“If I were to take all hope from you, how would you fare? You would be left in dismal surroundings with nothing to look forward to. You see, I could never do that. It is against My nature as your Father. It is against My Word for you. Sending Jesus alone is hope beyond measure. What He has done in the heavenlies has brought hope to you. What He is continually doing makes a bright future for you.

       Look around. You have much for which to be thankful. You have a hope. You have a wonderful future, no matter what you might be facing at present. Place all that you are and all that you desire in My hands. They are hands of hope.”

2 Samuel 14:14b NIV

“But God does not take away life; instead he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.”

2 Chr. 16:9 NIV

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him...”

Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV

11) “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

12) Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

13) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

There is no one with a brighter future and more hope than a servant of the Lord. Submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ piles on reward after reward to our lives and gives us a destiny that cannot be matched by all the treasures the world has to offer.

Our future is bright. Our destiny is assured. Our life paths can be straight and our eternity is full of hope. We are truly blessed because of what Jesus has done for us and because of the love of our heavenly Father.

As the Father reveals all aspects of His heart, sometimes I reel with the overwhelming challenge that I am called to face. I begin to condemn myself for who I am not, cower at the prospects ahead of me as a Christian in the coming times, stagger at the weight of my responsibility to represent Jesus properly; and become discouraged as I attempt to prepare for His return. It is then that I remember that none of this was my idea in the first place. My Father has ordained my life and has promised to fulfill His plan for it and in it. My job is simply to need Him desperately.

Remind me to keep my eyes on You, Lord,

Jim Corbett