These first few weeks of 2020 I have been looking into HOPE as it is my chosen word for the year. I saw survival hope in Psalm 71:14 “But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.”, Hope in God’s Word, Psalm 119:114 “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.”, Hope in God’s steadfast Love, Psalm 33:18 “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,”, Hope in the future, Jeremiah 29:11 “ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” and daily Hope for living, Lamentations 3:21-23 ” But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Today’s verse helps me to see that God is my Total Hope, Psalm 62:5-7 
“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.”
I love the truth of these words written by the psalmist David so long ago. They are truths confirmed throughout scripture. My hope comes from God alone. He is the one who stands by me and holds me in times of distress and trouble Psalm 107:13 “they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” God is so strong and mighty, so sure and complete that He cannot be shaken, Hebrews 12:28 “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe. He gave me salvation through faith in Jesus, Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”. God alone is working in my life to mold and shape me into the person He desires me to be and shares His glorious attributes with me, Romans 5:3-5 “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” He is the holder of my salvation and sent the Holy Spirit as my guarantee, 2 Corinthians 1:22 “and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
Do these truths about God alone give you Hope for surviving, loving, learning and leaning on the truth of His Word, for looking into the future and for daily living? God is my total Hope and that Hope is in Him alone. He is and has all the hope I need. 
“Thank you Jesus for bringing God’s Hope to me.”
May you grab hold of His Hope today and be uplifted and strengthened.
Linda
Jesus said, “ Then he said to them, 
Luke 2:25-37 tells us what happened when they came to the temple to present Jesus to the Lord. As you read, consider our Faithful God. God knows and loves each of His own. He will do all He has promised: caring for us, making us strong, forgiving, making us new, protecting and purifying us. From the beginning God had a plan to restore the world, break the power of sin and reveal His plan to us. We know God is faithful because He sent His Son to the cross to keep His promise. He is faithful to himself and His Word. We can trust Him to keep all His promises. Here is what happened when they got to the temple:
Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
How do you see Faithful God work in your own life? Do you see His caring for you in life’s circumstances, building you up and making you stronger in faith through the trials you face each day, forgiving your sins, protecting you in body and soul and cleansing you when you confess your sins? Look today for the faithful hand of God in your life. You will be amazed and blessed!
I was thinking this morning about the designation ‘Black Friday’. It seems that since the 1950’s the day after Thanksgiving has been called ‘Black Friday’. It began as a term to describe the crowds, like the street was black with pedestrians. It then became a day to retailers signifying when they began to turn a profit and moved from the ‘red’ into the ‘black’ as the volume of their sales increased. In the Bible the blackest Friday would be the day of the crucifixion. It was the day when the skies turned black and darkness covered the land. “
sin and death. An angel spoke to them when they got there,
in communion with Him and have our sin’s forgiven. We are free to live a life in Christ that is pleasing to God and that is free from the penalty of death brought on by sin. That Black Friday was the best one in history for you and me.
Isaiah 12 has 2 short songs of praise that lead us towards thanksgiving. Let these songs of praise create joy and thanks over your salvation.
This psalm gives us a picture of our salvation. God hates our sin but through the well of salvation in Jesus we are forgiven. Being cleansed by the waters of salvation through faith in Jesus’ work on the cross, God brings us into His comforting arms and His anger over sin is turned away. Having drunk deeply from the well of salvation we are compelled to shout and sing His praises with great joy! Thank you Jesus.
Psalm 28 is a thankful response from David for God’s deliverance. I want to focus on the verses 6-9. 
For which of these attributes are you most thankful today? I had a friend tell me yesterday that when times are hard she focuses on her joy in the Lord. What about you? As you go through today, meditate on God’s goodness and blessings towards you, then take time to thank Him.
As we enter the month of November that has our National Day of Thanksgiving, let us give thanks this whole month long for the things, people, places, hopes and dreams we have within our lives. God is good and worthy of all our praises! Isaiah gives us a song of praise in Isaiah chapter 12. As I look at various verses of thanksgiving this month, this chapter is the key of what our hearts’ attitude must be before Almighty God.
“Give thanks to the 
let us utter songs of joy and praise to Him all month long. Let the spirit of thanksgiving towards God permeate your very being, dip into that well of salvation, and live out praise and thanksgiving towards God and all the people you meet.
God refers to himself in the Old Testament as Your Savior in Isaiah 49:26 and 60:16. In both cases His name is linked to prophesy in regard to the destruction of Jerusalem when the Babylonians came and destroyed it and took the people off to Babylon. The city was held under siege and the people suffered greatly, at one point even resorting to cannibalism. Isaiah’s words were to be ones of encouragement that God will be evident in the dealings of His people. Isaiah 49:26
The people of Israel were to know that in both hard and good times God will be with them, He will be their Savior, Redeemer and Mighty One. We can be encouraged like they were that God alone is God, He is our Redeemer and has plans for our redemption through Christ His Son, and He alone is the Mighty One from generation to generation. The prophet pointed out specifically that God is your Savior and your Redeemer. He is a personal God who loves each one of us and wants to have a relationship with us. He desires that we accept His Son as Savior and open our hearts to His redemptive plan.
Multiple times in scripture God refers to himself as LORD. When the name Lord is written all in capital letters, it refers to the name ‘Yahweh’, YHWH which was so revered that it did not even say it aloud or write it completely as they left out the vowels. Another translation of this is Jehovah. In Exodus 3:14-15, Moses is called by God to return to Egypt, confront Pharaoh and lead the people. Moses voices several concerns to God and asks, What do I say when the people ask who sent me? “
Today meditate on the completeness of your LORD and how HE reaches down and touches you.
going. How can we know the way?” Jesus’ answer is profound and complete. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 He went on to tell Thomas and the others how He and the Father were one and if they had seen Him then they also had see God the Father and knew Him to be true.
Alone, Grace Alone and Glory to God Alone. Our faith in Jesus rests on His Word, His person and His Work on the Cross on our behalf. Thank you Jesus.
David was well aware of 
Psalm 19:14 “
Prayer: Thank you Father that you are the same yesterday, today and forever. Your character and ideals do not change or shift with the times and whims of man. You are my rock and can hold me steady as I face the storms in my life. You are to be praised for you are always faithful and seek to do and bring good into my life. Help me to be depend upon your strength and character so I may live fully for you. Amen.
Fearless Living 