Christ: The reason for our hope

Below is a blog entry I took from my cousin's blog (www.angelamoore.typepad.com). She is a blessing to me when she takes the time to let God use her in posts such as the one below. I hope you find a blessing from it, too.

Christ is the reason for your hope
I recently read this in my In Touch devotional. These are just some excerpts from an entire article that I felt like sharing before I head off to church.

Many people fail to grasp a simple life-changing truth, and it is this: GOD LOVES THEM. They prioritize their lives according to the world's standards and keep coming up empty-handed. Many routinely go through the day, convinced that their lives are not going anywhere special and time is passing much too quickly for them to make a sizeable impact. Others find themselves working hard to become successful in ways that God never intended for them. The demand to stay at the top of the heap becomes overwhelming. The drive to acheive is pressurized, and the call to surpass what others around them are doing is ever persistent.

A lot of people are running hard and fast, living outside of the realm of true love and acceptance. They may label what they are doing as being highly creative and motivated, but the Lord calls it folly and a hand-written presciption for anxiety and collapse. With mental engines running at full-throttle, it's only a matter of time before there is an emotional, mental, and spiritual meltdown. But the way to take charge of your life is by allowing God to show what His goals for you are-- and why He wants you to live with a heart focused solely on His love.

Understanding our Father's attitude alters how we view our circumstances and live each day. When we feel truly loved, there is a bounce to our step. Decisions are often made with that person in mind. And we want to spend time in that individual's presence--listening and learning what he or she values most.

Often, God's preference is not for us to "do more", but to do less so we can spend time alone with Him. From the beginning He has made it clear that His desire is to have an intimate personal relationship with us. ...... He sent His Son to earth--not to judge or punish, but to identify with us on a personal level.

God's love is what holds everything together, and outside of that, there is no hope. I often meet people who want to talk about their lives and dreams for the future. But so many, especially when life turns stormy, feel as if there is nothing for them to believe in any more. Stability seems fleeting, and the very things that once brought a degree of satisfaction and security no longer do. Whenever hope is in anything other than Jesus Christ, life will become unsettlling. Why? Because only God is unshakable.

The Lord is never out of control. He is completely aware of your circumstances, and he has promised to talk every step with you. Whatever you have done in the past, whatever your present circumstances may be, or whatever suffering you are facing in the futre, God will replace your sense of despair with a great sense of hope. .... He is the reason for your hope--not the economy, not a relationship, not a position you long to hold.

You cannot measure the love of God according to your circumstances of feelings.

The greatest blessing outside of knowing that you are in teh center of His will is the fact that you can fully enjoy the life and contentment He provides.