In Genesis Chapter Four, we read the story of Cain and Abel, sons of Adam and Eve. Cain worked the soil while Abel took care of the sheep. In the process of time, they both brought offerings to the Lord - Cain some of the fruits of the soil and Abel the fat of some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord was pleased with and accepted Abel’s offering but he did not accept Cain’s offering. Because of this, Cain became very angry and while he and Abel were in the field, he killed him.
    When God confronted him about the whereabouts of his brother, he denied knowing anything. But God told him that his brother’s blood had cried out to him from the ground. As a result, he would no longer be able to cultivate the ground and would be a fugitive and vagabond in the earth. Cain complained that his punishment was too great and feared that anyone finding him would kill him. God in turn put a mark on him so that anyone finding him would not kill him.
    I admit I felt excited to write about this story of Cain. Cain was deserving of every punishment that was coming his way. After all he had taken his brother’s life and that was certainly worthy of death. His life on earth would consequently be a very difficult one where he would find no peace or favour with man or even the earth itself. He lost his livelihood, he lost his sense of security, all because of responding to a fit of jealous rage. 
    Yet, what I find interesting is that he had a conversation with God about it. He complained about the severity of his punishment and feared for his very life when ironically he had taken the life of another. Yet, I love the fact that God chose to be merciful to him. He could have ignored his cry of complaint. He could have reminded him that this punishment was what he deserved. After all, he had not given Abel a chance to plead for his life. He had not chosen to lessen his wrath against his brother. He did what he did and apparently thought he would get away with it. Yet, in spite of these obvious realities, God in His mercy and compassion, chose to spare him death at the hands of another. Imagine that!
    God’s ways are truly past finding out. They make absolutely no sense to us at times but when God chooses to show compassion and mercy it means He is also choosing to look past our sin and love us anyway. I am reminded of the whole story of salvation. As I mentioned in my last post, God’s mercy is not dependent on our works or on how good we are. When we cry out to Him He will hear and He will be merciful. I believe that if Cain had not had his conversation with God, things would have been different for him. God literally offered his protection although he did not deserve it.
    Romans 10:13 says: “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” That’s a promise from God and when we cry out to him for mercy, He will not reject us. We may have to face some consequences for our actions, yes, but God’s mercy and compassion will also be evident in our lives. I liken the mark put on Cain by God to Jesus’ blood covering us. When we ask Jesus into our life to be our Lord and Saviour, His blood covers us. In turn, when God looks upon us, He does not see our sin but the blood of His Son on us. That blood covers and protects us from the punishment we deserve for the sin in our life. 
    All that this tells me is that God is more interested in saving us from the consequences of sin. He is more interested in sparing us the death penalty we deserve simply because He loves us. At the end of the day, no matter how deep we may have gone into sin, once we turn to God and ask Him for mercy, just like Cain turned to Him and complained about his punishment, God will hear and He will extend mercy to us. God is good. God is faithful. God is still the God of mercy!
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God has provided what we need to escape the consequences of sin. All we have to do is cry out to Him and He will hear and He will deliver. Be encouraged!

    The reality is we are living in a world where works can mean everything. We work hard to achieve and to feel accomplished. Many times we work hard for the approval of others, specifically some significant person or other in our lives. 
    What I love about God, is that He never asks or expect us to come to Him perfect. He knows we are not because, after all, He created us. In fact He created us so that we would need Him. So, although we may try so hard to win the approval of others to feel good about ourselves, we don’t have to strive to win God’s approval. We don’t have to strive for His love. We can come to Him just as we are and He will help us as needed. His mercy toward us is great and doesn’t require any “goodness” on our part to obtain it.
    Here, I think about the story of Jesus and the crucifixion (Luke 23:32-43). He is wrongfully accused and convicted and His sentence is death. He humbly accepts it knowing the ultimate and greater purpose behind it. But, while he hangs there on that cross, He is not alone. There are also two other men, criminals, who are crucified on either side of Him. One of them hurls insults at Him saying that if He is Messiah, He should save them and Himself. But there is the other criminal, the one who somehow is able to discern the reality of what is happening. He rebukes his fellow criminal. He asks him if he doesn’t fear God and asserts that they deserve their fate but Jesus does not because He has done nothing wrong (v.40-41). Then, turning to Jesus in humility, he asks Him to remember him when He comes into His kingdom (v.42). To this Jesus responds, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (v.43).
    I find myself smiling as I read Jesus’ response. He could easily have told that criminal that it was too late, He could not honour His request. He could easily have reminded him of his sin and his crime and told him that he should have done some more good to be able to have his request granted. In short, Jesus could have turned him away … but He did not. This criminal was the reason why Jesus came to this earth to die. And, while that criminal was still alive, even though he was a short time away from death, as far as Jesus was concerned, he still had a chance to receive eternal life. He did not need to have lived a good life filled with good deeds. He did not need to come down from his cross and do a few good works before he died. At that moment, when he felt convicted of his sin and chose to turn to Jesus, it was enough. Jesus knew what He had to do and He did it … He offered him eternal life.
    If works were the perequisite to eternal life, many who chose to turn to God on their deathbed would have been turned away by God. But the reality is, it’s not about our works or how good we are, it’s about God’s mercy. Ephesians 2:8-9 says: “For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” Mercy is defined as: compassion or forgiveness shown towards someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm. God’s choice to pardon us and give us another chance is His act of mercy towards us. 
    God is more than willing to pardon us when in fact what we deserve is punishment. Lamentations 3:22-23 says: “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” I don’t know about you, but that is an encouragement to me. I am not serving a harsh, judgmental, God who is eagerly waiting to punish me at every opportunity. Rather, I am serving a God who does not run out of compassion and love for me, a God who consistently sees the opportunity to forgive me even though what I deserve is punishment. 
    So, I encourage you today, no matter what you have done or failed to do, don’t ever think of turning away from God. Rather, run to Him for He is more than willing to abundantly pardon.
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God is the God of mercy, more than willing to forgive you because He loves you and desires the very best for you. Be encouraged!

    While helping her son clean up construction debris at his home, Karen started experiencing symptoms of an allergic reaction. Her skin began itching off and on. Around the same time, she had her hair done by a new hair stylist and felt that maybe she was allergic to the hair chemicals. Shortly after, she began to lose a lot of hair to the point where she feared she would have to use a wig. She visited the dermatologist and he prescribed medication. However, she was reluctant to use it.
    She turned instead to intense prayer. She told God that she didn’t understand what was happening but she was going to wait on Him. For six months she prayed for healing but experienced no sign of improvement. However, one day she picked up her phone to watch the 700 Club. The prayer segment was on. She hoped that one of the announcers would mention her problem … and they did. She knew that that word of knowledge and prayer were for her. She began to cry, stopped what she doing, lifted her hands and thanked God for hearing her. Shortly after, she noticed that she was no longer suffering from heavy hair loss. She simply has the regular hair loss she is accustomed to from washing or brushing her hair. She acknowledges that hair loss is not a big sickness but what she was going through mattered to her so it mattered to God. He has our best interests at heart.
    The word “miracle” may conjure up in our mind something big and impossible like maybe the parting of a Red Sea, or someone being delivered from a near death experience or an impossible healing where doctors say there is no hope. I was moved by the above testimony because it is a miracle. It may seem insignificant, but it’s a miracle nonetheless. I love the fact that God is concerned about everything about us. He is not only interested in performing big, impossible feats that everyone would be sure to notice. But He also does those little, seemingly insignificant things that He knows we care about.
    The Bible also contains such stories of small miracles. Jesus’ first miracle at a wedding feast falls into this category (John 2:1-11). Jesus did not come onto the scene in a blaze of glory. They had run out of wine and Jesus simply did something about it. In fact, few people at that wedding knew that Jesus had turned the water into wine. With this simple miraculous feat, He saved the bridegroom from embarrassment and exalted him in the eyes of his guests.
    In Matthew 17:24-27, Jesus and Peter are faced with having to pay the temple tax. Jesus tells Peter to go fishing and in the mouth of the first fish he catches, he would find a coin. This he would use to pay both his and Jesus’ temple tax. This was not a miracle for the public to see. They needed the money for the tax and the Lord chose to provide it in this supernatural way. 
    There are many other stories in the Bible about tiny, personal miracles that met the needs of one person or another. It was not always about calming a storm or parting a large body of water. God is concerned about those areas of our life that matter to us. I like to think about God as a personal God, because He is. Sometimes we may be afraid to pray for something because it seems too unimportant to pray about but guess what? God is concerned about that unimportant issue simply because it is important to us. His love for us is greater than we can ever think or imagine. 
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God is a personal God. He cares about the big as well as the little things that we face. He loves us and has our best interests at heart. Nothing is too big or too small for Him to accomplish for us. Be encouraged!

    I felt led to write about the God of miracles this second month of the year. The thing is, there are so many miracles in the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments, not to mention those we experience today, that it has been difficult to choose out one or the other. Yet, this week, the miracle of the great catch of fish which Simon Peter and a few other disciples caught seemed to get my attention.
    In Luke 5:1-11, we meet Simon Peter, James and John. They are in the water washing their fishing nets with their boats nearby. Jesus is addressing the crowd and chooses Simon Peter’s boat to sit in while doing so. When He is finished speaking, He instructs Simon Peter to sail out into deep waters and to let down his net. Simon Peter reveals that they had tried all night to catch fish but were unsuccessful. However, he agreed to do it because Jesus had asked him to. They were astonished at the results. The catch of fish was so big that their nets began to break. When they asked their friends in another boat for help and the fish loaded into both boats, the two boats began to sink under the weight of the number of fish.
    A few things come to mind with this story. One, when Simon Peter and his companions first tried, they failed. They were out all night but could catch not even one fish. The effort is admirable, after all this is the way they made their living and clearly they worked hard. But once Jesus came into the picture, things changed. Their first effort was on their own strength, based on what they knew to do as experienced fishermen. However, when God came into the picture, He was able to do what they could not. Sometimes, we just have to let go of our ability, of our effort - admirable as it may be - and let God take the reins. I think sometimes God just allows us to try and fail so that we can clearly see that He is able to do what we can’t.
    Second, Simon Peter made an interesting statement before letting down the nets again. He said: “…but because You say so, I will let down the nets” (v.5). He first acknowledged their inability to get the job done then he agreed to obey simply because Jesus asked him to do it. I think sometimes, it’s about being willing to obey the simple instruction God gives us. Maybe sometimes we miss our blessing because we don’t want to trust God enough to obey what He asks us to do. His instruction doesn’t make sense, we may have even tried already and failed multiple times so we are not motivated to try one more time. But sometimes all it probably takes is a simple act of obedience whether or not it makes sense to us. And sometimes it may mean trying one more time when we are exhausted from trying and failing. But remember, we may have tried and failed in our strength and ability, now it may be time to try again but in God’s strength and ability. 
    This brings me to my third point: when we are all out of options, God always has one more option to try. In our eyes, giving up may seem to be the last and only option we have, but with God in it, there is always one more option, one more solution. I don’t believe God is ever out of options. He is able to see way beyond our scope of vision and is actually quite able to create solutions as needed. Yes, God still has the final say, not the problem, but God. 
    So be encouraged. God still has the final say. Simon Peter was faced with the reality of their failure to catch fish the night before, but Jesus had another outcome planned. Once Simon Peter chose to obey Jesus’ simple instruction, he was not disappointed and neither will you be. We can’t always dictate how things will turn out and we certainly can’t always trust our failed experiences. But, when God steps into the picture, anything is possible, even the outcome that we least expected. After all, God is still the God of miracles!
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. You can never go wrong serving a God who is able to reverse any negative situation. God just wants the best for us but He also wants us to trust Him and when we do, we will not be disappointed.
    

    One of the great characteristics of God is that He is the God of the impossible. It is no wonder then that numerous stories of miracles can be found throughout the pages of the Bible. There are miracles of healing and deliverance, miracles in nature, miracles of restoration and the list goes on. God is able to supernaturally affect every sphere of life and with each miracle God seems to be reminding us that He is capable of showing up and showing out no matter how impossible the situation might be.
    This gives us confidence in Jehovah God as we are reminded that He is not only capable of performing events that cannot be explained but that there is nothing that we will face or go through that He cannot handle on our behalf. It does not matter how dire the doctor’s report, how bleak the financial outlook or how irreparable a relationship, God is able to resolve and turn any situation around.
    Of the many stories of miracles in the Bible, two stand out - Jesus calming the storm (Mark 4:35-41) and Jesus walking on water (Matthew 14:22-33). Both stories remind us that at times, there will be forces coming against us that we cannot control. Yet, what is bigger and more powerful than us, is not bigger or more powerful than our God. 
    But in both stories, something interesting takes place. In the first story, Jesus and His disciples are in a boat. By the time the storm arises, Jesus is asleep on a pillow. Jesus is not disturbed by what is happening around them and does not awake until the disciples wake Him up. Imagine, the waves are crashing into the boat and filling it yet, Jesus is not awakened by all this disturbing activity around Him. 
    In the next story, Jesus is on land praying while His disciples are in the boat. He is able to see them struggling against the contrary winds and proceeds to walk on water towards them. Just like the first story, the winds are strong and the waters are rough, yet Jesus is calmly walking towards them as if nothing is happening. I believe that Jesus’ attitude in both situations simply meant that He knew exactly who was in charge … and it was not nature. It was Him. He was not about to be moved or concerned by contrary situations that He was quite capable of controlling. 
    In both stories, once the disciples turned to the One who was in control, they did not need to be afraid because their God was the answer to what was coming against them. I believe we too, need to be reminded that our God is the answer to whatever is coming against us. Whatever we face usually looks and feels bigger and more powerful than us, yet, the God we serve, the God living inside of us, is greater than what is coming against us. 
    It is also good to be reminded that our God has the final say … not whatever is coming against us. It may feel intimidating and look intimidating but it can never prevail against our God. When we choose to turn to and fix our eyes on the God of miracles, He is able to fix things in a way that just sometimes doesn’t make sense. 
    So be encouraged. As a child of God, you are not serving a dead God, you are not serving a weak God. You are serving a God who is able to do impossible things. He is Jehovah Nissi - the Lord My Banner / the Lord My Miracle (Exodus 17:15). He can turn any situation around, He can make any wrong right, He can reverse any negative situation and work things out in your favour. 
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. In this life, there is nothing that we face that God cannot handle. He is and will always be the God of miracles, able to do the impossible, able to take us successfully through any challenge that may come our way.
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    One night in December 2023, Lauren, a high school senior, and her boyfriend were hit by a drunk driver. They were both pinned in their seats. While Lauren’s boyfriend was able to free himself, it took firefighters more than 20 minutes to free Lauren from the wreckage. She was barely responsive and unable to follow commands, showing signs of a massive head injury. When her mother arrived, she asked if she could lay hands on her and pray for her.
    Lauren survived the flight to the hospital. There it was discovered that she had an open scull fracture with brain matter coming out of her skull, the pressure inside her head was too high, she had several fractures and was bleeding internally. Her father sent out prayer requests for her on social media. Her mother, a former trauma nurse, continued to trust Jesus for her daughter’s healing. After some days, the pressure in her brain started to decrease and stabilise and she was gradually weaned off medication. After two weeks she began to regain consciousness and started being able to follow commands. After thirty-nine days in the hospital, Lauren was transferred to rehab. She regained her ability to walk and talk and was able to walk across the stage at her school graduation.
    Over a period of time, Lauren also had to deal with her feelings for the drunk driver who hit her. She has chosen to forgive him knowing that that is what Jesus would have done.
    I found myself getting emotional at times while listening to this testimony. It seemed like one of those impossible situations that had you wondering how it would end. When I looked at Lauren’s car in the video, even I wondered how could she have possibly survived and hearing that she had brain matter coming out of her skull did not help to improve my opinion of the outcome. Truly, this was a case for God, the God of the impossible. 
    I was encouraged by her mother’s faith in her God. She was a former trauma nurse and would have witnessed her share of accidents. She rightly admitted that her faith brain was battling with her medical brain. She knew what could happen and even should happen from a medical standpoint but she chose to believe that her God would pull her daughter through. And He did. He did not disappoint them. 
    Have you ever been in an impossible situation where you knew what the outcome should be yet, you chose to believe God anyway for a miracle? I have personally discovered that it is easy to trust God when things look favourable but when they don’t and your eyes don’t see what you want to see, faith in God can be downright difficult. But according to Hebrews 11:1 that’s what faith in the God of miracles is all about: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen." You don’t have to see it to believe it. Rather, you have to trust God to make a reality what your eyes can’t see. That’s why the Bible also says that we need to walk by faith not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7)  ). If we relied on our senses we would always be discouraged. Trusting God means believing that He is able to and will do what is impossible for us to accomplish. 
    I have had enough opportunities to trust God in spite of what I was seeing and experiencing. I have honestly told God that it is so easy to trust Him when things are going the way I would like but when they are not, trust is difficult. Yet, it is those difficult situations that God uses to increase and strengthen my faith in Him. Sometimes it’s not even about if He can but if He will. How many of you can relate? We know God can but will He do it?
    I can say that trusting God has never been a waste of time for me. God continues to take me successfully through every situation I face. And that’s just who God is. He loves us and genuinely wants the best for us. He is still the God of miracles, the God who can and will do the impossible for you, just because He loves you.
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. There will be times in life when we will have to face insurmountable challenges. Yet, with God on our side we can have the confidence that He is there and He is able to do what we can’t … the impossible!

    To start this new year, I had decided to write on the theme of hope and as I did some research, I encountered and wrote about various interesting stories in the Bible that exemplify this attribute. To end the month off, I want to look at the book of Ruth where we find the story of Naomi and her daughter-in-law, Ruth. 
    When Naomi and her family are faced with famine in their home town of Bethlehem, they decide to go to Moab in hopes of having a better life. Unfortunately, Naomi’s husband dies there. After his death Naomi’s two sons marry Moabite women but after about ten years, her sons die also. Naomi is left alone with her two daughters-in-law. Upon hearing that the Lord had provided bread for His people in Bethlehem, she returns there. Although she encourages both her daughters-in-law to return to their families in Moab, one of them, Ruth, stubbornly insists on going with her to Bethlehem. She renounces her own people and gods and chooses to embrace the people and God of Naomi. 
    Naomi is bitter upon her return to Bethlehem. Yet, God chooses to favour Naomi and Ruth. Ruth encounters one of her father-in-law’s kinsmen and finds favour with him. They marry and through him, Naomi and Ruth are delivered from a life of destitution and shame.
    I love this story of Ruth and Naomi. It is truly a story of hope and redemption. After the loss of the men in her life through death, Naomi must have felt forsaken and alone. They had come to this country to find relief from their situation and although they may have found it, the loss she endured was greater than any relief her family may have found. And sometimes, that’s the challenge we must face in life. We may make decisions that seem to bring an answer to a desperate situation but in the end we may find that we have lost more than we had hoped to gain. 
    This is probably how Naomi may have felt. Thankfully, hope arose once more when she heard that the famine had ended in Bethlehem. Now she could return home, maybe not the same way she had left, but it was still home. All along the way, Naomi and her family held on to hope. After all, it was what was driving their decisions. They went to Moab in hopes of a better life. They did find it but then tragedy and loss also came. When Naomi heard the famine had ended in her country, she was once again driven by hope that she could return to familiar surroundings, especially after losing her family. She may not have expected much but at least it was home.
    In life, we will be faced with setbacks and disappointments. I don’t think they can be avoided. Yet, in the midst of them, God knows how to provide hope. Even though Naomi could not see it, God was still writing her story and He had a beautiful ending planned. God was still her source of hope. He knew all the tragedy and loss she had faced but He also knew it was not over for her. It’s the same with us. Like Naomi, at times all we may see is the tragedy, the hurt, the disappointment. But, God sees the bigger picture and He knows the good He is going to bring out of those tragic circumstances. He doesn’t stop writing our story when tragedy strikes, but rather continues straight through to the end, the end that He has planned for us. 
    When you think about it, that’s why it’s so important to keep our eyes, our focus on God. It’s difficult to see clearly when problems arise, but God’s vision is not blurred like ours. He knows the beautiful plan and purpose He has for us and that the negative we are going through is temporary. As He continues writing our story, things become more and more clear and we are able to be grateful for both the good and the bad. 
    So, be encouraged today. No matter how hopeless and tragic things may look, like it did for Naomi, the God of hope is still writing your story. He has an ending planned that may be totally unexpected, but it’s the kind of ending that only God could write. God knows how to bring beauty out of ashes, hope in the midst of despair, good out of any bad situation that may come your way.
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God knows how to turn even the most negative situation around for good. When we put our trust in Him, we can expect that He is scripting a story that will bring honour and glory to Him. Be encouraged!

    “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
    In Romans 15:13, Jehovah God is described as the God of hope. One definition of the word hope is - a person or thing that may help or save someone. This definition so aptly describes the God who is able to deliver us from impossible situations. Psalm 46:1 also describes Him as an ever-present help in trouble. 
    In Acts 27 we read the account of Paul’s journey by ship to Rome, Italy. He is on his way there to stand trial before Caesar for his belief in Christ. Along the way, a storm arises. The crewmen find themselves having to take various life-saving measures to save both the ship and the people on board. The storm becomes so fierce that they finally give up any hope of being saved (v.20). After going for a long time without food, Paul stands before them and encourages them. He shares with them that the night before, an angel of God had appeared to him and told him that he would indeed stand before Caesar and that all those in the ship with him would be saved (vv. 23-24). He then told them to take courage because he had faith in his God and believed that what God had told him would come to pass (v.25).
    Paul’s hope was in his God. He believed that God would deliver them all no matter how bad things looked. Life will at times throw us into negative situations - the kind of challenges where you can see no way out and your back is against a wall. That was how the people on Paul’s boat must have felt. They saw no way out of that storm except death, and they lost all hope of being saved. But it was at that point that God showed up and gave them hope when they felt all hope was lost. 
    God may not always show up at the beginning when things are fairly bearable. Many times, He may choose to show up when we are at the end of our rope and we have just about given up. Let’s be real. If we can solve the problem ourselves then we would not need God. It may seem as if He is always late but He knows exactly when to show up and even though we may feel like it’s over, when He steps onto the scene it’s not over at all.
    Unfortunately, the boat was shipwrecked but all 276 people on board were saved - just as God had promised (v.22). The thing with God is this: when He gives us His Word, we can be assured that He will bring it to pass. Numbers 23:19 says: “God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent. Has He said and will He not do or has He spoken and will He not make it good? God is a God of His Word. He always keeps His promises to us. This is what affirms Him as the God of hope, a God in whom we can trust and expect to help us when we need it.        
​   So, no matter what you are already facing at the start of this new year or what you may face as the year progresses, God is still the God of hope and He does not and will not change. He is the God we can rely on when all hope is gone and we feel like giving up. I encourage you, don’t give up on God because He will not give up on you.
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God desires to deliver us, help us, save us. He will always be there and choose to be our help when we need it. He doesn’t go back on His Word and it is in this reality that we can have hope. Be encouraged!
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    What if the hope in your heart is bigger than the negativity surrounding you? Have there been times when the situation you were facing was so challenging that even family and friends encouraged you to give up? Not because they didn’t want a breakthrough for you but because they just couldn’t see your deliverance.
    Maybe it wasn’t family and friends, but the situation itself was so negative, so hopeless, so discouraging that you made the decision to give up. You know what God’s Word says and God may have even spoken a Word to you but that giant just seemed too big for you to handle. Maybe so much time had elapsed that you made the decision to give up, believing that maybe God wasn’t going to do it after all.
    Whatever your situation, the reality is that God did not create this life without including hope. Even from the very beginning when Adam and Eve sinned, God had already made provision for man’s redemption: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis  3:15) 
    There are many stories in the Bible about hope. In fact, when you think about it, the Bible is God’s gift to man, reminding us that we have hope in Him to face whatever comes our way. One of the many stories that come to mind is the story in the New Testament about the woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48). She had suffered with a blood issue for twelve long years. She had used up all of her financial resources trying to get help from various doctors but at the end of it, she still could not be healed. 
    It can be a difficult thing when you use up all of your resources trying to help yourself but nothing works. It’s discouraging when no one or nothing you turn to seem to have the answers you need. I imagine this is how that woman felt  -  discouraged. Every time hope glimmered through a doctor or medication she was told could help her, it was devastating, I am sure, when nothing worked. To see her finances dry up must have been the last straw. 
    Let’s face it, when you have the money or the material resources to help yourself, you feel encouraged. But when things don’t work out and all your resources are used up, that can be devastating. It can be difficult at that point to hold on to hope, especially when your hope lay in what you had in your hand. But when your hands are empty and options are non-existent, what do you do?
    It was at this point, that Jesus entered the picture. When the woman thought she had no hope left, stories she may have heard about Jesus’ miraculous healings caught her attention. That glimmer of hope rose up in her again. But it wasn’t just a glimmer. This woman was an outcast, considered ceremonially unclean according to Jewish custom, because of her bleeding issue. But when she heard about Jesus, I imagine that that hope became way bigger than just a glimmer. Somehow she expected that her answer had finally come.
    At that point, her hope in Jesus was bigger than her sickness, than her depleted finances, than her rejection, than the consequences of breaking Jewish custom. And she was not disappointed! Before, her hands were filled with what she could do to help herself but these had failed her. Now, when she touched the very edge of His garment, her hands - and entire body - became filled with all she needed from the One who could do the impossible!
    When our hope in our God is bigger than what we are going through, bigger than the opinions of others, bigger than the reality of our situation, like that woman, it gives us the motivation to push past everything to reach the One who has the answer we need. In Christ, you are never without hope, no matter how big your giant may be. 
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God is the God of hope and when we put our trust in Him, He will not fail us!

    One common thing that many of us do at the start of the year, is to make resolutions. For many, the new year is the opportunity for a do-over, to do better than we did the year before, to create and accomplish goals so that we can live a happy and healthy life. I don’t need to remind us of what actually happens to many of our well-intentioned goals as the year progresses. We may start off enthusiastic and focused but as the days turn into weeks and the weeks into months, we are not as focused and as determined as when the year began. 
    At the end of the day, what drives us at the beginning of the year is hope - the hope that we can do those things that would make our lives better and help us feel more accomplished. The Bible is filled with stories of hope. In fact, the whole story of salvation and redemption is one of hope. In Romans 15:13 we read, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” First and foremost, the verse begins by reminding us that God is the God of hope. It is in Him that we find our hope.
    I remember a few years ago after becoming ill, when I felt hopeless and wanted to give up. God reminded me that when I have no hope, He is my hope. I did not need to look for hope within myself. God is my hope and would give me the courage and strength I needed to go on. That popular verse, Jeremiah 29:11 says: “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.” God is the God of hope. When everything around us - or in us - seems to be falling apart, God is the only One to give us the hope we need to keep going, to keep fighting, to keep living. 
    Have you ever reached the point where you are discouraged, you may even want to give up, but you can’t help but acknowledge that God and God alone would get you through this? There are times when we can run to friends, family or some other form of support. But there may also be times when you know that you know that not even these can help. It’s going to have to be God and God alone to do it. 
    There are a number of stories in the Bible of people who were in impossible situations but trusted God to bring them through. Abraham was given a promise by God that he would be the father of many nations. Yet, his wife was barren and they were both well-advanced in age. Yet, in Romans 4:18 it states: “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.'" Abraham did not look at the reality of his circumstances but at the ability of his God to fulfil His own promise to him. His hope was in his God not in himself or his wife.
    In Romans 15:13 the hope is that, this same God of hope might “fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” When you put your hope, your trust in God, you can actually experience joy and peace in the midst of negative situations because you know that God’s got you and His grace will sustain you. Have you ever experienced that kind of joy and peace in the midst of a challenge? It’s simply because your hope is in God, the One that you know can do the impossible. Your confidence is rooted in the reality that your God will take care of you and He will see you through. Hope is not based on what you can see or feel but on who God is and His consistently successful track record for sustaining and seeing His people through difficult situations.
    So, I encourage us today to put our trust in the God of hope, the God who will hold us up when we can’t even hold ourselves up. Isaiah 41:10 says, “Fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” That’s God’s promise to us, to sustain and keep us as we navigate life’s challenges. He knows we can’t do it on our own so He has given us the assurance of His presence and His help. This is where our hope lies, in the God who has promised to be there for us when we need it.
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God knows that this life can be challenging. He desires to be that hope that anchors us and helps us to make it through whatever comes our way. Just trust Him!
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