Hope is a very powerful thing. Many years ago, when my eldest son was a toddler, I had a friend who was living near the poverty level just as my family was. We spent time together frequently, because we attended church together and had sons about the same age. We both struggled a great deal with just putting food on the table let alone all the other needs we had. There was a major difference between us though.
HOPE
I told my husband that the difference was that we were hopefully poor, and she was hopelessly poor. My husband was trying to provide for us. Her husband was making more money; but, he kept out a large percentage for his personal use and gave her barely enough to keep going. The key was that I had hope that things would get better. She really didn't expect anything to improve. In fact, she was tearing down her house with her own hands with her hopelessness.
Hope for hope's sake may help some; but, I must hope in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God our Creator. He is the only real hope. He saves us from being punished with hell and eternal separation from God for our sins IF we confess that he is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead. Romans 10:9. We have to confess our sins and believe that he paid the price for our sins. 1 John 1:9.
He is not just hope for salvation from hell. He's also our hope for today, for everything we face, for everything we need. He promised to never leave us or forsake us. We need him daily. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds with the Living Word of God, the Holy Bible. Romans 12:12.
You know, you do become like those you hang around with. This year, I want to hang around with Jesus more and more in his holy, true, living word. How about you?
Blessings to you!
Laura
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Some good food for thought..... it's a hard transition; hopelessness to hopefulness....but I agree with you, it is a "mind" thing....
ReplyDeletep.s. do you know where I can get a different mind, mine is kind of old and stuck in it's ways. LOL
SO true! Thanks Laura for adding your post to mine, sharing that story meant alot!
ReplyDeleteWow, you are excellent in shaing yoru thoughts and God's real love.
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteI found you at Proverbs 31. Truth - we need Jesus every day. He is Who we set our focus on.
Thank you. I would love you to link at Word of God Speak. www.janiscox.com
Blessings,
Janis
Linked it up. Thanks for inviting me, Janis.
ReplyDeleteHi Sweet girl, I love that you held onto your hope...the love of God. I pray that young couple will work together for their married lives to succeed. Many could absolutely have a great deal, but it takes working together toward the same goals most times. Blessings to you and yours, xoxo, Susie
ReplyDeleteSo true. All of it.
ReplyDeleteAMEN!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post, Laura! Without, hope, where would we be. We need to hold tight to the word of God and search for hope and peace in these very troubled times. Thank you for your testimony of hope Laura.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right, Barb. I felt this was good timing to remind myself and others. God bless you dearie.
DeleteHi Laura, I'm just catching up on some of your posts. They're all lovely, but I especially enjoyed this one about hoping in the Lord and I couldn't agree more. When we hope in the Lord, even if in reality our situation may look dire, we can experience supernatural peace. Blessings to you ~ Linda
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