“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him so that your lives may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
Praise you, Lord God! You, like the sun, are there every day, shining in perfection, in power, in wisdom and goodness. You are empty of negatives, full of positives, perfect in character, overflowing with promises.
Praise you for your Word, always ready to pour its riches on us and into us as we delve into it every day.
Praise you for your Spirit who stands ready to teach us what we need today, guiding, warning, encouraging and protecting us.
Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of Hope….” and that is what you are, Lord, the God who is the source of hope, who offers hope to all, who calls us to hope.
And your hope is not a “maybe,” “perhaps,” or ‘I wish it were so” uncertainty. It is a rock-solid surety—you promise, you carry through, you deliver, always.
You desire to fill your children “with all joy and peace….” This says so much about you, my Lord God. You desire good for us, to give us the joy and peace that every person longs for.
We desire a joy that is unquenchable, undefeatable by the difficulties, tragedies and suffering of life; and we can have it because you, the unchanging God, are its source. You don’t do things half way: you don’t offer just some joy but ALL joy.
You give us a purchased peace: sure and sound, deep and dynamic, restful and responsible on three levels. First we can have peace with you by eagerly confessing our sin and sins, then receiving your rich, healing forgiveness.
Then we can have peace with ourselves by forgiving ourselves as you have forgiven us.
And third, we can have peace with others by forgiving them as we have been forgiven.
These are true pieces of peace, vibrant peace, renewable peace, for each time we sin, it can be restored.
But, there is a condition for having this joy and peace, and we’ll look at that tomorrow
