January 2, 2024… The Son ALWAYS Rises Our Hope   

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...  Please take the time to take in this song with lyrics from The Gettys singing … In Christ Alone …  Poignantly singing of how we, as Christians, always have hope thru our faith in Christ as our Lord and Savior.  

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Highlight Passage: …  Ecclesiastes 1:5  [NLT] …

5 The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again 

… Likely Solomon writes of how the sun rises daily but in a meaningless attempt to search for our selfish or worldly desires.      

Highlight Passage (in context)  … Ecclesiastes 1:1-11  … USE THIS LINK … 

… The Author of Ecclesiastes, likely Solomon, teaches of meaningless of a life lived for worldly or selfish desires.                                       

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Reference Passage: … Psalm 31:23-24 (NLT] …  USE THIS LINK … 

… King David sings of being strong and putting ALL our hope in The Lord Who protects those who faithfully follow Him. 

Reference Passage: … Isaiah 40:31 (NLT] … 

31 But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles.  lThey will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.  

…God, thru the Prophet Isaiah, shows that those who, in faith, trust in God will gain hope and strength in following Him.

Reference Passage: … Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT] … 

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 

…God, thru the Prophet Jeremiah, promises to give faithful believers hope and a glorious future by faithfully following The Lord.    

Reference Passage: … Romans 15:13 (NLT] … 

13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.. 

…The Apostle Paul prays that fellow Christians would be filled joy, peace, and hope by faithfully walking in the Spirit and following our Lord.         

Reference Passage: … 1Peter 1:13 (NLT] … 

13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.  

…Peter calls fellow Christians to holy living in the hope we have of Christ coming again.  

        

My Devotional Journal: Today’s Our Daily Bread Author , Tim Gustafson -  AT THIS LINK -   writes of Earnest Hemingway’s first novel being titled after the a line in the Bible, in Ecclesiastes 1, verse 5, “The Sun Also Rises,” where the author captures the meaningless of life lived only to satisfy mankind’s vanity and self satisfaction.    

And I’m praying - on this second day in a new year - that my readers have taken in the Linked song and meditated on the Scriptures I’ve shared here today, which show us that only when we put ALL OUR HOPE and trust in God can we find meaning and hopeful direction in life. 

Do you know - really KNOW - that God’s Spirit is leading you to follow Him today?  I pray we just trust and follow Him faithfully today … and then again tomorrow!    

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for leading me with the light of Your word again today.      

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I pray. again today, that all reading here will join me, … to trust in Your Spirit leading us again today, Lord.   … Amen  

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Blogger Note:  Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.