Hope Against Hope

GROUP DEVOTION - AUGUST 28, 2010

Today´s Passage: Rom. 4:16-25

羅 馬 書 4:18 他 在 無 可 指 望 的 時 候 ， 因 信 仍 有 指 望 ， 就 得 以 作 多 國 的 父 ， 正 如 先 前 所 說 ， 你 的 後 裔 將 要 如 此 。
"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him…" (Romans 4:18, NIV)

Today´s Word:
Do you feel like you are in a hopeless situation today? Is there no sign of change in the natural? Remember, we serve a supernatural God. What looks impossible with man is possible with God.

In the Bible, God told Abraham he would be the father of many nations. But in the natural, this looked impossible. Both he and his wife were beyond child-bearing years. They had no reason to hope or believe it would happen. They had nothing to go on in the natural. But one translation of this verse says, "Hoping in spite of hopeless circumstances, he believed." And you probably know the story. Abraham finally had a son, Isaac and his son, Jacob had 12 sons—the twelve original tribes of Israel with descendants outnumbering the grains of sand on the shore!

Today, I encourage you to do what Abraham did and go against all the odds; hope on in faith anyway. Keep believing. Keep praying. Keep moving forward. Don´t focus on the impossible circumstances, focus on the God who makes the impossible possible! Keep looking through your eyes of faith because He has blessing and victory in store for you!



Prayer:
Heavenly Father, today I choose to hope in You even when everything around me looks hopeless. I invite You to breathe Your life into the impossible circumstances around me. Have Your way in and through me as I dedicate every part of my heart and mind to You. In Jesus´ Name, Amen.

Meditation:
What seems impossible to you in the natural? How can you keep moving forward? Honestly, how big is your God?

(Adapted from Joel Osteen Ministry Devotion Series; Cantonese version available in video.)