The God That Gives Us Living Hope
by Dr. John Barnett

Our Great and Mighty God has His Hand reaching down from Heaven to each of us. He says to us:

• I am your Creator (Isaiah 42:5).

God made you just like you are to do what no one else can do. You are my special, precious child. Trust Me, follow Me, worship Me. We need to from our spirits respond to Him as Creator by saying to Him:

I will trust You Lord; and I will follow You Lord; and I will worship You Lord.

• I am your Sustainer (Isaiah 42:6).

God wants to hold your hand and keep you. Trust Me enough to grab My Hand, and love Me enough to let Me shine through your life. We need to from our spirits respond to Him as Sustainer by saying to Him:

I want to by faith, from this moment forward, start reaching up each new day I live and hold onto Your Hand to show that I really do trust You; and I want to love You so that others see Your love in me.

• I am your Redeemer (Isaiah 42:7).

God bought and paid for with Christ's blood, a great price. Realize anew that you are not your own, you belong to Me. Decide anew that what you say, where you go, what you wear, and how you fill your time needs to bring honor to Me as your God. We need to from our spirits respond to Him as Redeemer by saying to Him:

Thank you for buying me, I am unworthy of Your love; and I belong to You so I want You to be pleased today with what I say, where I go, what I wear, and how I spend my priceless moments of life.

• I am your Revealer (Isaiah 42:9).

God has spoken in this Word you hold. He leads you through His Word, comforts and keeps you with His Word, and changes you into more usefulness only by His Word. He says, "Let My Word fill your mind and life". We need to from our spirits respond to Him as Revealer by saying to Him:

I want to get into Your Word today and spend time with You my Lord; and I want to feel your comfort; and I want to follow Your will for my life; and I want you to change me a little more to be like Jesus today than I was yesterday.

• I am your Leader (Isaiah 48:17c).

God has given to us the pathway we are to follow in life (Psalm 16:11); and He alone is the guide we can safely follow. The Lord wants to guide and keep us; and often, it is much more than we want to follow and trust. We need to from our spirits respond to Him as Leader by saying to Him:

I want to follow Your Path. I will submit to You as my Leader today. And when the path gets rough, or I begin to fear, I want to reach up again and take Your Hand stretched out to me.

• I am your Peace-Giver (Isaiah 48:17).

God has told us over and over that great peace belongs to all who will love and obey His Word (Psalm 119:165). He offers peace that flows like a river through every part of our lives; and He offers a cleansing wave of His grace across the beaches of our lives--so that we can walk on each new day of life with a fresh, new beginning. We need to from our spirits respond to Him as Peace-Giver by saying to Him:

I want Your peace every moment. Keep me in that perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3), and I will do my part - I will keep my mind focused on You. When I feel restless I will repent of whatever wickedness prompted that feeling, look back at You and thank you for Your river of peace, and waves of righteousness.

Saturday, November 01, 2008