Hope is called the anchor of the soul (Hebrews 6:19), because it gives stability to the Christian life. But hope is not simply a ‘wish’ (I wish that such-and-such would take place); rather, it is that which latches on to the certainty of the promises of the future that God has made.
Category Archives: Hope
Controlling the Uncontrollable
Strength in Weakness
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“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
My wife and I went to a dinner theater last week with my aunt, uncle and a few of their friends. Shortly before the intermission, one of the ladies in our group collapsed into the lap of the woman sitting next to her. Admittedly, given her symptoms, most of us thought that she was dying. Thankfully, by the time the ambulance arrived, she had recovered enough to walk to the gurney. After spending the night in the hospital, she was released with a heart monitor. Aside from the obvious concerns for those involved, it raised a deeply rooted fear of my own. As much as I accept God’s will in my life, the thought of a public medical emergency still haunts me…and I’ve had a few. For many of us, it raises concerns about embarrassment, image, and acceptance. Ultimately, we cannot control the events of our lives, but we can control our response to them with a bit of truth.
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Our sorrows are all, like ourselves, mortal. There are no immortal sorrows for immortal souls. They come, but blessed be God, they also go. Like birds of the air, they fly over our heads. But they cannot make their abode in our souls. We suffer today, but we shall rejoice tomorrow.
Divine jealousy is thus a zeal to protect a love relationship or to avenge it when it is broken. Jealousy in God is that passionate energy by which He is provoked and stirred and moved to take action against whatever or whoever stands in the way of His enjoyment of what He loves and desires. The intensity if God’s anger at threats to this relationship is directly proportionate to the depths of His love… Jealousy in God is not a “green-eyed monster” but a “red-faced lover” who will brook no rivals in His relationship with His people.
Sam Storms
Pleasures Evermore: The Life-Changing Power of Knowing God (NavPress – www.navpress.org, 2000), 295
Pleasures Evermore: The Life-Changing Power of Knowing God (NavPress – www.navpress.org, 2000), 295
Trouble, Anguish and Understanding Pt. 3
Anguish Within Mixed With Delight
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“Trouble and anguish have come upon me, yet Your commandments are my delight. Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.” Psalm 119:143-144
Anguish is the inward response to trouble. For those with a balanced perspective, anguish is reserved for extreme circumstances. The Hebrew word used is derived from the word for a narrow place. Therefore, in this context, the connotation is a place of confinement or disability. That’s exactly what anguish does to us mentally; it makes us feel hemmed in and incapacitated. It is both suffocating and immobilizing. Even so, the writer of Psalm 119 expresses delight in God’s commands when faced with trials. While at first blush it may seem odd to experience both anguish and delight in the same circumstance, as Christians, there are several reasons to be delighted in dire situations.
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Suffering is unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and with you.
Trouble, Anguish and Understanding Pt. 2
Trouble Without
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“Trouble and anguish have come upon me, yet Your commandments are my delight. Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.” Psalm 119:143-144
Trouble…it seems like a simple enough word to understand. However, when looking at definitions from secular sources, those provided were vague and had more to do with how trouble affects our comfort level or convenience rather than anything significant. In contrast, “Vine’s Bible Dictionary” states it clearly as: tribulation or affliction. Trouble comes in many forms. At times it is the result of a personal attack while at other times it is and “random”/general attack that we’re caught in. It may be an external threat or an internal one such as mental or physical illness. The point is that, as those living in a fallen world, we are going to experience trouble throughout our lives from the trivial to the monumental. We will enjoy a more peaceful existence if we learn to view it as God does and trust that He is ever faithful to care for us. One of the mental hurdles for us is that from our perspective, God’s care for us appears to be inconsistent.
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If the Lord be with us, we have no cause of fear. His eye is upon us, His arm over us, His ear open to our prayer – His grace sufficient, His promise unchangeable.
Do You Prefer Discipline or Neglect?
Running with endurance
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“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.” Hebrews 12:5-6
Life can seem to be trying and wearisome at times. This summer is the third summer in a row that my wife has had to use crutches due to injury. My own health issues have been more challenging this year. I have added two new specialists to my list of doctors and will likely add a third by the end of the year. And yet, despite our struggles and their related frustration and fatigue, we consider ourselves quite fortunate having learned over time that: our situation could be much worse; our trials are truly “light and momentary”; and God is faithful to sustain us. It doesn’t make the endurance an easy thing, but it does encourage us and provide a healthier perspective than our culture offers. With this understanding, we further recognize that the discipline and sustaining grace of God is infinitely better than being neglected.
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All our difficulties are only platforms for the manifestations of His grace, power and love.