HOPE PLANTED DEEP IN YOUR SOUL

Where is the seed of hope planted? In what warm moist soil does it germinate? All lasting hope must come from God. And He plants hope it in our hearts. But when does He plant it in the soil of our lives? A number of scripture passages deal with this question. One of my favorites is Romans 5. It begins with these words.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Has there been a specific time in your life when you repented of your sins and your false righteousness, and turned to Jesus Christ? If there has not been, it does not matter how good or nice you are, it does not matter how religious you are, you have no ultimate hope. But if you have turned to God by faith in Jesus Christ who died to remove the barrier between you and God, hope has been planted deep within you. Verse 2 of Romans 5 continues the thought.

“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

One of the evidences of being a new creation in Christ is rejoicing in His glory.

Our church has just begun going through The New City Catechism. And the introduction reminded me of the first question in the Westminster Catechism. “What is the chief end of man?” And the answer is “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

As we grow in Christ we come to rejoice in God's glory rather than our own. Speaking of His own ministry in John 7:18 Jesus said,

“The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.”

One of the signs that there is something wrong in your spiritual life is that you resent God getting all the glory. As God cleanses us of that selfish attitude, we come to realize that He shares His glory with us. It is also our Glory that He loves us and we belong to Him.

Much of what glorifies God through us is His transformation of our character. The next verses in Romans 5 read,

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”

When we suffer physically, emotionally, or spiritually, God is producing patient endurance in our lives.

James chapter 1 gives us a parallel passage to Romans 5. James tells us that the trying of our faith produces steadfastness. The trial of our faith can be spiritual, emotional, or physical. And the word translated “steadfastness” in James 1 is the same word that is translated “endurance” in Romans 5. The King James version translates the word patience in both places.

There is a humorous story about a woman coming up to D.L. Moody after one of his meetings asking him to pray for her to have patience. Moody agreed. He knelt and begin to pray out loud, “Lord give this woman tribulation.”

She shook him on the shoulder and stopped him and said, “No, no, I said I needed patience not tribulation.” And the great preacher turn to James chapter 1 and showed her where patience comes from in our lives.

However, I fear this woman, and most modern westerners, apply this truth in a very unbiblical way. The goal of our lives seems to be to avoid any pain, any trial, any problem. I have heard quite a number of people say, “Don't ever pray for patience, because it comes from suffering.” But that is exactly the opposite of what James and Paul are telling us. James begins that passage by saying,

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”

Is your primary goal in life to avoid pain? The Bible says we can rejoice in suffering because we know God is doing something special in our lives through difficulties.

Notice how Paul concludes this passage in Romans 5.

“Hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Sorrow of any kind will be bathed in the love of Jesus Christ for us. And Christ's love spills over onto others that we minister to. Of course our hope will not be disappointed in Heaven when we hear our Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But even now we will rejoice in the change of character God produces in us to minister to people He calls us to love in His name.

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HOPE WHEN YOUR HEART IS BREAKING

How do you exercise hope when you are grieving in the depth of your soul? In the 12th chapter of John Jesus showed us something about this spiritual discipline. Listen to His voice as his heart bleeds with sorrow in verses 27,28.

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

In this chapter Jesus and His disciples come to the ultimate clash of good and evil. The chapter begins with Mary Magdalene anointing Jesus’ feet with the costly perfume, and of course, Judas’ objection. Then came our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem with the multitudes shouting, “Hosanna!” Even some Greeks asked to see Jesus. But Jesus knew this was all leading to the ultimate sorrow of the cross. And He spoke the words, “Now is my heart troubled.” This heartache no doubt intensified as He went with His disciples to the garden to pray saying, “My heart is sorrowful even to death.”

Many of you have experienced deep sorrow in your life. If you have not, you will. While our heartaches are not as deep as our Lord's, we face sorrows that overwhelm our lives. In such times you will need a hope that is deeper than all that you are losing, a hope that goes beyond life and death. In His great sorrow Jesus gives us a glimpse of such a hope.

First He asks how He should respond. I'm not sure from the text whether He is praying or simply asking me how I think He should pray. Either way He asked if He should pray for God to save Him from the crisis. There is certainly a place for such prayers. That is how Jesus began praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. In Matthew 26:39 we read His prayer.

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.”

But of course, even here He prays in submission.

“Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

But there comes a point where God tells us that escaping the sorrow is not His will. And as difficult as it was, Jesus knew His sorrow was the purpose of God. He says, “For this purpose I have come to this hour.” We often cannot see the purpose of what we endure. Your grief may seem pointless to you. But God knows the purpose of your heartache.

Then Jesus gives us the right prayer in sorrow. “Father, glorify your name.” This is the goal for anyone who has been redeemed, for anyone whose life is being transformed, who has been brought from alienation to the embrace of God's love. If your goal is something less than that, your sorrow will only deepen.

God's hope reaches beyond the darkened corridors of death. In 2 Corinthians 1 Paul speaks of facing death.

“For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.”

The point of our lives and the heart of our prayers ought to be for God to be honored whether we succeed or fail, whether we live or die. Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians from jail, not knowing if he would be released or executed. And he encourages them with these words.

“It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.”

As Jesus prays God's glory in John 12, something spectacular happens. A voice comes from heaven, saying, “I have glorified it and I will glorify it again!”

Some of the people standing around Him said it must have thundered. Others said an angel spoke to him. But Jesus said that was not it at all. He said, “This voice was for you.” They were the ones who needed to know God's glory and judgment were at hand. As we learn to pray for God’s glory, He speaks to our hearts, assuring us of His glory and grace. And others around us will glimpse His glory as well.

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WHEN WERE YOU SAVED?

There are those who are convinced that our salvation was predetermined before the foundation of the universe. Incidentally, I believe that. There are scriptures that make it clear. (Eph.1:4 among them) However, to fully understand that, we need to think some things through.

In Matthew 11:20-24 Jesus denounced the cities who did not repent.

“Then He proceeded to denounce the towns where most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent: ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago! But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.’”

It is important to note that Jesus did not say, “When you saw those miracles you could not repent because you were not chosen.” This passage seems to indicate that they would be condemned in the judgment “because they did not repent.”

I recently saw the question on the Facebook, “What is Calvinism.” The answer given was Romans 8: 29,30.

“For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified he also glorified.”

l want to emphasize the word, “foreknew,” in these verses. A strong Calvinist might point out that the word “foreknew,” here refers to a previous relationship, rather than knowing your hair color or your name. However, while this certainly refers to more than the omniscience of God, it cannot mean less. God has always known every decision you will ever make, every thought you have ever thought or ever will think. And He has known everything about your character and destiny from before the foundation of the world. In Matthew 12:37 Jesus told us we would be acquitted or condemned by our words. He has known every word we have spoken or will speak.

Now, let me connect the parable Jesus told of the sower and the seed in Matthew 13. Let's read the first part of the passage First beginning with verse 3.

“Then He told them many things in parables, saying: “Consider the sower who went out to sow. As he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on rocky ground, where there wasn’t much soil, and they sprang up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep. But when the sun came up they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered. Others fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them. Still others fell on good ground and produced a crop: some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown. Anyone who has ears should listen!”

Before Jesus explains this parable, He tells His disciples why He speaks to the people in parables. And I think it is important for us to look at this explanation before we go on to the explanation of the parable.

“Then the disciples came up and asked Him, 'Why do You speak to them in parables?'

He answered them, 'Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. For this reason I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand. Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:

You will listen and listen,

yet never understand;

and you will look and look,

yet never perceive.

For this people’s heart has grown callous;

their ears are hard of hearing,

and they have shut their eyes;

otherwise they might see with their eyes

and hear with their ears,

understand with their hearts

and turn back—and I would cure them. 

“But your eyes are blessed because they do see, and your ears because they do hear! For I assure you: Many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see yet didn’t see them; to hear the things you hear yet didn’t hear them."

There are two things that I think are important to see about why Jesus spoke in parables, and why some people receive the word of God and others do not. First, hearing and understanding the word about the kingdom of heaven is a gift. Verse 16 clearly says, “Your eyes are blessed because they do see, and your ears because they do hear.”

But there is some personal responsibility in this truth. In verse 13 Jesus says He spoke to them in parables so they would not understand. But the reason he gives for their not understanding, from the prophecy of Isaiah, is that they won't understand what they have been told. And He seems to be saying, “If I made this clear enough, even these people who reject Me would come to understand and I would cure them.”

Recently, someone approached me on Facebook, asking if it was fair to say my position was that some people will receive Christ because they are righteous. I answered, “No, my position is that the matter is complex.”

There are two points upon which I strongly disagree with this notion. The first is the concept of righteousness here. To say that some of us are righteous because we admit we are not righteous and need a Savior, is strange indeed. The only possible way you could say that, was if righteousness were comparative. Is someone righteous because someone else is worse? The only One we can compare our righteousness to is Jesus. None of us come close to His holy standard.

My second concern, is that this answer is more simplistic than what Jesus gives us. I do not know how many kinds of barriers may stand between a person and the grace of God. I do not know that we have anything to do with some of them. For instance, I was born in a place, and into a family where I would hear the gospel all my life. To be honest, I really didn't understand it in my younger years. And I certainly cannot explain why God put up with my hard-headedness as long as He did. But God put me in the place of hearing His word. I did not choose where I would be born. If you are concerned about the fairness of salvation, how was my privilege fair? I too believe God is absolutely just. And that will be demonstrated in the end. (Eph.3:10) But for now it is complex. What other barriers might there be to someone's being chosen by God? This is far more information than God has given us.

So we finally come to the parable itself. Let me point out a few crucial things that explain why some of us come to Christ, and some of us do not.

“You, then, listen to the parable of the sower: Whenever anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path. And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 

Yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived. When pressure or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the seduction of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does bear fruit and yields: some 100, some 60, some, 30 times what was sown.”

Matthew 13:18-23

I will briefly enumerate what I have to say about these verses.

1. First, this is a matter of spiritual warfare. The devil snatches the gospel away from those who hear but do not understand. And while I do not know all that is involved in his taking hearts captive to do his will, I know that it is the right thing to pray.
2. The second matter is understanding. Even as a believer, I must cry out to God for spiritual understanding. And then I must explain truth, faith, the gospel, and other things that release spiritual power in the lives of people. 
3. The third is a matter of a divided heart. When my heart is filled with the cares of this world and the seduction of wealth, the whole purpose of my conversion maybe lost. What is the purpose of the Kingdom of Heaven? I do believe you can get insight on who is really saved from this parable. But Jesus does not present that as the point. The kingdom of heaven was not come to mankind so we can abandoned Earth to the judgment of God. The kingdom was brought to Earth so that our transformed lives might bear fruit, establishing a stronghold of the kingdom of heaven in this world.

Now, I have written this so people will think these matters through. I think that is important whether you agree with me or not. I am aware this has become a painful issue. And there seem to be 3 faulty positions on this issue. At this point I do not wish to give arguments for why I think these positions are faulty. I would simply like you to think about them.

Some of you will label me as a hide-bound Calvinist, and write me off as a heretic. More of you may think this theology is too complex to understand or worry about. And some of you will call me an Armenian. You at least need to know that is not necessarily accurate. Armenian beliefs are fairly specific. And it often seems to me that people are excluded from the fold by what I would label, extra-calvinisticum. George Whitefield and John Wesley disagreed over these issues. But at the funeral of Wesley, Whitfield recognized the Holiness of his brother in Christ.

I love the poem by Edwin Markham that Charles Swindoll has slightly rearranged in his sermons.

“Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout

He drew a circle that left me out.

But love and I had the wit to win:

We drew a circle and left him In!”

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A VACANT GENTERATION

In Luke chapter 11 Jesus told us what happens when a demonic spirit is driven out, possibly by a crisis and human effort, maybe even a well meant intervention of friends, but the demon is not replaced by the power of God through the indwelling Holy Spirit. The end of that person will be worse than it was to start with.

I wonder if Jesus told this on a number of occasions throughout his ministry. Because in Matthew chapter 12, probably on a different occasion, Jesus used this story as a parable to demonstrate something on a grander scale. Look at these verses and especially at the application from the context that is given in Matthew 12:45, the final verse of the passage.

“When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it roams through waterless places looking for rest but doesn’t find any. Then it says, ‘I’ll go back to my house that I came from.’ And returning, it finds the house vacant, swept, and put in order. Then off it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that man’s last condition is worse than the first. That’s how it will also be with this evil generation.”

Matthew 12:43-45

Here Jesus is explaining not simply what happens to a person, but what happens to an entire generation that turns over a new leaf without the power of God. We too are living in a generation in which God's presence, purpose, and power are vacant from our culture.

I have written lately of my concern about the press in our generation toward not wanting to live if life were no longer comfortable or diverting.* I believe this is evidence that the purpose even of many who profess Christ in this generation is ease and pleasure. 

I said I wanted to write as long as possible. And when I could no longer write, I could still pray for people whom God brings into my life. I believe this is God's purpose for me. This is good, and I hope it is the plan of God for me. But this misses a more important truth. The fuller purpose of my life is the glory of God. 

I begin my morning devotional each day with John 12:27,28 where Jesus was troubled as He looked ahead to the agony and indignity of death on a cross and separation from His Heavenly Father.

"Now is my heart troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."

John 12:27,28 

In relation to these verses I have written out the simple prayer, “Father, I pray that Your Name may be glorified through my life.” The things that I mentioned may bring Him glory. But He can still be glorified if I am unconscious, without dignity, feeble minded, or in too much pain to write or even pray beyond crying out to God to release me! At least in the final stanza of His glory everyone will see how He wove even this together for His glory and my good in the entire tapestry of my life.

But I grieve for what is yet to come upon our generation where God's glory and purpose are vacant. The final state of our generation, will be much worse even that it is today.

*(You can see some of what I have written on this concern by scrolling down to Facing Death With Hope, in this blog, The Anchor of The Soul, http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/ )

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WATCH AND PRAY

Have you ever seen a medieval castle? Have you noticed the broken lines at the tops of the walls? A rook or castle on a Chessboard has the same cuts.
I suspect you could guess what those were if you didn't already know. They were essential to the defense of a castle. Those slots were the lookouts for soldiers on watch.

On several occasions Scripture tells us to watch and pray. Have you thought about what God is saying to you in those passages? Let's look at those Scriptures and allow God to speak to our hearts through them. The first of them that comes to my mind is when Jesus was praying with His disciples in the garden before the cross. He prayed earnestly that that cup might pass from Him. And yet He surrendered His heart to the will of God. Then He looked and saw that Peter, James, and John were asleep. He was amazed that they could not watch with Him for one hour. And in Matthew 26:41 Jesus commands us.

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
The word translated, “watch” here is also used for soldiers, or possibly shepherds, keeping the watches of the night. On that very night while they were in the garden soldiers would come to arrest Jesus. This would be the most severe trial that the disciples would ever face. Earlier Jesus had told them they would all abandon Him. Peter and the rest swore they would never leave Him even if they had to die with Him. Their spirits were willing but their flesh was weak.

You might say they should have known this trial was coming. Jesus had told them over and over again. And it didn't take any great genius to see that the High Priests had determined to kill Him.

And it it should not surprise you that you are going to face trials and temptations. Peter himself warns us that we are going to be tried. In 1 Peter 4:12 he wrote,

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”

Like soldiers on guard duty we are told to watch and pray for spiritual strength and protection.

The next place we are told to watch and pray is in Luke 21 where Jesus warns us about the trials that will come in the last days. In Luke 21:36 Jesus gives us this same command.

“Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

It seems to me that many of these things are already coming upon us. I am crying out to God for a great prayer movement. We need to be on guard, and pray as we have never prayed before. These things could be seen to begin when the Roman General, Titus, led his army to destroy the city of Jerusalem. As Jesus predicted, not one stone of the beautiful temple was left upon another. 2 Timothy 3:1 and other Scriptures warn us that there will be terrible times in these last days. Will we be on guard as these things come about? How seriously will we watch and pray?

We are also to watch for our hope in God during difficult times. He has made very great and precious promises to us even for the worst of times.

Another place where we are called to watch and pray is much more positive. Colossians 4:2 says,

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

We not only need to watch for spiritual attack that will come. But I am afraid we are not alert enough to see God at work around us. There is great encouragement and joy in seeing the hand of God and thanking Him for working in our lives.

Finally, we need to watch and pray for others in our families and in the church where God has stationed us. Ephesians 6:18 commands us.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

In 1 Samuel 12:23 Samuel said he would be sinning against the Lord if he failed to pray for the people of Israel. Are you alert to pray for those God has commissioned you to pray for?

We need to see watching as motivation and preparation for prayer. But all four of these passages see watching as integral to prayer. As we spend extended time in prayer God shows us more and more of what we will face and what He is doing and preparing to do all around us.


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A LETTER FROM GOD

I am not sure we fully appreciate the value of communication in these days. We live very near the old American Pony Express route. For a year and a half in the mid nineteenth century, until the telegraph service finally crossed the continent, riders carried the mail on fast horses from station to station from Colorado and points east to California. That was an expensive and often dangerous undertaking all for the sake of mail service.

We live a little over ten miles from the little town where snowshoe Thompson lived. In the same era as the Pony Express Thompson carried mail on 10 foot skis across the high Sierras from Mormon station to Placerville California.



Of course, most of us in America receive far more mail than we would like. Much of it is what we call junk mail. But letters from important people or people we love are still precious. I love the story of Kathy Keller, Tim Keller's wife, receiving several letters from C.S. Lewis when she wrote him as a 12 year old girl. They were actually written within weeks of Lewis’ death.

But no letter would be as valuable to any of us as direct communication from God. That is what we have in the 29th chapter of Jeremiah. Jeremiah sends a letter to the exiles who had been carried off to Babylon. And in that letter he gives them and us direct communication from God himself. This is not unlike the letters from Jesus to the seven churches in Asia Minor at the beginning of The Revelation.

Many of us are familiar with Jeremiah 29:11.

“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

I recently heard someone say that our putting this verse on t-shirts and greeting cards, and applying it directly to our lives is a misuse of scripture. The person said you could only apply this to your life if you were in fact one of the Israelites exiled to Babylon in the 6th century before Christ. I believe that is a mistake. We have this letter in Scripture because God speaks to us from it. And this letter reveals important things about the character of God, and how he deals in our lives today.

GOD'S PLANS

First God declares in this passage that He has plans for you. I need to be honest here. I am not very good at making plans. I am always cynical about my ability to know what will happen in the future. But I understand that meaning in life comes from purpose. And God gives us assurance here that He has a plan. God assures the Israelites in exile that they are not simply in the hands of blind fate. And even though it may look to us like God does not know what He is doing, He knows. This brings to my mind His promise in Romans 8:28.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

This verse does not say everything will be good in our lives. That was certainly not true for the children of Israel under judgment. But God was assuring the people that He was going to work even this evil, even this hardship, for good in their lives.

The Children of Israel were deported to Babylon because they had rejected God. But God still had plans for them. Someone recently asked me if I believed in the perfect and permissive will of God. He told me he had not done something that he was convinced was the will of God. And he felt he could no longer have God's best for his life.

I said I didn't think that was a good or biblical way of looking at the will of God. I would rather say the will of God is dynamic. He has a specific will for you no matter what happened in your past. A good example of this is found in 1John 1:9.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

So, suppose I sin. That is completely out of the will of God, is it not? Now, what is God's will for me? God's specific will for me is to confess that sin to Him. You have already strayed in significant ways from the will of God. But He still has a specific will for your life. His will may not be easy. But it is perfect for you.

GOD'S KNOWLEDGE
It was very difficult for the people of Israel to see any good in their captivity in Babylon. And it is sometimes impossible for us to see good in our immediate situation in life. But God is saying to them and to us, “I know.” You and I cannot know what the future holds. But God knows; and we can trust Him.

GOD'S GOODNESS
In Jeremiah 29:11 the NIV says God has plans to “prosper” us. The ESV says plans for our “welfare.” The Hebrew word here is Shalom. The foundation of the word shalom is peace. But it is used in the Old Testament for a much broader concept than simply the absence of war. It refers back to the time of prosperity particularly under the reign of David and Solomon. Of course God's peace begins with a right relationship with God. God is saying His plans for you begin with your getting right with Him. And Shalom has to refer more to spiritual welfare then it does material prosperity.

And God says His plans are not to harm you. Now here the Hebrew word for harm is the word for evil. It is the same word that is used in the garden of Eden for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God's purpose in His judgment of the children of Israel was not their final destruction, but repentance.

GOD'S LOVE
The blessing of God is primarily relational. God's nature and his purpose for us is wound up in His infinite love. God desires a relationship with you. The very next verses in Jeremiah 29 read,

“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

GOD'S HOPE
In this letter God and Jeremiah tell the people to settle down where they are and live in Hope. There is a theology that is often being applied in our day which simply says wouldn't it be wonderful if the Lord would come back today and this world would burn. But God is saying, “Don't give up. Keep on serving Me. You have hope.” This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 15:58 which God has often used to encourage my soul.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

GOD'S FUTURE
I am in an unusual place in life. I have terminal cancer. And I need to say, nothing in my life has helped me get a grip on the future as much as my cancer. I am able to see significance in every moment of my life.

I see relationships in a new light as my time on this Earth is shortened. That is not to say that I am always kind or patient with people. I am certainly tempted not to be kind. But I hunger to love them with Christ's love. And I pray for God to do things in their lives that I could never accomplish.

Prayer itself has become much more important to me. My cancer brings me to Exodus 33 where Moses cried out to see the glory of God. And I am convinced that God will use my prayers to touch the lives of those around me.

And I still need to minister. I need to pour myself into God's purpose. I am thankful that He allows, has even called me to write. And I think it is important to see that whatever ministry God calls you to will make life more meaningful.

All of these things relate to the future. Those of us who believe in Jesus have eternal life. And life beyond this life will be a continuation, even an expansion of the purpose and fellowship that He lavishes on us on Earth. That hope makes everything more meaningful now and forever.


http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/ 

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

Website

http://daveswatch.com/

YouTube

https://goo.gl/PyzU

WHY ME?

Have you ever asked, “Why me?” when you faced pain or heartache? How can a church or a church leader minister to hurting people who are asking the question, “Why?”

Let me propose three crucial facets of ministry to people who might ask this question in the midst of hardship. We must deal with this issue by teaching, love, and encouragement.

Teaching is foundational to ministry in such situations. The question itself can be prompted by bad theology. Many of us living in sheltered and affluent societies have the notion that if you are a Christian, or possibly a good person, God will not allow terrible things to happen in your life. This is a false doctrine. You will not find it anywhere in Scripture. I believe it is legitimate to ask God that you not be led into the temptation that comes in trials. But in John 16:33 Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation.” Your people need to know that God has not promised them the American dream. The purpose of life is not comfort or pleasure.

However, it is important to note that you need to teach these things before your people come into heartache. The parents of a teenager killed in a car accident don't need your teaching in the crisis. They need God's love through you and through your church. Sometimes the less you say in a tragic situation the more God's love can be poured out through you and your presence with them. It is more important to pray with them than it is to teach them. They need your prayers and the prayers of the whole church family to endure the trial.

Even in trials you can encourage people to pray, to seek God, and to see that He is at work in the situation. And you can encourage them to seek God's glory in the midst of crises. There is an answer to the question, “Why.” It is actually the same answer to the question of why God blesses us. The purpose of heartache and blessing is to glorify His name. One of the ways God will be glorified through trials is by the character that He develops in you. You can encourage people to trust that God is working in their lives. James 2 calls us to rejoice when we fall into many kinds of trials, because we know that tribulation develops patient endurance. James goes on to say we must let endurance produce its perfect work in our lives. In Romans 5 we find the same promise. There Scripture tells us that endurance develops character. And character produces hope. And hope does not disappoint because the love of God is poured out on others through our lives. 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 speaks to this.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

So, let patience have her perfect work

Of character and hope in and through our lives.

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/


Website

http://daveswatch.com/


YouTube

https://goo.gl/PyzUz7