“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Romans 15:13
Our God is a God of hope. Correction: He is the God of hope. How good is it to know that our God is the God of hope. Our God is the one and only true source of hope in this world, and we have the blessing of knowing him.
Paul mentions three key things in this verse. Hope, joy, and peace. From my reading of the verse, it seems like God provides joy and peace through our faith in him in order that we may have hope. So, in effect, joy plus peace equals hope. That may be a bit of an oversimplification, but it makes sense.
The whole transaction begins with belief. Paul says that God will fill us with joy and peace through the process of our believing. When we have faith in him, in who he is and what he has done for us, that is where joy and peace begin. Our joy comes from the knowledge of our salvation through Jesus. Our peace comes from the assurance that no matter the circumstances we face on earth, our citizenship is in heaven with God.
With those two things in mind, we can’t help but to have hope. The direct result of the joy of our salvation and the peace of our assurance is hope. Hope not only for the good things that God will do for us and through us in this world, but in the next. Hope that when this life is over, we will spend eternity in paradise with God. That hope comes from nothing other than faith in the God of hope.
Prayer:
God,
Thank you for the joy and peace of knowing you. Thank you for the blessing of having a relationship with you. Thank you for the hope that you give us for this life and the next.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
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