Bible Blog: Romans 15:1-4 - August 28, 2007

How to Behave: Part X

Romans 15:1-4

1. If our faith is strong, we should be patient with the Lord's followers whose faith is weak. We should try to please them instead of ourselves. 2. We should think of their good and try to help them by doing what pleases them. 3. Even Christ did not try to please himself. But as the Scriptures say, "The people who insulted you also insulted me." 4. And the Scriptures were written to teach and encourage us by giving us hope.

I had to stop reading at verse 4. “And the Scriptures were written to teach and encourage us by giving us hope.” The blunt way the CEV version puts it is why I chose to use it today. Sometimes we just need something to flat out remind us that hope exists, and then to say, “…here it is, in your hands, keep reading!” I’m holding on to my Bible, God’s promises, what better source of hope for my life? Yet so often I look to what my heart desires and allow despair to creep into my mind instead of allowing the hope God offers to permeate my existence.

I often struggle with the word hope… the best definition I found for it is, “to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.” Well, why wouldn’t we look forward to being with Christ with desire and confidence? It is extremely reasonable to have confidence in His promises for us isn’t it? So why do I struggle with feeling hopeless so often? Because I’m weak, it is a stronghold of mine (ladies in my Bible study, I need to break this stronghold!). I’ve had two friends visit China recently, both went to see different areas of the Great Wall, but both areas are examples of the type of stronghold Paul used to illustrate what a stronghold is… they are high places, easy to defend, difficult to attack. They are build with sturdy materials, house weapons and armor, offer protection. This doesn’t sound too bad though does it? Well, not when used as a defense against the enemy it doesn’t, but when the stronghold is created to keep the enemy IN, the results would be disastrous. A wall built around things that destroy you, keeping it with you, impenetrable, inescapable… hopelessness is this type of stronghold, it holds on to sorrows, negativity, and disbelief, it gives Satan an entrance into your life where he can grab hold and pull you farther and farther away from the hope you can have in God… and all it takes is one moment of hopelessness… and here we have the perfect weapon for that, the Bible! It was written to give us hope! All I need to do is read His word to refresh and renew my hope in Him and that stronghold will eventually disappear, but when I neglect God’s word, that foothold returns, the fortress of doom starts to build around me, and I once again find myself being lured into a state of hopelessness.

I have confidence that God has provided me a way to live in hope. Now that I know how to do this, I am going to go pray some more and ask God to help me to live in His hope every day.

Hugs & Love