H.O.P.E. Devotional

Day after day, life goes on. In a tiny dark room, I lay lifelessly, a thick blanket of sadness covering me, languishing day after day. Sleeping night and day, arousing only enough to hear laughter and life as people passed the windows on a bright sunny day. Hearing sounds of life outside that tiny dark room, my thoughts turn inward, realizing I am just existing, day after day, time rolls on, no life, no love, no passion, no light.

This memory floods my mind as I contemplate the New Year 2026. One night, I picked up the scriptures written on index cards lying on my bedside stand. I read Psalm 63, knowing that true life comes from our passionate pursuit of our Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

King David penned Psalm 63 about passionately pursuing the Lord: “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

beholding your power and glory.”

He gives truth about the benefits of this pursuit: “Because your steadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise you.

So I will bless you as long as I live;

In your name, I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,

and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,

when I remember you upon my bed,

and meditate on you in the watches of the night;

for you have been my help,

and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

My soul clings to you;

your right hand upholds me.

But those who seek to destroy my life

shall go down into the depths of the earth;

they shall be given over to the power of the sword;

they shall be a portion for jackals.

But the king shall rejoice in God;

all who swear by him shall exult,

for the mouths of liars will be stopped.”

Without the passionate pursuit of the Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, our lives begin to resemble the lifeless life described above. Our pursuit loses passion as minor distractions grow into busyness. We lose our affection for the Lord Jesus in the pursuit of pleasure. We accumulate things, not a relationship with God; we fill our lives with idols. Soon the flame of His Spirit is quenched, and you languish in the futility of life under the sun. King Solomon tried all that the world offered. He lived under the sun without the passionate pursuit of God and found life empty and meaningless. Solomon, as an old man, reflects in Ecclesiastes on the accomplishments of life, finding it empty and vain.

Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:12-14

“I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

I decided to carefully and thoroughly examine all that has been accomplished on earth.

I concluded: God has given people a burdensome task that keeps them occupied.

I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man on earth,

and I concluded: Everything he has accomplished is futile-like chasing the wind!

Without the pursuit of God, life is meaningless, and our hearts and minds reverberate with this lifeless emptiness. In the year 2026, find fulfillment and joy in life with a heart that seeks and searches for God in passionate pursuit!

From the Heart,

Phyllis