Day 5: Hope Is Here

I always want to

 SEE HOPE,

because

I always want

 HOPE.

Therefore,

I find myself anticipating the

CHANGE

that

HOPE

brings.

HOPE

is the GREAT EXPECTATION

the something

 GOOD

is coming.

But, what is THE GOOD?

Is "GOOD" based on this happening or that happening?

Or...

 is

 THE GOOD

that

GOD IS HAPPENING,

even when this or that is not?

Hmm.

Perhaps

HOPE

is simply

BELIEVING

that

GOD IS ALWAYS HAPPENING,

ALWAYS PRESENT,

ALWAYS FAITHFUL,

even when we cannot see

HIM.

For

HOPE

puts its TRUST in the UNSEEN~

for

"We are saved by trusting. And trusting means looking forward to getting something we don’t yet have—

for a man who already has something doesn’t need to HOPE

and trust that he will get it.

 But if we must keep trusting GOD

for something that hasn’t happened yet,

it teaches us to wait patiently and confidently"

 (Romans 8:24-25).

HOPE is all around us

because

GOD is all around us.

HOPE never dies

because

JESUS DIED

and

JESUS ROSE

to give us

a

LIVING HOPE.

A HOPE

that is not of this world,

yet lives within your HEART. 

 And when HOPE fills your HEART,

 everything begins to

 CHANGE.

Not because your circumstances have CHANGED,

but because your

 HEART

has CHANGED.

As your

HEART

draws closet to

HIS HEART,

HOPE

becomes so real that it blossoms into

REAL JOY!

Not temporary joy.

Not circumstantial joy.

But

EVERLASTING JOY!

So even if you cannot

SEE HOPE on the outside,

don't

BELIEVE

it isn't there.

Because

GOD is taking you

deeper and deeper

into

HIS HEART,

where

HE plants HIS HOPE

inside your heart~

"Therefore we do not lose heart.

Though outwardly we are wasting away,

yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day"*

(2 Corinthians 4:16).

NEW HOPE IS HERE.

Because

"GOD WORKS ALL THINGS FOR THE GOOD

of those

WHO LOVE HIM"

 (Romans 8:28).

Perhaps

THE GOOD

is not always the CHANGE that happens

around you,

but

THE GOOD is ALWAYS

THE CHANGE

that happens

within you.

As GOD uses

ALL THINGS,

ALL PEOPLE,

ALL PLACES,

and every circumstance

to draw you closer to

HIS HEART

and that is

all so GOOD!

HE takes the HOPELESS things

that BREAK your HEART,

to draw you ever so closer to

HIS HEART,

and that is to a place where it becomes

just you and HIM.

And that is

REAL HOPE.

and when you experience

REAL HOPE,

GOD lifts your eyes above this world

and anchors them

in

HIS WORLD~

"My HOPE is built on nothing less.

 Than JESUS' blood and righteousness.

 I dare not trust the sweetest frame. 

But wholly lean on JESUS' name"

 ("ON SOLID ROCK").

HOPE has a name.

JESUS CHRIST!

So even if you and I can't

SEE CHANGE on the outside

it doesn't mean

HOPE doesn't exist.

What if nothing in your world has changed on the outside

but everything has changed in your INSIDE?

Would that be enough?

Is there a

BROKEN RELATIONSHIP

or a

BROKEN DREAM

or a

BROKEN CIRCUMSTANCE

that has left your heart feeling

HOPE~LESS?

Are you ready to let go of the

LESS from HOPE?

Therefore,

will you join me in this very second

to take your eyes off of

what appears to be

UNCHANGING on your OUTSIDE world,

and fix them upon the one

 WHO NEVER CHANGES?

The ONE who is present

in ALL THINGS, at ALL TIMES.

Then

HOPE becomes so alive within you

that

JESUS becomes so alive within you.

One

SECOND OF HOPE

that flows into the next

SECOND

and then the next

SECOND...

until before you know it,

all you can

SEE

is

HOPE,

because you are

experiencing

REAL HOPE.

THE HOPE

born in

Bethlehem

walked to

Calvary,

walked out of

the Empty Tomb,

and now

lives

within

you.

CHRISTMAS wasn't the beginning of HOPE,

as it was

the arrival of HOPE.

And HOPE

has a name~

JESUS!

OH CHRISTMAS IN JULY~

"I KNOW A NAME"

(listen to the song below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPoQw8xx3EU