The devotions this week featured key words that are, for many, hard to swallow and even harder to digest: 

♦   Surrender   ♦   Slavery   ♦   Failure   ♦   War

Each was presented in a biblical context to give us hope that:

(1) Victory results when we surrender our wills to that of the Lord.

(2) Freedom found only in Christ breaks the chains of slavery to sin.

(3) Deep, abiding faith is often born out of abject failures.

(4) Peace that passes all understanding can be ours even in the midst of spiritual warfare.   

Today our focus is this hope to which I referred above.  Most people reach a point in life when we come to the realization that human hope is little more than wishful thinking.  It has no basis in reality or foundation upon which we may build, much less cling to, such hope.  

As discouraging as that is for most, in Christ we have certain hope.  That may, again, seem somewhat of an oxymoron, but if you examine the Scriptures, it will become clear and make perfect sense.  Here are a just a couple of verses to help encourage your heart when circumstances overwhelm, people disappoint, or it seems Satan has a special posse whose assignment is to attack you on every front.  

♦  Hope in and through the written Word of God (Bible) – “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so        that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”  (Romans 15:4 NIV)

♦  Hope that is alive because Christ died and rose again just as He promised. – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”   (1 Peter 1: 3  NASB)

“Now may the God of all hope fill you with joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15: 13 NASB),