Words of Hope....

In my Scripture reading tonight I have found several passages full of hope, encouragement and needed reminders of God's faithfulness. I thought I would share some of them with you.

From my "One Year Bible" daily reading for May 12 - Psalm 108:1-7, 12-13

"My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart! Wake up, lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn with my song. I will thank you, Lord among all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations. For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May your glory shine over all the earth. Now rescue your beloved people. Answer and save us by your power. God has promised this by his holiness...Oh please help us against our enemies, for all human help is useless. With God's help we will do mighty things..."

From tomorrow's reading (May 13) Psalm 109: 30-31

"But I will give repeated thanks to the Lord, praising him to everyone. For he stands beside the needy, ready to save them from those who condemn them."

There have been some specific things on my heart for our daughter's biological mother. Tonight I came across a verse that I KNOW is for her and I am praying it over her now. It comes from Hosea 1: 14-15 "But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope."  

From I John 3:21-22 "Dear friends, if we don't feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him."

Psalm 99:4 "Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established fairness. You have acted with justice and righteousness throughout Israel."

Psalm 86:5 "O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help."

Psalm 82 3-4, 8 "Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them... Rise up, O God, and judge the earth, for all the nations belong to you." 

Proverbs 20: 24 "The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?"

And lastly, I have dwelled on and smiled over the passage from Acts chapter 8 where Phillip is sent to the Ethiopian Eunich. God did some mighty miracles to get Phillip to the Ethiopian eunich so that this Ethiopian Jew could know the full measure of Jesus' sacrificial love and carry that good news back... TO ETHIOPIA!  (btw, I believe our daughter is from a Semetic/Cushite background so that makes this story even more awesome!) 

And at the end of the story is the brief but certainly astonishing mention of God snatching Phillip up and putting him in the next place he needed Phillip to be. Just - poof! - done - in a totally different location! And the thought comes to my mind about how many times I've prayed for a miracle to take place if that's what it takes to get our daughter's biological mother to that court room. Well, he can certainly do it!

It is now 8 AM on May 13 in Ethiopia. May the dawn bring the Light of God and his love for justice and for orphans with it!

Good night!

cindy