24
Jan
2011
Hope in Arizona
If you’ve been following the news lately, you know that we’ve had a very sad incident in Arizona with the tragic shootings in Tucson. As our nation tries to come to grips with this terrible loss and crime, we’re again realizing that the crises that plague our world are not simple problems with simple solutions. Shootings, war, economic downturn, fractured families all have a way of breaking hearts and hurting homes. If you were to believe the news, we live in a world void of hope and stripped of meaning. But as believers in the Creator of the universe, we know better. Yes, there’s no denying that our world is full of tragedy and calamity, but we are not without hope. In fact, we of all people should be full of hope and afraid of just about nothing. At the beginning of the year, I always ask the Lord to give me a verse to claim and live out for that year. He gave me that verse this week as I was doing my daily Bible reading and I want to share it with you with the hope that it will encourage you as it has me. Matthew is quoting Isaiah in chapter 12, verse 21 and he says of Jesus,
And his name shall be the hope of all the world. (NLT)
Never has there been a time when our world needed hope more than now! And never has there been a time when the hope needed is anything other than Jesus. That is the verse I am going to try to live out this year. I want to share the hope of Jesus with the world in which God puts me. How about you? Do you too have a verse that you’ll live out this year? I’d love to hear what it is (comment below). I know I’ll be encouraged by the scripture and others will be too. And BTW, if you want to do something that will jump start your spiritual growth in 2011, read through the Bible this year. It’s not too late to get started and you will never be the same after you do it. We can give you a hand if you can sign up to receive your daily bible reading via email. I’m looking forward to living like a child of hope in 2011. What about you?