Hope

October 11, 2016

I’ll Be Satisfied!

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1 O God, you are my God;    I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
    my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
    where there is no water.    — Psalm 63:1 NLT

We all have had those days when it seemed that nothing we did would satisfy us. All day long, we wanted something. Food and drink did not satisfy us. All of our activity left us empty and drained. Kind words from family, friends and co-workers just didn’t hit the spot. All day, it was just that feeling that something is missing. As the Psalmist said, “O, my soul, why are you disquieted within me?” All of the usual forms of recreation and relaxation just left us feeling less satisfied. Then we hear that small, still voice saying, “Come unto me”. Drink from the well that never runs dry. Wade into the fountain that flows from the throne of God and be satisfied. Focus on the throne and as you focus on Jesus, your mind starts to settle peacefully and you can feel all your tensions disappear as Jesus holds you and you are filled with His peace. Spend time with Jesus and meditate on His Word. Your Spirit desires it more than anything this world can offer.

Post 10-11-2016
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September 23, 2015

Look Up And Shout!!

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1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. — 2 Cor. 5:1-4 NIV

​This is the hope that we have. One day, all that is dead and dying will be done away with  These mortal bodies will be left behind for immortal images. These perishing, fleshly bodies will be exchanged for the image of God. In the meantime, there are burdens to bear and temptations to overcome.  Since the day Adam and Eve committed the original sin, we have been dying. Not only us, but everything that God had created to last forever was now infected with the deadly disease of sin. All of creation would groan under the burden anxiously awaiting a Savior. When Jesus was resurrected from the grave, the spiritual restoration could begin.  We, who have accepted Jesus as our Savior, are being restored and sanctified daily.  Still, we groan with all of creation awaiting the full restoration. We should spend that time rejoicing, singing His praises and telling His story to a lost and dying world.  We are being transformed from glory to glory to glory to victory. We are to be watchmen on the wall alerting those around us to the dangers they face.  Look up and shout! Jesus is coming and all this death will be swallowed up by life! 
 
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55 “Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?” — 1 Cor. 15:51-55 NIV
Post 09-23-2015
July 22, 2015

The Greatest of These

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8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. — 1 Cor. 13:8-13 NIV

“​Love never fails​.” When I read these three words, I am at once convicted, confused and totally devoid of understanding what they mean. In a world where the divorce rate of the general population is at or higher than 50 percent and parents abuse their children, where does “love never fails” fit in?  In a world filled with violence and wars over religions, how do we reconcile the fact that “love never fails”?  Is it possible that what we, as humans, think of as love, isn’t love at all?  ​Is it possible​ that what we have come to know as “love” is nothing but an emotion or a word we use so we can have a close association with others? Have our fears of rejection and loneliness caused us to settle for something that is far less than what God intended and demonstrated to us?  Do we “love” to get or to give? It seems that humans love to get what they want and/or need and God loves to give us more than we could possibly ever need. As a human, I am not capable of love that never fails, but my GOD IS LOVE THAT NEVER FAILS. We are saved by grace through faith that gives us the hope of eternal life and full understanding one day. All of this because the greatest of all things is the love of God that has never failed and it never will. So, I cling to God and cry out to Him, “teach me God how to love in the truest sense of what You mean by love.”
Post 07-22-2015