Unshackled Moments ~ November 29 O Hope, Where Art Thou?

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

- Romans 15:13

We spend a lot of time trying to find hope. We look for it in people, in security, in many places and philosophies. We seek it out like a lost treasure, and when we can not find it, we try to manufacture it. We attempt to wrestle it into existence and to build it ourselves in our minds. If we can convince ourselves of this or that, and if we can do such and such we may just find hope, some sense that we just might survive and find what we need.

But hope is not a treasure to be found, a seed to be planted and later harvested or a structure to be built by our great powers of imagination or self delusion. Hope is a precious gift of God. We do not have hope because we determine  to believe God will take care of us. We have a God of hope, and just as He is a supplier of the power we need to be free and walk within His will when we could never do so on our own, He is our source of hope.  When we surrender our will and life into His care, we are given a life worth living and the power to walk free from the things in this world that kept us prisoner. We can't live as we should or manage our lives, so we allow the One who can to do so. Life gets better. We find freedom, purpose and satisfaction in His will. And somewhere along the way, we realize that we also have hope. We have it in great amounts, we abound in it. We have so much we can't lose it, we can give it away all day and still have plenty. But we don't have to hold onto it, or earn it, work for it or anything. We have it because of the Spirit, just as we have our freedom and the ability to walk free from the bondage of self. God is our hope, and hope is a free gift from Him.

So, if you feel hopeless and in need of hope, remember that hope is not the goal. It is the by-product. Instead of looking for hope, seek to improve relationship and conscious contact with the Creator. Seek Him first, and hope will find you.



Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments and or listens to the messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions to more people by sharing the Moments and messages that you read or listen to? Hitting the share button instead of or in addition to the like button will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.

If you would like to have notifications of new Unshackled Moments and messages sent to you via email, send an email to dalynwoodard@mail.com requesting to be added to the list. You can also follow Dalyn Woodard (@Dalynsmsings) on Twitter or Unshackled Life Ministries on Facebook.