Scripture to Read: Psalm 130:7-8
What a wonderful week of being challenged by our Lord through His Word to be sure our hope is in Him and Him alone. As we finish with Psalm 130:7-8, God, through the psalmist, leaves a final challenge to Israel to “hope in the Lord.” Of course, this challenge is for us. We must make sure that we do not place our hope in anything this world offers us. All that the world has to offer us is temporary and will eventually fade away. Our hope is to be in our Lord, and God, through the psalmist, tells us why our hope must be in Him. We hope in our Lord because only in Him can we find and receive lovingkindness. God shows us his everlasting tenderness and compassion through our Lord Jesus Christ. Also, only in our relationship with our Lord do we have abundant redemption. From our devotions on days #1, #2, and #3, we know that redemption is the complete forgiveness of all our sins. The fact that through Christ we are redeemed from all our sins ought to cause us to shout for joy. We have our everlasting hope in Christ, and to miss all He’s done for us is to choose to live in the muck and mire of this world. Jesus reminds us in John 8:31-32 that if we truly know Him and not just know about Him, we are set free. God desires us to walk in the freedom, redemption, and hope that are in Him. Let’s be sure we do just that.
Challenge & Application
1. What are you doing each day to walk in the fullness of the hope you have in Christ?
2. How has the hope God has given you in Christ changed the way you see life and treat others?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!