Apr 29, 2026 – Hope
Waterfall/dam in the countryside of Vicenza, Italy
Power – Joyce tells about the hope Abram had as God led him, “In Genesis 13, we see that Abram (whom God later renamed Abraham) had a good attitude – a generous and giving attitude – toward his nephew, Lot. Abram had a right to the land, but he told Lot to choose his portion, and Lot chose the best land for himself. God then told Abram to look from the place were he was. God didn’t say to look at where he was; He said to look from it – beyond it – to all God had in store for him. God had a plan for Abram, even though he had just experienced great loss…. God want you to have hope. He’s got a good plan for your life.”
Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV)
Utmost – 1 John 3:2 – “It doth not yet appear what we shall be.” Chambers leans into the subject of hope, “Naturally, we are inclined to be so mathematical and calculating that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We imagine that we have to reach some end, but that is not the nature of spiritual life…. We cannot suppose ourselves in any condition we have never been in…. gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life…. breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God…. when we are rightly related to God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy…. Remain loyal to Him.” Hope in Him.
Simpson – “Love never faileth” (I. Cor. xiii. 8). Simpson offers this view of hope, “In our work for God it is a great thing to find the key to men’s hearts, and recognize something good as a point of contact for our spiritual influence. When Jesus met the woman at Samaria He immediately seized hold of the best things in her, and by this He reached her heart, and drew from her a willing confession of her salvation.” Jesus gave her hope for her future. “A Scotchman once said that his salvation was due to the fact that a good man (Lord Shaftsbury, we believe) once put his arms around him and said, ‘John, by the grace of God we will make a man of you yet.’” He gave him hope for his future.
Streams – James 5:17 – “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are.” Cowman explains, “He got under a juniper tree, as you and I have often done; he complained and murmured, as we have often done; was unbelieving, as we have often been. But that was not the case when he really got in to touch with God… ‘he prayed praying’…. He kept on praying. What is the lesson here? You must keep praying.” We can’t give up hope. Arthur T. Pierson asks, “Do you know how to pray that way, how to pray prevailingly? Let sight give as discouraging reports as it may, but pay no attention to these. The living God is still in the heavens and even to delay is part of His goodness.”
Hoping for a delicious display of desserts at an Italian Burger King was never something that was on my radar.
And yet, when I went inside, there it was!
