Hope Does Not Disappoint -Romans 5:1-5

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulations produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

The LORD is With Me -Jeremiah 20:11

"But the LORD is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten."

Choosing Our Inheritance For Us -Psalms 47:1-4

"Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! For the LORD Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth. He will subdue the peoples under us, And the nations under our feet. He will choose our inheritance for us, The excellence of Jacob whom He loves."

In This Place I Will Give Peace -Haggai 2:6-9

As we continue going through Haggai, we come upon another promise.

"For thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,' says the LORD of hosts. 'The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,' says the LORD of hosts. 'The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,' says the LORD of hosts. 'And in this place I will give peace,' says the LORD of hosts."

This promise points to when Christ came to earth...and the peace that came with Him.


The encouraging thing is that this promise still applies to us! When we accept Christ as our Savior, we receive the peace that "passeth all understanding".

Call Upon Me -Psalms 50:15

"Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."

All Things...-Romans 8:28

This well-known verse is a great reminder of how God is in control. And since He is in control, we know that whatever happens will ultimately bring glory to Him.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

Not for us... -Ezekiel 36:26

Now, I strongly encourage you to read the whole chapter that today's verse is in...it's really good. I could post more of it, but I'm trying to keep these posts to short tidbits, nothing big.

This promise is one that I find amazing because of the imagery portrayed by the verse:

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."

The picture of a heart of stone: dead, lifeless, still. Here, I've included a picture for you:

Looks pretty dead, doesn't it? :)

We were "dead in our trespasses and sins", and God took that dead, lifeless stone heart and replaced it with a living heart, so we are now "alive in Christ." Wow! What a promise!


However, in case we think this makes us pretty special in and of ourselves, God is quick to remind us it's for His glory (in verse 32):

"Not for your sake do I do this."

To Everything there is a Purpose..His Purpose. -Ecclesiastes 3:11

Today I got the opportunity to hear a message on Ecclesiastes 3. It gave me a perspective on the verse that I'm sharing that I don't think I've really had before.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end."

The message I heard was mainly on verses 1-8 of the passage, which is the section where it goes into how there are different times and seasons (times of life and death, times of love and hate, times to weep and laugh, ect.).

To be completely honest, I'm not sure why I hadn't thought of what I'm about to share before.

Even when we face trials and sorrows in this life, verse eleven tells us that God makes everything beautiful in it's time. God takes those hardships and trials in our life, those times when we are working through sin in our lives, and turns it into something beautiful, something that brings glory to Him. And He gives us as Christians the honor of being able to live out that "beautiful" life, which really is the honor of giving all that glory to Him, since it was God's doing in the first place.

God takes all of the good and bad, and makes each season lovely and perfect in it's own time.

Satan meant the trials in our life for evil, but God meant it for good.


...Yes, I was just thinking of the story of Joseph in the Bible.  :)