Day 154: I Have this Hope

I apologize for the devo being so late today, I have been at the hospital with my sister since this morning.

Psalms 3:2-6

Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.

Have you ever had this feeling that everything is going to be okay? Even when everything doesn’t look okay, you have this hope that somehow, someway God will make everything alright. It’s like an everlasting hope in Jesus that no matter what you’re going through or who is talking about you, you can’t stop focusing on the Lord. You can’t stop thinking about the hope you have found in the Lord. This is what I want to talk about today, there is a hope that we have in the Lord that is unfailing. We have this hope that even in our darkest hour God is our light, even at our lowest moment God’s surrounds us with His love and peace.

I want to encourage you today, to be reminded of the hope we have in Christ Jesus, to be reminded of the love we experience through Him, the peace. As David bears witness to in the above scripture, that no matter what people say to you, no matter how much they doubt what you can do, I trust in you Lord. I want you to take on that attitude that David has. He isn’t swayed by the naysayers or the doubters, he knows who his God is. We will get to a point in our walk with Christ when things that used to worry us don’t anymore because we have found a hope in Christ and our faith cannot be swayed or turned by anything or anyone. We will get to a point where we can stand in the face of adversity and not be moved because we know how powerful and sovereign our God is, we know the hope we stand on. There is a hope is God that is more powerful that anything we can ever imagine.

I just can’t stop saying that. Whenever you feel adversity coming for you, whenever the naysayers and doubters are saying what God will or will not do in your life, just be reminded, you have this hope is Jesus.

Reflection

Repeat this statement, “I have this hope in Jesus Christ…”. Write it down and put it in a place where you can see it every day or access it when you need it. Be encouraged today.

Prayer Time

Take the time to pray today as you feel led. Have a conversation with God, just talk to Him.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day and start to your weekend. Share this with someone and be sure to come back tomorrow for day 155!

Day 80: Push Yourself

1 Samuel 30:6

And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

Sometimes in life, there will be no one there to push us forward, there will be no one there to hold us accountable, or pick us up. It is in these moments that we must learn to strengthen ourselves in the Lord. We must learn to push ourselves, we must learn to hold ourselves accountable.

When I was a youth pastor I would always talk to some of the youth department and they would say something like, “When I want to sin, I just picture your face, or I just talk to you about it.” My response would always be, what about when I’m not there, one day I won’t be able to pick up the phone, what then? I wanted them to learn to depend on God more than me. I wanted them to be able to push themselves, and pray for themselves when no one else was there to do it for them. I did not want to be a crutch to them.

-Dyamond

As we grow in Christ we must make sure that we are dependent solely upon God, so that we do not have to run to anyone to get in contact with Him. Our pastor’s and peers are great, but sometimes we are going to be alone, sometimes they won’t pick up that phone. We have to push ourselves even when we are distressed like David, we have to pray for ourselves. I love that the Scripture says, David strengthened himself in the Lord. We don’t just find that strength on our own. We learn to go to God ourself for ourselves and get an overflow of His strength. Whenever we need it, we know that we can turn to God. No one can do for us what God can. We have the opportunity to have a relationship with God and be intimate with Him same as the next person. We just have to know that we are capable of praying for and pushing ourselves. It doesn’t make us selfish or prideful, it means that we trust and depend on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Philippians 3:12

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.

We also have to push ourselves when we are tired when we are ready to give up, when it’s too painful when everything is telling us to quit. We have to push ourselves. If we want that blessing, if we want that life of eternity with Christ, we must push ourselves to keep going even when we think we can’t take it anymore.

It’s like working out, when we workout we are working towards those summer beach bodies, and we have to push through the pain of the workout if we ever want to get our bodies summer ready. That means we have to run an extra mile even when we’re out of breath, do twenty more crunches when our abs are burning, do a few more chin ups when our arms feel like they can't lift anymore. It hurts, we’re breathing heavy, doing whatever we can to ease the pain, but we still feel it. We even feel it a couple of days after. But we keep going to the gym, we keep running, we keep lifting, because we want that body. We have a goal in mind, and we can’t stop until we reach it.

It’s the same when we are pressing towards the goal of perfection, when we are pushing towards whatever it is God has for us. There will be some pain, there will be reasons to quit, but God is bigger. Our faith is bigger than our weakness. Our faith in God surpasses our pain. We have our eye on a greater prize, and with that in mind. WE CANNOT STOP! We have to push, we can’t quit we have to keep going. Even when those muscles are sore from yesterday’s workout, keep going.  Because when all's said and done, all the pain, the heartache, and the tears and sweat will be worth it. It’s like spiritual fitness.

Reflection/Prayer Time

Know that you have the ability to encourage yourself, you have to push yourself when no one else is around. Find your strength in the Lord and keep moving forward. Talk to God about whatever is on your heart today ask Him to strengthen you, look to God first.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day and start to your week. Share this with someone and make sure you come back tomorrow for day 81!