Bible Reading: Romans 15:13
Hope and joy are gifts from God. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, God’s Spirit comes to live within us and begins filling us with traits that help us to show other people
who God is, what God is like, and why they need Him in their lives. Romans 15:13 tells us that one of those traits is joy. This verse says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Hope and joy are connected to one another.
Hope means waiting patiently, confident that God will act & fulfill His promises. It means being certain that the unseen God will do the impossible. It means having a strong assurance that God is God, God is in control of all things, and God always has, is now, and always will do what is in our best interest. It means knowing, without doubt, that God loves us and will always take care of us, giving us His strength to meet all our needs. Hope in the LORD gives meaning to our lives – without Jesus Christ, there is no hope. Hope leads to faith which transforms our lives and culminates in eternal life in heaven with God. The knowledge of this transformation and the promise of eternal life are what fill us with joy.
Joy that hope in Jesus Christ gives is a positive attitude that goes with the Christian through all circumstances. It is a confident assurance that God is who He says He is and that God is truly in control of everything, no matter how dire or hopeless our situation may seem. Joy is the ability to be delighted in God’s ability to take care of us during every minute of every hour of every day of our lives in good times and in bad times, knowing He is always there, He will never leave us. To have true joy means basking in these truths and not letting anything or anyone steal our joy by tempting us away from God because we believe that God, and eternity spent with Him, is the light at the end of the long, dark tunnel of life’s struggles.
Would you like to know what it is like to live a life of hope and joy?
Trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Cling to Him. Trust Him. Wait on His perfect timing. As you do, He will give you hope and fill your heart with joy unspeakable!
“I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will [a]rest in hope.For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”Psalm 16:8-11 NKJV
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