Sept.10.04: Light for the Day - "Hope for the Heart"

-- Psalms 31:24 
Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, 
All you who hope in the LORD.

-- Acts 2:26 
Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; 
Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.

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Perhaps the greatest psychological, spiritual, and medical need that all people have is the need for hope. Dr. Mc. Nair Wilson, the famous cardiologist, remarked in his autobiography, Doctor's Progress, "Hope is the medicine I use more than any other - hope can cure nearly anything."

Years ago Dr. Harold Wolff, professor of medicine at Cornell University Medical College and associate professor of psychiatry, said, "Hope, like faith and a purpose in life, is medicinal. This is not a statement of belief, but a conclusion proved by meticulously controlled scientific experiment."

When hope dies, despair will overwhelm us. Hope is both biologically and psychologically vital to us. Men and women must have hope - and true hope comes only from Christ. He gives us hope for the future as we turn in faith to Him - hope for eternity, and hope right now.

-- Billy Graham

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-- Psalms 42:11 
Why are you downcast, O my soul? 
Why so disturbed within me? 
Put your hope in God, 
or I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

-- Psalms 62:5 
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; 
my hope comes from Him.

-- Psalms 130:5 
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, 
and in His word I put my hope.

-- Psalms 33:18,20,21
18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, 
on those whose hope is in His unfailing love,
20 We wait in hope for the LORD; 
He is our help and our shield.
21 In Him our hearts rejoice, 
for we trust in His holy name.

-- Isaiah 40:30,31
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, 
and young men stumble and fall;
31 But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. 
They will soar on wings like eagles; 
they will run and not grow weary, 
they will walk and not be faint.

-- Jeremiah 29:11,13
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, 
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 
plans to give you hope and a future.
12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, 
and I will listen to you.
13 You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.

-- 1 Thessalonians 1:3 
We continually remember before our God and Father 
your work produced by faith, 
your labor prompted by love, 
and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

-- 1 Peter 1:3 
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 
In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope 
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

-- Psalms 71:5 
For You have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, 
my confidence since my youth.

-- Psalms 33:22 
Let Your unfailing love surround us, LORD, 
for our hope is in You alone.