1. Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you,"declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and hot harm you, plans to give you a hope and future." When things seem bad and I lose hope, that is NOT from God. He has hopes for me and a future planned for me...not the bleak nothingness that satan tries to tell me is my future.
2. Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen....It would seem, then, that if I have no hope, then I have no faith, which means there is no evidence of things unseen, and ultimately, no God. What better lie for satan to try to get people to believe...but even the demons believe in God and shudder.
3. Psalm 25:3a No one who hopes in You will be put to shame, Which means the reverse must be true: Those who do not hope in You could be put to shame...
8. Job 13:15a Though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him; This scares me...can I truly say this about God? That if He's plans for my future are to kill me, I will still hope in Him? And, yet, when I think about life apart from Him, I'd rather be with Him...even if it kills me. What a paradox of faith we have.
5. Psalm 119:74 May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word. Interesting...others who fear God will be excited to see someone else who believes. Our hope is encouraged through communion with other believers.
6. Psalm 119: 81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word. While I wait for my ultimate salavation (heaven?), I can be content here on earth with the promises found in the Bible.
7. Psalm 119:114 You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. I know that God will protect me in this crazy world, but when the battle wages, I have to trust Him and His word.
8. Psalm 119:147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.
These last four verses spoke the most to me: every situation that could possibly throw me into a spiritual downward spiral ALL have the same solution: my hope is in His word. The best part to me, is a play on words. John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." I love this...it's Biblical math! The substitution property: If word=God, then I can substitute the word God for every place the word word is...make sense? All those verses in Psalm 119 could actually end with "I have put my hope in your God." And, there, my friend, is where I found hope again, in God.
While my weight isn't where I want it to be, it is not where it was. God is transforming me into His workmanship: a beautiful creation who has work here on Earth to do. And all I have to say is, "Bring it on!!! Though He slay me (my sinful nature), yet I will HOPE in Him!!"