Hope Fully

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:13 (ESV)

          Hopefully, she’ll get better and be released from the hospital. Hopefully, their marriage will grow stronger. Hopefully, my prodigal child will return home. We hope for things to go well despite past experiences of shattered hope. When heartbreaking memories intensify, our utterances begin to express doubt that stem from wishful thinking. Uncertainty increases as confidence dwindles. 

          When I learned my dad had fallen ill and was placed in a hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, we rushed to be by his side. Alarm, panic, dread, distress, worry—these emotions agitated my gut while tears dripped onto my shirt. Even though these sentiments obstructed most of my thinking, I hoped he would be healed and return home. But it wasn't to be. With life support pulled, death was inevitable. Hope faded as despair loomed. I promptly left my dad’s room in search of the hospital chapel. I needed time to pray and reset my thinking. 

          Sitting in the small chapel, I cried out to God. I thanked Him for my daddy’s salvation through Christ Jesus and pleaded with Him to peacefully carry him to his heavenly home. Quietly pondering God’s promises of salvation, my mind became fixed on eternal life. A peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7) overwhelmed me, and even though tears continued to fall, I knew I could face the future with God’s help. Death has no power over those who belong to God. I would see my daddy again.    

          My thoughts then turned to Jesus’ disciples. What devastation they must have felt when they witnessed their beaten and bruised Friend and Messiah nailed to a cross. Any hope they had held onto dwindled as Jesus bled and died. What would they do? Where would they go? The days surely hung heavy with sorrow as they hid in horror and fear until news spread about an empty tomb. Some of the women who had followed Jesus were saying He had been restored to life, resurrected three days after His death. Can you imagine their uncertainty and astonishment? Several of Jesus’ disciples couldn’t run fast enough to see for themselves. Were they hopefully wishing all would be well?

          During the weeks after the resurrection, the risen Jesus appeared to His disciples causing them to reset their thinking. Their doubts turned to certainty, skepticism turned to trust. And when Christ returned to heaven and sent His Holy Spirit to embolden His disciples, their confusion became complete confidence. Their hopefully had become hope fully, not wishful thinking but abiding hope. Their Savior and Friend had conquered death—He was alive. Because of their belief in the resurrected Savior, they could hold onto hope, a living hope. They would see Jesus again. 

          The certainty of new life through our Savior Jesus Christ changes wishes to fact. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, God holds an imperishable inheritance in heaven for those who believe in the Savior. Yet while on earth, the believer can cling to living hope, the essence of faith in God through Jesus Christ.

          Even though the disciples suffered excruciating trials because of their faith, they placed their hope in the power of their resurrected Savior. They set their minds on Christ, allowing the Holy Spirit to empower them to hope fully. 

          I carried immense sorrow into the chapel as my dad lay dying in his hospital room. But the Holy Spirit enabled me to walk out with stronger faith. As I set my mind on Jesus’ resurrection, God reminded me of the imperishable inheritance saved in heaven for both of us. I fixed my hope fully on eternal life. 

          Hope fully in the risen Savior Jesus Christ’s power over death. Hope fully in new life on earth with Jesus and eternal life in heaven with Him. Because we have a Savior who defeated death and rose to victory, we have a living hope. We don’t have to hopefully go to heaven when we die. With our minds set on Christ, we can hope fully on the finished work of Jesus, and receive an imperishable inheritance, waiting for us in heaven.

“God rewards fearless hopers with the fruit of their hope.”

— Chris Tiegreen

          All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

          So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 1 Peter 1:3-7 (NLT)

A New Thing

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up;
do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. 
Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)

I'm stuck in the past and downcast. The trials of today draw my mind to former days when life seemed easier. Are you dwelling on times gone by instead of focusing on the present, the now? 

The year 2020 is about to be a memory, an impactful memory. It’s left devastation in its wake while replenishing each day with more uncertainty, fear, and hopelessness. Most of us long for the good ole days. Or we at least yearn for a change as we seek a better future. But what about today? What about now? What are we doing to make the most of our present? 

This year has sped by, but the days have dragged on. Trepidation, apprehension, and isolation have almost been established into our everyday routines. With many churches shut down, it appears hope is lost. The past materializes mentally as a divine dream while the present petrifies our day-to-day existence. The comfortable order of things has changed. Powerful people continually remind us to adjust to a new normal. We submit to fear and surrender to masks and quarantine. Anxiety blooms, worry flourishes, grumbling bears fruit, rotten fruit, and the will to thrive dies. The sight of our situation shakes our faith in an Almighty God. 

God’s chosen ones, the Israelites, also failed to recall the power of their Savior God. They had been enslaved in Egypt for over four hundred years. When the time was right, God delivered them from the injustices they had endured. He used Moses to lead His people out of slavery. God sent disease and death to cause the Egyptians to let His people go. As the Israelites fled Egypt, God parted the waters of the Red Sea, forming dry land for His people to cross over into safety. Those same waters swept away the enemies who had enslaved them. God’s people had witnessed a mighty miracle. It was then that they praised and worshipped their Savior God. 

Yet only three days later in the desert without water, they began to grumble against Moses and before God. “What are we to drink?” they whined. Oh how soon they forgot.

God performed another miracle through Moses as he threw a piece of wood into the water, turning it sweet. Imagine being a spectator of such supernatural phenomena. Wouldn’t your faith increase substantially? 

Because of God’s love for His people, He made a decree for them. He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and listen to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.” 
Exodus 15:26

God then added grace to His command. He provided springs of water surrounded by shade where His people could camp and rest for a while. What a faithful God.

But after traveling in the desert for a month, the Israelites began complaining again against Moses and before God. They said, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread until we were full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this entire assembly with hunger!”  Exodus 16:3

Were the Israelites stuck in the past, clinging to their slavery? Even though they had been removed from their brutal slave masters, they looked back to what seemed like a good thing. The comfort of routine, no matter how harsh, had become customary. But was it good? Were they allowing the wilderness in which they now walked cause them to forget the freedom they had gained by the hand of a Savior God?

“How quickly we forget God’s great deliverances in our lives.
How easily we take for granted the miracles He performed in our past.
~David Wilkerson”

We are no different than the Israelites walking in the desert. The stark reality of this pandemic called Covid has exposed, revealed, and uncovered abundant omissions about ourselves, our institutions, even the church. We believers have failed to heed the decree of our Lord, disregarding His spoken Word. Instead of standing up for God’s absolute truth, we’ve surrendered to the ever-changing morals and values of this land. Manmade religious traditions have enslaved us. Christianity in America has become casual, where only a crisis causes us to turn back to God. We’ve allowed the church to become a cruise ship instead of a battle ship. Our Heavenly Father never intended for us to have an apathetic relationship with Him. 

When God rescued the Israelites, He wanted them to rely solely on Him, to trust Him for daily protection and provision. He wants the same for us. Family and friends will disappoint us. The things of this earth will disappear. Religious and governmental leaders will let us down. But God never disappoints, disappears, or lets us down. He won’t fail us. He never changes. He, Jesus Christ, is the same yesterday and today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). We can surely trust Him. 

Could it be possible that God has allowed disease and violence to restore in us a powerful prayer life? Deep faith in a trustworthy God will cause us to rely on His daily provision instead of looking back to what seemed comfortable. Why grumble about the presence of Covid, masks, lockdowns, and change. Instead choose to allow God to move us forward as He does a new thing.

Each day is a new day, another chance to begin again. God says to forget the former things, remember Him, and focus on the new thing He is doing right now. His mercies are new every morning. 
Isaiah 43:18-19, Lamentations 3:22-23

Do we have confidence in the power of Almighty God? Will we hear and follow His Word? Turn away from the deficiency of earthly things. Hope in the One who loved us enough to offer salvation in His Name, the Name of Jesus. Watch and wait expectantly for His new thing!

“God is not running an antique shop!
He is making all things new!
~Vance Havner”

“Trust the past to God’s mercy,
the present to God’s love,
and the future to God’s providence.
~St. Augustine”

When Clouds Gather, Remember the Rainbow

I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud….When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”  Genesis 9:13-14,16 (NASB)

An artist stands on the street before her easel, paintbrush in hand. Working with the colors from her palette, she applies paints to her canvas. Bystanders breathlessly wait for the finished product as spectacular scenery begins to take shape. Her vision fashions an incredible landscape. 

Now imagine our Creator God at work before His heavenly canvas. He designs His radiant rainbow in a cloud, the clouds that Scripture says are the dust of His feet (Nahum 1:3). If those massive billowy forms bear His footprints, how mighty is He, our Creator of the rainbow?

It staggers my mind to contemplate God’s magnificent grandeur. As I gaze into the heavens encircling me, I’m filled with awe and wonder. If my God is so big, surely I can trust Him to take care of me, my family, and our needs. The knowledge that I serve a majestic and powerful God comforts me until I notice dark clouds advancing. Then fear blows in with gale force winds and I start to doubt His faithfulness. 

Several years ago the southeastern coast of the United States experienced massive turbulence in the forms of Hurricanes Irma, Florence, and Michael. The states of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina encountered extreme ruin. Those mighty clouds brought dangerous and destructive storms to the residents, including some of my family and friends. More recently Hurricane Dorian ravaged the Bahamas, leaving behind death and devastation.

How could this happen? Why did God allow such disaster? Did He walk away from His own creation?

When I see such destruction, I am plagued with doubt about a caring God. But then I take time to reread His Word, and He reminds me of His faithfulness. Over and over again, He confirms His steadfast love. He answers us when we seek Him (Psalm 34:4-6). He is available to all who call on His name (Psalm 116:3-6). He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). Even though circumstances seem to tell a different story, Scripture promises us that we can count on God no matter what. 

Remember Noah in the ninth chapter of Genesis? Noah and his family experienced a catastrophic flood. God protected them in an ark while death swirled all around them. Except for the creatures they had gathered and led onto the boat, all else was gone. For forty days and nights, they endured confinement and uncertainty. Forty straight days and nights of rain and clouds! Imagine how much water surrounded their vessel. Were they frightened? Angry? Yearning for their old life? Did they complain? Did they forget God was near?  

I think I can answer all those questions with a resounding YES! If I had been on the ark or North Carolina’s coast or in the Bahamas, I would have been crying with fear. I probably would have screamed WHY while I wished for my old life back. Big billowy dark clouds would have depressed me. I surely would not have seen them as the dust of God’s feet. 

But then a rainbow appeared!

When God placed His rainbow in the clouds, it signified an everlasting covenant with all of God’s creatures, a solemn promise between God and all of earth. He promised never again to destroy all life in a flood.

Not only should the rainbow prompt us to recall God’s faithfulness, God declared the rainbow a sign of the covenant He made with all life on earth. Even to this day, the rainbow guarantees God’s promise. Its colorful array reminds us to hold onto hope and believe God is near to us whenever we need Him. 

Allow God’s words of truth to reside in your heart. Know He is faithful.

“For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him? 
(Deuteronomy 4:7)

”

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.  (Psalm 34:18)”

““Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord, “And not a God far off? Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?” declares the Lord. Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord. 
(Jeremiah 23:23-24)”

God’s rainbow is a sign of His covenant with man. Its appearance proclaims we are not forgotten. Its beauty awakens us to the presence of an Almighty God through His Holy Spirit. We can celebrate the presence of Immanuel, God with us, Jesus Christ. And Jesus promised He would never leave us or forsake us. He is faithful.

Suffering usually strips us of our pretenses. It brings us to our knees, down to the nitty-gritty. When we call out to Jesus, we find Him waiting on us. He lifts us up in times of sorrow, sickness, and sadness. He offers hope when life appears hopeless. He is faithful. 

When clouds gather, remember His rainbow. He is faithful.