The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"A Lively Hope"
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (I Peter 1:3).
God Himself fuels the expectation of born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. We do not merely hope for the best as God's children, but rather serve as the temples in which the Holy Spirit works to constitute confidence in God as the prevailing attitude and atmosphere of our hearts. The Apostle Peter affirms such grace as "a lively hope," made possible by the fact of our Savior's "resurrection from the dead."
Of course, we play a role in the experience of such hope. We must avail ourselves of the gifts God gives to fuel our confidence in His involved presence in our lives. Certainly, this begins in the Scriptures, the beacon of hope that leads us to the Lord of hope. "In His Word do I hope" (Psalm 130:5). We also prayerfully trust our Heavenly Father to confirm and enhance our expectation of His working in our hearts to maintain our expectation that He awaits us along every pathway of our lives. "My expectation is from Him" (Psalm 62:5). Fellowship with others whose hope is in God also prays a powerful role of strengthening our confidence that our Lord will ever be all we need in every circumstance, condition, and situation. "Exhort one another daily" (Hebrews 3:13).
We also seek to turn away from anything that fills our mind with fear rather than faith. The Apostle John stated it simply: "Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good" (III John 1:11). Anything that hinders our hope must be viewed as an evil that causes far more harm than we realize. Anything that leads us to experience and embrace "the lively hope" provides a good more blessed than we can imagine. We do well to seek our Lord's counsel regarding this following of the edifying good, and following not of the destructive evil, particularly in a generation that offers so much opportunity to travel one path or the other. "Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me: for Thou art the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day" (Psalm 25:5).
The living God ever works in us to lead us in His living hope. The Lord Jesus is risen from the dead. He is present and active in our hearts and lives. He promises to be all we will need in all things, and at all times. Such "a lively hope" must lead us in peace, joy, assurance, and the enabling to walk in unselfish devotion to God and others. Let us avail ourselves of the gifts our Father has bestowed to lead us in confident expectation. In Him, our hope is a living thing, alive in the risen life of Christ and our spirits "risen with Him" (Colossians 2:12).
"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit."
(Romans 15:13)
Weekly Memory Verse
But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of Thy mercy: and in Thy fear will I worship toward Thy holy temple.
(Psalm 5:7)
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