1. The Prophet Isaiah says: “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Is. 55:10-11) What hope do God’s promises give when you don’t see the results right away?
2. The Prophet Hosea says: “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness.” (Hosea 10:12) Where is there “hardened ground” in your life or in the lives around you? Pray for dependence on the Lord to break up the spiritually hardened ground, and rain down His righteousness.
3. The Apostle Paul says: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the first-fruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23) Martin Luther says when the Apostle calls Christ the ‘first-fruits,’ he expresses that the rest of the earth’s graves are about to burst open with life, that the final harvest already begun in Christ is to be viewed as more than half finished. How does this hope for the final day offer you hope for this day?
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