Today’s 333 Devotional: “Life’s Side Effects”

Today, I want to talk with you about a heart that is filled with hope because of what Jesus did, not only dying upon the cross for our sins, but more importantly rising from the dead three days later to show us and give us hope that this life isn’t all that there is to life. But there is an eternity waiting for all those who believe in Jesus Christ.

I believe it’s safe to say that all of us have had bad days, and some of us have had a long line of bad days that seem like they may ever end.

It’s been said that a person can go 40 days without food, three days without water, and three minutes without air, but we can’t last a single second without hope. Hope is to our spirits what oxygen is to our bodies. When we don’t have enough oxygen to breathe, we die. When we don’t have hope, our spirit dies. Hope is then an essential to life, because when hope is gone then life, for all intents and purpose, is over.

 Have you ever noticed that life comes with list of side effects. It can be full of fun, adventure, excitement, and joy. But it also comes with illness, abuse, broken relationship, betrayal, sorrow, loss, injuries, disappointments, heartache, and death.

Like any product, therefore, life should come with a warning label, which is what Jesus gives.

In John 16:33, Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Troubles, trials, and tribulations are going to come, but Jesus tells us to have a heart filled with hope because He has overcome this world. Jesus’s plan and purpose far exceeds our expectations and understanding, and supersedes our present reality, that is, our present difficulties.

There is hope, however, because Jesus is an overcoming Savior.