Hope in God

Hebrews 6:18 - ...God cannot lie when he says something and he cannot lie when he 

makes a vow. So those things give great comfort to us who came to God for safety. 

Those two things give us comfort and strength to continue in the hope that God gives us.

Psalm 146:5 -  Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, 

whose hope is in the LORD his God...

Romans 8:24 - We were saved, and we have this hope. If we can see 

what we are waiting for, then that is not really hope. 

People don't hope for something they already have.

Here we see three scriptures about hope.  Our hope should be in the Lord.  There is no scripture that specifically states that our hope should not be in man but in Jesus Christ, but I believe these scriptures allude to that quite well.

For the past few days I've felt a need to write about the uncomfortable feelings some are having about what’s happening in our country.  I've tried to write about this but seem to fall into a critical nature when I did.  That is not my intent.

I'm trying again today and asking the Lord to give me the right words.  There is nothing wrong about judging as long as truth is brought into this judgment.  We are to judge with a righteous judgment.  What would God think?  But I'm not here to judge either.

We do not know for certain where our nation is heading.  I don't want to present a calamitous view on this either.  I just want to say, again, we don't know where our nation is heading.  There are such opposing views on the leadership and it's certainly too early to know for sure how our new President is going to fare.  I'm not here to expound on that either.  I'm just wanting to point out where we can look for help and hope in difficult times.

We are told as believers and followers of Christ that no matter what happens, we will not be spared difficulties in this world just because we are Christians.  That's where hope in the Lord comes in.  He will guide, strengthen, give wisdom and give us peace in our spirits in the midst of our turmoil.  But we need to be focused on Him.

If our faith in God is strong His strength will kick in allowing us to endure even the most difficult of circumstances.  We can be a light in the darkness for those struggling, those who do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  We are called to live by faith, not by sight.  When we cannot understand in the natural what is happening around us and we begin to fear, we are living by sight.  We are living with our own understanding.  

God's ways are not like ours.  They are greater than ours.  He knows the beginning from the end in any situation.  He knew before time even began, before He created the earth, just how everything would happen, EVERYTHING.  If He is able to keep all that straight and we can't, wouldn't we want to put our trust in Him, our Almighty Father?

When I look at our country and see where we've come from, I'm disappointed.  Our country was founded on the principles of Christianity.  Congress used to begin their sessions in prayer.

Many of the first states referred to God as "one God," "Almighty,” "the Supreme Being," "the Creator," "Savior" and "Lord."  What I'm seeing today does not resemble anything like that.  

I may be straying a bit, but I believe that if we see problems arising in the future of this country it's because we as a nation have changed our course.  The world has changed its course as well.  It's topsy-turvy.  I'm thinking we're in the midst of turmoil and uncertainty because we have turned our backs, as a nation, on God.  What's good is now considered evil and evil is good.  The commandments of the Bible are not looked upon as truth anymore.  There is a lack of closeness with God and a lack of wanting a relationship with Him or desire to know who He is and what He says.

But I thank God that even though He might be turning His back on us as a nation, He has not turned His back on His children.  He stands firm in His covenant with us providing we do not lose our faith in Him and we maintain our focus on Him.  

He is our deliverer.  He delivered Israel out of Egypt and He will deliver us out of this world someday.  In the meantime...

Psalm 121:1-2 - I will lift up my eyes to the hills--from whence comes my help? 

My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.