Power of Hope: Reclaiming Hope

Life can get pretty stressful and chaotic. Right? I believe so. 

If we don't take the opportunity to reclaim the peace, hope, and calmness life offers, we will eventually be weighed down by the negativity that surrounds us.

Let's take a look at the word reclaim. 

reclaim (v)

• to recover (substances) in a pure or usable form from refuse, discarded articles, etc.
• to bring back to a preferable manner of living, sound principles, ideas, etc.

The most important part of this definition is in bold: bring back to a preferable manner of living! In order to to this we take each part of this series and put them into play. Once we see what hope is and know the meaning, we can find it and embrace it. After we can reclaim it for our lives and live a life full of hope. 

Our focus for the future is to look forward with faith and hopes that the Lord has something great in store for us. We need to live by the fact that the Lord promises us many things and He will come through. For us to completely reclaim our hopes, we HAVE to lean on the Lord for guidance. Some may not understand, however, this is not for us to understand. We can have hope in our future because God is here with us. He wants us to live a full life of greatness. He has set us free and has given us the ability to reclaim that hope so that we may live a joyful life.

The Lord wants us to push away darkness and lies so we are not oppressed any longer. We are not to allow the spirits in the world to discourage or lie to us. Jesus is our hope in the dark times and we must reclaim this! We are precious to Him. It takes one heck of a man to give up His life for those that He loves. This in itself should give you hope. He has joy and mercy in abundance to give us. We must not allow the mayhem or misery of the enemy to steal our faith, hope, and joy. 

When life begins to feel hopeless, lift your eyes and look higher than this world. Look at Him. Look for Him. He is the One who has all power over heaven and earth. He is the one who reigns. 

Reclaim your hope by believing that YOU ARE WORTH IT! 

Reclaim your hope by knowing there is more to this life than what meets the eyes. 

Reclaim your hope by prayer and calling upon the Lord. 

Reclaim hope.

 Reclaim joy. 

Reclaim peace. 

Reclaim your life!

Are you ready to reclaim your life by reclaiming hope in the future and in God?

~




Previous Posts:

What is hope? | Finding Hope |  Embracing Hope

Power of Hope: Embracing Hope

When we show faith, we're showing we have hope for our future.

We are showing we're strong enough to let go of what was to embrace what is and what will be.

In order for us to find and embrace hope, we need to let go of the control we want for our lives and hand it over to God. He's in control and I promise that He will do what is best for our lives. All will go according to His divine and wonderful plan. 

When we are embracing hope, we are embracing Jesus. Jesus can be and will be our hope in the future. When we take a hold of His hand and we allow Him to lead us in this life, we can be assured that He will lead us to the satisfaction of our hope. He won't ever leave us behind. 

When we embrace hope, we are embracing life!

Our stories are still unfolding, so don't judge life based on an unfinished chapter. Christ is not done with us, yet. 

Even after losing my daughter in 2013, I have found a way to find and embrace hope in my future. I have endured pain, disappointment, and heartbreak, but I never let go of my hope. I fixed my eyes on Jesus because I know He will never fail me. As He will never fail you.

I believe I am a work in progress who is loved by The Most-High.

At times, the best fight we can give is to stand on our faith and push back with our hopes. But if we must fall, we should do so, directly to our knees to call out to the Lord in prayer. Our battles have already been made into victory by the cross. We can do the dance of victory because God has our backs. His grace, his love, his peace.. will forever be restored within us when we reach out and embrace our hopes in Him.

Are you ready to embrace your hope? 

Power of Hope: Finding Hope

In a world where being strong, independent, and bold takes the stand. It can leave us feeling beaten and battered when we come to a standstill because of an unforeseen circumstance that leaves life with uncertain plans. We encounter times in our lives that try to weaken us and make us feel that its hopeless. 

However, as Christians we don't have to worry about the situations we face because God has our backs. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and hope." 

I believe that faith and hope intertwined with one another. I see faith in the now and hope in the future. For if we have hope for our future, especially if Jesus is walking beside us, the down right exhausting parts of life won't get us down. Everyone who allows Christ to guide their footsteps is guaranteeing themselves for a better future and a forgiven past!

But, how is it that we find this hope that I speak of?

How is it that we hold this hope close to our hearts when life has us so overwhelmed and uncertain?

Finding hope when we have hit rock bottom in life can be a tricky one but I'm here to tell you that it IS POSSIBLE!!!

First, I want you to completely forget anything that is causing you to stress or worry. Clear the mind of all these negative things. Now, think of the times in your life where you have done something amazing. For me, I believe it's absolutely amazing that I have managed to push forward into year three without my daughter. To live without a child is hard, however the most amazing part of this is that I had hope in Christ that things would (are) getting better. I love thinking of the ideas and plans that the Lord has set up for me because I know it'll all be worth it in the end. Now, if only we can ALWAYS think this way. It's hard but if we change our mindset to see the beauty in the hard times, the blessings when all seems lost, and the joy that is to come, we can grasp onto hope and ride this life with ease.

Another way to find hope is to find yourself reading God's word on a daily basis. How can we fight the battles we face if we aren't equipped with the gear needed? The things we need in order to face and destroy the enemy in his tracks are in the Bible. I use the Bible App on my phone to help with this. If you're not sure of the app I'm talking about, go to the app store on whichever device you have and look it up. This app comes equipped with daily reading plans to help you stay on track and prepare for the battle of daily life.

In addition to finding hope within the Bible, we should allow ourselves to be surrounded by positive inspiration. If we surround ourselves with optimism... we're sure to always look toward the bright side of things before we focus on the negative. 

The power of hope is there. We just have to grab it and hold on tight.

Power of Hope: What is hope?

Perhaps you're in a dark, scary place in your life. 

Nothing is going right and everything seems to be falling apart. 

Life is chucking everything at you at once and you're being to feel defeated.

Maybe it feels like you're being tossed around in this tornado of a life.

Maybe it feels like the floor of life has dropped out from underneath your feet and you feel as if you're free falling and at any moment the thud will come.

Just hang on...

...there's still hope.

We were promised this.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

What is hope exactly?

First, let's see what the dictionary says about hope:

(noun) a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen; 

a feeling of trust; 

(verb) want something to happen or be the case.

I believe that hope is eternal. We always hope for better things than what we have or for the things we want. In a way, hope is faith for the future. 

When things are going crazy in our lives, sickness hits home, or a disaster hits our country, we hope that things will get better and our future will be brighter. Hope is something that we search for, something that is desired, a fullfilled promise of something good.

If you think about it, hope is something much deeper. I believe that hope cosides with faith. Without faith, hope is nonexistant. When we have hope, we are expecting that what we believe and are waiting for will happen, as Christians this is in God's perfect timing.

In a world of so much chaose and negivaity toward God, we need to be careful that we don't allow ourselvs to slide into the turmoil. The belief in God gives us hope that there will be better things to come.

Therefore, I ask you, Reader...

How do you define hope?