Overflow With Hope

Romans 14:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

...the God of hope...maybe you need hope today. I've been a Jesus follower for a long time, but there's still days I need to be reminded I serve a God of hope. There is so much bad news in the world that if we focus on that, we're sure to feel hopeless. And the bad news doesn't even have to be somewhere else in the world. It can be at our front door.

If you didn't know by now, I like to visualize scripture. This verse says to me: since God lives in me, and He's the God of hope, He will fill me so full of His joy and peace that I overflow - overflow - OVERFLOW - with hope. I see a pitcher running over with milk - and it never runs out - it just keeps running over the sides, getting all over the table, running onto the floor, etc. The milk is not only in the pitcher, but spilling over onto everything near it.

What's the secret? If God lives in me (which He does) why are there times when I feel so empty? There are times when I'm sure I'm not spilling over and affecting those around me. The secret is the last phrase of this verse: "by the power of the Holy Spirit". If I allow the Holy Spirit to rule my life, I tap into the hope, joy, and peace that is already in my life through God living in me.

I hope this reminder of God's never-ending, always overflowing hope is as timely for you as it is for me!