31 Virtues for Our Kids ~ Hope

HOPE

Over the next few months we will be praying for 31 Virtues for our Kids maybe even for ourselves too!

Romans 15:13 (New Living Translation)
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

(I love this translation!)

"Confident Hope" is what I want for me and my kids! Hope is not something unattainable or far off in a world with such little hope. I want to pray that God will give us hope. Romans 15:13 is an "if - then" verse and it is a verse with a promise. I love these kinds of verses; they are clear, give us direction and full of promise.

"IF" - If I trust in Him!

God always requires some action on our part in order to receive His promises. His promises are always available to us but we have to actively choose to experience them. Trust means to fully rely on God. We must give Him all of us and hold nothing back which can be very hard to do.

"Then" - God (source of hope) will fill me completely!

Always remember that God keeps all His promises. When we trust in Him then He will fill us completely. I love that we can tap into the very source of hope. This part reminds me of a spring. We use to live in Petoskey, MI and a nearby town, Harbor Springs, is known for it spring water. There are various places where you can go and fill jugs with pure, wonderful, fresh spring water. You don't have to go to the store and purchase it...you can go right to the source and it is free. Wow, that will preach right there LOL. We can go to the source of ALL Hope....and it's free! We just have to trust and then He will fill us.

What will he fill me up with?

1. Joy (a deep feeling or condition of happiness or contentment)

Well, you can probably tell this word really excited me when I saw it here in this verse! I love it that God fills us with joy. Oh, how we all need joy in our lives everyday. But, I love that joy is more than just happiness it is also contentment.

2. Peace (reconciled with God)

It is more than peace with others; it is being reconciled with God almighty. We are made right with Him. He has paid our debt and we can have a personal relationship with our creator. There are no other religions that permit you to have a relationship with their god. In Christ he has made a way for us to have a relationship with God. He has reconciled us to Him. We can find perfect peace in Him!

"The Promise"

I will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit! Not only does He fill us with joy and peace, as a result he fills us to overflowing. It doesn't surprise me that God gives us more than what we need. He wants to give us good things...

Luke 11

9"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
11"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

What is more amazing here is that we find that it is not confident hope that is the gift...it is the power of the Holy Spirit! It is Holy Spirit that then gives us confident hope. I have learned over my life not to miss what the true gift is ...it is God, Himself! Yes, confident hope is wonderful but it is useless with out God! Thank you Lord that you give us the power of your Holy Spirit in our lives!

*"May the God of hope grant that my children may overflow with hope and hopefulness by the power of the Holy Spirit"

*by Bob Hostetler, it is excerpted from Pray! magazine issue #4, 31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Kids