This I Recall

I finished a class paper today on a case study. Part of the assignment had to do with specific truths to share so as to give hope when we are downcast.

I recall several years ago when I was going through a grievous situation and felt pretty hopeless about it, that I had made a list of passages that gave me tremendous hope as I meditated on them. I'm glad for the course assignment that I just finished, and will keep it at-the-ready for easy reference when such a time arises again. I don't think I'm finished with occasionally feeling hopeless and helpless, and probably won't be this side of heaven, but I know where my hope lies and His grace is sufficient. 

I share a few of these verses and thoughts with you today, with a prayer that you may find them breathing fresh hope into your own soul...if you are now where I sometimes am.....

I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope (Psalm 130:5). I framed this verse and kept it where I could see it daily. I found that I was waiting and hoping for the wrong thing--for my wish to come true. The less probable that became, the more hopeless I became. As I began to be in the Word more, my affection began to grow for God and His ways. My hope turned to His grace working in my life, to be filled with gratitude for His sufficiency. My situation wasn't changing, but my heart was.

... Jesus Christ, who is our hope (1 Timothy 1:1). Without Jesus, we have no hope. 

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:13). I found that being in the Word daily prepared my mind to resist the temptation to dwell on what I did not have and wanted so badly. As I look back on it now, what I wanted would not have satisfied. Instead, God gave me a severe mercy and fixed my hope on His grace.

I will exalt you Lord, for you have lifted me out of the depths. (Psalms 30-34) These are recently fresh psalms to me that we've been studying in our women's Bible study group. They have increased my understanding of the character of God and continue to build my confidence and trust in Him.

.. through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:2-3). Oh, what amazing grace! We exult in hope of the glory of God! Hope doesn't lie in our feelings, but rather, in what God does in and through the tribulations we face. Perseverance in working through life's difficulties build character, increasing hope as we move forward with God's enablement. And so we....

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4). Our various trials test our faith and produce many beneficial results, when our focus is changed from we lack to what we have gained. 

This I recall to my mind,

Therefore I have hope.

The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,

For His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,

"Therefore I have hope in Him."

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,

To the person who seeks Him.

It is good that he waits silently

For the salvation of the Lord.

Lamentations 3:21-26

Therefore, you too, have hope, dear one. If our paths do not cross this side of heaven, may we meet when we get there and rejoice together in the hope we have found in Him. If you aren't sure that you'll be going there, you can learn how to go at ReviveOurHearts.com. I do hope you're going.

Image ~ The Letter, Haynes King 1831-1904 

public domain via Wikigallery

The Widow's Hope

Thinking this evening about a sister in Christ who very recently lost her husband to death and is now grieving her loss. Tomorrow is one of the 'firsts' that she'll be facing--making a trip alone. She needs prayer in the transition to her aloneness, of making plans and decisions herself that before were shared tasks. There are many 'firsts' that must be faced with prayer and God's enablement, so those who care about her pray for her strength and wisdom, that she will rest her hope and trust in the God of her salvation.

I recalled a discussion a few years back on Revive Our Hearts between Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Margaret Nyman, whose husband had died from cancer. They talked about the struggles a widow faces in those first months and the 'firsts' that one must face alone. Margaret also talks about how others reached out to her and what was helpful. I listened again this week to the discussion, and it helped me to understand a little of how to reach out to my friend. I also gained a glimpse of what may lie ahead for myself someday.

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in listening to, you can find the discussion here. It's a 5-part series, about 25 minutes each. Margaret has written a devotional book entitled Hope for an Aching Heart: Uplifting Devotions for Widows. I gave a copy of the book and CD to my friend and pray that God will use Margaret to comfort and encourage her.

A Hope That Doesn't Disappoint

Reading through Romans and coming to chapter 5 today, which reminds us that we have peace with God through Jesus Christ. It is through faith in Him that we receive grace upon grace.

As I read, my thoughts go to those in our church family who are suffering. Some with illnesses, some with recent losses of loved ones. Without the peace of God, suffering is a terrible thing to face, yet God's grace enables us to endure and even to exult in our tribulations. Those without faith in God know little of His love and care. One of the blessings of knowing God and being loved through His grace is that we know that He works all things for our good. Even through the suffering and tribulation.

He tells us in His Word that the tribulations we face ultimately bring hope because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. It is His Spirit that enables us to persevere, to find grace upon grace, to be carried and lifted up by His abundant love.

And so, as His children, we rest in His everlasting arms. Resting, knowing the hope that does not disappoint. Our final hope will find us Homeward. I hope to see you there, dear one, as every tear is wiped away and we exult in past tribulations where hope set us free.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  (Roman 5:1-5)

Image via pixabay 

What Are You Hoping For?

We all hope for something. We find satisfaction in hopes fulfilled. Proverbs 13:12 tells us that Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life. I've been there. I think maybe you have, too. I've been stuck at the comma, though, with some of my hopes. You, too?

My hopes tend to be wrapped around relationships that don't work out the way I'd hoped and dreamed and planned for them to. Maybe yours are elsewhere. There are lots of hooks to hang our hopes on. I've found over the years, though, that it's where I put my hope that makes all the difference. Unless our hope is in the gospel of Jesus Christ, fulfillment will be fleeting.

I want to share a brief video with you today from Paul David Tripp. It's the first session of a series entitled Faith: What Are You Hoping For? Tripp reminds us that we all look somewhere for meaning and purpose. Everything we do is because of faith in someone or something. He points us in the right direction, to the Someone. As Tripp says, "Christians are not different because they live by faith. Christians are different because of the object of their faith." Give a listen here, or click on the image. I'll think you'll be encouraged.

And keep looking Upward and Homeward, dear one, where the object of our faith awaits us.

Where Is Hope?

I listened today to Michelle's lament--"Now we are feeling what not having hope feels like.” Hope has been misplaced by many among us. It cannot be found in mankind, no matter how much we hope so.

I've never had hope in a president...past, present, nor future. My hope has been and continues to be found in God's Son, Jesus Christ.  He offers us hope in His sovereign purposes, no matter who we voted for...or against. I find peace in that knowledge this Christmas and for the coming years.

Yes, "hope is necessary"... and we need to be sure where our hope is.

Photo ~ Our Tree

When Relief Is Given

When our needs are permitted to grow to an extremity, 

and all visible hopes fail, then to have relief given 

wonderfully enhances the price of such a mercy.

~ John Flavel, The Mystery of Providence

Painting ~ Lost in Thoughts, 1889, Wilhelm Amberg 1822-1899, public domain via WikiCommons

His Unchanging Grace

 

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. 

Proverbs 13:12

One of my ongoing (year upon year upon year...) hopes continues to be deferred, and my heart feels it. If God sees that it's in the best interest of all concerned, though, He will fulfill this desire. Yet, this hope rests in the shadow of a greater hope--that of His unchanging grace, which is always sufficient.

But he said to me,

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses,

so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:9 

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

~ Edward Mote  (1797-1874)

Image  ~ Created by Welcomia - Freepik.com

Lulled to Sleep

Thinking today on a phrase in the first few verses of First Thessalonians 5, where the Apostle Paul is teaching about 'the day of the Lord,' that it will come just like a thief in the night when unsuspecting people are caught off guard. The unsuspecting are those who are separated from God, those who live in an immoral state of mind, those who walk in darkness. In contrast, believers in Jesus Christ know that He will someday return, and they are to be ever-watchful. The phrase that I'm pondering is in verse 6, so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.

I think about ways that I sleep spiritually and am caught off guard. I get lulled to sleep by the culture, and like the proverbial frog in hot water, I'm not alert and aware of the dulling of my spiritual senses. I have to ask myself if I'm becoming desensitized to the world's philosophies, to its explanation of what life is about, to the world's intoxication with pleasure, to its worship of everything that replaces God Himself. It's easy to do when we walk in ungodly counsel or when we sit in camaraderie with those who scoff at God.

Not long ago I was in a waiting room where the television was tuned to the Ellen show. (I've switched doctors twice over TV issues.) The talk was crude, immoral, scoffing. I wasn't there but a few minutes before I got up to ask the receptionist if the TV could be turned off or the channel changed (I was the only one there). Just at that moment I was called to the back, and when I mentioned my exasperation at having to listen to such talk while I was waiting for the doctor, the nurse just commented that yes, Ellen can get a bit wild at times. It didn't seem to encroach on her sense of decency or morality at all. One of the reasons I rarely watch television or Hollywood movies is because of the influence it has in my heart and mind. I'm alert to that.

It takes small slips to shift our culture to the spiritual state that it's in today. Small, barely noticeable slips--to those who are lulled to sleep, to those who are not alert and watchful. Through the Apostle Paul, God tells us to be alert and sober. When we're sober, we're not embracing the culture nor imbibing in its worldliness. When we're sober, we're not being influenced by nor controlled by ostentatious philosophies. Instead, when we're sober we're filling our minds with God's Word and His Ways. We're to be controlled by the Spirit of God, not the spirit of this world.

So I must ask myself - who or what is influencing my mind? What do I give my mind over to? Am I expectant of Christ's return each day? Do I stay sober? Do I remain alert?

Upon occasion a cloud will look just as I imagine it might look when it's time for the Lord Jesus to return on a cloud with great power and glory. It's at those moments that the expectant hope swells up within me. I want to be ever-expectant, ever-alert, ever-sober. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!

Painting ~ Asleep in the Woods, Arthur Hughes 1832-1915
WikiArt public domain

Looking Out the Window

It seems that when God has His finger on an area of my life that I come up against it pretty consistently. I've been discouraged lately about something that I'd thought had been conquered. Not so. Disappointment struck again, and I've been dwelling on it far too much--which digs a deeper disappointment ditch.

I read Lost in the Middle / Midlife and the Grace of God by Paul David Tripp not long ago, and God used it to lift me to much higher ground. But I have much further to go.  He uses His Word over and over again to give me more understanding of His grace and comfort. How to respond to disappointments and deferred hope?

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,...  Proverbs 13:12a

How do we find encouragement in discouragement? How do we keep from turning inward and missing God's grace? First, we draw closer to God. Instead of pulling away because we don't feel His presence, we need to draw closer to Him so we can walk through trials with Him. We need to pursue Him. We also need to follow Paul's example in his distress. He turned his eyes away from his personal affliction and rejoiced in the evidence of the faith of those he loved.

But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you; for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; ....  For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God on your account, as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face, and may complete what is lacking in your faith? Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you.      ~ 1 Thessalonians 3:6-11

As I heard it expressed some time ago, I need to stop looking in the mirror and start looking out the window. In other words, stop focusing on myself and look more intently on others, rejoicing in the evidence of their faith and love. Let them be reminders that God is actively working in the lives of His children. I may not see Him at work in my own situation at the moment, but that doesn't mean He isn't at work. It just means that I don't see it. My sight may be impaired for whatever reason--sin, discouragement, or God's choice. For whatever reason, He wants me to trust His heart even though I don't see His hand.

There's another phrase in this passage that strikes me as well-- that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you. We can encourage others by letting them know that we think kindly of them and long to see them, that there's something about them that we appreciate.

There's a third aspect of encouragement and joy here as well... "as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face, and may complete what is lacking in your faith? Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you."  It's important to be together, so much so that the Apostle Paul says he prays day and night for it--most earnestly prays. But hope deferred makes the heart sick. Yes, but Proverbs go on to say

... but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12b

So, I ask myself--Am I showing my care and concern about others? Do I let them know that I think kindly of them? (Just thinking it doesn't count.) Do I let them know what I appreciate about them? Do I let people know that I'm truly glad to see them? Do I let them know that I've missed them when they're gone? Do I even notice when they're gone? Am I allowing the evidence of their faith to encourage me in mine? Am I getting my care and concern off myself? Do I pray--day and night-- that we'll eventually be together? Which do I do more often--gaze in the mirror or look out the window?

Painting ~ Waiting By The Window, Carl Holsoe 1863-1935
via Wikimedia Commons public domain

Sunday Ponderings ~ Fixed Hope

   

Therefore, prepare your minds for action,  

keep sober in spirit, 

fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you 

at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 

1 Peter 1:13 

How am I preparing my mind?

Are my preparations keeping me sober in spirit?

Is my hope fixed on the grace of Jesus Christ?

I hope your hope is in Him, too.
If you're not sure, you can find out more here.

Painting ~ The Flower Girl, Alexei Alexeivich Harlamoff 1842-1923
Wikigallery public domain

Hope

Be of good courage, and [God] shall strengthen your heart.

 Psalm 31:24

We human beings are so made that we live in our own fancied future. This is not a policy decision but simply the way we are. To look forward, to dream of happy things to come, to want what is good to continue and what is bad to end, and to long for a future that is better than the past is as natural as breathing.

~ J.I. Packer, in Knowing God


Painting ~ The Garden of Felicien Rops at Essone 1910
Theo van Rysselberghe 1862-1926
WikiArt public domain

A Time to Reaffirm

As I was growing up, I couldn't even imagine what life would be like in the year 2000, or even if it would come at all, much less 2011! But here I am 6 months into it and another birthday, which when I was little seemed ancient. Not now. Funny how that is.

The beginning of anything new is a time of anticipation, a new season of hope, a time to consider what's truly important. And it's a time to reaffirm that God is sovereign and does all things well--for His glory and for our good. He knows the end from the beginning, and establishes the paths that I take. I'm learning (slowly, yes) to rest in His care.

While my vision for the year is blurred, I ponder on how I might align myself more with God's Word and His ways, how I might grow in faith and trust as I step across this threshold. I want to give diligence to the maturing of my faith.

Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power (2 Thess. 1:11).

Why? Verse 12--That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Therein is the purpose of my life for this year, and the next...to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. I find encouragement in knowing that I have God's grace and power for whatever He sets before me, or for whatever He withholds from me for such a time as this.

As I was reading this week, I came to where we find the account of the lame man beside the pool of Bethesda, and isn't it amazing how many times we can read a passage and God always probes our hearts with it? A couple of things that strike me here--Jesus saw Him there beside the waters, amid the crowd of people--He saw him as an individual person with a deep desire and a hope that cascaded over him day after day. And He knew that he had been there a long time. God knows how long I've been beside my pool of Bethesda as well, and He knows the deep desires of my heart and the hopes that cascade over me. Not only does He know, but He is here with me--for I abide in Him, and He in me. He understood the man's frustration--there was no one to put him into the water to be cleansed. The man couldn't do for himself the very thing that would make him well--because he was too weak to do so. God knows my frustrations over my weaknesses as well. And that's where hope steps in. I am weak, but He is strong. When Jesus saw the man's simple faith, He quietly said, "Take up your bed and walk." And so He says to me in the simplicity of my own faith to get up and walk on--not in my own strength, but in His.

Another year of life--a new season of anticipation and hope.

The photograph is me as a little girl, about 3 years old.

Hope in Our Hearts

I called a friend to see if she might want to get together sometime this week, out into the beautiful sunshine that we're expecting. "No, I'm really not interested in...." I've been trying to reach out to her, but mostly been put off because of her lack of interest. She sees very few people and seldom goes out of her home. If I didn't realize that she is lonely and in need of friendship and has serious bouts of hopelessness, she'd be so easy to give up on. But that isn't God's kind of love, so I'll wait awhile and try another door.

I know how hopelessness feels. I was there once myself. That and God's love is what compels me to reach out to her and to comfort her with the comfort that I received. I know the importance of God's touch through a human hand. But I fear that perhaps my sequestered friend has been medicated to the point of not feeling much at all beyond herself. It has dulled her senses and awareness. There needs to be some penetration through the barrier that secludes her from reality and the joys of living, to awaken her from her numbness and to help her see that God, in his rich mercy, can rescue her from hopelessness and fill her with joy and peace.

And give her hope in her heart.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, 

so that you may overfow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

J.I. Packer writes in Knowing God--

I have been a believer for more than half a century, but only recently have I appreciated how pastorally profound Paul's prayer was--and is. While there is life, there's hope we say, but the deeper truth is that only while there's hope is there life. Take away hope, and life, with all its fascinating variety of opportunities and experiences, reduces to mere existence--uninteresting, ungratifying, bleak, drab and repellent, a burden and a pain.

People without hope often express their sense of reality and their feelings about themselves by saying they wish they were dead, and sometimes they make attempts on their own life. But hope generates energy, enthusiasm and excitement; lack of hope breeds only apathy and inertia. So for fully developed (as distinct from partly diminished) humanness, there needs to be hope in our hearts. 

The Pain of Grace

Winter is Upon Us ~ J. Vanderbrink

Praying for friends this afternoon and evening, parents with huge disappointments and loss and questions about how to make things better with and for their almost-out-of-the-nest child. I wonder how many of us haven't walked that path at one time or another.  We did all we knew to do, but what is unfolding is very different than what we'd planned. Dreams didn't come true. 

The harvest is not what we expected, but what we must understand is that God is the Great Gardener. He has new seeds that He wants us to plant and then allow Him to give the increase. This was a great lesson to me as I read what was probably my most significant read in 2010--Lost in the Middle/ Midlife and the Grace of God by Paul David Tripp. It's about how we begin to look back on life's experiences and disappointments with regret and discouragement. It's about letting the pain of regret instead be the pain of grace--growing pains, if you will. Anytime in life. Anytime there's regret and deep disappointment, or grieving over a lost dream. 

There's much encouragement to be found if we can turn from our mourning. Let me share a bit with you as Tripp helps us to understand.  

 "In midlife God calls you to turn from mourning over your previous harvest to planting new and better seeds. Maybe you mourn about the harvest of your parenting. Plant new seeds. Maybe that means working to restore distant or broken relationships with your adult children. Or it could mean being a wise and godly grandparent, sowing spiritual seeds in the souls of the next generation. Perhaps you mourn that your life was controlled by your career. Take advantage of the time and economic freedom that midlife affords and plant new seeds. Work less and invest in family and ministry more. Perhaps you mourn the fact that you did not study Scripture more diligently in your youth. There are many opportunities to increase your knowledge of God's word and your potential for ministry. Perhaps you mourn over a selfish life, where all you earned was spent on a more comfortable life for you. Commit to finding specific ways that you can give and serve. Ask yourself: which of my gifts, experiences, resources, and wisdom can I use to serve others?

"You're now in the autumn of your life, and you're quite aware that the leaves are off the trees. You're standing in a pile of the leaves of your marriage, your parenting, your extended family, your friendships, your work, and your ministry. These leaves of the past have grown wrinkled and dry, and you know you cannot put them back on the tree. It's tempting to sit down in the pile and examine leaf after leaf and wish you were holding a new bud from a new sapling, but you aren't. The harvest has come in, and it is what it is. Yet in all of this there is hope because our Lord is the Lord of new seasons. With the new season comes the freedom to plant new and better seeds. With the new season comes the expectation of a new harvest of new fruit.

"Stand up and walk away from your pile of yesterday's leaves. Take the seeds of a new way into your hands, press them into the soil of your life, and thank God that you will live to see a better harvest."

 

 Click to go to Paul David Tripp Ministries