God of Living Hope

​Long ago the prophet Isaiah told of one who would be the hope of all humanity:  "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders.  And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David's throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this." (Isaiah 9:6-7)
 
We move from Isaiah's description of our God in the Old Testament to Peter's explanation in the New Testament of why we should have hope.  The author of The Passion Translation Bible titles the book of   1 Peter as "Triumphant Hope."  That hope is described in Verse 3 of Chapter 1:  "Celebrate with praises the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has shown us His extravagant mercy.  For His fountain of mercy has given us a new life--we are reborn to experience a living, energetic hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."  
 
O how glorious!  We are not forgotten.  Our merciful God knew that we would need a Savior who would bring us hope through His multiple offerings.  He comes as a Wonderful Counselor to help transform our fallen world by His saving grace.  As a Counselor, the Holy Spirit guides and advocates for us.  The Psalmist asks, "O Lord God Almighty, who is like you?  You are mighty, O Lord, and your faithfulness surrounds you." (Psalm 89:8)  We can take comfort in the truth written in Zephaniah 3:17.  "The Lord your God is with you; He is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you; He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."  Let us take in what Psalm 90:2 tells us about our Lord:  "Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God."  He is our God for eternity!  Only through the Lord Jesus, our Prince of Peace, can we receive the true tranquility we so desire. Through every aspect of His being, He carries us on His shoulders and encourages us with hope.
 
I would imagine that throughout the ages people have thought that the times they lived in were more difficult than any other and that they had a greater need of hope than any other generation.  Isn't that how we are thinking today?  Chaos, sickness, death, persecution of Christians, financial need, and insecurity about the future all converge in our day to make us wonder if we can have hope for our future.  The answer is a resounding Yes!
 
We just celebrated the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  He came that we might have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)  We have a new year upon us.  How will we walk into it?  Hebrews 6 has words of great encouragement for us:  "And now we have run into His heart to hide ourselves in His faithfulness.  This is where we find His strength and comfort, for He empowers us to seize what has already been establish ahead of time--an unshakeable hope!  We have this certain hope like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God Himself.  Our anchor of hope is fastened to the mercy seat which sits in the heavenly realm beyond the sacred threshold and where Jesus, our forerunner has gone in before us..." (Verses 18-20-TPT)
 
Let us walk into the new year with our heads held high and our confidence in the Lord secure.  He is still sitting on the throne.  He is still Almighty and All Powerful.  He is inside us, encouraging us and reminding us that He is the God of Living Hope.