By: Carole L. Haines
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3-9 NIV)
Hallelujah! What a Great God we serve. What a Great Salvation He has wrought for us. What a Great Hope we have in this life and the next. How can people even live a single day without Jesus, without the forgiveness and hope He alone brings? Lord stir our hearts to share the hope only You can bring to the hearts of every person in this world.
I am coming out of a great season of loss and bewilderment, still reeling a bit from all it wiped out. Like the hurricane that just rocked this country’s beautiful state of Florida, all was sunny and good one day, yet within three days; our precious fellow-citizens are staring at total loss. The storm stole so much from them, including some of their treasured loved ones. |
Have you ever gone through a season like that? Where a surge of loss and grief rifled through your life leaving devastation in its wake. None of us knows what a day may bring forth. We live precariously perched upon a precipice.
And yet those of us who follow Jesus Christ have a Promise that will never fail.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
Gaze for a moment at these words, feel their comfort, let the richness of our inheritance in Jesus Christ soak your weary soul. A living hope is given to us in His great mercy. Powerful, active, strong and fresh; a promise full of vigor.
Strong’s concordance gives us this summation: “living water, having vital power in itself and exerting the same upon the soul.” The woman at the well came only to draw water for the day. (John 4) But she encountered Jesus, she met the true and living water that changed her life forever and filled her with a living hope. Jesus desires not only to give us this water, but to cause this water to flow through us onto others, refreshing their souls.
38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:38 NIV)
O I want to drink from the fountain of Christ. I yearn to draw from the well of His water and be refreshed. I know your soul yearns for this too.
Let’s pray together.
King Jesus, we yearn for Your refreshing water. Our souls are parched and dry. We are looking to the one who is the author and finisher of our faith. We cry out for You to renew in us this living hope, to fill us with joy inexpressible and full of glory. We may feel that we are perched upon a precipice, but we are actually held tightly in the arms of our Loving Savior, Lord and friend. We look to you today. Thank You Jesus, Your goodness and love are unfathomable. We are so grateful to be Yours.
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