Promised Hope

Have you grieved during your life? Was it for a loved one? Was it for a pet? How did you handle your grief? Was your grief overwhelming? Were you unable to function? Did hope have a positive impact on your grief? Do you know it could?

Grieving can be difficult. When we lose a parent, sibling, or child, it is often more difficult. In some cases, I have witnessed wailing and people falling to their knees, unable to walk due to their grief. But it does not have to be that way. For those in Christ, there is hope.

Each person grieves differently. Some grieve internally, not allowing others to see it outwardly. Some grieve outwardly, not worrying if others see them grieve. Some grieve for months or years. Some grieve for a few weeks and move on. In none of these types of grief does it mean the person grieving or over their grief has forgotten the lost loved one.

For those of us who are in Christ, there is hope. This is not a wishful thinking kind of hope, but a hope full of confidence that is promised in the gospel of Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:21-23). It is a hope in which we can glory (Hebrews 3:6). Our hope in Christ it our anchor (Hebrews 6:19-20). This hope tells us there is an eternal life in which we will live with all who are in Christ forever.

When we have hope in Christ and our loved ones are in Christ, we can confidently state we will see them again. We say our goodbye’s and see you later’s with peace in our hearts. We will still grieve, but it will not be the overwhelming grief that immobilizes us. Rather than grieving for the lost loved one, we grieve for the empty space in our lives, and we learn how to fill that hole, at least partially. We lean on God and the hope he provides. We accept the peace he grants us.

I pray we all know the hope promised in the gospel of Jesus. I pray we seek to convince others to accept the same hope. I pray each one of us will lean on God and the hope he provides in times of grieving. Put your hope in Jesus. Accept the hope He promised. Lean on God in times of grief. Know you have eternal life.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

Learning Something New

Are you willing to be taught? Do you yearn to learn new things? Or do you prefer to continue to think you know it all? How many questions do you ask each day? How many do you answer? Are you willing to hear the words of truth? Are you willing to learn from God?

Whether we think about it or not, we continue to learn new things. Just a little more than a couple decades ago, cell phones were a novelty. Sure, you could get one, but all you could do was make a phone call. Who needed the extra expense to have a phone with you at all times?

Fast-forward twenty or so years and our cell phones can do far more than make phone calls. In fact, we make relatively few calls on them compared to everything else we do on them. We surf the web, text one another, read email, play games, take photos, and we can even design web pages on them. They are a computer in our pocket, and we have learned a lot over the past twenty years as we have used them.

But what about learning from others? How many of us are willing to listen to and learn something from someone who doesn’t have the right look nor speak in our language? Most of us would not sit down and listen to advice from a homeless person. However, they know how to survive the bitter cold winter nights on the street. They know where to get food. They know where there is shelter from the storm. They may not look the way they think teachers should look, but they have a lot they can teach us.

We cannot physically see God face-to-face. Yet, he has a lot to teach us as well. We don’t want to read a book that was written thousands of years ago, but truths are truths no matter how old they are. God has continually told the truth. In fact, he is the one by which truth is measured. It doesn’t matter if we like it or not. God is truth and is continually trying to teach us. It is a matter of us listening to his words.

I pray we all will listen to God’s words. I pray we will spend time reading his truth. I pray each one of us will spend time seeking to understand God’s truths so that we may live better lives. Listen to God’s words. Read God’s Word. Know that his words are truth. Seek to understand God’s truths.

Psalm 78:1

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; 

incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

Covenant

Have you ever taken an oath? Was it an oath in court? Was it an oath to enter the military? Have you entered into a covenant? Was it a covenant of marriage? Was it a business contract? Have you made a covenant to obey God?

We swear oaths in many different settings. It may be an oath of friendship. We are required to swear an oath when we testify in court. I have sworn an oath to join the military and reiterated it when reenlisting or being promoted. Even the boy and girl scouts make an oath.

We do not often think of covenants today, but they are really the same as a contract. Each side promises something. When we recite marriage vows, we make a covenant with our spouse. When a contract is signed, both parties are promising to do something for the other. Usually, one party is performing a service and the other is paying for the service.

The Israelites accepted God’s covenant under Joshua. They promised to obey and serve God. By doing so, Joshua told them they must give up foreign gods, those gods they had either acquired or knew about from other peoples. They were to worship only God.

When we are baptized, we are entering into covenant with God. We not only accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, but we also promise to obey God’s commands. Jesus has already paid the price for us, and God has already made promises for us. We are accepting God’s grace, mercy, and commands. But much like any contract we make during our life, we are to take our covenant with God seriously, for God certainly takes it seriously.

I pray we all accept the covenant with God. I pray we take our covenant with God seriously. I pray each one of us will accept God’s grace and mercy and obey his commands. Accept God’s covenant. Understand his covenant. Take your covenant with God seriously. Obey God’s commands.

Joshua 24:34-35 He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” The people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will obey.”

Choose God

How many choices do you make every day? Have you ever thought about it? What thought process do you go through to make a choice? Is it different depending on the question? Have you made the most important decision? Have you decided to serve God?

We make more choices each day than we think we do. We decide what to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We choose what clothes we will wear. We choose the route we will take to work, even if it is the same one each day. We choose when to go to bed and when to wake up.

Our choices are numerous. There are many choices in our jobs. How we will tackle a specific task. When to take a problem to a manager. We make choices for entertainment. We can watch a sitcom or a movie. We can decide on an action or drama or comedy. Some of these choices are dependent upon our mood.

Above all those choices is the choice to serve God. It is not one that can be made lightly. We must carefully consider it. For God is a jealous God. He does not want to share our heart with any other. When we decide to serve God, it must be a commitment from our heart, one that runs deep and will never be rescinded. God will have it no other way.

We must give up our other gods. They may other people or things. We cannot continue to put them above God. That may sound harsh, but it need not be. We can still love our family and care for our possessions. We simply need to love God more than any of them and know they all belong to God, too.

I pray we all think carefully through our choice to serve God. I pray after careful consideration we commit to him. I pray each one of us will love God more than any other person or possession. Choose to serve God. Love God will all your heart. Put God above anything else.

Joshua 24:15 “Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Humble and Exalted

Do you consider yourself a humble person? If so, you might not be as humble as you think. Do you like to be put on a pedestal? If so, you might find yourself knocked off of it. What if you knew you could be humble and exalted simultaneously?

Being humble is challenging. When we start thinking we are humble, we discover we are being prideful in our humility. To be truly humble, we must continually strive to be humble. This doesn’t mean we are a floor mat that everyone wipes their feet on.

True humility is strength. We are humble before God, submitting to his plan for our lives. We follow where he leads us. We do what he instructs us to do. We bow before a holy God.

Jesus was the most humble person to ever walk this earth. Yet He had righteous anger when the money changers were conducting business on the temple grounds. He followed God’s desires to make the temple a holy place rather than a place of business.

Far too often, we desire to have our ten minutes of fame (or more). Even if we say we don’t, we feel good when others recognize our works and honor us. There is nothing inherently wrong with that. However, it is when we do what we do in order to be honored that we have given up humility for pride.

Jesus tells us to be humble. When we are humble like He was, God will lift us up and honor us. There is no greater honor than the honor God will give us. Be humble and be honored by God.

I pray we all strive to be humble. I pray we follow Jesus’ example of humility. I pray each one of us give up our pride for humility. Stop chasing your ten minutes of fame. Submit to God’s will. Seek to follow Jesus. Be humble before God. Know that God will honor your humility.

Matthew 23:11-12 “The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Obey the Teacher

Are you good at obeying rules, policies, and the law? How do you feel if someone who is telling you the rules does not obey them? Do you want to justify your disobedience with their disobedience? Do know justifying your actions by someone else’s actions doesn’t fly?

We may experience in our jobs bosses who spout policies but do not follow them themselves. It likely burns us to the core. We wonder how anyone can proclaim a policy and not follow it. The same goes for the law and rules. It angers us to see someone disobeying when they help set the law.

We have seen in recent years more of our lawmakers, CEOs, and other leaders being held accountable for disobedience. We applaud it. We relish their squeamishness as they go before the court. We may even say, “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.” Yet, we are to continue to obey the law, policies, and rules regardless of what the leaders have done.

Jesus tells his disciples and those in the crowd to obey the Jewish leaders, even when they do not do what they teach. That makes it challenging for us when the leaders don’t set a good example to follow. Challenging or not, it is the right thing for us to do. After all, a person can state what the rules are, even if they don’t follow them. Don’t we do that? How often do we break the speed limit? How many times have we taken a little too long for lunch?

Jesus tells us to follow the teachers of God’s law, commands, and guidance, even if those teachers do not follow it themselves. It is not for their good that we follow it, but it is for our good. Obeying God’s Word brings us peace. We experience the joy of the Lord. God blesses us as we obey.

I pray we all obey the teaching of God’s Word. I pray we obey whether our teacher does or not. I pray each one of us will experience the peace, joy, love, and blessings of God through our obedience. Obey God’s Word. Learn as the teacher teaches. Be blessed by God in your obedience.

Matthew 23:2-3 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.”

Accept God’s Word

What do you believe? Where do you get your most dependable information? Is it on social media? Is it on national news broadcasts? Do you have your favorite internet news source? How do determine if the news source you choose is reliable?

We can get news from more sources than we can count. There are several television channels dedicated to news. There are news feeds on social media. There are news websites. There are news podcasts. The challenge is to find news sources we know we can trust.

Ensuring we trust the right sources is very important. If we believe the wrong sources, we become misinformed, misguided, and ultimately fail to live in the truth. The truth can be hard to decipher in today’s world. Even hearing news from our family and friends has become suspect, simply because we don’t know where they got their information.

There is one source for truth we can trust. That is the Bible. We should trust the truth within it as God’s Word. As the Apostle Paul tells the church in Thessalonica, trusting its message as God’s Word and being believers is not a matter of human understanding. It is the Holy Spirit that guides us in the truth of the Bible.

We have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit to be our teacher. He will help us to properly interpret God’s Word, if we will seek his guidance. If we rely on our own interpretation, we run the risk of misinterpreting it. Having the Holy Spirit help us is a matter of us asking for his guidance and getting used to listening for his voice. It may take a little time, but it will happen if we are persistent in it.

I pray we all seek the truth of God’s Word. I pray we ask the Holy Spirit to help us interpret it. I pray each one of us will learn to listen for the Holy Spirit to speak to us and follow his guidance. Seek the truth. Read God’s Word. Ask the Holy Spirit for help. Know the Holy Spirit will help interpret. Follow his guidance.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.

Blameless Conduct

How is your daily conduct? Do you take your conduct seriously? How do you treat others? Do you treat them with respect? Is your conduct and treatment of others beyond reproach? Do you see others as Jesus sees them? Are you willing to change your conduct?

We all have our normal conduct. We have learned it over a lifetime. But we also adapt our conduct based on the situation. Our conduct is different with our family and friends than it is when we are attending a high society ball. But our conduct should be consistent.

When we were growing up, we were probably told to act a certain way when we are in church. While at school, we would also act a certain way. As we grow into our teens and early adulthood, we may change our conduct when with friends. We like to “let our hair down.” We may even allow ourselves to progress toward unacceptable behavior.

As the Apostle Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica, he reminds them that his and his companions conducted themselves well when serving them. He provides an example of how we all should act. His had pure thoughts while being with them. He was upright and honest with them, but also tactful and loving. There was nothing offensive in his behavior for it was blameless.

We can take on his approach when interacting with others. It will require a concerted effort to make a change. But that is one reason we were given the Holy Spirit. Paul imitated Jesus’ conduct. We can, too. To take on that type of conduct, we must ask God, through his Holy Spirit, to work within us and change our heart and attitude to change our conduct.

I pray we all decide to strive for blameless conduct. I pray we follow Paul’s example in how we treat others. I pray each one of us ask God to work in us to change our hearts and attitudes. Be willing to improve your conduct. Follow Paul’s example. Seek to be blameless. Ask God to effect the change.

1 Thessalonians 2:10 You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers.

Springs of Water

Are you need of refreshing? Do you feel as though you have been soaked, wrung out, and hung out to dry? Do you desire a fresh start? Are you looking for someone who can point you to a place of safety and comfort? Where are you looking? Are you looking to God?

Sometimes we get ourselves into a quagmire. Sometimes we are a hot mess. It may of our own doing that has put us where we are. It may be bad decisions by someone else. Honestly, it doesn’t matter. We are where we are, and we need to get to a better place.

There are more self-help books on bookshelves than we can shake a stick at. Some of them may actually provide good advice for our specific situation. But by and large, most of them are about preventative measures rather than renewal. They tell us how to do things better in life to prepare ourselves for when things go askew rather than giving us guidance on getting out of the gutter.

Do not misunderstand, the Bible does that too. The one thing the Bible does those self-help books won’t do is point us to an almighty God who loves us and cares for us. It points us to a God who performs miracles. Yes, still today. It helps us build our faith in the Creator of the universe. It shows who God is and what he is capable of.

Therefore, when we are in dire straits, we truly need to turn to God and rely on him. He is the one who can take our misfortune and turn it into a blessing. He can pick us up from our groveling in the dirt and lift us up on wings like eagles. Our part? Believe. Have faith. Trust in him. And…be patient. God is already at work.

I pray we all put our trust and faith in God. I pray we turn to him when we encounter misfortune. I pray each one of us will read God’s Word and build our faith in him. Believe in God. Turn to God. Put your faith in God. Be patient. Know God is working on your behalf.

Psalm 107:35

He turns a desert into pools of water, 

a parched land into springs of water.

Forever Love

Sometimes we need reassurance. We need to know someone is in our corner. We need to know we are loved and cared for. We need to know things will work out and good will come of it. We have a God who works all things to the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28).

What do we need to do to be in his love? Accept his Son as our Savior and love him back. That is the start of it. But just like loving our parents, our love grows as we grow, and we do more for them. This is the way our love for God must grow. As we mature as Christians, we get more involved.

Some will wander after they have become Christians. But just like the parable of the prodigal son, God will accept them back. Some will stumble along the way, but God will forgive them if they repent. Some stagger back and forth between paths of righteousness and paths of sinfulness. And every time they repent, God brings them back into the fold. That is just a small taste of the love God has for us.

Does God desire us to do well? Yes. Does he desire us to obey his commands? Yes. Does he want us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus? Yes. Does he know we are fallible humans and are incapable of being perfect? Yes. Therefore, because of his love for us and his intimate knowledge of us, he will forgive us and continue to love and care for us.

We should do the best we can. We should make the effort to obey God’s commands. We should follow Jesus. We should give God our heart, soul, and mind. But we can rest assured that God will welcome his back into his loving arms when we fail, and he will work it out for our good because he loves us.

I pray we all accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. I pray we love God with our heart, soul, and mind. I pray each one of us will our best to obey God’s commands and repent when we fail. Accept Jesus as your Savior. Obey God’s commands. Love God with your whole being. Repent when you fail. Know that God loves you forever.

Psalm 107:1

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; 

for his steadfast love endures forever.