Loving Faith and Hope!
Verse for Today: Thursday, September 12, 2013
1 Corinthians 13:13 – And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Man has come to the conclusion that there is no permanency for anything in this world based on his frustrating experiences and experiments. Still man spends a fortune to achieve relative permanency. But the Word of God challenges man to understand and live for the permanent is established by God. Apostle Paul tried to teach the Corinthian church this great truth that nothing that we see around us has permanency except faith, hope and love. When we reach eternity, even those great things like faith and hope lose relevance because all that we hope for and put our faith in will have been realized in front of our eyes. But the amazing truth that is revealed to us is that the emotion of divine love in its perfection will prevail and rule heaven when we would find its fulfillment and sustenance. We will all be filled with perfect love with which we will love our Lord and continue to express our love in the form of perfect worship. We will be occupied in heaven with the wonder and awe of our Lord in love and because of love. So what ought to govern our earthly life day after day? Surely, our focus should be faith and hope because of love for the Lord. We put our faith in Him because we love Him. We put our hope in Him as we wait to see Him who is the embodiment of our love. The love, faith and hope that the Lord has invested in our lives will thus lead us forward to live a life of great expectancy. It would focus our life on what our Lord would do for us as we put our unflinching faith and hope in Him because we love Him.
Dear friend, are the events and situations in your life shaking your hope and faith in the Lord? But if your life is not founded on ardent and unconditional love for the Lord, your hope and faith would bend and break with the winds of life. Your ability and willingness to put your faith in the Lord comes from your unconditional love for Him. If you love Him, you will believe Him without the shadow of a doubt. Then you will be able to have unconditional faith and perfect hope in Him to be confident in all circumstances. Abraham had such ardent faith and hope because he loved the Lord with his whole heart, soul and life. He lived in tents, looking forward to a city that His Lord made for him to dwell forever. His faith in His promise of a child was also his hope which emanated from his love for the Lord who loved him and called him out. Abraham loved his Lord more than his only begotten son whom he was willing to give up and trusted God to fulfill His promises even through that son. When the promise of the son was accomplished, his Lord was the uttermost priority in Abraham’s life and not the son. Such love need not wait for eternity to be ushered in, but can be experienced and enjoyed today because our real eternity starts in this life itself. When we love our Lord more than life itself, we will have full faith and hope in Him. Our love for Him will progress into all of eternity even when our ultimate faith and hope get materialized as we see Him face to face. Let such love lead us to believe on all His promises and put all our faith and hope in Him.
1 Corinthians 13:7 – (Love) always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Thought for Today
The evidence of our love for the Lord is the extent of our faith and hope in Him.
Prayer for Today
Dear Lord Jesus: Fill me today with Your Spirit so that I will bring forth the fruit of love and renew my faith and hope in Your power to accomplish Your promises in my life. Amen!
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