time of great unknowns in America - where are our eyes looking?

Please remember to pray for our country and our candidates. And always remember who your hope lies in.