The God of All Hope

Romans 15:13 I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace as you trust in him. Then you will have more and more hope, and it will flow out of you by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Have you ever wondered who exactly people meet when they meet you? Who or what do they encounter? Exuberance or dismay, joy or loathing, kindness or manipulation? Have you ever wondered?

Sometimes when I go to bed at night, I think about the people with whom I interacted during the day. My wife – did I encourage her, did I make her feel loved, or was I a bit too short with her? That video conference with our team in India – did I make them feel valued, or was I perhaps too transactional?

Those aren’t bad questions to be asking ourselves because we all have our natural foibles that go on to impact others. That’s why we need a helping hand; a source of transformational power that changes who we are, who people meet when they meet us, without us ever having to give it a second thought. So …

Romans 15:13 I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace as you trust in him. Then you will have more and more hope, and it will flow out of you by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Fact: God’s hope, God’s joy, God’s peace happens naturally when we trust in Him. And not just as a warm fuzzy feeling inside – wonderful though that is. No, you’ll have more and more hope, and it’ll flow out of you by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And that changes who you are. It changes who people meet. It changes the impact you’ll have on their lives. All that happens when we trust in Him.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.