Mary Alice McGinnis
Apr 62 min
by Mary Alice McGinnis
Spring has always been my favorite time of year. The tease of warmer temperatures. The spring rain that causes the grass to start turning green. The once bare trees that had gone dormant during the frigid days of winter, suddenly explode with beautiful white, pink, or red blossoms. Many things that have been stripped of life begin to awaken.
My favorite? The spring flowers. Especially tulips. I trace my fascination with tulips back to my childhood.
One spring, right outside of our front door, a singular bright red tulip sprung up early due to early warm spring temperatures. I was so excited!! It was so lovely, and it gave me HOPE that spring was right around the corner! I awoke one morning, and much to my dismay, I discovered my lovely little tulip struggling beneath the blanket of snow. This little red reflection of hope was in danger of freezing, withering, and dying.
Life is like that, isn’t it? We get our hopes up; we anticipate something wonderful, only to find our hopes dashed. We put our trust in things and people that disappoint us.
What do you wish would never waste away? Is there anything you wish were restored to perfection? What would you like to never fade or wither?
What if there was a hope that was LIVING? What if there was a life that was indestructible? What if that life was as pure as the most pristine water from a crystal-clear spring? What if it could never become ruined, deformed, or impaired? What if it could never wrinkle, wither or fade away? What if it were IMPERISHABLE, UNSPOILABLE, and UNFADING?
Wouldn’t that we too much to hope for?
Because of His GREAT MERCY, God our Father has given us a different kind of hope, a hope in which we can be absolutely confident. A LIVING HOPE. He proved His ability to grant us such a secure hope when He raised Jesus from the grave. Because of the resurrected Jesus, we have been granted a sure inheritance.
Our inheritance is not a place or a thing, it is a PERSON. And it begins NOW!
Psalm 16:5 (Amplified version) says, “The Lord is the portion of my inheritance, my cup [He is all I need].”
"There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ." (Lyrics from "In Christ Alone," by Stuart Townend)
Dear Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I lift my heart in grateful praise to You.
You have given ME Your great mercy.
You have granted ME new birth.
You have breathed into ME living HOPE - not the dead hopes of this world.
Your hope is living, imperishable, unspoiled, and unfading hope.
You have conquered death itself.
You are my inheritance, my portion, my cup. You are my everything.
You are guarding and shielding me even now, and will bring me fully restored to Your side for all eternity.
I praise YOU from the depths of my heart.