Hope Devotional

Hope
October 27th, 2009
by Gail Rodgers

How can you walk in hope when you feel hopeless inside? Let us walk this path together, we want to help.

Is your heart filled with hope? Do you have a confident expectation of your tomorrow? What happens when the road ahead is filled with loss and stress weighs your shoulders down? When confident expectation in life’s tomorrow dwindles, what can you do? How can you walk in hope when you feel hopeless inside? The God of Hope is your answer.

“May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

• Hope for H elp
We are invited to come to Him and confidently ask for help. Hebrews 4:16 tells us “to come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in our time of need”.

• Hope to O vercome
Things that leave one feeling powerless and hopeless come in many forms. With Christ’s strength you can overcome great obstacles. 1 John 5:4 says “and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith”. Faith in Jesus gives hope and help to overcome.

• Hope for P ower
Sometimes in life we find ourselves with a task that simply looks too big for us. We do not just need a cup of God’s strength added to our own; rather we need His strength in us to do what we need to do. He will give it! 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness”. Seeing our weakness as the entry point of God’s strength gives access to His power!

• Hope for E ternity
When we put our faith and hope in Jesus, it not only gives us help, strength and power where we walk today but it also gives us hope for life after death. It is a confident expectation of the ultimate “tomorrow”.

The God of Hope sent His son to be our Savior. He is only one prayer away. If you want the confident expectation of His strength and wisdom in your today and His help and hope for your tomorrow, you need only ask. Just tell Him…

Dear God, I have gone my own way and have put my hope in so many things that have disappointed me. Thank you that You sent Jesus, that first Christmas long ago, to be my Savior. I believe He came for me. Forgive me and come into my life today. Show me how to live in the confident expectation of how You can impact my life, my character and my circumstances. I place my hope in You right now and ask You to make Yourself known to me in my life right where I walk. I thank you. I pray this in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Chemo #10-Day 5

This last month has gone by pretty fast for us. Vince celebrated his 22nd birthday on Sept.10th and he and Mikemo spent the whole day together, which I was very happy about. Bobby (my son in law) celebrated his birthday on Sept. 11th , Bernadette (Vince's girlfriend) celebrated hers on Sept. 13th and I had mine on Sept. 17th, so September is always a busy month for us.

Since Vince was diagnosed, Mikemo has been traveling quite a bit, so they really haven't seen each other that much, considering they used to spend 95% of their time together, skateboarding. On Vince's birthday they got home around 8 pm and we went to Buca Di Beppo (Italian food, of course) for dinner and we came home and had cake and celebrated kind of late. Overall, it was quiet and nice, which is nothing like last year when just 5 days before his 21st birthday we found out about his cancer, and he ended up having

a bone biopsy on his birthday. What a difference a year makes.

Vince and Mikemo went to the east coast for a much needed break! They went for the Matix Clothing Co. Recession Tour. Vince was gone for 10 days and Mikemo is coming home in the next few days. Here is a photo when they were in New York. Vince is in the middle, wearing the black shirt and hat. Too bad Mikemo isn't in this photo.

My parents came down from Northern California and spent a week here, visiting with my brothers and I. My mom had to be here to see her heart doctor and she is doing great! In January of this year she had a near fatal heart attack and ended up in a coma for 6 days and she is doing so much better than she has in years! Apparently her defibrillator/pacemaker is doing it's job! Yay for electronics (and God's grace, of course:)

Veronica got her driver's license and is enjoying her freedom, but of course, not without all our texts to see where she is and what she is doing. No TEXTING while driving is our new motto, even for ourselves.

Vince is on his 5th day of chemo as I write this and we are guessing we will go home before noon tomorrow! This stay hasn't been as bad as it has in the past, because he hasn't been sick at all! Each time we come to the hospital, it seems as though they make different adjustments to his treatments. For instance, in the past they have given him blood thinners, but we found out as long as he is up and around that he doesn't have to have them. So, that is something he will not be getting anymore! Also, they put glucose in one of the I.V.'s which they decreased the amount in, so he doesn't have any need to get insulin shots, which they have given him a few times since we were here, and in the past, so now we have that one figured out, so no more insulin!! Yikes! It's always something! My advice....ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS! People will respond and try to do their best to figure it out with you!

Vince had an xray of his humerus, a CT Scan and a Bone Scan while he has been here and the doctor said that everything looks great! He still has to have PET Scan in the next few weeks. Thank you Jesus for clean scans! Whoo hoo!!!

The bracelets have been a big hit! If you would like to order one, you can click on the link on the top right hand side of the blog. Just so you know, those of you who ordered the bracelets and haven't gotten them yet, they will be shipped out hopefully at the end of next week. Thank you to everyone who has ordered! You have made Vince's burden a bit lighter! Bills are getting paid! Yay! And, yes, we do ship to foreign countries and have gotten quite a few orders! It's so great to know that people from all over the world are praying for Vince!

Strength in Weakness-Pastor Greg Laurie

Strength in Weakness

That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

— 2 Corinthians 12:10

We love the exciting aspects of the Christian life—except for the suffering. But Paul wrote, "Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12).

If you want to be used by God, then you will be attacked. If you want to mix in with the crowd and never stand up for your faith in Christ, then you probably will not have much opposition. But if you say, "I want my life to make a difference. I want to stand up for Jesus Christ wherever I am," then you will face opposition.

Paul faced a lot of it—from unexpected sources. He said,

I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. . . . I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. (2 Corinthians 11:23–26)

In spite of this, Paul stated, "I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death" (Philippians 3:10). Part of knowing God is not only in the power of His resurrection, but also in His suffering.

God can work through human weakness and suffering. But if you face calamity, if you have a physical infirmity or challenge and can still rejoice and praise God, then that is a powerful witness. And in some ways it can be more powerful than the person who has no infirmity at all.