31 Days - All Joy and Peace

Romans 15:13 (HCSB) 
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I love this verse.  There's so much held in those 32 words.  It's a blessing passed on by Paul in his letter to the Romans, and to today's reader.  I can imagine how one of those early Christians may have felt...to read those words from Paul and know that he was praying those things for me....hope, joy, peace...the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.  It would give me a certain confidence...the kind that comes from hope, joy, and peace...the kind that comes from knowing the love of God...the kind that comes out of believing...or as another version puts it - trusting in Him.

Do you see it?  God offers those things to us through His glorious grace...and all we have to do is believe in Him.  It's a choice isn't it?  A choice to believe...then, to receive. 

You can have hope...even in a seemingly hopeless situation.  You can have joy...even when things seem desolate and dark.  You can have peace...even when it feels like you are in the midst of a tornado of turmoil.  By choosing to believe...by giving your heart, your life, your entire being over to the Creator of all things.  By believing in Jesus Christ, the savior of sinful mankind.  By allowing the power of the Holy Spirit to fill you and flow through you.  By trusting in a God who never leaves your side, no matter the situation.

When you believe that God loves you, that Christ died for you, that the Holy Spirit will guide, encourage, and empower you...you choose a life of hope; you choose joy; you choose peace. 

What will you choose?  A life of looking for your own way?  A life of disappointment and grief?  A life of discontent?  Or will you choose a life abundantly blessed?  A life eternal...with all hope and joy and peace?

I choose to believe.  I choose the joy that can only come from walking close to the God of hope.


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Counting grace gifts illuminates joy - Joy Dare for October 2:  3 gifts falling
1. maple leaves on my lawn
2.dropping temps means fall has come
3. the number on the scale  :)