Thought of the Day !!

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 (NLT)

Monday's devotional is coming early because I will be in Jackson in the morning. And there's a neat story behind it too. This morning before church I opened my emails and read a note that came from a visitor to our church. She was expressing how she was pleased with the way some of our folks had treated her. Often times people end their emails with a signature of sorts. Mine is "In the love of Christ". Hers was Romans 15:13.

I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but later, after the service, I went back to the email to respond to it. I looked up the verse, and low and behold it spoke to me about the hope we have. My sermon this morning was entitled "The Hope of Peace" and came from Isaiah 11:1-9. The sermon spoke to where our hope lies and how this hope is a hope for a future of peace as Isaiah explains it.

So I want to leave you with the words that I used to begin this morning's message. They are not original. I actually heard another preacher use them over the weekend. But does that really matter? The point is just as valid. He said (and so did I) that you can live weeks without food. You can live days without water. You can live minutes without air. But you cannot live a moment without hope.

I believe that hope is just that important. Without it despair will simply suck the life out of you. So as the season of Advent begins and the season of Christmas approaches, focus on the hope that is found in Jesus. This is a hope that the one who was born in Bethlehem and died for our sins and rose from the grave is coming back. And when he does, there will be peace.

In the love of Christ,
greg