Hope...

Verse of the Day: Romans 5:3 "And not only [so], but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

⁴ And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

⁵ And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

 I have been meditating on hope this past week, and a short devotional by a beloved friend, Pastor Jay Folk, led to some interesting insights. So here is a short combination of our thoughts.

Hope: It makes the farmer go out every year and plow the field...

And plant...

And cultivate, fertilize, watch, and pray...

As  the  crops grow throughout the summer...          .

Never giving up, for they are his livelihood.

Storm- clouds may gather... hail, blight, and insect menaces are an ever-present possibility...

But even after the greatest disasters, the farmer goes back out the next spring and plows again...

Never giving up hope... the hope of the Harvest.

The crib may be empty today...

But soon it will fill...

With the blessing of harvest.

Are you giving up hope in life?

                  Are your dreams beginning to look doubtful and hazy?

                                   Does it seem that you will never become the man or woman God wants to make you?

Never stop hoping, striving, praying, reading the Word, reaching, pressing toward the mark.

God has given His promises...

...And one day Hope will be fulfilled.