{"id":26133,"date":"2015-06-05T00:20:43","date_gmt":"2015-06-05T04:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=26133"},"modified":"2015-06-04T13:50:11","modified_gmt":"2015-06-04T17:50:11","slug":"this-week-romans-154","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2015\/06\/05\/this-week-romans-154\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week…Romans 15:4"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SeekingHimLogo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For whatever was written in former days
\nwas written for our instruction,
\nthat through endurance
\nand through the encouragement of the Scriptures
\nwe might have hope.
\nRomans 15:4 ESV<\/span><\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 *<\/span><\/p>\n

This week, here on the Seeking Him<\/em><\/strong> <\/span>devotional blog, we have begun a mini-series on the subject of HOPE<\/span><\/strong><\/span>. \u00a0Our devotional writers have brought light to the verse highlighted above truly bringing us ‘the encouragement of the Scriptures.’ \u00a0Here are a few of their thoughts….<\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 *<\/span><\/p>\n

In Positive Attitude<\/em>, Tina<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0wrote about a woman in the Old Testament who had great hope…<\/p>\n

God gave hope to Hannah. \u00a0Hannah was barren. \u00a0She went to the temple and prayed for God to take away her shame. \u00a0When the prophet, Eli saw her praying, he thought that she was drunk instead and questioned to\u00a0her. When she explained she was praying for what she requested of the Lord yearly, Eli sent her on her way, asking God to grant her request. \u00a0And God did. \u00a0She gave birth to a son, Samuel, whom she dedicated to the Lord. \u00a0She was also blessed with other sons and daughters for her faithfulness. (Click here<\/a> to read this account.)<\/p>\n

God still shows up in this way today…There is power in prayer and belief. \u00a0Within these lies our hope.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2766<\/span><\/h1>\n

In Hope Waits<\/em>, Ahmee<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0shared that having hope means we wait…<\/p>\n

\n

Waiting goes hand in hand with hope.<\/h4>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s a matter of seconds\u2026sometimes it\u2019s a matter of years. \u00a0Hope can be lost. \u00a0Hope can be found. \u00a0We can temporarily lose sight of the hope that we hold. \u00a0Hope is something that we have to focus on; something that is actually intentional. \u00a0Hope helps you keep a smile on your face when it\u2019s raining. \u00a0Hope is a matter of perspective, but also, knowing that we are loved by the Creator of the world who only wants good for us. \u00a0With God, the hope we have has a real chance of actualizing. \u00a0Otherwise, we are just wishing for good things to happen.<\/p>\n

God has promised us many things in His Word, and because of this it is possible for us to have hope.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2766<\/span><\/h1>\n

In Spiritual Hope<\/em>, Ann<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0reminded us of the hope that the Word of God gives us…<\/p>\n

The Word of God always gives comfort and strength.
\nThe Word of God is an oasis of hope.<\/p>\n

Believing the Word of God and living by it takes us from the arena of hope into faith.<\/p>\n

And hope maketh not ashamed
\nbecause the love of God
\nis shed abroad in our hearts
\nby the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
\nRomans 5:5<\/p>\n

That means hope never disappoints. The reason it does not disappoint is that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. \u00a0Hope is one of the three creative principles of the human spirit. They are also abiding principles.<\/p>\n

And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three;
\nbut the greatest of these is love.
\n1 Corinthians 13:13<\/p>\n

Meaning that when all else fails, these three principles will remain and not pass away. \u00a0They are given to us and are in our spirits. \u00a0We are to choose to act on faith, to always be hopeful towards God, and to walk in love.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2766<\/span><\/h1>\n

In Circle of Hope<\/em>, Cynda<\/span><\/strong> gave us a great example of how biblical hope works…<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Scripture
\nPurpose = Instruction
\nResult = Hope<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The purpose of Scripture is our instruction. \u00a0The Scriptures encourage us to persevere, to endure. \u00a0They offer us comfort and give us hope. Psalm 119 reiterates how closely hope is tied to the instruction of Scripture. Look at the following verses:<\/p>\n

Do not snatch Your Word of truth from me,
\nfor Your regulations are my only hope.
\nverse 43 NLT<\/p>\n

You are my Refuge and my Shield;
\nYour Word is my source of hope.
\nverse 114 NLT<\/p>\n

This is the circle of hope\u2014the more we seek God through His Word\u2026the stronger our hope becomes; the stronger our hope\u2026the more we seek God. \u00a0This serves us well in times of trouble. \u00a0Instead of being filled with despair, we can remember the nature of God and be filled with hope.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2766<\/span><\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4 ESV *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 * This week, here on the Seeking Him devotional blog, we have begun a mini-series on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":13840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[8965,235,3367,1287,425,8942,518,8966,7565,3174,7879],"class_list":["post-26133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-biblical-hope","tag-coleen-hayden","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-gods-word-gives-us-hope","tag-hope","tag-hope-encourages","tag-romans-154","tag-seeking-him-devotional","tag-weekly-recap","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-6Nv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26133"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26137,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26133\/revisions\/26137"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}