Day 1 Devotional: Hopes Building Block

Chasing Hope: The pursuit of a Hope that lasts

DAY 1: Hopes Building Block

There are so many things that rob our hope. If something can take hope from us, we will soon find that gratitude, truth, and perseverance become the fallout causalities, each dying one after the other. We often allow hope to be stolen from us blindly; let me share a personal example. Traveling across the United States while navigating a grim cancer diagnosis, I have encountered a significant number of people who, when given a diagnosis similar to mine, lost all hope. Its incredible to think that some screwed up little cell can rob something that is so powerful from us. I have found that cancer kills hope long before it kills a person.  I have met and prayed for thousands of people who admit that this was the case.  Note that hope does not pivot on statistics, it does not hang from trajectory- its roots come from something much deeper. 

Before we can truly understand how to pursue hope, experience hope, know hope, cling to hope, and give hope, we must understand where hope originates, and what exactly it is. We often focus on worldly things that are just merely temporary band-aids that certainly fall off with some time, dirt, or wear. 

There is a basic building block of true hope, and this building block is the stone the builders rejected, and one in which the world wants you to be ignorant of. Unless you have come to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior and have surrendered your life to Him, you are lacking this foundational cornerstone of hope, and are separate from Him, with no real chance at a hope that is lasting.  In Paul’s letter to the Church in Ephesus, we see that he clearly recognizes such hopelessness.

12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  = Ephesians 2:12

Apart from Christ, the very source of hope is void from our lives. I lived on this hopeless side of things for a long time, it wasn’t until my journey of trying to prove all religions wrong until I came to Christianity. After 2 years I had come to the realization that the bible was true and Christ was the only way to eternal salvation.  It was this truth that brought me into a living hope like I had never had before.

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. -1 Peter 1:3-5

This inheritance is something that cannot be stolen or taken from you, it’s not something that dies out- it is eternal.  This gift is an amazing gift; its such a rich gift that no amount of money can buy this gift- it’s a gift that is equally infinitive in both price and time. 

Assignment:

Take a moment and examine where you are at in your relationship with God.

Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior?  If not, what is keeping your from accepting Him?

If yes, what fruit do you see in your life that verifies your proclamation?

What hope do you have knowing you are saved?

Prayer:

Dear Lord, I pray that the hope that is revealed through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ may come to reside in my heart.  Lord, I recognize that there is no chance at everlasting hope apart from you. I firmly acknowledge that you loved me so much you gave your only Son Jesus Christ for me so that I may know the everlasting hope found in His salvation. May this hope richly dwell in my heart, mind, and soul.  Heavenly Father, continually help me to realize that the hope the world has to offer is just a distraction from the truth of the eternal hope you give me.  Lord, I Thank you day by day, calling on the name of Jesus and by believing what you did on the cross, I can know everlasting life and experience the eternal hope you offer- which is the cornerstone of all genuine hope I have. I pray these things in you precious name Jesus. AMEN!