The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

—Romans 15:13

Paul is saying we can live in all—not some—of the fullness of joy and peace Christ offers right now.

How? In believing.

And what is belief? It’s acting on what God’s Word tells us is true.

If our friend builds a boat and we say we’re sure he’s done a great job, but we won’t get in the boat, we don’t really believe. It’s only words.

To believe means we will live as Christ tells us we should and do what he says even when we don’t like it and when the world and our feelings tell us something else is better.

If we never act on our faith, then our belief is never proven, and our lives never show us or others that God is trustworthy and what he says is true. For our belief to become real and grow, we must continually step further out into God’s depths (Luke 5:4).

Obedience is the path to walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. If we’re still seeking to build our own kingdom instead of the Lord’s, if we’re sowing to the flesh rather than the Spirit by choosing sin and self over his Word, then we’re quenching the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). But if we’re believing—obeying—we will hear his guidance more and more clearly as we go on.

And the result is all joy, all peace, and an abundance of hope!

And who doesn’t want that?

Obedience to the one true, good God doesn’t lead to constriction but to freedom and rest.

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