Hope is Powerful & Contagious (Monday Morning Devotion - Week 5)
Many of our Native brothers and sisters live without the hope. This lack of hope covers them with a darkness that infiltrates their whole life. (You can read more about it here.)
But before we are able to share the hope we have in Jesus, we need to understand exactly what we have, what it means, and how we live because of it.
Join us in these 6 weeks after Easter with “What is Hope?”
Need to start at the beginning? Read Week 1 here.
Read: Psalms 33:16-22 & Luke 2:8-20
The need for power in the form of electricity runs our world. Could you make it through the day without your hair dryer, coffee maker, toaster, cell phone, or computer?
However, if any one of these items becomes disconnected from its power source, it becomes ineffective.
Much like our appliances and electronic devices need power drawn from electricity in order to be useful, we need power drawn from hope in order to lead effective lives.
Hope changes our perspective. When we have hope that comes from Jesus, the impossible becomes possible. When we have hope, no relationship is so broken that it cannot be restored. When we have hope, no wrong that has been done is so severe that it cannot be forgiven. When we have hope, the chains of habit or addiction are never so strong that they cannot be unbound. When we have hope, we can destroy worry, fear, and doubt.
The hope found in Jesus is a power source. It delivers us from an ineffective life. It unleashes our potential in Christ. It makes us unstoppable. Why would we ever want to keep that to ourselves?
When we hear great stories or things that stir our hearts with excitement, we have to share them.
In Luke 2:8-20, we see this to be true for the shepherds in Bethlehem. They were considered the lowest of the low in their society and spent their days with animals. What’s so amazing about Jesus’ birth is that God chose to share the birth of His Son with these lowly shepherds first! What’s even more amazing was the shepherds’ response. They had to share the good news they heard. They had to talk about this amazing hope that was now available to the world!
Hope is contagious. When we’re promised great things we’re filled with expectation that something incredible is going to happen. True hope cannot be stopped, and it cannot be contained.
Jesus came to earth to conquer death and allow us to have a relationship with God again. Jesus gives us hope. This is good news we can’t keep to ourselves. In our schools, in our workplaces, and in our circles of friends, people are hurting and desperate for hope. Just like the shepherds, we can share our hope by sharing what Jesus has done for us.
(These devotions are based on: “Hope is” created by NewSpring Church)