Why is it so hard to hope?

Thought of the day: fasting hopelessness 

Why is it so hard to hope? Is it because hope requires us to hold on to the promise of the good that is yet to come? What if the good never came? We have all experienced disappointment, sickness, lost friendships, death, lost passions and dreams. The temptation at this point is to stop hoping so we can avoid the pain that disappointment and loss often bring.

Truth is, hope can be painful. It requires us to surrender to our fears and to become vulnerable to trust. This kind of hope believes that we will not be forgotten, that God is really with us each step of the way. 

Asking for hope in exchange for our worries only deepens our sense of thirst and ache for His presence in our lives. Yes, hope is risky but it promises to lead us as we follow it to a life more abundant. 

"Narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. "- Matt. 7:14

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Create and cultivate an environment for hope to thrive

Thought of the day: fasting hopelessness 

Create and cultivate an environment for hope to thrive. 

The battle being fought over our hope begins in our mind, listen to your thoughts. 

Truth is that the enemy is more attracted by what you think than what you do. Your first line of defense is knowing who you are in Christ, this will determine how you think. The only way to know who you are in Christ... is to know what He thinks about you. If you know what God has to say about you then the lies of the enemy seem silly. 

If we begin each morning asking God for hope then we are creating an environment where God can thrive, work in our lives. Our petition for hope ushers is a confident expectation for Gods supernatural help. Cast out the lies of the enemy that produce distress , an environment that cultivates opportunity for the enemy's accusations which cause us not to trust. 

Remember, you were chosen by Him, while you were in your sin, to be someone He would die for. He loves us more than we can ever imagine... Begin to imagine, how He loves:)

Meditate on this truth today. Allow it to cultivate hope!

"So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.

We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us" -Romans 31-39 MSG 

Our hope is placed in a Savior that's focus is restoration.

Thought of the day: fasting hopelessness 

Our hope is placed in a Savior that's focus is restoration.

"A saint is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God"

- the ragamuffin gospel

I began to search for hope when I realized that my messy life was a result of trying to do good apart from God. Any efforts I make to lead, guide, counsel, create, clean up or make better are no ...good without Christ. My hopelessness was, "look at what a mess I've made, how in the world will I ever clean up my life and the lives I had affected."

The hope that replaces that worry is, my God is a God of restoration. His plan all along was to help me understand how much I am in need of Him in all things I do. I confess I need Him and lay all my mess at His feet. This opens the door to His grace that allows His power to restore my old mess to new life!

"To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life's story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side, I learn who I am and what God's grace means. "-Brennan Manning

How in the "crush" of life's circumstances do we keep our hearts free to hope?

Thought of the day; fasting hopelessness 

How in the "crush" of life's circumstances do we keep our hearts free to hope?

Tranquility is an illusion; heartbreaks can be the door of hope. Hope is far more about the joy of being found in our mess and then being led out to freedom than it is about being lulled to sleep by the rhythms of Gods heartbeat. If we are honest, the threshold between joy and... pain is slight, so it has more to do with where we are being led.

So in the "crush" we pray for hope that opens the door to His presence that holds up our hearts and counsels us along the way. 

This kind of hope rouses us to say "yes" to life in the core of our being, even when we are suffering. We are saying yes to Him as He says - "I am taking you somewhere, and it's all about my love for you."

It's all about the journey through the circumstance. Give yourself to Him in the valley. Trust Him to lead you through. Hold on to hope while he turns your pain into pure joy.

"But then I win her back once again. I will lead her out into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble(the valley of Anchor  into a gateway of hope. She will give herself to me there, as she did long ago when she was young..." 

Hosea 2:14,15

Courage to believe that Jesus is the Hero of my story. He promises to set the captives free !

Thought of the day: fasting hopelessness 

Courage to believe that Jesus is the Hero of my story. He promises to set the captives free ! 

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners

Isaiah 61:1

I must be willing to surrender my will, my plans to figure out my escape plan from my prison like circumstances. When I surrender to the one and only Hero, Jesus Christ, I get out of His way. This allows Him to work out His perfect plan. The new prospective I have on my prison like circumstances is now a place of resting in His fortress of protection.

"Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you" - God

Zechariah 9:12

His plans are always abundantly more hopeful than I could ever dream to hope for on my own:)

Be real with God concerning the condition of our broken hearts.

Thought of the day: fasting hopelessness 

Being positive is good but only after we are real with God concerning the condition of our broken hearts. If your heart hurts or feels hopeless, tell Jesus and let him work on it. 

We pray for hope when we know we are not in control-when we hope for the best outcome. 

I used to place hope in my performance as a mother-that was misplaced hope.. Now it's placed in... Gods hands who works all things for good. 

Prayer: I pray for hope today that is found in God's word in exchange for my worry. I hold on to that hope-hope that I do not see - while grace (Jesus) does the work of faith in me which will produce righteous fruit. In Jesus name amen

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

This is what faith looks like that is motivated by love :)

This hope allows me to say today- I accept my life, the past, present and future.

Disillusionment is my focus on truth.

Thought of the day; Fasting Hopelessness 

Disillusionment is my focus on truth. 

Look for the light at the end of the tunnel of disillusionment.

"Disillusionment births true hope in the same way that death is the context for resurrection. If our dreams don't die, the God-dreams won't be birthed. "- Dan Allender 

"May all your expectations be frustrated. May all your plans be thwarted. May all your desires be withered into nothingness. That you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child and sing and dance on the love of God the Father, the Son and the Spirit." - Blessing given to Henri Nouwen by his spiritual leader