Greetings from Cleveland, TN, USA

I wanted to share with you a devotion on HOPE.

It has been said that a person can live forty days without food, four days without water, four minutes without air, but only four seconds without hope!

Not long ago the nightly news had a segment called, The Power of Hope. It caught my attention as it shared the story of four Indigenous children who survived 40 days in the Amazon jungle after their plane crashed. The story was heart wrenching and yet amazing as they managed to find food, water and shelter in the rainforest until Colombian special forces finally found them. Their ages were 13, 9, and 4 plus an 11-month-old baby. A modern-day miracle and great illustration of what can be accomplished if we have hope!
Hope is a powerful thing! It has the ability to lift us up when we are down…to give us strength when we are weak…and to guide us through the darkest of times.

The Bible tells us that hope is one of the three most important things in life. In scripture it is nestled between faith and love.
I Corinthians 13:13, says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Hope is so important that it is mentioned 316 times, in 13 different translations of the Bible. It has been called one of the central themes of the Christian faith.

So, what is hope? Hope is the belief that something good is going happen. It is the expectation that things will get better…that our circumstances will improve…and that our dreams will come to pass.
Hope is the light that shines in the darkness. Hope is the anchor that holds us steady in the storm. Hope is the promise that there is more to life than what we can presently see.

But where does hope come from? Hope comes from God! In Romans 15:13, it says, “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.” God is the source of all hope. God is the source of our hope. It is by and through our faith in God that we can find hope during our trials and tribulations.

When we keep our focus on God, we can trust in Him, even when things seem hopeless.

When we choose to possess hope, even in the midst of suffering, we are strengthened and encouraged by God’s love and grace.
Hope is a powerful thing! However, it is not always easy to maintain.
There will be times in our lives when our hope is tested!
There will be times in our lives when we feel like giving up.
There will be times in our lives when we wonder if things will ever get better. However, it is in those moments that we must remember that our hope is not in ourselves, but our hope rather is in God. When we trust Him, we can have a hope that surpasses all understanding, and a hope that can carry us through even the darkest of times.

So… I encourage you to hold on to hope.
Hold on to the belief that things will get better.
Hold on to the belief that God is in control.
Hold on to the hope that He has a plan for your life.
Hold on to the promise of eternal life in Christ.
Hold on to the blessed hope that we have in Him.
And hold on to the knowledge that as Christians, we are called to be a people of hope. We are called to share our hope with others. And we are called to be a light in this dark world.

The Lord alone is our radiant hope, and we trust in Him with all our hearts. His wraparound presence will strengthen us. As we trust, we rejoice with an uncontained joy flowing from God. He is our ever-present help. He gives us strength when we are weak, love when we are forsaken and courage when we are afraid. May we always hold onto the promise given in Jeremiah 29:11 that He knows the plans He has for us, plans to give us a future and hope!

My mind goes to the song…
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus’ Name.

God Bless each of You!