Daily Dose of Hope
February 18, 2026
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 3
Prayer: Holy God, We are weary. We are tired. We need you. You are great and mighty. You are merciful and loving. How we need that right now! Lord, speak to us today. We need to hear your voice. We pray that your voice will be louder and clearer than all the other voices that crowd our thoughts. Lord, in these next few moments of silence, please speak to us... God, we give you all the glory. In Your Name, Amen.
Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the daily Bible reading at New Hope Church in Brandon, Florida. Happy Ash Wednesday. If you live in the greater Brandon, Florida, area, I invite you to attend the New Hope Church Ash Wednesday service at 6:30pm in Logan Hall. There will be meaningful worship, a brief message, and the imposition of ashes.
For our devotional, we are currently journeying through Paul's letters. We have just started our fifth pastoral letter, 2 Corinthians. Today, we are taking a look at chapter 3. In the beginning of the chapter, Paul is explaining why he doesn't need letters of recommendation. Apparently, this was a common practice to provide letters that verified the authenticity of an apostle or leader. Paul mentions providing them in some of his other epistles but does not feel the need to have them for the church at Corinth. After all, he founded the Corinthian church so they should be well aware of his gifts and skills as an apostle. This whole discussion gives us a bigger picture of what Paul is dealing with-people are challenging his credentials and leadership. This must have been very distressing for Paul, who put so much love and self-sacrifice into his churches.
Paul then moves on to a discussion about boldness and spiritual blindness. He can be bold because there is no veil separating him from God. Remember, Moses had to pull a veil over his face when he went to speak with God to protect himself and the Israelites from God's powerful glory. It also reminds me of another veil-the curtain that separated the priest from the holiest of holies in the temple, where God's presence dwelt. Under the Old Covenant, there were many veils which served to protect people from God's power and glory. While it was for their protection, it was also a physical and spiritual separation.
Paul makes the point that even then, while the veil was technically gone, the Jews still behaved as if it was there; they experienced a spiritual blindness of sorts. But in Christ, there is freedom. There doesn't have to be separation from God or blind adherence to the Old Covenant. Christ introduced a new way of doing life, where the veil is gone, and we can now contemplate God's glory. In fact, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can day by day be transformed into his likeness.
Verse 18 really resonates with me today. "...we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory..." This is sanctification. The more we grow in our walk with Jesus, the more we experience his grace and look more and more like him.
A question: do you look more like Jesus today than you did five years ago? Why or why not? What do you want to look like five years from now?
Blessings,
Pastor Vicki
