Hope In The Lord – Psalm 146:5 “Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God,” This is month no 7 of the year widely refer to as the month of perfection, my prayer to all is that God will perfect all that concerns you in Jesus name. No wonder, God is asking us to hope in Him alone i.e. to lean on Him and trust Him as He makes all things perfect according to His Word. Our text for the month reads “Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the Lord his God,” The man that seek help from God will forever be in joy. Hope is faith is action. Hope is what gets you through the night when darkness closes in on you. Hope is the belief that you are not permanently in the dark and boxed in with no way out. As you move on in the month especially knowing that the second part of the year has started and you are moving to the next stage of 2014, I encourage you to hope in the Lord. God has a plan for your life. His plan is to give you hope. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” ‘declares the Lord,’ “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” There is no doubt that our faith will be tested and we would go through trials yet we can overcome all of them regardless of our feelings for His truth is unshakable and certain. No matter how bleak or discouraging our circumstances may appear, there are always grounds for hope, because we are not alone. God is with us. And He is not merely present, but watchful and active. God is present in our lives, not merely as a passive observer, but as the active, sovereign ruler of the universe and the loving Lord of our lives. Our hope must be anchored in the promises of God, the promises concerning His goodness, wisdom, love and power. We must hold fast to these, even as the storms of life are raging if we’re to keep our grip on hope and keep the ship of our life on course. We must believe regardless of our circumstances that God is working out all things in our life for good and we do that by continually reminding ourselves of the promises of God. Our God is the God of hope, He always bring hope into our hopeless lives. Hope is one of the gifts God gives to every believer and He wants us to overflow in it.   Pastor Yemisi Onanuga