Morning Dew

Key Passage: Romans 15:13

Key Text: Romans 15:13 – “that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.”

Hope is such a powerful thing. It has incredible power to energise one and keep one going in difficult situations. But hope is also often a misunderstood word. People say I hope to go somewhere. I hope to be someone. I hope to marry. I hope to do this and do that. This type of hope is not the biblical hope that has power to transform. This is more wishful thinking and is only good for a fleeting ‘feel good’ factor. Real hope is more of a state of being, only arrived at after faith has been concretised or established in a person’s heart. It is not wishful thinking; it is a firm conviction of an expected end framed and shaped by the word of God.

Hope is defined in lame man’s terms as a ‘picture framed by the words of God’, that has taken hold of one’s faculties, that any other picture contrary to what is hoped for is only an aberration. Hope has a way of creating joy and pleasurable expectation. But the devil has a sinister way in which he tries to muddy up the waters, by using contrary pictures to create fear and this can affect us negatively. My wife always says that Satan is the master of Hollywood. That he uses photo tricks and manipulated pictures to distort the truth, so one would believe his lies and then be trapped. I agree with her. Satan is a counterfeiter. He knows that God is the God of hope. He knows hope is a picture framed by the words of God. So what does he do? He lies and paints negative pictures and once you believe those pictures, then you are in his evil grasp and he can do harm to such people.

I once became quite ill, with what was a condition that had no real cure, and I entered into a real battle in my mind and soul. The enemy painted pictures of death and hopelessness and quite honestly I despaired and began to sink lower and lower into a deplorable condition. But through the help of the Holy Spirit and some faithful believers, I began studying the word of God and dwelling on all the healing promises. I began confessing the scriptures and I eventually got to the place, where every time Satan brought his evil thoughts and pictures, I countered them with the word of God. The word grew in me and one day discovered I had a different picture inside my heart. I began to know for certain I was healed and would not die of the illness. The pictures filled me with joy and pleasure and I kept them before my eyes. Gradually the pictures of the enemies faded away and the pictures of God’s healing in my life became the only pictures I had. I eventually became completely healed and the doctors were so amazed, they could only call it a miracle.

Hope is powerful. It is a picture framed by the word of God and once it is formed, no power of hell can deny you your miracle. That is why it not possible to have hope without faith and it is impossible to have faith without the word of God. God creates only by His word and everything we need for life and godliness is available through His word. So what are you waiting for?

Finally, remember, that we have a helper, the Holy Spirit, who is the finger of God. He paints marvellous pictures on the canvases of our spirits and souls using the words of God. Just ask Him to change the evil picture and you get under the word of God. Fill your heart and mind with it and leave the rest to Him. He is a Master Painter.

Let’s pray: Father God, you are the God of hope. The God of great outcomes. Please empower me by your Holy Spirit to replace every evil and negative picture in my heart and mind with pictures framed by your words. Fill me with your hope and joy and let me bubble over with hope by the Holy Spirit. In Jesus name. Amen.