"HOPE"

What is this thing called "hope"?
Think for a moment - what are you hoping for today?
Is it for fine weather b/c there is a family BBQ happening this afternoon?
Is it for safety as you travel today? or for friends or family as they travel?
Is it for everything to go just perfectly at the upcoming wedding?
Is it for surgery to go OK tomorrow morning?
Is it for the diagnosis to NOT be cancer?
Is it for the next round of tests to show that the treatments have worked when it is cancer?
Is it for the salavation of a loved one?
Is it for your family, your spouse, your marriage....?

I could go on and on couldn't I ...

Hope is an expectation of things to come; a feeling that what is wanted can be had, that events will turn out for the best; looking forward to something with confidence. At any given moment of any given day we are always hopeful about something.

Romans 8:20 & 21 - For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

As Christians our greatest hope lies in the return of our Savior and the uniting of ourselves with the Father in Heaven! Sometimes, though, it is difficult to focus on that ultimate hope when life throws curve balls at us... whatever they may be!

I talked with a gal yesterday who grew up in my neighbourhood - I haven't seen her for probably 3 years... she has a chronic health condition but to talk with her your would not see this in her face or in her words at all. She just 'lost her husband' (her words) - diagnosed in January and died in June. How devastating that must be to her! I KNOW she and he lived with HOPE for those 6 months... it reminded me once again that life is so uncertain!

Dear friends,
I encourage you today to read Romans 8 - this chapter is full of HOPE! Verse 1 tells us there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus [HALLELUJAH!] and Verse 39 tells us that neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord! {Praise the Lord}

Blessings on you today!
Ruthie