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.
Romans 15:13
Holding on to Hope
Devotion based on Romans 15:13
See series: Devotions
Hope is a slippery thing. We hold onto it until suddenly and almost always unexpectedly, it is taken away from us.
We can’t help people by just telling them to be more hopeful. That’s like telling an excited child to close his eyes and go to sleep. He may close his eyes as tightly as he possibly can but that won’t make him any sleepier. Hope isn’t something we can have by wishing for it.
Rather, hope needs to be given and who better to give it than the “God of hope”? How does God give hope? He does it by filling us with joy and peace as we trust in him.
Joy is ours as the Holy Spirit teaches and convinces us that God is not our enemy nor is he looking to punish us. Rather, as the Holy Spirit works through the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are assured that God has forgiven all our sins and even calls us his friends.
The Holy Spirit gives us peace as we read the Scriptures. He makes us confident that our days are known by God and that he is promising to work all things for our eternal good. He takes away our fears because he guarantees that our future belongs to him and nothing can take that future away from us.
Filled with joy and peace as we trust in God, we truly have hope. Not the kind of hope that can be easily taken away but instead we have an overflowing hope. Filled with peace and joy by the Holy Spirit, hope fills our lives abundantly. Rather than slipping away from hope, it runs over into the lives of others.
All of this is the work of the Holy Spirit, allowing us to hold onto and be filled with hope.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, give to us the Holy Spirit that we may be renewed in hope as you fill us with peace and joy. Amen.
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