Devotions about Hope | from Devotional Christian

When God Steps In

February 25, 2010

His life was going nowhere fast. Reduced to begging and dependent on compassion from strangers, he had no one to depend on, no one to trust in and no hope for change. In that day, there was no cure. But one day, all that changed for blind Bartimaeus. Jesus stepped in to his story.

It began like every other day. He was sitting at the side of the road helpless and begging. But when he heard that Jesus was coming, Bartimaeus began to cry out for mercy (favor and compassion). He cried out to His Messiah in faith, asking Jesus to step in and change his circumstances.

There are times in life that I feel like Blind Bartimaeus… aware that without God’s mercy there is no hope for change… maybe I feel hopeless to change a sin pattern that I seem to struggle with over and over again, maybe it’s relationship struggle, or maybe like Bartimaeus, it’s a physical problem.

I think we can learn a lot from Bartimaeus. He knew he was helpless to change the situation he was in. Instead of just lamenting about it and accepting it (in an “Eeyore-like” way) as his lot in life, he pressed forward in faith. He risked failure and embarrassment when He came humbly asking Jesus to help. He ignored the rebuke of those who thought he was out of line for asking such a ridiculous thing from such a Man. He persisted in faith. And Jesus, in mercy stepped in.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. Mark 10:51-52.

“What do you want me to do for you?” What a question! The Savior of the world stopped for this one man and offered him compassion, mercy, and an answer to the prayer of his heart. And as a result of the faith of Bartimaeus, and the mercy of Jesus, this blind man received his sight.

What are areas in your life that you are helpless to change? Have you lost hope? Let’s learn from Bartimaeus and look to Jesus in faith. Let’s cry out to our Savior for mercy. Let’s look to Him, knowing His power, expecting His power to work in our lives, His desire to transform us, and His glory to be made great through us.

[copyright, 2010, Emily Schankweiler; A Sacrifice of Praise]

Tags FAITH, hope, Trusting God
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When I Call Upon God

February 11, 2010

Filed In Daily Devotionals

Life throws us into mires of difficulty. Are these times meant to break us? Hurt us? Or are these times to test our faith and challenge our trust in God? When we find ourselves in situations without provision, position, job or savings, it can feel more crushing than challenging. When we have been doing all we know to serve the Lord and follow Him, we can be tempted to question our circumstances. Yet, when we have placed our heart before Him and asked Him to search us, we can be assured that wherever we find ourselves, the Lord is everpresent. He will not desert us.

“I called upon Your name, O Lord, out of the depths [of the mire] of the dungeon. You heard my voice: O hide not Your ear at my prayer for relief. You drew near on the day I called to You: You said, Fear not.” Lamentations 3:55-56.

God’s prophet, Jeremiah, once found himself lowered into a miry pit, without water or food. [Jeremiah 38:6] Jeremiah had simply been doing what God told him to do. The Lord didn’t leave Jeremiah there to die. Ebedmelech, an Ethiopian eunuch, heard what had happened to him and went to the King to intercede on Jeremiah’s behalf. Just as God provided for Jeremiah’s release from that dungeon, God will hear our cries for help. He may provide a friend, or stranger to help us. He may lay it upon a family member to help us. But we can trust God to hear us and not to abandon us. Our Lord still tells us, to “fear not”.

PRAYER: Lord, You know our needs today. You know our difficulty, the mire in which we’ve found ourselves. I know we can trust in You, dear Father, for provision and protection. Show us again, Your sustaining power. Lift us up and let all rejoice in You.

Tags hope, trial, Trusting God
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God Will Rescue From Evil

January 26, 2010

Filed In Daily Devotionals

The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
2 Timothy 4:18

Who will rescue me from every evil deed? The Lord will rescue me. I will not be rescued by money or influence or political devices, I will be rescued by God. His rescue may not be what the world has in mind; he will not lead me to strong fortresses or give me a large bank account. He will ensure that I am safely delivered to his heavenly kingdom.

We look for rescue in all the wrong places and in all the wrong ways. In this world you will have tribulation, says Jesus, but take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33) Jesus’ victory over the world is our guarantee that we will be delivered from every evil deed. But before deliverance comes tribulation. Trials may push us to the edge, pain may burn white hot. But take heart! Christ Jesus our Lord has overcome the world and he will bring you safely into his heavenly kingdom!

May we share Paul’s response to such news. We need not fear trouble or danger for we know God will deliver us. So rejoice, people of God! Declare that to him be the glory forever and ever! Begin even now to do what you will eternally do in his heavenly kingdom – shout out with praise and thanksgiving to God. Let his praises resound from the ends of the earth. Let the people of this world stare at you in open-mouthed wonder, amazed that someone facing your trials can even consider giving thanks to God. By your rejoicing you demonstrate that God is of greater value than your comfort, that he is more powerful than your suffering. Rejoice. Enjoy him. And make him known.

Tags evil, hope, rescue
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When Life Falls Apart, Jesus Holds It Together

January 26, 2010

Filed In Daily Devotionals

Do you sometimes feel like the world is falling apart? In any given day almost anyone we talk to can share a shattering experience that rips through their life and pierces the peace they take for granted. Even in the most dire of circumstances, things can get worse. We know that. We sometimes fail to remember that in an hour of despair, things can get better, too.

13 “For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins… 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1.

When my son was five years old, he was crossing the street so he could safely ride his little-wheel trike on the sidewalks on the other side. Though he looked both ways, a large parked truck blocked his vision of an on-coming schoolbus. He took off just as I screamed and lunged forward. It was too late. The bus grabbed the handle of his trike and pulled his head beneath its gigantic wheels. He was wearing a toy plastic football helmet and the wheels of the bus gripped that; the grip held, and his head broke free. He was sent flying into the air. Just moments before I had been working on Vacation Bible School lessons in my kitchen. I’d taken a break to walk out and visit with a neighbor who was waiting for her daughter to come home from school. Suddenly my world was falling apart.

Yet as my world crumbled before my eyes, and fear tried to rob me of peace, the Lord held me and my world together. He allowed clarity in my thinking amid the chaos of screams and people rushing about to help me. The concussion my son had was not life-threatening because of the little helmet he wore. Though every nerve was exposed in his hand and every bone broken, miraculously, his hand needed only to be stitched back together. His arm was broken and his elbow dislocated, but the wrenching he’d received did not destroy its function. Several miracles were seen through that seemingly destructive day. Through it all, the Lord showed me quite clearly that “in Him all things hold together.”

PRAYER: Lord, there are times we think our world is falling apart. In these times, remind us of Your watchcare. Remind us of the times You have held all things together for us. Remind us that You said for us to “fear not”, that You are with us “even unto the end of the age.”

Tags doubts, fear, hope, Trusting God
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God’s Cure for Discouragement

January 12, 2010

Filed In Daily Devotionals

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
Psalm 136:1

Christian, do you suffer discouragement? If so, Scripture’s cure is to give thanks to the Lord. Are you burdened and distressed? Give thanks. Do you face trials as high as the sky? Give thanks.

In this verse we have the hope and encouragement we need to face any burden in life. Give thanks to the Lord. Why? For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. He is good. He is merciful. He is loving. And his steadfast love, his covenant love, his sure and unfailing love, will endure forever.

One of the Devil’s chief tricks is to make us feel cut off from God. We are taught to rely on our feelings and when our feelings tell us that God has turned his back on us we think the end has come. But Christian, have hope. Though you lie in the pit of despair with demons howling around you, your God reigns and he is good and his steadfast love endures forever. You will be delivered from this trial, this test, this moment given to you so that by your obedience God’s glory might shine.

As you rejoice in the goodness and love of God you will soon realize that the sun has not gone down on your soul, that God shines as brilliantly as ever, that it was the enemies of God who tried to shield you from his radiance. The darkness rages against the light but cannot overcome it (John 1:5). God’s love shines still and it shines on all his children.

So give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Tags hope, strength, thanks, trial
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From Wormwood to Hope

December 28, 2009

Filed In Daily Devotionals

Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
Lamentations 3:19-20

Struggling saint, how often might these words resonate in your soul? Perhaps you say, “Remember my affliction? Would that I could remember anything but! I have walked so long in darkness and travail that all I see is restless sorrow.” But we must not remain in our sorrow. Instead, follow the example given in Lamentations:

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
Lamentations 3:21-24

Here is the answer for your sorrow: remember the steadfast love of the Lord. His mercies are never ending, his faithfulness is great. We are a kingdom of priests and just like the Levites in Numbers 18:20, the Lord himself is our portion.

We have hope because our Savior does not come in the form of government or money or any other worldly power. We have hope because no enemy can prevail against our God. We rejoice because God himself has wrapped his arms around us and he has promised to never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

Christian, wait on the Lord. For the Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord – Lamentations 3:25-26.

Your trials, though they seem so severe, are displaying the Lord’s glory when you show that he is more precious to you than comfort. Like Jesus, you do not open your mouth to complain of your trial (Isaiah 53:7) but you trust in the will of the Lord, knowing that at the right time he will deliver you. Through all of this, a watching world sees you lean on a strength not your own and when all others would curse God and die, they see that you instead trust God and live for him. This is how we move from wormwood to hope.

Tags hope, suffering, trial, trust
Comments: #4

When All Hope Seems to Die, You Can Still Have Hope in God.

November 28, 2009

Filed In Daily Devotionals

“The setting of a great hope is like the setting of the sun. The brightness of our life is gone.” – Henry Wadesworth Longfellow

Have you ever experienced a time when the brightness of your life seemed gone? If you’ve lived for more than 30 seconds, I’m pretty sure you have. Of course, there are times when sorrow or grief seem to overwhelm us; when crushed hopes and sudden disappointments seem to take all happiness from our lives. But for the Christian, I don’t believe this should be a permanent darkness.

As I’ve passed through various dark and seeming hopeless seasons in my life, I have found much comfort in the Psalms. The writings of the Psalms are full of emotions… sorrow, anger, pain, tears, despair. They are real. And they seem to “connect” to my life in a powerful way. There have been many seasons where I’ve simply “camped out” in the Psalms and have met such sweet comfort there.

In Psalm 42 David says to himself: “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God; for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”

But, what does it mean to hope in God? When hopes seem gone like the noonday sun and the brightness seems forever gone, what do we do?

First, remember that God is sovereign. No matter what circumstance you face, nothing takes Him by surprise. He is in control, and as the writer of Psalm 71 states, He is worthy of our confidence and praise.

Second, remember that God is perfect justice. Psalm 37 assures us that evil will be punished and that even the prosperity of the wicked is fleeting. Wait for the Lord, He delivers those who take refuge in Him.

Third, remember that God will be with you. Psalm 139 reminds us that even darkness is not dark to God.

Turn to God for comfort and peace in the midst of sorrow. Only He can give joy and rest. His compassion is new every morning. His tenderness is great towards His children and the storehouses His mercies can never be emptied. Even in deep grief, God is our hope.

How good God is! Remember that even when with eyes of tears, we watch our hopes and dreams die, we can trust and rest in knowing that joy and brightness will return; for it does not rest in anything but Jesus Christ. He alone is our hope, our strength and our comfort.

[copyrighted, 2009, Emily Schankweiler]