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Reflections of Hope Monday, October 05 2020
 Listen to Whispers of Hope
The Bible often describes God as a Father to us, and likewise, compares His characteristics to examples of motherhood within the animal kingdom. Did you know?
These illustrations show how seriously God takes parenthood and his relationship to humans. The Lord, made us in His image, and animals mirror some of his parental traits. If animals are intentional parents, how much more of a parent is our Father? Oh , how He loves us. In the scriptures, we see the unique ways God identifies us as His own. In the Old Testament, for example, it reads, “like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft. The Lord alone led him; no foreign god was with him,” Deuteronomy 32:11-12. Scripture further teaches in, Isaiah 40:11, “He tends his flock like a shepherd, he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young,” and in Isaiah 66:13 God promises, “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” Let the Father comfort you . . . no matter your current situation. He continues His promises in the New Testament with 2 Timothy 2:19, “but God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” This vow is echoed again in John 10:3 and 10:14-15 referencing Jesus, “to him the gatekeeper opens. the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his sheep by name and leads them out.” “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.” We can have hope in our Father and his intentions because no matter what we are facing in this world, we have the promise of His Word, in which He cannot lie, the sacrifice of our beloved Jesus which cleansed us of sin and left us with a comforter and the gift of eternal life, and His miraculous and tangible presence in our lives through blessings and our testimonies. In Christ we are fully known by him and can stand on the facts that, “God will supply our every need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 4:19; “The Lord our God is in our midst and mighty to save, he will quiet us with his love and will rejoice over us with singing,” Zephaniah 3:17, and because, “Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (which) was given to us,” Romans 5:5. Surely, brothers and sisters, we are blessed, as is stated in Jeremiah 17:7, if we trust in our Father and remember to keep our hope in Him. Rest in knowing the Father is with you.
Prayer of Hope: Heavenly Father, help us to hold fast to you with childlike faith and to remember to hope in you in all things; always, so that we may be blessed. Amen. © Melissa A. Smith Reference: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kaelintully/19-animal-facts-that-will-make-you-want-to-hug-your-mom Comments:
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