February 25th, 2019

 The Importance of Practicing the Scriptures –                    PART 3 (Psalm 119:28)
 
Psalm 119:28, My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.
 
What happens when we refuse to read the Bible?
3. Your Hope Becomes Diluted (Psalm 119:28).
 
One principal way God chooses to impart His strength is through the testimony of Scripture. Through His Word, we see His character, His work, His faithfulness, His justice, His promise, and His love. These give us strength in suffering because they remind us of the truth—that we are being made into the likeness of our greatest love, Jesus, and are being prepared to live with Him in glory. This doesn’t mean we won’t have heartache and setbacks on earth, but that we have an unshakable hope to get us through those times.
 
Romans 15:4, For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Why did God give us His written Word when He could have just sent angels? The Bible was given to us to provide hope. The things God has shown us in His Word are for our learning. The Old Testament is overflowing with examples of faithful perseverance and encouragement which gives hope for the New Testament people of God.
 
Without the hope we receive from the Bible, we will more easily fall into despair. Feelings of hopelessness will grow instead of security in the promises of God. If we neglect the Scriptures, life’s trials will toss us about, we will be succumbed to every sorrow, and plagued by the pain of the world.
 
Scripture tells us that we will spend eternity with God if we have accepted the free gift of salvation through His Son (John 3:16). His Word gives us promises that we can cling to. We can be confident that the things God has said will come to pass. We have the hope that we will be in Heaven with Him (John 14:6). We have the hope that all things work together for good to them that love God (Romans 8:28). We have the hope that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:5; Psalm 23:4; Isaiah 41:10; Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5). These truths from God's Word should be a comfort to us.
 
One of the greatest needs that we have is to just have hope in the midst of dark days, when we don’t understand what is going on. Just being able to keep trusting God no matter how dark it looks. Just keep having hope in the Lord. No matter what we may face, God has promised His help and presence, His protection and guidance, and His love and mercy. We know this because He has given us His Word. Take some time this week to thank God for the comfort of the Scriptures and the hope we have through them.
 
This was PART 3, visit the website tomorrow for PART 4.
 
Prayer: Heavenly Father, my hope is in You. thank You for sending Your Son to be my hope. You knew that this world would never satisfy my longings, and so You sent Your precious Son to do that. Forgive me when I look to anything else for my hope, and thank You for the pain that reminds me when I have moved my hope into anything other than Christ. In the name of Jesus, our living hope, amen.
 
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