I’ve been thinking about the word “hope” a lot lately. It’s in those moments when I acknowledge the hope that we have in Jesus that I am filled with joy. Hope can make our eyes smile and dance with excitement because hope in Jesus is rooted in the promise of full and eternal life.

The passage that I keep returning to that reminds me of that hope and gives me peace is found in the gospel of John:

In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it…

He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.

John 1:4-5, 10-12

We live in a broken and dark world, but because of Jesus we have light and we have life. His life is the light of men.

He came into this world, knowing that He would be rejected by the very people that He created and the people that He loves and so desperately desires to know. He came to give us a chance...to give us the right to become children of God.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

1 John 3:1

Despite our brokenness, a holy and perfect God lavishes His love on us and calls us His children. We can live out every day with joy in our hearts because no matter what situations or challenges or decisions we face, God’s love for us remains unchanging, and we are allowed the blessing of being His children.

-Jay

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