May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
Lately people keep posting this verse in their facebook status updates. And I love it!! How we need to be reminded of our God of HOPE!!!!! Who fill us with joy and peace as we trust in Him!!! What a great promise!
We are in the middle of Seek God for this City. This is a 40 day adventure of praying for our community. During this time we have been having weekly prayer meetings where we worship, intercede, and just be still before Him.
Today we meditated on this passage from Romans 15:5-13. We used the method of Lectio Divina ~ publicly read the word and then be still and allow God to speak to each one from His word. It was neat to hear the different aspects of this passage that were highlighted. God speaks from His word to all of us!
I thought of the word HOPE. Since changing the name of our prayer ministry to HOPE for Portage, Hope has been one word we have had to battle for! God gave us the name and now we war to live it out!!! And He enables us every step of the way!
I pondered verses 5 and 13. The God of hope fills us with joy and peace, endurance and encouragement so we can overflow hope to our lost world.
As we sat outside enjoying the sunshine, I could see an area that was brown and appeared dead. The trees had not budded yet. There were dead leaves on the ground. Yet we have the hope of spring and awakening in natural. The trees will soon bud. The ground will sprout green. New life will be everywhere.
As I think of the spiritual realm, I believe it is the same. Many dreams seem dormant right now. Yet God is causing His hope to arise and awaken that He will bring life to what seems dead. Those dreams and promises are soon to spring forth in new life.
Our only hope is in God! Hope in God to do what He has said! He gives endurance, encouragement and unity to accomplish the tasks He has ordained. It is not in our power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. His power, that resurrected Christ Jesus, can resurrect our dead things and cause new life to spring forth suddenly.
God bless you & fill you to overflowing with HOPE!!!!
Julie