My dearest sister,
It has been 35 years since the day that I received Christ as my Lord and Savior. I have to confess, it has been so long that I had to do the math before I could finish that last sentence. A lot has transpired in my life since that day, and I can thankfully say that I am not the person I was so long ago. If the Lord’s purpose in redeeming this lost soul was to transform (aka change) me then He has done much of that! (Romans 8:28-29)
Being on the receiving end of all this change has not always been easy nor pleasing to look at. In other words, I have not always responded well to what or who God has skillfully used to mold me into the image of His Son. However, one aspect of all this change has become sweeter and sweeter to me. The hope I have in Christ has grown! The Psalmist wrote that as he hopes in God, his praises increase. “But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.” (Psalm 71:14) I wholeheartedly agree!!
My hope is in the One who gives hope. It is grounded or firmly fixed on whom He is and what He has done to secure my salvation and to conform me into His Holy image. The Scripture tells me that this hope is an anchor for my soul. What a tremendous picture. This hope not only grows in size but it grows in depth as well. The more I know Christ and His deep, deep love the deeper that anchor of hope is set in my soul and it is set upon the greatest Rock there is. (Psalm 71:3)
“So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever…” (Hebrews 6:17-20a)
My dear sister, how has your hope grown since the day you heard the Truth of God’s good news to you? Maybe you have not even stopped from your busyness to think about that. I urge you to do so today and sing praises to your Rock for the anchor that has been set in your soul. But I do not want you to stop there dear one, share this hope with others just as the Psalmist did, just as the one who shared this hope with you!
Holding fast to the Hope that grows,
Susan