Lamentations is thought to be written by the Prophet Jeremiah. In Chapter 3, he writes about hope in the Lord’s faithfulness.
“”The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance, therefore, I will hope in Him!”
The Lord is good to those who depend on Him, to those who search for Him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord. “” (Lamentations 3: vv 22-26, NLT)
“And the leaders of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. (By the way, their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has no favorites.) Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles, just as He had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews. For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles.
In fact, James, Peter and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God and given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles while they contained their work with the Jews. Their only suggestion as that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do.” (Galatians 2:6-10, NLT)
“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.” (Galatians 2:20-21, NLT)
“Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who His children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in the glorious freedom from death and decay.
For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be release from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children, including the new bodies He promised us. When we were given this hope when we were saved (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently).
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groaning that cannot be expressed words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
And we know that God causes everything to work together, for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them. For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, He gave them right standing with Himself. And having given them right standing, He gave them His glory.”
“This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.
May God give you more and more grace and peace as. you grow in you knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.
By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have receive all of this by coming to know Him, the One who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence. And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His diving nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
So dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:1-10)
A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus (letter from the Apostle Paul to Timothy)
“Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace the God gives you in Christ Jesus. You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach the truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.
Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then thy cannot please the officer who enlisted them. ” (1 Timothy 2: 1-4, NLT)
“”Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for your sins have brought you down. Bring your confessions, and return to the Lord.
Say to Him, “Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer You our praises.”” (Hosea 14: 1-2, NLT)
“”The Lord says,”Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; My love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever. …. My people will live again under My shade. They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines. They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon. O Israel, stay away from idols! I am the One who answers your prayers and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green; all your fruit comes from Me.”
Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully.
The paths of the Lord are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.””
Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. For like grass, they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, soon they wither.
Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.
Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.
