Not Just Hope...Living Hope!

Living Hope

Last summer I spoke at the IFCA National Youth Convention, at Appalachian Bible College in West Virginia (you know you want to cue the John Denver music right about now...). It's a beautiful campus nestled in the mountains with the New River just around the corner, and a countryside rich with American history.

One of my themes that week is based on the word "hope." It's the idea that in Christ, we have a great, imperishable hope, rooted in God's eternal nature and guaranteed by His Word. This hope is spoken of by the Apostle Peter in chapter one of his first book: "In His [God's] great mercy He has given us new birth into a LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade..."

I love the phrase, "living hope." Hope is always alive, because the person in whom it is anchored is Jesus, our living Lord! It is a hope for today, and a hope for the future. It is a hope that our sinful past can be forgiven and that our future is already redeemed. It is a hope that broken relationships can be mended and wayward children can be brought back into the fold. It is a hope that takes the remnant of the ashes of a life of pain and suffering and turns them into a beautiful work of art in the hands of the Master. It is a hope that tomorrow's mercies will be renewed and that today's mercies will be sufficient.

Lean in to the living hope of rooted in our Savior and let Psalm 119:114 be your mantra today!

We have Hope!

Hope

Hope is a great concept, a life-saver for times when we've experienced difficulties and challenges in life. Hope gets us up in the morning when we feel like hiding under our blankets and hope helps us face the challenge after the doctor closes the door and begins sharing the news we didn't want to hear.

But hope isn't a feeling or emotion, it's not a self-created concept, and it's not something that can be found by opening a box of cereal and digging to the bottom for the prize (did you used to do that as a child?).

Hope is rugged. Hope doesn't float down like a soft fluffy cloud landing gently on your pillow at night, rather, hope is forged in hardship. Hope emerges when we've encountered trials, when we've endured the challenges of life, and thru them, have seen our character grown and strengthened.

Over the last six years in Michigan, we've been comforted by the God of hope, the God who gives us precisely what we need, precisely when we need it. And as He has guided us thru many trials, at the end of each struggle, we've found great hope in Him.

If you're looking for hope today, cling to the truth of Romans 5:3-4. Remember that hope comes with endurance, it comes when you and I lean in to God in the middle of the struggle and allow Him to do His work in us. This kind of hope, true hope, never lets us down because it is rooted in our Lord and Savior.

Hope

Hope

Psalm 23:4 reads, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…”

I've read a lot of commentaries and devotional books on Psalm 23. Many of them have a compelling story about what David meant, or maybe even what particular mountain/valley he was referencing in the Psalm, but they all tell the same story: God is walking with us through the valley of the shadow of death. He doesn't send us on our way with a, "I'll meet you on the other side" pat on the back, but rather, He walks with us from one side to the other.

Winston Churchill is usually attributed with saying the following, "If you're going through hell...keep going." In many ways, whether he meant to or not, I think he was grabbing the theme of Psalm 23 and putting a WWII vernacular to it. He was telling the brave soldiers who would bring freedom to Europe, "Don't stop in the valley. Don't stop in the trenches (literally, the place of death for so many heroic young men). Don't stop until you are all the way across the battlefield."

Whatever you are facing today, remember God's great words in Psalm 130:5, and know that there is hope when you trust in the Lord. The God who allows you to walk into the valley of the shadow of death, walks with you, He comforts you, and He walks you through it!

So many of you have prayed us through our own journey, how can we pray you through yours? Send us an email at, overboard@overboardministries.com, and include your specific requests.

(Kristi Walker, one of our Overboard authors, wrote a book, especially targeted for women, dealing with the challenges of facing disappointment. Check out this resource in our bookstore and grab a paper or ebook version today!)

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Disappointment: By Kristi Walker

Sale Price:$12.99 Original Price:$14.99

DETOURS IN DISAPPOINTMENT

We all face disappointments in this life.  We long for romance but live alone.  Couples ache to become parents.  People let us down and sometimes our bodies do, too.  Nothing, apart from God, is truly disappointment-free.

Many times in life we chart our own course and are then shocked, frustrated, confused and even angry when the road we wanted to take is suddenly not a possibility. Detours should not be looked upon as negative turns of events, but as God's guidance.  Most of life's disappointments are actually appointments from God Himself! 

We have a choice: we can follow God in faithful trust, or we can step away from that trust on easy little side paths of resentment, worry, bitterness, or misery.  

In Disappointment: A subtle path away from God, Kristi will show you how to see the let-downs of life, thru the lens of God's character. He is the one that will never disappoint us, and by learning to trust Him with our biggest hurts, we find a path toward Him, and not away from Him.

(Click HERE for the Kindle version of this book)