Devotion Full of Hope

Do you have an unwavering enthusiasm filled with love and loyalty towards God? Are you devoted to Him? Devotion has many meanings but it boils down to one thing, Love for God. It is in Him that we have hope. It is by Him that we received Jesus who is hope. It is through the Holy Spirit we can live in the hope for our future. Our devotion to God is full of hope.

We Show Devotion Through Worship  
Worship is a form of devotion that we observe daily. Some Christians rely on daily devotional readings to empower them in God’s Grace. Others go straight to the Word in Scripture and devote their heart to learning and memorizing the Word. However God’s Word is received in these manners, God’s presence guides and directs a person to full devotion.

Song is another form of devotion through worship. If God’s Word and presence is at the forefront of the song and the focus is God and what He has done in our lives, we show our devotion as we observe the effect that the words and music have on our lives.
Our worship revolves around hope. We hope for Christ’s return and that our relationship is fully restored with God. We show this through our devotion in worship.

We Show Devotion Through Our Words and Actions 
Everything we do should be a reflection of God’s work in our lives. When we show others how God has affected us we are showing our devotion to His ways by following the example of Jesus. Because God wants us to emulate His Word in our lives, we live a life of devotion the best we possibly can.
 
How easy it is to say something, but without actions, words mean nothing. The simple act of kindness is one of the best ways to start. Kind gestures are habit forming. Something we must remember though, the actions are not ours to receive accolades. It is okay to be rewarded in some ways but do not expect it all the time.
 
Our hope is translated into the words and actions we do. We share our hope with others with the hope that the Kingdom gains another and the branches grow.
 
Expecting Accolades Places Your Devotion Away From God
Those who expect rewards no longer do things for God.
It is easy to get lost in how much you do for people and continually receive an “at a boy/girl”, but do not do things and expect it. As an example, we have a person at my secular job that tries really hard to receive accolades to the point of blasting our phones up with pictures of his accomplishments. He kept doing it until the boss got really tired and told him that he needs to stop. He did, but now he gets upset if someone else does something and succeeds. Sad thing is this person desires money and self-love yet calls himself Christian.     
 
Doing things for yourself and moving reliance away from God also changes where your devotions lie. This also changes our hope. The godly hope transforms into hope in the world which leads nowhere. Reliance in worldly things only leads to heartache and temporary happiness. Be careful what you do and who you are doing it for.
 
Can You Be Fully Devoted?
The hardest question is the easiest yet hardest to accomplish unless you have full faith and trust in God. Full devotion should be the desire of many Christians. Is it attainable? Yes. It is a hard road? It is quite narrow. Is it worth the suffering? Absolutely. You can still live as a part of the world just do not let the world take over all aspects of your life. Share the Word with all your heart, soul, and strength and you will be showing the love, hope, joy, and devotion you have for the Father who created, loves, guides, has compassion, disciplines, sends His Grace and Mercy, and Saves us from ourselves and death everlasting.
 
Brothers and Sisters, we can be devoted followers of God filled with hope because Jesus is our hope. The Word which is Him will come again and we will live with God forevermore.
 
In His Loving Embrace,
Rob, Servant of God