Have you lost hope, friend?

Imagine holding a full water bottle with your arm outstretched. It's doable…it works for a while. But as time goes by, the bottle gets really heavy, as if it suddenly weighs more. At some point, you just can't take it anymore! Your arm can't hold the bottle any longer.

Something similar happens when we try to navigate life just by being positive, which is a real trend right now. We read "empowerment quotes" everywhere, with phrases like "You can do it!" or "Positive thoughts make a positive life." This mindset isn't a bad thing, but oftentimes it's focused on self-reliance and what you can do through your own strength.

However, to live consistently with strength and hope for the long run—even for all eternity—you need someone to support your arm when your human strength fails. Jesus is that person, friend! Whether we feel humanly strong or weak (or somewhere in between), He wants us to draw upon HIS strength daily!

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace…" (Hebrews 13:8-9, NLT)!  

If you put your hope in Jesus, you will have hope that surpasses your limitations. 

"The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God." (Hebrews 7:18-19, NIV, bold added)  

The German translation of this verse says that "hope eclipses everything else." Have you grasped the light of this hope yet, friend? I encourage you to reach for it today!

Let's stop trying to be strong by ourselves and allow God to give us more and more of HIS extraordinary hope!

You are a miracle!