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When Hope Arises
if we focus our eyes on our Lord and Savior Jesus, we can
walk in hope-filled faith above the rough seas
by David Cerullo
Do you have God’s hope today – a sense of His goodness
and purpose in your life?
Or perhaps you experienced His hope in the past, but
now your circumstances have left you discouraged and full of self-doubt.
Maybe life has been so hard that you’ve given up on
everything altogether – or maybe you never dared to hope at all.
Let me assure you of something: God wants to lift you
out of the discouragement you’re feeling today.
He wants to restore you. Redeem you.
He wants to give you the hope and confidence that only
He can give.
Before I go any further, take a moment and get quiet
before your Heavenly Father.
Ask Him to help you rediscover His hope again in your
heart – to trust God for His goodness even when you find it hard to trust
anything at all.
Remember, you are His child, and He wants to be your
refuge.
As King David once prayed, “When my heart is
overwhelmed … lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2).
That’s exactly what God wants you to cling to right
now.
You don’t have to scratch your head and wonder where
His answers will come from. Christ is the author and finisher of your faith (Hebrews 12:2).
He wants you to know the blessings of His joy and
peace … and He wants you to experience the hope that brings new life in Him … hallelujah.
Hope Restored
I love the story of Jeremiah the prophet, who wept
after seeing his beloved city Jerusalem captured by King Nebuchadnezzar.
Jeremiah experienced deep pain and discouragement
because he knew his people had rebelled against the Lord and disobeyed His
Word.
And yet he also saw a powerful ray of hope piercing
the dark clouds surrounding him:
“This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail
not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. ‘The
Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I hope in Him!’” (Lamentations
3:21-24)
Can you imagine anything more hope-filled than God’s
faithfulness?
Even as the prophet struggled to overcome the despair
of the moment, he found a way to place his trust in the Lord “because His
compassions fail not.”
The same is true for you and me. Because we are
undergirded by the hope of God, we can experience His joy … His peace … His
power.
Hallelujah! Hope is a powerful thing, and through it,
we can believe in His miracles and expect the impossible.
I know beyond a doubt that God has a wonderful plan
for your future.
Yet if you are going through a painful time, it may be
hard to trust God to carry you through your struggles.
You might be thinking, “The Lord wants me to have
hope? I can barely get through the day. How can I hope when everything around
me is falling apart?”
My reply to you is “How can you afford not to
hope?”
Hope is the very substance of His miracle-working power.
Hope is where you’ll find newfound confidence in His overwhelming goodness.
Believe me, I’m not trying to lessen what you may be
going through right now.
I’m trying to help you see that putting your trust in
God is the only way you’ll find victory in your life and discover a new
perspective in Him.
It’s when we take our eyes off our Lord and Savior
that we end up discouraged.
We begin to sink where we stand, wishing for a miracle
breakthrough because we become distracted by everything around us.
Remember when Peter walked on the water toward Jesus …
he had to keep His eyes focused on Jesus to keep from sinking.
Everything went fine as long as he saw his master and
heard His voice – but he began to lose hope and sink when he was distracted by
the wind and waves around him (Matthew
14:25-31).
Like Peter, we’ve all faced stormy circumstances at
times.
If we focus too much on how bad our circumstances are,
we’ll quickly sink into the churning waves.
But if we focus our eyes on our Lord and Savior Jesus,
we can walk in hope-filled faith above the rough seas.
Stepping Out in Faith
My friend, our journey with God is meant to be an
incredible adventure of faith, not a life of fear and heartache.
And the adventure begins when you learn to hope in Him
and trust Him with all that you have and are.
One of God’s most precious promises is that He will
be with us amid our trials.
Because of that great fact, we can “fear not,”
for He says, “I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
As David learned … God will be faithful to protect and comfort us even
if we “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4).
As Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego found out … The Lord will be with us even in the fiery furnaces
of life (Daniel 3:8-30).
As Peter discovered … We may be shaken by the enemy at times, but
God will use such experiences to make us stronger and more capable of
ministering to others (Luke
22:31-32).
As Paul concluded … nothing “shall be able to separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Why? Because “all things work together for
good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His
purpose” (verse 28).
Remember … He is with you today!
Because of His great love for you,
He’s promised to “never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
He will lovingly carry you safely through your
difficult circumstances to a new place of safety and victory.
Heaven Opened
I am not only praying that the Lord will show Himself
faithful and true to relieve you of your fears and cares amid life’s battles,
but I’m also believing Him to bring you new hope in Him.
John in his revelations saw “heaven opened” as
Jesus was about to return (Revelation
19:11), and I’m convinced God
wants to open the floodgates of heaven’s blessings for you!
As you are faithful to Him with your time, talents,
and treasures, He promises to “open for you the windows of heaven and pour
out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it”
(Malachi 3:10).
Not only that, but He also “will rebuke the
devourer for your sakes” (verse 11), reversing every negative situation the enemy has
brought to your life.
Are you ready for God’s miracle-working hope to arise
in your heart today?
The One who is faithful and true loves you and is
ready to bless you like never before – empowering you with His ever-present joy
and transforming you with His love and power.
Your Friend and Partner,
David Cerullo is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Inspiration
Ministries, located in Indian Land, South Carolina – a ministry dedicated to
impacting people for Christ worldwide through media. The son of international
evangelist Morris Cerullo, David took a less traditional approach to ministry,
graduating from Oral Roberts University with a degree in business
administration and management. He has authored over 20 books, and operates a
global media ministry that powerfully impacts the world for Christ. More from David on Inspiration.org.
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