Hope and a Future
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
What is life without hope and without a future? Where do we get hope and a future? What do we hope for? More money, power, possessions, security, peace? There are many things we can hope for in life, but how many of these hopes go unfulfilled? And when they are fulfilled, are they worldly and temporary, or are they spiritual and eternal? What kind of hope and future does God have planned for us?
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10) Whatever God has planned for us, he has promised that it will provide life to the full. Life to the full according to God is a life filled with his love, faith, peace, joy, security, thankfulness, and comfort for our souls. Life to the full is a life that has overcome the world. For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. (1 John 5:4) Overcoming the world means we are confident that through Christ we can overcome anything Satan puts in our paths.
The Lord gives us life to the full in the Spirit, secured by his protective power. With this in mind, what kind of future can we look forward to? If we justify our eternal lives by our earthly lives, we will live in doubt, but if we live our earthly lives for Christ we can be sure of eternal life through God’s grace. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10) We do our best to serve the Lord with a changed heart that is filled with his love. We seek to know the Lord and to grow spiritually, becoming more Christ-like by being a light for the Lord.
The Lord gives us hope through the knowledge that Heaven is our eternal home, and he will guide us through our earthly lives to overcome anything that Satan puts in our paths. This is life, knowing the power that we have through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. (John 6:63) We are filled with the life of Christ. We live confidently in Christ with love, peace, and joy, knowing that Heaven is our home. Christ has defeated Satan for us so that we are free to be lights for him in this world, having overcome all fear from Satan. We live with hope and a future, an eternal future.
Today the Lord is guiding you through life filled with hope and a future. A life that is forever, and evermore fulfilling. Remind yourself of the life that God promises, defined by hope and a future, and each day seek to serve the Lord and receive his blessings.
Let’s Pray: Lord thank you for giving me life to the full, filling my soul through the Spirit with blessings from heaven. Help me to be one with you through the Spirit, living in your good, pleasing and perfect will. Guide me to be a light for Christ wherever I go and whatever I am doing. Open my eyes to see what you see, and direct me to lost souls. In Jesus name, Amen