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Ho-Ho-Hope!

23 Saturday Dec 2017

Posted by in Faith, Hope, prayer

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“May God, the source of hope, fill you with joy and peace through your faith in him. Then you will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 GW

Ho-Ho-Hope

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Glistening white lights fill our homes and line our streets. Parties and shopping fill our calenders. Christmas is the season of hope– the hope of presents under the tree, family coming together, and a prosperous new year.

The excitement and anticipation of children can be seen everywhere. But somewhere there’s a child whose precious momma is deathly ill, an unemployed person struggling to put food on the table and someone contemplating taking their life because they have lost hope.

Hebrews 11 tells us that faith directs our lives. In other words, our faith in directly affects our hope. Faith and belief are interchangeable. Dictionary.com defines belief as confidence in the truth or existence of something not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof. Hmmm, sounds familiar. What or who we put our faith in is where we put our hope.

In Scripture, Jesus shows up time and time again to demonstrate how important our faith is if we expect to see our hope fulfilled. He tells one woman her faith is so great that her hope will be met (Matt. 15:28). In another scenario, a father admits he’s struggling with belief and begs Jesus to help him so he can see his son well again (Mark 9:24). Jesus also commends a woman with chronic bleeding for reaching out and touching His robe (Mark 5:24). Immediately the woman was healed when fear disappeared. At the time, Jesus was traveling to the home of of a synagogue leader with a deathly ill daughter. Messengers arrived on the scene with news of the death of the daughter. They suggested that it was too late and to leave it well enough alone, but Jesus said to the distressed father, “Don’t be afraid! Just believe.”

We’re also told if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we’ll see miracles (Luke 17:6).

Are you facing a bleak situation? How can you heed Jesus’s words?

Consider the following:

  • Seek Him. Find a quiet place free from distraction to pray and seek God. This is the example Jesus set for us (Mark 1:35).
  • Focus on Him. Remember He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8). The promises of God in Christ are yes and amen (2 Cor. 1:20). Meditate on His word and character. What you choose to focus on often becomes your reality.
  • Worship Him. He is worthy of all your praise. You are expressing adoration to the one who makes all things possible. Worship is about how you live your life in response to the life he gave for you. Have you accepted His free gift of abundant life now?

If not, you can pray this simple prayer: God, I need you!  I surrender my life to you and invite you to live in and through me by the power of the Holy Spirit. Through Your Son’s death and resurrection you made all things new, including me. My hope is in You, alone.

Our hope comes from God when we receive by faith through grace. Joy and peace fill us because we simply believe.

Merry Christmas!

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Tell and Show

15 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by in Faith

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IMG_2708Since the time of His birth, Jesus has been using signs and wonders to demonstrate the Gospel of the Kingdom.  Hebrews 1:3 tells us that He is the exact representation of God’s nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.  When we examine the ministry of Jesus, we see people heard the message of the Kingdom of God and saw the power of it through miracles, healings and deliverances, and many came to accept Christ as their Savior.

Reflecting  upon the events leading up to the first coming of our Lord and Savior I am astounded by the faith and obedience of the Shepherds who stood watching over their sheep that majestic evening Christ was born.  In Luke 2:8-19, we read an Angel appears before them in the glory of the Lord. He proceeds to announce the good news and tells them not to be afraid.  Then suddenly an angelic choir appears praising God.

I cannot help but wonder why were the shepherds afraid?  What is it about angels appearing in the glory of the Lord that evokes fear in people?  Could it be the magnitude of their size, the brightness of light that radiates from them or the mere fact that they are seeing something supernatural?  I would venture to say it’s all three.

Perhaps our human tendency is to fear what we do not understand or what we have not experienced.  I know many people who fear dying because they do not know what to expect as they transition from this life to their next.  I also remember fearing my first birthing experience because I had never given birth before and I did not know what to expect.  However, once I had given birth I was not afraid to give birth to my second child.  Is it quite possible that understanding follows experience and not vice versa?  However, giving birth and watching someone give birth is natural. But this birth was supernatural.  Mary was a virgin yet about to give birth to a son.  Angels are supernatural.  They are spiritual beings and messengers created by God.

Just as we come to understand things through experiences like childbirth, we also come to understand Jesus more through our experiences with Him.  As we come to trust Him, He will tell and show us things through supernatural experiences. The shepherds heard the word of the Lord, believed and immediately set off to go see this miraculous child.  They were obedient to the calling of the Lord.  God was saying, “Come look at me.”  He did something supernatural, He told them, and now He wanted to show them.  The result was they told others the good news.

Jesus ‘birth illustrates the supernatural foundation of the Christian faith so living a supernatural life should be the norm for the Christian not the exception.  When He comes again we will see the fullness of His glory in the New Jerusalem. The supernatural and the natural become one reality when heaven and earth collide.  We will fear no more because perfect love has arrived once again.