Do You Have A Hope-filled Future?
Good Morning Friends,
Today we explore scripture about how the Holy Spirit helps us to receive and to give forgiveness… to give and receive praise. Today we seek redemption in Christ…power over the sin in our daily lives and rejoice in our redemption with the enthusiasm of good cheer and the awareness of God working in our lives. Today we learn that when our attitude is right about the Holy Spirit we are drawn toward Christ. When we have the courage to be authentic, when the Holy Spirit has shattered our defenses and silenced our excuses…then…then we can see the effect of the winds of change. All this gives people the opportunity to recognize us as Christians…. it is then that we can answer in the affirmative today’s question. Do You Have A Hope-filled Future?
Scripture: Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:1-14 (NRSV)
and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:5 (NRSV)
Message: When we honor, worship and give glory to God it helps to complete God’s primary purpose for creating us. In praise of God we begin to understand our own identity, privileges, and responsibilities…God’s grace, goodness and peace. Here we gain a sense of spiritual, mental and emotional tranquility…our social and physical being is lifted up…we feel greater security in the reality that we, in love, have been chosen out of the chaos to be part of creation. We discover we have a great incentive to live holy lives, to have greater self-esteem knowing that God picked us out for Himself and we are to share in the power and plans. We are to share in the blessings of His eternal security. We are to have a perspective of praise in the greater hope that God will overcome any discouragement we have… that He will help us to understand why others cannot seem to see the power and benefits of believing. Sometimes we get so focused on the second coming that we forget that Christ Jesus has already come…that He has established His kingdom and He lives in the world He has created. So let us imagine for a moment that Jesus is with us…let’s imagine what it would be like if we lived every moment as though God was all around us. Friends, what if we lived as though nothing could happen that God could not take care of? What if we lived as though heaven was all around us? What if we really lived as though our sins and failures were gone from the mind of God? What if we lived as though the power of the Holy Spirit lived in us? Friends, having been pardoned by faith, we have been paroled to enjoy peace…the fellowship, joy and hope of God’s glorious place of grace can be in our lives. Here we have hope.
Pray we live lives devoted to God. Pray we understand our inheritance as heirs of Christ. Pray we witness to those who do not know Him. Pray we are relieved of guilt, shame and the weight of our sin. Pray that we know the grace of Christ. Pray we see God’s will, way and word. Pray we praise Him for helping us to grow in maturity appreciating how everything in life is created and held together around Christ. Pray we appreciate and give thanks that God has worked His will throughout history and He will do so in our lives. Pray we realize that we are His prized possession. Pray we never choose worldly acceptance over God’s love. Pray we become collectively committed to Jesus.
Pray we rejoice in the moments when we trust our lives to Christ and His guarantee. Pray we are freed and empowered to walk with God as we receive and grow in His gifts. Pray we are freed to experience salvation, freed in the security of God’s provision and freed in the hope that we will grow and serve as we abide with our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Pray we be the connecting point between the earth and the divine creator. Pray that the spheres of influence that mold our minds be superseded by God’s Kingdom. Pray that God’s Kingdom permeate them all sectors of our life…like salt….like light…like the wind invisibly effecting and manifesting God’s will. Pray that God’s Kingdom will come.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 