Encouraging Word for Today

Remember the word to your servant, upon which You have caused me to
hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.
Psalms 119:49,50


A leading psycholgist at a mental facility shared that if they
could somehow infuse the people kept there with hope, they could send them home.
Hope is a powerful thing. Biblical hope is not wishful thinking, but a confident
expectation of a desired end. Our hope is as sure as the object of that hope is
faithful. I sense that there are those this morning that are feeling a sense of
hopelessness. Bodies racked with pain, broken relationships, stacks of bills
piled high with little or no means to pay them, and countless other situations
steal one's hope. This is exacerbated by the enemy of our souls saying to us,
"There is no hope for you in God." The psalmist says to the Lord, "Remember". Do
we have to remind God of His promise because He is absent-minded? Has He
forgotten His promises? No, He hasn't, but in our reminding the Lord we remind
ourselves, we give the promise value, and we set ourselves in agreement with
what He said.
It is easier to endure hardship when we know there is a desired
end. Our hope is sure because our God is faithful.
Hopelessness is the lie of the enemy. Just as lies bring hopelessness, the word
of God gives hope. Hope is the soil in which faith is planted. Has the Lord
given you a word? Hold fast to that word. God is not a man that He should lie.
You can safely trust in Him. His words are spirit and they are life. A word from
the Lord can change your life. As the psalmist said we, too, can say,"Your word
has given me life."

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it
is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

Encouragement for Today

The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief
cornerstone. Psalms 118:22

At times in our lives we all deal with rejection. Rejection can stem
from many things, personality, looks, race, financial status, etc. The rejection
mentioned in this verse was man's rejection of Christ. If we are the chosen of
God rejection comes with the territory. Paul's goal was to know Him and the
power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.(Philippians
3:10) If we know Him we will know the fellowship of His sufferings. Part of that
suffering is the rejection of men and it may even come from those who are close
to us. Knowing this does not necessarily remove the pain, but it helps us
understand that it is part of the process of being conformed to His image.
I began praying Ph.3:10 over myself years ago. After being extremely
hurt by some people, I questioned the Lord as to what was going on. This is what
I believe God said to me (you can test it with your own spirit), that this was
an answer to my prayer, that I could not know the power of the resurrection
without knowing the fellowship of His sufferings. I am not saying God caused
this thing to happen, but our God who is able to bring redemptive purpose out of
everything that comes into our lives is redeeming it now even as I write. We
cannot know the power of the resurrection except something first dies.
Rejections will come, but remember you are accepted in the beloved, a
son of the most high God, a choice vessel of the Lord. He came unto His own and
His own received Him not. He experienced rejection and so will we, but that
which has been rejected by the world is chosen of God.

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but
chosen by God and precious, you also as living stones, are being built up a
spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4,5