Saturday, January 24, 2009

Hope Against Hope

Against all hope, I will believe in all that the Lord has promised; I know that He is for me and will not fail me. I will not stay in the place of a sick heart, but I will rejoice in the Lord my God!

Hope deferred can sicken us. For me, passion and joy and energy are robbed by the despair and hopelessness. I have been here before and I am back again. But I will hope in my God! I will tell my heart to beat again! [from the book by Dutch Sheets of the same name.]

What follows are some Bible passages that speak to my heart to day:

Romans 4:18-19: Against all hope , Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." NIV

Proverbs 13:12: Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. NIV

Romans 5:4-5: And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. NIV

Romans 8:24-25: For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. NIV

1 Peter 1:3-5: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his 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 — kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. NIV

Psalms 39:7: "But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. NIV

Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. NIV

Ps 31:24: Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. NIV

Ps 42:11: Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. NIV

Ps 147:11: the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. NIV

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