A Living Hope

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 361, A Living Hope.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. First Peter, chapter one, verse three.

Notice how Peter begins. Not with a lesson. Not with a to-do list. He begins with worship. "Blessed be God." Before he explains a single thing God does, he stops — he pauses — and he exalts who God is. And that tells us something we need to hear, especially as we come to the close of a year: gratitude comes before understanding. You don't have to have everything figured out. You don't have to make sense of every hard thing that happened before you can worship. You worship first. The understanding follows.

Then Peter takes us into the heart of this verse: God's great mercy. Not our effort. Not our track record. Not our spiritual consistency — though all of that matters. What moves us, what sustains us, what saves us — is his mercy. Great mercy. Mercy that originates in him, not in us. Salvation is not something you achieved. It is something you received. And there is enormous freedom in letting that truth settle deep in your soul.

He caused us to be born again. Not reformed. Not upgraded. Born again — an entirely new life planted by God within you. The way a seed breaks open ground where nothing was growing before. You are not who you were. That is not a small thing. That is the hand of God on your life.

And this new life rests on a foundation that cannot move. Peter is not pointing to a feeling. He is not pointing to religious optimism. He is pointing to a fact: the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Christ died — and he rose. That happened. It is history. And because it happened, your hope is not suspended in mid-air. It is anchored to something no circumstance can undo.

That is why Peter calls it a living hope. Not just any hope. Not the kind of hope that fades when the pressure comes. A living hope — one that pulses, grows, and holds. You are closing this year carrying that hope inside you. It may have been a heavy year. There may be losses that still ache. But you are not carrying a dead promise. You are carrying a hope that breathes — because the Christ who founded it is alive.

So today, do this one thing: before breakfast this morning, say out loud — not in your head, out loud — one thing you are grateful to God for this year. One thing. And thank him for the risen Christ who makes your hope alive. Let your words fill the room. There is something powerful about declaring with your mouth what God has done.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.