Category Archives: Hope

Agitated and Stirred Up

13 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by in Faith, Fear, Hope

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Agitated? Stirred up?  Feeling like all is not well?

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I Peter 3:4 talks about having a gentle and tranquil spirit. We all know that when we have a gentle and tranquil spirit, it is much better for us personally and it’s much much better for the people around us.

What causes our spirit to be agitated?  We think it is circumstances but it’s not.

I Peter 3:5-6 gives us insight into what causes us to be agitated. It tells us about Sarah and other holy women who adorned themselves with a gentle and tranquil spirit.  It tells us they were able to have this kind of a spirit because of two things.

  1. They were not afraid.
  2. They hoped in God.

I love that Sarah is mentioned. It gives me hope. If you remember Sarah, she was so agitated at one point in her life that she concocted one of the dumbest ideas ever to help God out with His promise. She offered her handmaid, Hagar, to her husband so they could have the promised child.  Whoa!  Not so gentle and tranquil!  But somewhere along her journey, she became unafraid as she learned to hope in God.

If you’re feeling agitated today, ask yourself these two questions.

  1. What am I afraid of?
  2. Have I lost hope?

Remember God is always with you.  Give Him your fears.  Hope in God. Tell Him what you want. He may not give you everything you want but He will be with you always. Believe that He is good. Believe He will always give you what is best. Let His peace rule in your heart and in your thoughts. Philippians 4:5-7

 

 

 

 

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Too Good to be True? Not This Time

28 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by in Faith, Gift, Gospel, Heaven, Hope

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I was so happy I couldn’t even fall asleep. I had just shared the message of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone with my friend. As I watched her amazement at such a message, I was reminded of the first time I really heard the gospel message. It was shocking!

How can it be that all I have to do is believe in the redeeming work of Christ? How can it be that simple?  Yet, it is. Christ has been God’s plan from the very beginning, even before creation.

The message is simple, yet astounding!

  • God is holy and just, unable to overlook your sin. He is also Love so He provided a way for you.
  • You are sinful, never able to meet God’s standard of holiness, guilty, unable to save yourself.
  • Christ,the sinless Son of God, the only One who could meet God’s standard of holiness, was willing to pay the penalty for your sins by his death on the cross. His sacrifice once and for all removed the sin barrier between you and God.

There is no debt for you to pay.  Christ already paid it.

There is nothing you must do to earn your salvation.  Christ already provided it.

The only requirement for you to be saved is to believe. You must rely on the fact that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross took care of your sin problem in the eyes of God. The moment you believe, Christ’s righteousness will be credited to your account!

Believe in Christ today! It matters not if you are a good person or a bad person.  No one is good enough to save themself and no one is too bad for Christ to save!  Christ alone is the hope of salvation!

John 3:16-17, Ephesians 2;4-9, Galatians 3:13, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21

 

 

 

 

Impossible Dream of a Nobody

14 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by in Faith, Hope, Uncategorized

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I feel like it’s an impossible dream –  for lots of reasons.

  • I am not remarkable.
  • I am too old.
  • I don’t have anything unique to offer.
  • I don’t have the right connections.

Yet, the Lord’s small quiet voice is relentless.

“Dale, you know what I want you to do because I have placed a deep desire in your heart to do it.  And that desire is only growing stronger with time. So why aren’t you doing it?”

I humbly answer, “Lord, if I’m honest with myself and with you, I have to admit that I don’t really believe you can use me this way.”

Do you have doubts, too, that God can use you to accomplish His purposes?  We must come to realize that it is about God’s purpose for us. It is about God’s enabling power.  We bring what we have to Him and allow Him to work with us and for us to accomplish His purpose.

When Gabriel spoke to Mary about God’s plan for her to become the mother of the Son of the Most High, Mary was perplexed and asked,

“How can this be, since I am a virgin?”Luke 1:34

Gabriel said, “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Luke 1:37

Mary believed and said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”   Luke 1:38

Elizabeth said of Mary, “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”  Luke 1:45

That dream you have – the one you believe is from God – is not impossible. You may have questions and wonder how it will ever happen.  But if you take God at His word and step out in faith, He will accomplish His purpose in you, for you, and through you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But God

11 Friday Sep 2015

Posted by in Gift, Gospel, Grace, Hope, Love

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Before:

  • You were excluded from the promises of God.
  • You were without hope in this world.
  • You lived separated from Christ.
  • You were without God in this world.

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By Grace

Gave

Now:

  • You can have the promises of God.
  • You can have hope while in this world.
  • You can live together with Christ.
  • You can have bold access to God.

But GOD because of His GREAT love GAVE us Jesus – not to condemn us but to welcome us into His family.

But GOD because of His GREAT love GAVE us Jesus to remove the barrier of sin that stood between God and man.

But GOD because of His GREAT love GAVE because He wanted to.  His intentions toward us are kind and good.

But GOD because of His GREAT love GAVE because He knew we could never attain His holy standard of righteousness on our own.

So He GAVE us Jesus.  When we accept Jesus by faith, we are no longer separated from God.  We are placed in Jesus.  GOD GIVES us Jesus’ righteousness – not because of a single thing we have done.  But because of His GREAT GRACE through His GREAT GIFT, Jesus. Simply because of His GREAT LOVE for us!

This is the true Gospel. It is:

  • A message of GREAT acceptance!
  • A message of GREAT hope!
  • A message of GREAT love!
  • A message of GREAT reconciliation!
  • A message of GREAT grace!
  • A message of a GREAT GOD!

Share it with someone today!

Spend some time in Ephesians today, thanking Him for being such a GREAT GOD!

The Father Has a Plan!

23 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Encouragement, Grief, Hope

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Although Christ was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. Hebrew 5:8

Christ Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Philippians 2:8

Then Jesus said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; Matthew 26:38a

Jesus fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”  Matthew 26:39

Jesus, the perfect holy Son of God, experienced grief beyond description as He approached the time of the crucifixion.  Yet He continued to submit Himself to His Father’s will and plan – His death on the cross. He kept His eyes on His Father at all times.

Life comes at us in mind-numbing, heart-breaking, shocking waves.

  • an absent parent
  • a friend’s betrayal
  • a run-away teenager
  • near fatal accidents
  • painful diseases
  • broken dreams
  • death of a loved one

Unlike Christ, we do not always know what is about to happen.  We do not know all the ups and downs that will be part of the Father’s plan for us.  And that is a blessing.

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What we do know is that if God has brought us to a heart-breaking situation, He will be with us through it all. He will use it for our good. He will mold us and shape us to be more like Him.

Let’s keep our eyes on Him when we don’t understand the what, the when, the where, the how, or the why.  We know the Who.  It is Our Heavenly Father.  And He is working His plan for us and in us at all times.

O My Soul!

11 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by in Despair, Encouragement, Faith, Hope

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“Why? Why?”, asks David.

“Why are you in despair, O my soul?  And why have you become disturbed within me?”  Psalm 42:5

Have you ever started out a day feeling great but ended it feeling miserable?  What causes your soul to become disturbed?  What causes you to despair?

If you can determine the source of your despair, you can find a great and magnificent promise in the Word of God that will help restore your hope in God. If you can determine why you are disturbed, you can find grace and peace.

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us by HIs own glory and excellence.  For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises.” 2 Peter 1:2-4

When we are in despair and our soul is disturbed, we thirst for God.  When tears are present day and night, our soul pants for the living God with more intensity than it does when everything is going smoothly.  Psalm 42:1-3

The awesome truth is that God wants us even more than we want Him. He wants us to share our burdens with Him.  He wants us to come to Him for help.  He wants us to realize how vital He is to our everyday life.   He wants to be the very God of our life.  Psalm 42:8

Do you see the beauty in this?  Can you look beyond your despair to see the One who wants to walk with you and hold your hand through all of life’s difficulties?

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Reach out to Him!  Hope in God once again!  Praise Him for the help of his presence!  Psalm 42:5

In Hope Against Hope

02 Monday Feb 2015

Posted by in Faith, Hope

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What are you hoping for?  Does it seem utterly hopeless? Is your faith wavering?

2013-01-28_09-16-34_256Abraham was 100 years old.  Sarah was 90 years old.  They were way too old to have a baby.  Yet God had promised them a baby.

If you know the story of Abraham and Sarah, you know they both struggled with God’s promise of a child.  As a matter of fact, they both laughed about it.  It seemed so ridiculous.  They even tried to fix the situation by coming up with a plan of their own which miserably failed.  And every day as they grew older, the impossibility grew bolder.

In hope against hope he (Abraham) believed… Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a 100 years old and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.  Romans 4:18-21

I love this verse.  It does not condemn Abraham.  Instead it points out that even though Abraham’s body was growing weaker, his faith was growing stronger.

When our situation looks bleak, our faith can grow weak.  If we want our faith to grow stronger, we need to look beyond our situation to the Faithful One. Everything we hope for may not happen.  But we have the promise that God is for us and nothing can separate us from His love.  We have the promise that He is working all things for our good. Romans 8

Exult in hope. Exult in tribulations. Exult in God!

Hope does not disappoint because the love of God is poured out within our hearts. Romans 5:5

A Wasted Day

04 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by in Grumbling, Hope, Purpose

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I started the day with high hopes and my typical list of things to do.  But then life happened.  Things did not go according to plan.  By the end of the day, I felt like I had wasted a whole day. As a matter of fact, I felt like I had even gone backwards. UGH! Feeling disappointed and discouraged, I went to bed, glad for the day to be over.

When I woke up this morning, I knew I better start my day in the Word of God, letting Him renew my mind.  Since Philippians is one of my favorite books, I went there.  And God said to me:

He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6

for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.  Do all things without grumbling or disputing.  Philippians 2:13-14

And there you have it!

Every day may not be a great day, but I can be confident that God is at work in me. He is helping me want what He wants.  He is helping me achieve His purpose for my life.  And His purpose can be (and probably is) totally different than my neat little list.

So I will choose not to grumble when things go awry.  Instead, I choose to believe that my loving Creator is working out His plan in me.

…. Ahhh, I feel so much better now.  The sweetness of God’s Word has restored my soul once again.  Thank you, Jesus.