Living Hope

In teaching Sunday school in Gulf Pointe Plaza Nursing Home, each lesson is aimed at giving hope and encouragement to the residents living there. A few go to the nursing home to recuperate and then leave for their own homes, but most are there to stay as their lives deteriorate. Just as the bible is God's Word to give hope to young and old, this devotional is, too.


"Our hope is based on nothing less but Jesus’ blood and Righteousness".

Hope in the biblical sense doesn’t mean wishful thinking, but fervent expectation - expectation that what God has promised we can claim and will receive.

Hope is what we all need, whether we are little children too young to think about the future, or young ones leaving the nest, or older people whose careers and work are behind them, and even those in their final days. Without hope children have no courage to go forward, and without hope our spirits wither and die before our bodies do.

The New Testament tells of the hope we have in Jesus Christ, both for now and for the hereafter. Through the blood Jesus shed on our behalf, we have hope for today, hope for tomorrow and hope for eternity.

Titus 1:2 "a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time," .

Before the beginning of time, before He created anything, God planned that He would send Jesus as our sacrifice so that we could be free of sin and could take on the righteousness of Jesus to dwell with God forever in eternity. This is our greatest Hope for the future. Over and over in the bible we are told that "I will never leave you nor forsake you", and He didn't.

But God never meant that we should only hope for death and the hereafter. If we recognize Him, the Holy Spirit will dwell in our hearts and give us overpowering love and comfort during the good days and the dark days. Jesus intends that we have more good days than dark ones: John 10:10 "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly". Abundant life is life lived to the full, trusting in God and expecting His goodness and mercy to follow you as you follow Him.

We all experience dark days and sad days, and during these times we can trust God and hold fast to him. In Rom 15: 13 the apostle Paul says: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." This is the present hope we need during those times. Just by trusting in Him, our hearts and minds can be filled with understanding and wisdom so that we will know that no matter what the circumstances, He is with us and He is sovereign.

To the Thessalonians, Paul writes: 2 Thessalonians 2:16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Peter says it this way: 1 Peter 1:3 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ". A living hope - a hope that stays with us both night and day.

2 Cor. 1:3–4 TLB What a wonderful God we have — he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials.

He is a wonderful God, the source of every mercy and comfort and strength. Many times, we find ourselves unable to do the things we used to do and want to do, but we are not left without hope. God is with us and will be with us to the end and beyond.

Every day He wants us to think about Him, to thank Him for what He has done in our past, and for how he is caring for us today. If we thank him for every blessing, in the process our minds will be renewed and we will receive HOPE.

I love these verses about the great mystery of the ages, which we are privileged to have revealed to us: in Col 1:25 Paul writes: I have become its servant (that is the church’s servant) by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness —26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We are those gentiles; when we believe in Jesus as our savior, we have Christ in us, the hope of glory.

Phil 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

The God of Peace is the God of Hope. May the Lord’s peace and hope be with you today and every day.

Anna