Living Hope

"[Praise to God for a Living Hope] Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," 1 Peter 1:3

What I love most about hope is we can't manufacture it ourselves. We can't conjure it out of our emotions. We can't make ourselves feel it. Hope must come from God. I'm talking about true hope; the assurance of things unseen kind of hope - not the feel good, "I really hope this will happen" kind of hoping.

Hope is given to us through who Christ is, what He did on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, and what God accomplished when He raised Jesus from the dead three days later. They did all the work and those of us who truly follow Christ get all the benefit.

Do you know what stands in our way of having LIVING HOPE? What holds us back from receiving it in full? OUR FAITH. OUR BELIEF. OUR TRUST. OUR SELF. As soon as I take the focus off my self, stop staring at my circumstances, drag my gaze off my emotions and turn my eyes toward the resurrected, living Lord Jesus - hope, faith, and trust rush in.

When Peter first got out of the boat, his eyes were fixed on Jesus. Something in the way Jesus looked at Peter compelled him out of the boat and gave him hope. The minute Peter looked at the waves, he sank. There was no possible way for Peter to walk on water without Jesus.

Most of us work as hard as we can to do all the "right things", say the right words, go to the right church, read the right Bible studies. All which are good things. But, without our focus being on the Living Hope of Jesus, they are worthless. The Bible calls them hay and straw. We can do nothing worth anything without the power of Christ moving through us.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of trying to walk on water while I'm looking at the waves.

Where is your focus today? On our living hope or on our self? Are our gazes transfixed on the face of Jesus or are they staring down at the waves of life's circumstances? As we move forward in this time of great unknowns in America - where are our eyes looking?

Please remember to pray for our country and our candidates. And always remember who your hope lies in.

Quiet Hope

Thoughts of hope have been filling my mind lately. The last few weeks I've been doing an internal hope assessment by running through memories of my life and checking their "hopefulness levels". Frankly on the whole, I failed the test miserably. I have not been a very hope-filled person.

I've been a dreamer, for sure - but I've learned it is not the same thing as being hope-filled. I've always been the glass half-full gal, the "let's make lemonade from these lemons" cheerleader. My pastor lovingly told me that I have a "Pollyanna way of thinking." Yet, as I did my hope litmus test, I realize optimism is not the same as hopeful, at least not in God's eyes.

As I peel back the sunshiny layers of my optimism, as I strip off the high-gloss paint I've used, underneath I realize my hope has been in ME, in MY abilities, in ME making things happen, in ME avoiding things which could harm me. I've put great faith in my common sense, experience, and driven enthusiasm.

I believe that's why I can be so easily disappointed. I'm upset with myself for not making it happen. I feel stupid for, "not seeing that one coming." I get so mad at myself when I make mistakes. I've spent so much of my life disappointed in MYSELF.

True hope is not wishful thinking. That's the sunshine and roses mentality. No, true hope is the assurance of God's promises. Real hope doesn't depend on ourselves at all. A hope-filled person depends only on God. They move through their lives with complete assurance of God's love for them. They realize that God can use every single situation, every lost opportunity, every joy, every sorrow, and every mistake in their life to teach them more about God's love, grace, and mercy.

Hope flows out of a conviction in the deepest part of our soul that everything is filtered through our Father's fingers. Nothing escapes Him. He allows or doesn't allow circumstances in our lives which give us the greatest opportunity to learn how to love Him and love others. He created us, He knows us more intimately than anyone else, and He loves us perfectly. He knows just what it will take for us to grow in our faith, hope, and love.

Our responsibility is to believe. We need to choose to believe we have enough for today because God said it's true. When we aren't happy with our circumstances, we must act on the faith they are Father-filtered and ultimately in our best interest. When we are afraid, we need ask ourselves if God is for us, who can be against us? We must CHOOSE to place our hope only in God's promises.

The peace overflows when our hope is placed in the right place, when we quietly go about doing the best we're capable of today, and surrendering the rest to Jesus.

"Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
for my hope is in him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress where I will not be shaken." Psalm 62:5-6

Money and Manure

We're all thinking about it. We're all talking about it. I'm sure most of us are even worrying about it - the economy. It's coming close to home now and we are being forced to deal with the issue. Money, money, money.

As you know from my last post, God has been hard at work on me "hope sculpting". He wants me to look for the hope instead of the disappointment in every circumstance. It's been a wonderful journey with Him over the last couple of weeks as I've been learning to see the world through God's eyes rather than human eyes.

As I look at the unrest in the world today; economically, politically, religiously, and with the possibility of nuclear weapons to falling into the hands of madmen - there is a lot of potentiality for disappointment. But, today I see with a different set of eyes and two veins of thought keep coming back to me; manure and forced fasting.

MANURE
Someone sent me a devotional last week and the last line was, "Adversity is often God's manure for spiritual callings." I'm not sure who said it, but it is brilliant. We spend so much energy keeping ourselves safe, protecting ourselves from adversity of any kind. Yet, most of the time, it is in the throws of adversity and suffering when our faith is at it's peak and we feel God closest to us. Why then do we avoid it at almost any cost?

What if you knew the only way you would find your calling, your purpose for existence, was to experience some really rough times? What if God used deep disappointment to reveal His perfect plan for our lives? Would you walk through that valley?

I could name person after person after person who went through very dark times their lives only to find their true passion and calling on the other side. What if God needs to fertilize our hearts through adversity to grow our spiritual garden into something beautiful? Are we willing to allow the God-filtered manure in our lives to blossom in full bloom?

FORCED FAST
There is another story I read recently which keeps coming back to me as I think about the condition of the world. I've read a lot about Corrie Ten Boom recently. I'd highly recommend that everyone read at least one of her books, and I'd start with, The Hiding Place. Anyway, her sister, Betsie, was filled with hope even up to the moment she died in the concentration camp.

Corrie later relayed many stories of Betsie's undying trust and faith. The one that sticks with me is about being thankful for everything. In the concentration camp, food was very scare and there were often times when there wasn't enough to go around. People wasted away before your very eyes. In the camp that Corrie and Betsie were in, 96,000 women died in the few years it was operational. Many died from malnourishment and disease.

Anyone under those conditions would become resentful. The guards had plenty to eat and they often delighted in watching the prisoners suffer. Corrie writes about how much hatred she harbored toward her captors. However, Betsie somehow saw the situation with different eyes. She would say, "Corrie, we must thank God for this forced fast. It is yet another opportunity for God to show us He is sufficient for all our needs." Wow.... Corrie said they would pray that prayer together, and miraculously their hunger subsided as if they had a meal.

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' Matthew 4:4

For some of us, this depressed economic situation will mean we will suffer some "forced fasts". Not necessarily as drastic as those in the concentration camps. However, I have a feeling some of us will have to fast from some of the comfort we've grown accustomed to having. It might mean there will be no new car this year or next. Or maybe you won't be able to go on the vacation you're used to taking with the family. Maybe it might cut a little deeper and mean you have to give up cable or the membership at the gym. You might have to sell that gas-guzzling car for less than it's worth and buy a smaller, more economical vehicle.

For some, it might mean giving up some things that most Americans take for granted like slimming down your food bill to just bare essentials, or buying clothes at the second-hand shops or garage sales. Some of us might even be forced to sell our homes and live in an apartment. For fewer of us, it might mean going hungry once in awhile because there simply isn't enough food.

In the last couple of years, I've experienced some pretty intense forced fasts. Probably more intense than most Americans but not even remotely close to other areas of the world. Even poor people in America have it better than most other nations. It's not been fun and frankly, I haven't liked it very much. However, in a forced fast you can quickly learn how dependent you are on God's provision and how much you can trust Him.

FERTILIZER HAPPENS
The truth is the manure is probably coming one way or another, no matter how well we try to protect ourselves. God is NOT concerned about our comfort nearly as much as He is concerned about our spiritual calling. His main objective for Christ-followers is to help us find and live out our life's purpose. He knows that we will not find completely fulfillment until we do.

My advice to you - rather than spend a ton of time and energy worrying about protecting yourself from adversity, spend your energy on counting your blessings. Focus on what you DO have. Thank God for providing it and thank Him for whatever is to come. Tell Him how much you trust Him that whatever manure comes your way - you believe it will ultimately fertilize your spiritual garden into something spectacular.

Teach your children to trust God - they will be watching how you handle this. So will your friends and your family. Show those around you what it means to trust God with all your heart, your mind, your soul, and strength.

I can honestly testify to this. I've been on both sides; fed and hungry, successful by the world's standards and living out God's dream by His standards, worried and hope-filled. I will tell you, I'd rather be hungry, cold, and totally uncomfortable yet living out God's plan for me than living a life filled with the all comforts America has to offer and not. Yeah - it's that good.

"I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with Him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God’s law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith." Philippians 3: 7-9 NLT