...assurance of HOPE...

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.[b] 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth” Genesis 9:8-13.

You may not think of this very often, but our life abounds with God reassuring us of our HOPE in Him. You see, God doesn’t wish us to be without hope. One of my favorite signs of God telling me to keep my HOPE ion Him is the rainbow in the sky. Such a sign of our HOPE in Christ comes from the story above. After one year on the ark Noah is finally freed from the flood waters. When Noah and his family step out of the ark, God establishes a covenant with them. Never again will God destroy the earth with a flood. The sign of such a covenant, the sign in which we can place our hope in the love of God, is the rainbow in the clouds.

Next time you see a rainbow, remember the loving and merciful presence of God in your life. The rainbow is a sign of HOPE in Christ! So the next rainbow you see, take a moment and give thanks to God that He is calling you to place ALL YOUR HOPE IN HIM! When I lived in Nebraska for years, I often saw rainbows in vast fields of corn and wheat and soy beans. I thanked God for our farmers who grow food for the world, and I gave God thanks for His presence in my life.

God, I thank You that I am never alone. Your are always with me. Forgive me and help me place my HOPE in You, my HOPE in Your Love, and my HOPE in Your presence.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.

From the Bible:

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us”   1 John 5:13-14.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” 1 Peter 1:3-6.

‘For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them”Ephesians 2:8-10.

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.