Daily Devotional

How often do you think about the source of our hope? I guess I could also ask the question, what is our hope? What do we hope for, and what is that hope based on? I think in broad terms we hope that justice prevails, the right wins out over wrong, that God’s promises are fulfilled, and we can live for eternity in peace with God. So where do we derive that hope from? Just because? Just because our soul craves it? Well, your hope should be derived from your faith. I think some think that faith and hope are the same thing but they are not. Faith drives our hope. Faith is a belief or confidence in something or someone, and hope flows out of our faith. We have hope that something will happen, because of our faith in God.

So where does our faith come from? Our faith comes from our belief in God, who He says He is, and what He says He will do. Faith is evidenced by how we live our lives based on our beliefs. The Old Testament is filled with stories of men and women who lived their faith out, many to death. They believed God so strongly that they were willing to do whatever He asked, even when it cost them their lives. That is the kind of faith I want, and while it is easy to say when times are easy and no one is challenging my faith, the true test comes when things get hard. The rest of chapter 11 is a summary of the many people in the Old Testament whose very lives were a testimony of faith.

What is extraordinary about these individuals is that they didn’t have all of these stories to prove their faith, and yet they still believed wholeheartedly. How much more than should we, who not only have the evidence of their testimony of God’s work in their lives but also now have the testimony of Christ Jesus, the Messiah Himself, who came and died and rose again for our salvation. Our faith is truly not blind faith but one that is backed up by the faithfulness of God in the lives of all who have come before us. And it is based on these testimonies that we get the Apostle’s Creed, a summary of the most common beliefs that unite us as followers of Christ.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended to hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

"New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved."