February 2, 2014

Having hope...

Romans 15:4

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

Encouraging Words...

The early church did not have the writings of the New Testament as we do today. Paul refers here to the Old Testament and that we can fined mankind's hope in the midst of them. They are full of promises and images of the coming of Christ and the hope that God's people held onto as they patiently waited for His coming. They taught of the patience of God's people as they waited for the fulfillment of His promises, but also of God who waited patiently for His children to return to Him. These are lessons from which we can learn today, even though we have Jesus in our presence and the fulfilled Scriptures to rely on. God still wants us to be patient and full of hope as we wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, and He continues to be patient with us as we stray from Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.