A Real Reason To Hope

(3) Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, He has given us new life and a hope that lives on. (4) God has something stored up for you in heaven, where it will never decay or be ruined or disappear. (5) You have faith in God, Whose power will protect you until the last day. Then He will save you, just as He has always planned to do. (6) On that day you will be glad, even if you have to go through many hard trials for a while. (7) Your faith will be like gold that has been tested in a fire. And these trials will prove that your faith is worth much more than gold that can be destroyed. They will show that you will be given praise and honor and glory when Jesus Christ returns. (8) You have never seen Jesus, and you don't see Him now. But still you love Him and have faith in Him, and no words can tell how glad and happy (9) you are to be saved. That's why you have faith. (10) Some prophets told how kind God would be to you, and they searched hard to find out more about the way you would be saved. (11) The Spirit of Christ was in them and was telling them how Christ would suffer and would then be given great honor. So they searched to find out exactly who Christ would be and when this would happen. (12) But they were told that they were serving you and not themselves. They preached to you by the power of the Holy Spirit, who was sent from heaven. And their message was only for you, even though angels would like to know more about it.
-- 1 Peter 1:3-12 (CEV)

We Have New Life! Hope, too!
Grateful

Let's Pray For What God Promised.

We pray along with the Psalmist this prayer for our Lord's intervention on our behalf and for a new life according to His promise:

Plead my case for me, and save me.
Give me a new life as You promised.
-- Psalm 119:154 (GWT)

As we enter the secret chamber of our prayer closets to seek close communion with our Lord, let's remember four stances of the heart:

(1) Let's begin with silence.
(2) Let's speak with simplicity.
(3) Let's listen in humility.
(4) Let's wait in expectation of His presence.

In The Name of Jesus. Amen.
Grateful

Wonderful Words of New Life in Psalm 119

Today, I invite to join with me in praying to our Life-Giving God these Wonderful Words of New Life recorded in Psalm 119:

Psalm 119:154b (GWT) -- ...Give me a new life as You promised.

Psalm 119:156b -- (GWT) ...Give me a new life guided by Your regulations.

Psalm 119:159b -- (GWT) ...O Lord, in keeping with Your mercy, give me a new life.

Psalm 119:168b -- (GWT) ...my whole life is in front of You.

Psalm 119:175a -- (GWT) Let my soul have new life so that it can praise You.

In the Name of the One Who said, "I Am... The Life!" (John 14:6)
Amen and Amen.

Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

New Life

Recently, I was blessed to make an early morning boat trip to Cape Lookout Lighthouse along the crystal coast of North Carolina. It's the most beautiful of all the east coast lighthouses in my estimation -- a beautiful beacon painted with a black-and-white diamond pattern. As a boy, I was raised on the interior island, Harkers Island, very near this inspiring lighthouse. My childhood home is only about a 20-minute-boat ride across the sound to what locals call "The Hook of the Cape".

I am always rejuvenated when I visit this lighthouse location, but on this particular visit the lighthouse was secondary in inspiration, because one of the Shackleford Banks wild ponies had given birth in the night to a precious foal. We were likely the first humans to view the breath-taking vision of this new life on the shoreline.

I climbed out of the boat near "The Short Turn" and walked with my camera towards the mother and her newborn standing for the first time on shaky little legs. In amazement I clicked priceless images. Take it from me, witnessing new life is an unmatched gift on planet earth. The only event that compares to and surpasses physical birth on planet earth is witnessing what Jesus called "being born again".

Thank you, Creator God for new life -- physical and spiritual. We are speechless in the presence of Your creation and re-creation. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

John 3: (5) Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (7) Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ (8) The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (NKJV)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful