Marissa Henley

Encouraging weary women to hope in Christ alone

Hope that Overflows {No Matter What Monday}

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God will fill you with overflowing hope. Biblical encouragement, Scripture, and devotionals for women.

I’m a mostly boring person, and I don’t push the envelope very often. But occasionally, I let my gas gauge get down to E and create some excitement.

Once I let my engine run on a cold day while I waited for my kids to finish piano lessons. (See how exciting our life is?) I finally realized the little display on my dashboard was trying to tell me I only had five miles to go until empty. I immediately turned off the car and pulled out my phone to search for the nearest gas station. Two miles away. No problem.

But when the kids piled in and I started driving, the miles on the fuel range display ticked down more quickly than I expected. My kids and I prayed anxiously until we slid into the gas station with a zero on the display.

Do you feel like you’re running on empty today? I’ve got good news for you! The God of hope will fill you with joy, peace, and hope that overflows.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13, NIV)

This overflowing hope is more than you could ever need. It never runs out. You’re not just driving around with your gas gauge on full, there is gas gushing out of your car!

This hope is overflowing because its source is our infinite God of hope. He is the source of our hope, and our hope is in Him. This overflowing hope comes by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

When we face circumstances that look hopeless, we can continue to be hopeful. The God of hope promises to fill His children with more than enough hope for all our struggles and suffering.

No matter what you face this week, God will fill you with overflowing hope.

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The Risen Christ Conquered Death {No Matter What Monday}

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The risen Christ conquered death for us. Biblical encouragement, Scripture, and devotionals for women.

I’ll never forget the look of joy on his little 3-year-old face when he heard the news. My first-born, Christopher, was eating breakfast at the kitchen table when he started asking questions about Jesus. He had heard repeatedly that Jesus had died on the cross for his sins. But apparently we had failed to mention one crucial piece of information – Jesus didn’t stay dead. When I mentioned that Jesus rose from the dead, his eyes grew wide and he exclaimed, “Jesus is ALIVE?!?” He clapped his hands exuberantly and shouted, “Yaaaaaay!”

It was such a joy to witness the moment my son first learned the good news of the resurrection. He realized for the first time that death didn’t win. Jesus isn’t still in the grave. He is risen!

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep . . . “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (I Cor. 15:20 and 55, NIV)

Friend, this is good news: Jesus is alive! He isn’t just a suffering Savior who died in your place but a reigning King who conquered the power of death. Yes, He took the punishment for your sin and freed you from its guilt. But He also rose victorious over the ultimate enemy. We read in Revelation 1:18 that Jesus holds the keys to death and hades. Death has no power over Him.

Our risen Savior is the firstfruits of the resurrection. “Firstfruits” implies that there are more resurrection fruits to come! When He stepped out of the grave, He made a way for us to have new life in Him now and eternal life with Him forever. Death has no power over Him, and it also has no power over those of us who are in Christ.

And so even though we feel the pain and sting of death here temporarily, we can look at the empty grave and say with Paul, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Jesus Christ took the sting of death for us, so we wait eagerly for the day when we feel it no more.

No matter what you face this week, the risen Christ conquered death for us.

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Steadfast Love that Gives Us Hope ~ Guest Appearance at Women Encouraged

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The worst day of my most difficult year wasn’t when the doctor told me I had a rare cancer with a crushingly low survival rate. It wasn’t the day I learned I’d spend many weeks away from my husband and young children receiving a clinical trial drug in Houston. It wasn’t the day of my mastectomy.

The low point came unexpectedly, right in the middle of months of suffering.

It was January 24, 2011. I was in Texas starting my fourth round of chemotherapy. My middle child was celebrating his fifth birthday back home in Arkansas. And I was convinced that my tumor, which had been shrinking, was now growing.

The poison dripped into my veins, guaranteeing that I’d feel terrible for the next two weeks. I wondered if the treatment was working and whether I’d live to see my children celebrate more birthdays. I longed to be a healthy mom who busied herself with gift wrap and cupcakes and stood grinning beside the birthday boy as he blew out the candles.

As I watched my son open gifts over my laptop webcam, I pasted on a fake smile and forced the tears to wait. But I knew they would come as my battle-weary heart wrestled with the question: How much worse would this get before it got better?

I didn’t want to keep fighting; I just wanted to go home to my babies.

I’m sharing how God gave me up in the midst of difficult times over at the Women Encouraged blog. I’d love for you to head over there to read the rest of the post and check out the biblical encouragement they share!

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Our Savior Became Sin {No Matter What Monday}

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Our Savior became sin. Biblical encouragement, Scripture, and devotionals for women.

As I stand at the bathroom sink fixing my hair and makeup in the morning, my dog often torments me by curling up in the empty space I just left in my bed. I long to return to that spot—I’m not a morning person—and it makes me crazy to see him lay his little white head on my pillow and doze off.

Most days, I wish I could trade places with him. His life seems so easy: sleep, eat, repeat. But then I remember that he eats the same thing every day and has to go outside to use the bathroom, even in frigid temperatures and thunderstorms.

As we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ this week, let’s remember that He is the One who traded places with us. Our Savior saw our hopeless condition—we were sinners who could not save ourselves. He humbled Himself to take our place on the cross, so that we might have a place with Him forever.

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Christ became sin for our sake. In this passage, Paul is talking about reconciliation—specifically, how sinners are reconciled to a holy God. Christ took the punishment for our sin so we could be reconciled to God. Paul says He “became sin,” receiving what our sin deserved.

Christ became sin even though He was sinless. If He had sinned even once, the punishment He received would be His own. Only a sinless Lamb could trade places with us and take our place on the cross.

Christ became sin so that in Him we might receive righteousness. My kids and I call it “The Great Swap.” On the cross, Christ took our place and received the punishment our sin deserved. In exchange, He gives us His perfect record of obedience–His righteousness. We receive what Christ has earned: right standing before a holy God and eternal life with Him.

This Great Swap is the good news of the Gospel: those who are in Christ look at the cross and see their debt fully paid, their sin forgiven, and the righteousness of Christ given to them.

No matter what you face this week, our sinless Savior became sin so sinners might receive His righteousness.

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