Today’s devotional closes out this year of Freedom Fighters, and comes from our daily devotional, “REAL VICTORY FOR REAL LIFE”. It was written by Pastor Bill Raws, my mentor, friend, and adopted Dad. We will miss him at this year’s New Year’s Eve services.

“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)

At the conclusion of a year and on the threshold of a new year we tend to examine our past experiences and anticipate possible improvement in our performance and circumstances. We set goals and make resolutions designed to correct past failures and direct future actions. When the resolutions are broken and the goals seem to be elusive, a sense of hopelessness develops and we resign ourselves to failure. We attribute the failures to circumstances over which we have little or no control. A pervading sense of our inability produces a frustration and hopelessness.

What’s our problem? Certainly many of the goals and purposes may be good and godly, but in ourselves we lack the ability to carry them through. The answer must be found aside from ourselves.

After presenting a treatise on the gospel of salvation – past, present and future – the Apostle Paul concludes the book of Romans with some highly practical applications. At the end of a discourse on Christian liberty he inserts a timely benediction in the words of our theme verse, Romans 15:13. It centers on hope and consists of four factors which counteract our hopelessness.

First, he points to the source of hope – “the God of hope.” When His ability is substituted for our inability, there is hope and victory. The word implies no uncertainty. One of God’s characteristics is hope, and it is His kind of hope that He communicates to the believer.

Second, he presents the resource flowing from His hope – “fill you with joy and peace.” Joy relates to our delight in anticipation of seeing our hopes fulfilled. Peace results from the assurance that God will fulfill the hopes that He generates in us.

Third, we are directed to the course which must be followed if this hope is to be realized. It is presented as a requirement – “in believing.” God’s infusion of hope cannot be realized apart from constant faith. Continued faith yields a reward – “that you may abound in hope.” God does not give sparingly; He provides and overflowing reservoir of hope.

Fourth and finally, he describes the force which makes this hope possible – “by the power of the Holy Spirit.” It is not our strength which results in hope; it is the Spirit’s power. The prophet Zechariah was facing situations which could have been considered hopeless, but the angel of the Lord had a word for Him (and us) – “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit.’ Says the Lord of hosts.” Let’s allow the all-powerful Holy Spirit to produce hope in our hearts as we step into the new year. — Rev. William A. Raws

On behalf of the Board and staff of America’s KESWICK — Happy New Year!

God’s WORD for YOU: Proverbs 31; Malachi; Revelation 22

Great Quote: Christians who are no longer sure that God loves and accepts them in Jesus, apart from their present spiritual achievements, are subconsciously radically insecure persons—much less secure than non-Christians, because they have too much light to rest easily under the constant bulletins they receive from their Christian environment about the holiness of God and the righteousness they are supposed to have. Their insecurity shows itself in pride, a fierce defensive assertion of their own righteousness and defensive criticism of others…They cling desperately to legal, pharisaical righteousness, but envy, jealousy and other branches on the tree of sin grow out of their fundamental insecurity…it is often necessary to convince sinners (even sinful Christians) of the grace and love of God toward them, before we can get them to look at their problems. Then the vision of grace and the sense of God’s forgiving acceptance may actually cure most of the problems. This may account for Paul’s frequent fusing of justification and sanctification. — Richard Lovelace. Dynamics of Spiritual Life