He Has Overcome The World

By Pat

This morning, for my morning devotional, I read Acts 12:1-19. I am familiar with the story...as you may be too. Peter had been imprisoned by Herod, and the situation was dire. He was in chains and was guarded as well, so there seemed to be no hope for escape. But Peter was in for a big surprise. The night before he was to go on trial, angels came to the prison and Peter was set free.

Now, the timing of me reading that particular scripture could not have been better. I have been struggling of late with very heavy and difficult issues, but instead of being imprisoned by tangible chains, I have been imprisoned by invisible chains of doubt and fear. I have allowed Satan, not King Herod, to lock me up and fill me with terrible feelings. Feelings that I don't even like to acknowledge to myself.

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Give Your Hopes And Dreams To God

By Pat

On the very first Easter morning, scripture tells us that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb where Jesus had been laid, expecting to find the dead body of the Lord she had loved. (John 20:1) Her hope was gone. She accepted the defeat of the cross and was resigned and saddened. But then something wonderful happened! Mary learned that God had other plans and had performed a miracle!

Aren't we like Mary? All too quickly, we bury the dreams and goals that seem to be unattainable. We allow ourselves to believe that we must accept the challenges in our lives that seem to large to conquer. But sometimes God has other plans. If He can raise Jesus from the dead, He can certainly resurrect the hopes and dreams we had given up for dead! We must learn to trust that, even when things seem the bleakest and hope is gone, God can do anything! We have to believe that God can and does perform miracles, so never bury your dreams. Give them to God!

Hope: The Anchor For Our Souls

By Renee

As a social worker working with homeless families, I can say that hope is a word that does not exist in the vocabulary of the majority of the families I work with. Granted, these families may have just cause to feel hopeless. They are without shelter, security, a place to just brush their teeth and do life. They may be struggling with domestic violence, disability, foreclosure and a myriad of hopeless situations. I often ask myself, "What can I possibly do to turn hopelessness into hopefulness?"

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