Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoyng the day. I went downstairs this morning for coffee and donuts. Ann was just here for lunch and soon we have Bible Study and then some errands to run. 
 Devotions from Judy’s heart 
  More than ever before we need to be people of hope. So much darkness about us, but as followers of Jesus, we need to embrace hope. In Heb. 10:23(Amplified) it says,”So, let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgment of it, for He Who promises is reliable(sure) and faithful to His word.”
   As we may be surrounded by adverse circumstances that seem to be getting worse, not better, we know that our hope cannot rest in man but in the Lord. He is the God of the impossible and nothing is too hard for Him.
   The enemy may try to fill us with negative, fearful thoughts to cause our faith to falter and hope to diminish, but we need to resist those thoughts at the onset. Let us not let them take root but fight them with promises from the Word, and songs of praise. Also, we can join with others as it says in the next verse, “And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities.” The Message translation tells us to be inventive in encouraging and helping one another as we see the big Day approaching. As we gather together with other believers, it raises our hope level. Together with Him and with others we are strong.
   You probably all know the words to an old familiar hymn:
“My hope is built on nothing less/ Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness/ I dare not trust the sweetest/ frame/ But wholly lean on Jesus’ name/ On Christ the solid Rock I stand/ All other ground is sinking sand.”
  Even when it gets dark and stormy and things around us are sinking, the Lord is our Hope, our anchor, our solid place. May we live in hope and encourage those around us.
   Challenge for today: Text a word of hope to someone today.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy