The Habit of Joyful and Confident Hope
Devotion: Term 3, Week 6
Does it feel like the attack coming against you right now is more than you can bear? If so, read this: ‘Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,’ (Romans 5:3-4 ESV).
Notice that you can reach a place of spiritual maturity where you automatically respond to difficulty with ‘joyful and confident hope.’ It’s easy to say, ‘don’t worry’, but to actually do that requires experience with the faithfulness of God. When we trust God and then see His faithfulness in our lives, it gives us the confidence needed to live without fear and anxiety. That’s why it’s so important to continue to have faith in God and learn to trust Him in the midst of trials.
With God’s help, we can overcome the temptation to give up when the going gets rough. God uses those hard, trying times to build in us patience, endurance, and character that will eventually produce ‘the habit of joyful and confident hope.’
Always remember that when you are in a battle, you are gaining valuable experience that will benefit you later on. You will more easily trust God when difficulty comes, and you will be able to testify to others regarding the goodness and faithfulness of God. If you are in a battle right now, you can let it defeat you or make you stronger! Make the right decision, and let it help bring you to a deeper level of spiritual maturity.
SoulFood: 1 Chr 10:1 – 12:22 Luke 12:22-34 Ps 119:25-32 Pro 20:25-27
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright 2024
Other Devotions
Devotion – The Habbit of Joyfol and Confident Hope
Does it feel like the attack coming against you right now is more than you can bear? If so, read this: ‘Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,’ (Romans 5:3-4 ESV). Notice that you can reach a place of spiritual maturity where you automatically respond to difficulty with ‘joyful and confident hope.’ It’s easy to say, ‘don’t worry’, but to actually do that requires experience with the faithfulness of God.
Devotion – Knowing Who Belongs in Your Life
Gideon chose thirty-two thousand soldiers to fight the Midianites. But the truth is, you don’t need lots of people in your life, you just need the right people. So, when Gideon said, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home’ (Judges 7:3 RSV), twenty-two thousand soldiers left. But God told him he still had too many, and added, ‘I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.’ (see Judges 7:4)
Devotion – The Essence of Leadership
‘But all the men of valour among you shall pass over armed before your brethren and shall help them,’ Joshua 1:14 RSV
To be worthy of a following, you need more than talent and a title. The essence of leadership lies in doing two things.