My journey of HOPE

¹⁴ The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
    I will protect those who trust in my name. ¹⁵ When they call on me, I will answer;
    I will be with them in trouble.
    I will rescue and honor them. ¹⁶ I will reward them with a long life
    and give them my salvation.”

Psalm 91:14-16 New Living Translation (NLT)

HOPE is a promise and gift from God but it is also a choice. My HOPE was once found in cutesy but fleeting things: stickers, butterflies and smiley faces to name a few. My HOPE is now rooted in every line of the Bible, the greatest love story ever written. Today I want to apply God’s character and promises to my life, to share with you how even in the hardest trail HOPE is waiting for you to embrace and live it out.

I most likely won’t have what the world considers a long life on earth but I believe the quality of this life God blessed me with matters far more than the number of years I have. Every day I have on earth I wake up knowing I am dying, I am blessed to know how precious time really is. However, as my friend Linda often reminds me we are all dying and that fact helps me to understand the rescue God is and promises in verse 14 and 15. Our ultimate rescue is in dying because of all the ways God is HOPE in my life the greatest is the promise of eternal life which is what verse 16 means to me.

 God is also protection and the world would define that protection as not having to experience trails but you can’t live on this planet, surrounded by the curse of sin and not have trails. God’s protection comes in the form of faith, of knowing that no matter what we face here, in our temporary home we have more than we are capable of imaging in Heaven, our true home.

Every moment of every day God is in my presence from the Holy Spirit living within me to Jesus at my side. The Holy Spirit prays for me and others even when I don’t have the words and I can speak to God at any moment and confidently know He is not only listening He is responding and answering. Those answers may not come in the way I would have chosen or in the timing I prefer but no prayer goes unanswered.

I often pray that I honor God and others with my words but until this moment I don’t think I realized that God promises to honor me! I had to look up the definition for honor and while I was sure it meant respect I couldn’t truly accept that is what God is saying here in verse 15 but it is! 

The Message Translation

The last word of Psalm 91:14-16 is salvation. My dictionary defines salvation as, “liberation from ignorance or illusion, preservation from destruction or failure and deliverance from danger or difficulty.” My favorite study Bible gives us the deeper, Godly meaning, “Deliverance from danger or death; especially deliverance from all that separates people from God.” I catch myself often saying, “the moment I was saved that just fell away.” I am referring to things like: rage, a decade long grudge, a fear of the dark and death and obviously my hatred of God. Because the moment I let God take over and I accepted Jesus into my heart I received salvation and while I still have moments of sin and doubt I will never again be separated from God!

Danny Gokey - Hope In Front of Me