Monday's Reading: Romans 5

"hope does not disappoint" - Okay, this is sad, but I just finished watching the Bachelor. I haven't watched much of it all season. Tammy and I used to be hooked on that program but it went way over the top in the past so we had moved on. Watching this show and then reading this phrase has caused me to think about my perspective of 'hope'. I'm the kind of guy who is always preparing to be disappointed. What I tell people is that "I hope for the best but prepare for the worst." So, this verse early in Romans 5 caused me to wonder ... do I really understand what hope means? Tonight, Bevin's hope was vanquished in a moments notice and Tess's hope was met with unexplainable joy (I'm back on the Bachelor analogy now). Can't hope disappoint us? A deeper look at at the verse reveals that the hope Paul is speaking of is the hope of glory with Jesus. No one can take that away. With faith in Christ, there's no reason to prepare for the worst. With true confidence in Christ, we won't be disappointed when we breathe our final breath on earth and allow our faith to become sight - our hope of glory revealed!

"But where sin increased, grace increased all the more." Isn't it really sweet to see that the circle of Grace increases more rapidly than the circle of our sin. In other words, we can't sin too much where God's grace isn't ready to be made available to us. We can't be bad enough - because He is too loving and too forgiving and covers our sin through His grace. Grace surrounds us. Grace reigns through righteous living and dependence on the Lord!