Verse of the Day 2/12

 

Romans 15:13    May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.  English Standard Version (ESV)

If someone were to ask you to tell them about God, to describe Him as you know Him, where would you begin?  Many might start with love, for God is love and relate to John 3:16 "for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son".   Others might start with peace for God is a God of peace and can give us the "peace that passes understanding" (Philipians 4:6-8).  Still others might focus on joy, and the joy in serving Jesus every hour of every day, or would it be faith, that God is faithful and will do anything for us to the point of sending His Son to die for us, bringing us back to John 3:16.  But as I read today's verse here in Romans 15, for me, I think that I would start out by saying that God is a God of hope and this hope leads us to joy and peace in believing in all of God's promises for us.

In Romans 15 the Apostle Paul is bringing us down the home stretch of his teaching through Romans 11 and his application in chapters 12-15.  Back in verse 4 of this chapter he points out that it is "through the encouragement of scripture we might have hope".  The hope of the Bible is not an empty hope, rather it is a filling, no, more than that, an overflowing hope.  Paul's hope and prayer for us is that "your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!".  (V.13 The Message). 

Would "brimming over" describe your hope?  Does it flow from you to others?  Does what God has done in your life, through those troubled waters cause you to have hope for the future?  As I look back in my life, there have been serious challenges when "hope was almost gone", but God sent His Son, and His Spirit to bring hope which led to peace and joy through the storms and above and beyond them.

I've seen miraculous answers to prayer, I'm still waiting for answers to other prayers but it is hope in Him, trust in Him, faith in Him that can bring joy and peace in believing while we wait, with expectation,  for those prayers to be answered.  Truly, "may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing" so that you may abound, overflow in hope.

I'll close with the song that I often quote here, Because He Lives by Bill Gaither.  While it doesn't say the word "hope" in it, hope is what the song exudes, a "life worth the living, just because He lives."

God sent His son, they called Him, Jesus;
He came to love, heal and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!

 

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!

 

 

Blessings,

Mike

 

Romans 15:13The Message (MSG)

^7-13 So reach out and welcome one another to God's glory. Jesus did it; now youdo it! Jesus, staying true to God's purposes, reached out in a special way to the Jewish insiders so that the old ancestral promises would come true for them. As a result, the non-Jewish outsiders have been able to experience mercy and to show appreciation to God. Just think of all the Scriptures that will come true in what we do! For instance:

Then I'll join outsiders in a hymn-sing;
I'll sing to your name!

And this one:

Outsiders and insiders, rejoice together!

And again:

People of all nations, celebrate God!
All colors and races, give hearty praise!

And Isaiah's word:

There's the root of our ancestor Jesse,
    breaking through the earth and growing tree tall,
Tall enough for everyone everywhere to see and take hope!

Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!

 

 

 

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