hope

Three That Leave Me Full of Wonder

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3_of_hearts_by_farvei-d3kgg80There are three short verses in the fifth chapter of Thessalonians that leave me full of wonder: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Every time I read these verses, I wonder how it is possible to fully embrace their principles:

  • I rejoice, but I must confess I do not “always” rejoice.
  • I pray, but I do “cease.”
  • I give “thanks,” but I have to be honest: There’s quite a few times I do not give thanks for “everything.”

When I read these verses yesterday, I gave a little more attention to “in everything give thanks.”  It occurred to me that I have never given thanks to:

  • Ben Franklin for the eyeglasses that sit atop my nose and help me to see.
  • Thomas Edison for the light bulbs that brighten my house and my office.
  • Henry Ford for his ingenuity in manufacturing the automobile.
  • Sir Alexander Fleming and his life-saving discovery of penicillin.

Let me challenge you to join me in do something different today.  Every time you have a negative thought, replace immediately by giving thanks for something in your life.  Any inconvenience you experience today is to be used as a reminder to give thanks for something that makes your life easier.

By the end of the day, we might be giving thanks for more things, if not everything.

The Pace of Life’s Race

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time1This has been one of those weeks where the minutes don’t drag on; they race by, and it there doesn’t seem to be enough time to get things done.  When I realize I’m rushing from one project to the next, I try to slow down by spending some time in the Psalms.

One of the Psalms that helps me manage the pace of life’s dizzying race is Psalm 103:

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits:

3 Who forgives all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases,

4 Who redeems your life from destruction,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

There are four things that I think about when I read this Psalm:

  • I need to get the right start by saying : “Bless the Lord, O my soul”
  • I need to take an inventory so I don’t “forget” my resources.”
  • I need to total my assets or “benefits.”
  • I need to see God at work: He forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, and satisfies.
  • I need to gauge my power: I am “renewed like the eagle.”

I encourage you to read the Psalm again and use the list above as a guide.  I hope it helps you as much as it does me.

Who is Jesus?

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easter01This is a momentous week in the life of the church.  Because it has been framed by two monumental events of history, it is the week traditionally referred to as “holy week.”

It’s a week that began with Palm Sunday, and it will end this Sunday with the celebration of Easter.  Palm Sunday is associated with the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, and Easter is the joyful recognition of His resurrection.

There’s a three word question that was asked by those who observed Jesus on Palm Sunday. As He rode a white donkey through the narrow and dusty streets of Jerusalem, they asked:  “Who is this?”

The Gospel of John presents a group of witnesses that offer a line of testimony that answers this question:

  • John testifies that Jesus turned water into wine at the marriage supper of Cana.
  • The nobleman gives a detailed account of how Jesus simply spoke and his dying son was healed.
  • The man who had been crippled for 38 years jumps in the air and clicks his heels together to show the miraculous manner in which Jesus healed him.
  • The little boy holds up an empty lunch pail and says: “It had just enough food for my dinner, but Jesus blessed it and there was enough to feed 5,000 people.”
  • The seasoned fishermen relive the moment when they thought their boat was going to sink and they were going to drown: “The Master appeared out of nowhere, walked on the waves, commanded the water to be still, and we were saved.”

After listening to all the testimony, a man rises and says:  “May I speak?  I think my evidence is conclusive.  You see, I was dead, but somehow I heard the clear and loud voice of Jesus:  ‘Lazarus come forth,’ and I shook off the chains of death.  I’m living proof of who Jesus is.”

Who is this?  Jesus is:

  • The Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
  • The Bread of Life.
  • The Light of the world.
  • The Good Shepherd
  • The Way, the Truth, and the Life.
  • Resurrection and the life

Who is Jesus to you?

Are You Good At Doing Good?

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be-good-logoCan I let you in on a little secret?  There’s a standing invitation from Lady Temptation to come over and abide on her side.

Because it’s so easy to follow the path that leads to an evil and vile life style. Paul issued a warning to Christians in Romans 12:21:

  • Don’t allow yourself to be overpowered with evil. Take the offensive—overpower evil by good! ~Phillips
  • Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good. ~The Message
  • Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. ~English Standard Version

Evil can be so subtle that it’s hard to recognize and offer a rebuttal.  This is why it’s necessary to take the “offensive.”  If you allow yourself to be overpowered with evil it will have power over every area of your life.

Paul said “doing good” is the key to gaining the upper hand in this conflict, and he described his game plan in a letter to the Thessalonians:

“Live together in peace, and our instruction to this end is to reprimand the unruly, encourage the timid, help the weak and be very patient with all men. Be sure that no one repays a bad turn by a bad turn; good should be your objective always, among yourselves and in the world at large. Be happy in your faith at all times. Never stop praying. Be thankful, whatever the circumstances may be. If you follow this advice you will be working out the will of God expressed to you in Jesus Christ . . . by all means use your judgment, and hold on to whatever is really good, and Steer clear of evil in any form.”

I’m not going to lie to you—“doing good” is tough work.  The following list from Kent M. Keith (The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council) makes it clear:

  • People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered—Love them anyway.
  • If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives—Do good anyway.
  • The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow—Do good anyway.
  • People really need help but may attack you if you do help them—Help people anyway.
  • Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth—Give the world the best you have anyway.”

Remember, “Never let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.”

A Joyful Heart

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Beautiful smiling cute babyMy concept of God might be different than yours.  I believe God is loving, caring, and full of joy.  God gave us our sight so we can have the pleasure of seeing rainbows,  butterflies, and majestic mountain ranges.

I thank God that He blessed me with the sense of smell, so I can enjoy the aroma of a freshly baked cake; and I am overjoyed that He created me with taste buds, so I can savor the flavor of apple pie topped off with a big dip of vanilla ice cream.

On my journeys into the wilderness, I’ve enjoyed the solitude of silence that is only interrupted by the chirping of a bird, the whistle of a quail, or the refreshing sound of a flowing river.

I’m glad that God wants His people to experience the wonder of joy and the fruit of happiness.  Solomon wrote of this in the Proverbs: “A joyful heart makes a face cheerful, but a sad heart produces a broken spirit . . . a cheerful heart has a continual feast (15:13, 15).”

A couple of chapters later, Solomon draws a contrast between the joyless and the joy-filled:    “One with a twisted mind will not succeed, and one with deceitful speech will fall into ruin. A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones (17:20, 22).”

Since a joyful heart is good medicine, here’s a medicine chest full of quotes:

  • The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things. ~ Henry Ward Beecher
  • I think I began learning long ago that those who are happiest are those who do the most for others. ~ Booker T. Washington
  • If we try hard to bring happiness to others, we cannot stop it from coming to us also. To get joy, we must give it, and to keep joy, we must scatter it. ~John Templeton
  • You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; this is why God, Your God has anointed you with the oil of joy. ~Hebrews 1:9
  • I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is My command: Love one another as I have loved you. ~John 15:11-12

The key to living a life of joy is found in the words of the Psalmist:  “You reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is abundant joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures.” ~Psalm 16:11

Three questions come to mind when I think of the verse above:

  • Since God reveals the path of life to you, why take a detour?
  • If abundant joy is found in His presence, what do you have when you refuse it?
  • If eternal pleasures are in God’s right hand, what is left? Temporary and unfulfilling worthless worries?

I’ll close with the words of Paul:  “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” ~Philippians 4:4

A Five-Five Relationship

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3-9-12-CMI-hands_of_god_and_adam-400-300x250One of my favorite sections of Scripture is Romans 5:1-5, and I read it again this morning. I call it the 5-5, and I share it with you below:

“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

In these brief verses, we find a long list of truths that provide the secret of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ:
• You are justified and declared righteous before God when you accept His son as your Savior.
• The initial result of your salvation is that you now have peace with God.
• As a child of God you have around-the-clock access to God—24/7.
• You can gain a better understanding of your affliction because hard times increase your endurance; the new found endurance builds character; and, Christ-like character produces hope.
• The hope within you is based on the love of God which has been “poured out” into your heart, and it is always available because the Holy Spirit now resides within you.

There is a reason I like to think of this section of Scripture as the 5-5. The 5-5 is a mnemonic that I use to help remind me of the relationship I have with God. SpeedLimitReduction55MPH Whenever I see a 55 MPH speed limit sign on the highway it reminds me of this Scripture and the peace I have with God through Jesus Christ.

Hope 134

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hope-handThe landscape of religion experienced a seismic shift in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door at Wittenburg. After an in-depth study of the book of Romans, Luther believed that the just should live by faith, and that the selling of “indulgences” was contrary to the teachings of the Bible.

Like many Christians, Luther’s life had its highs and low. These peaks and valleys prompted him to say: “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

In regard to hope, Rick Warren has said: “What gives me the most hope every day is God’s grace; knowing that his grace is going to give me the strength for whatever I face, knowing that nothing is a surprise to God.”

Hope is a frequent theme found throughout the New Testament:

• In Romans 12:12, we are told to rejoice in hope, to be patient in tribulation, and to continue steadfastly in prayer
• A prayer of Paul in Romans 15 was, “the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
• In his letter to the church at Galatia, Paul said: “we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith”
• Peter reveals the source of our hope in I Peter 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”

I’ve never claimed to be a mathematical genius, but I do know a simple equation that forms the basis of our hope: 1 cross + 3 nails = 4 given. Hope 134 can make a seismic shift in your life.

Like the old gospel hymn says: My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.

Chain-Reaction-Christianity

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chain_reactionHave you ever poured yourself a drink and made a mess when you overfilled the glass? Have you been distracted and let the bathtub overflow? It’s safe to say that overflows are usually mistakes?

While this is usually the case, Paul says God purposely overflows us: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).” Look at Paul’s description of God—“the God of hope.” Because He is a God of “hope,” you can be filled with “all joy and peace.”

This verse speaks of chain-reaction-Christianity: It starts with the hope of God, leads to joy and peace, the focus on joy and peace, causes you to “overflow with hope,” and this is the result of the “power of the Holy Spirit” living within you.

Overflows are generally wasteful, but God turns the spigot on and calibrates it so you will overflow. His design and purpose is for you to overflow with hope so you can flow over into the life of another person.

Chain-reaction-Christianity begins when your thoughts are in tune with Christ. Look at the picture at the top left of this page. What is you first assumption? Do you see a sequence of one person knocking down the next person? If so, reorient and refocus. Look at the picture from another perspective. I see a sequence of each person lifting up the person in front of him.

To be a chain-reaction-Christian don’t restrain your hope—unchain it and proclaim it.

Faith: Who? Why? and Where?

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Question Everything Clean_0Studies have shown that people with no faith are more likely than their religious counterparts to suffer from depression and are more likely to commit suicide. I believe faith makes a difference because it provides you a sense of meaning and a purpose for your life; and, it offers you hope beyond the grave.

There may be times when you struggle with the big “W” questions of life:
• “Who am I?”
• “Why am I here?
• “Where am I going?”

Without God in the equation, finding answers to these questions can be difficult. Animals are guided by their instincts, but mankind needs the Spirit of God to solve the riddles of life. If God does not exist, both man and the universe are without hope. If there is no life beyond the grave, the future of man is exactly that—grave! Without the hope of the cross and the power of the resurrection, life is little more than a flickering candle that fades and is engulfed in a consuming darkness.

One of the accounts that helps to verify the claims of Christ, the crucifixion, and the resurrection is found in the words of John. He was present with Jesus from the early days of His ministry, at the time of the crucifixion, and he was also a witness to the empty tomb.

If the biblical record was inaccurate, why would John continue to fabricate a hoax? If he was spreading a myth, he had nothing to gain and everything to lose, but John spoke the truth; and, he dedicated his life to the cause of Christ.

As an old man with a still vibrant faith, John wrote: “From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in—we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, and verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy (I John 1:1-4 The Message)!”

I hope this blog will strengthen your faith and help you enjoy the joy of knowing Jesus.

The Week That Was

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159-pack13-021514-tmFriday at last! So, how has your week gone? Has it been a week of daily delights or has it been a bit different?

Was it one of those weeks where you felt like you’ve been drop-kicked through the goal post of life; bounced, like a basketball, off the hardwood floors of adversity; or, one in which the time of day never mattered because no one would give you a second of their time?

Life alone can be like that, but life aside of Jesus can be much different. Whenever you think that no one will give you a second of their time, remember that Jesus has given you His life and a promise of eternity in Heaven.

The rejection you feel from time to time—Jesus knows all about it. Remember He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and very familiar with our grief; and, for the joy of obtaining the prize that was set before Him, Jesus endured the cross (Isaiah 53, Hebrews 12:2).

So, the next time you feel rejected, remember you are accepted in Jesus. To Him, you are a keeper—a “prize” that He cherishes.

And the adversity you face—you never have to go it alone because He has promised to never leave you or forsake you. The invitation is to come along side of Him, so He can ease your burden and carry your load.

You can find some comfort and reassurance in the words of Paul: “No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.”

Here’s a verse or two to get you through today and to think about over the weekend: “Rest in God alone, my soul, for my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will not be shaken. My salvation and glory depend on God, my strong rock. My refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge.”