-HOLD ON TO HOPE, IN JESUS!

-Looking Back, Looking Forward
--Hebrews 6

"Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far has the Lord helped us.'" (1 Samuel 7:12)

--NOW THAT WE ARE a month into the New Year, it's good to look back and recall God's mercy and faithfulness to us in the past. With insight we see where God removed an obstacle or built a way over it.

Joshua instructed one man from each tribe of Israel to bring a stone from the Jordan River to set up as a memorial in the place where they camped on their first night in the land God had promised His people. We, too, ought to remember the victories won thus far along our way. Those experiences are the 'memorial stones' that remind us to press forward knowing everything we need has already been prepared for the next segment of the journey. We are given fresh strength, peace and joy to tackle each new day and week and month.

Paul's writings encourage us to hold on to hope because our hope is in the Rock of our salvation: JESUS. Never will He fail you; and always will His strong arm be sufficient to carry you through. Truly, you can move forward with assurance of an amazing future with Christ.
---
-'Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by thy great help I've come;
And I hope, by thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.'
--(Robert Robinson, 1758)

--Haven Today