Need hope? Know someone who needs hope? There is sweet hope...

I had a friend teach me a quick prayer several years ago, "empty me and fill with Thee."  Sometimes I have to pray that in reverse.  Lord please redeem the things that I tried to do for you in my own strength, and make them Yours!  I fail in a thousand ways the things I try to do well.  I beat myself up and get stuck in condemnation.  Maybe I did the right things with the wrong heart.  A heart that was "trying too hard to get it right," instead of resting into the Hope of Who I am in Christ.  I want to be invisible, so that only God is reflected in my life.  I will fail, I do fail.  But there is hope.

 Our hope is in the ONE WHO BREATHES STARS!  Psalm 33:7 says, "By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host. 7He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.…"

We can sometimes be discouraged, and sometimes be happy, equally for the wrong reasons.  This very moment we can pray and ask God to turn it around, make it about Him.  It says in Proverbs 13:12 says "Hope deferred makes the heart sick."  We have been given a charge!  Give hope!  The gospel is HOPE!  Simple truth, profound effect!  Jesus paid the debt for our sin on the cross, and in exchange offered us His righteousness!  This was not just we could live an ordinary life.  This was so we could share the love that He shared with us!  He told us to share the good news!  This good news makes every day good, no matter what the circumstances are.  God is good all the time!

When Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20, "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

There is so much negative in the world.  The news, the job, the health, the weather, the schedule!  Sometimes we are just tired, over committed, overwhelmed.  Our minds can get so bogged down that we forget to tell the good news, to our own hearts, and then to others!  Sometimes we are not bogged down with negative things, we are filled up with false hope, fixated on temporary things that help us escape.  So it's not always the negative thinking, it can be the extreme escaping.  But if we focus on the hope that we have been given, instead of how we are going to get through next day, week, month, year, our minds/lives will be transformed  (Romans 12:2) and we will become vessels of HOPE!   Philippians 4:4-9 tells us how to do this!

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God,which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

We need to pray for grace to have our minds filtered and then our tongues filtered.  It says in Luke 6:45, "For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."  Sometimes we have to choose to filter the mouth until the heart catches up!  

Psalm 34 says "taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."  We must TASTE the Word daily, that means open our Bibles and pray.  The Holy Spirit breathes life into us through prayer and His Word!  The more we taste it, the more we want to share the recipe!!!!!

"How lovely on the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace And brings good news of happiness, Who announces salvation, And says to Zion, "Your God
 reigns!"  Isaiah 52:7

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners," Isaiah 61:1

Lord help us to receive the good news of our relationship with you everyday, so that we in turn will be ready to share hope with others.  We can not share what we do not KNOW.  Grant us grace to hunger, eat, and share of YOU.  Please help us to start this very week with this truth.  Your mercy is new every day and it doesn't matter where we are or what we are bogged down in, we can turn to you at this very moment and be filled.  

The good news is that there is nothing in and of ourselves that can make this a good week, it is only You and all of You that can make anything good.  What a relief!  That is HOPE!  God does it, not us!  We surrender and "The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it." 1 Thessalonians 5:24

Cornerstone, by Hillsong

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Garden and grief, a beautiful place to be real

Image
So I said in my last post that "I can't see the trees." It's true.  And you can't just snap your fingers and be teleported to the other side of grief.  I've only written a few times this year, but when I write, I don't hold back.  In my case, grief is about my brother taking his life at age of 47, and losing a dear friend to cancer a few months later.  Its true what's been said, you can't go around it, you must go through it.   But I have a Great Shepherd leading me through the desert.  This is not about pulling yourself of by your own boot straps, or faking joy, or mustering up the "right" feelings.  It's about truth transcending our feelings, and being OK with both, truth and feelings.  It's about being real. There is a movement in suicide awareness called Project Semicolon.  It is to signify to suicide survivors and those who are pressing on with mental illness to keep going.  Do not put a period on your story, ther...
Read more

Does your bag have a hole in it? That can be a good thing! Get free of baggage!!

Image
Miles in the bag? Yeah, that's good!  But it does not define me!  Measurements!  They can be so conflicting!  It is good to have goals, to move forward, to make progress, but to what end?  If you are like me, the bag that holds your miles has a big hole in it!  There's never enough!  By the grace of God, I've been on a life long journey learning that running with a hole in your bag can be a good thing!   Now I picture a wind sock instead of a bag.  Let those miles fall out the bottom!  Try that one on!   A banner trailing me that is empty .  My hope is that the empty banner  I carry is filled with the full wind of God!   If you struggle with measurements you can find peace here today. God actually discourages comparison by measurement when done for the wrong reasons. Paul had heard that people were talking about they way he did ministry and comparing him to others.  He explains the importa...
Read more

Monday

Image
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au3otElq6D4 I am They, King of Love The King of Love my Shepherd is Whose goodness faileth never I nothing lack if I am His  And He is mine forever And He is mine forever Where streams of living water flow My ransomed soul He leadeth And where the verdant pastures grow With food celestial feedeth Never failing, Ruler of my heart Everlasting, Lover of my soul On the mountain high or in the valley low The King of Love my Shepherd is The King of Love my Shepherd is Lost and foolish off I strayed But yet in love He sought me And on His shoulder gently laid And home rejoicing brought me In death’s dark veil I fear no ill With Thee, dear Lord, beside me Thy rod and staff my comfort still Thy cross before to guide me Never failing, Ruler of my heart Everlasting, Lover of my soul On the mountain high or in the valley low The King of Love my Shepherd is The King of Love my Shepherd is ...
Read more