Faith, Hope and Love (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

“When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:11-13 NLT

We continue to look at the three eternal qualities that will surpass the spiritual gifts that Paul has been writing about in 1 Corinthians 12. Yesterday, we briefly considered the first, faith. Today, we move on to consider the quality of hope, something that is misunderstood in today’s secular society. We may start a holiday with the thought, “I hope it won’t rain at the beach”, or we might walk into the exam hall with the thought, “I hope that I pass this exam”. There is a rather depressing verse in Ecclesiastes, “It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway” (Ecclesiastes 9:3). The author of this Book, traditionally thought to be King Solomon, was referring, I think, to people who had no eternal God-perspective in their lives and, like lemmings, they were rushing on to a sure death and eternal misery. But Solomon quite correctly went on to say that hope is only for the living, and it is through our lives that we are able to live a life of hope. In Hebrews 11:1 we read, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see”.

The Biblical view of hope is defined as being without doubt. Our examples above imply that it might rain or we might fail the exam, building in an element of doubt, but hope lived out God’s way does not doubt because it is underpinned by faith. Worldly hope is just a shadow of what our hope in God really means. In Psalm 16:8-9, we read verses that are permeated with a Biblical hope, “I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety”. There is an assurance contained within these verses that is unshakeable and an eternal statement of hope. So what is it that we hope for?

“I do believe, but help me
overcome my unbelief!”

We pilgrims hope in God for eternal life, including forgiveness of our sins and being with God forever. This hope also includes the future resurrection of the dead, being transformed into the likeness of Christ, and the ultimate redemption of both believers and all of creation. We also hope for strength, guidance, and completion in our spiritual journey through the Holy Spirit’s power to live a life that honours God. There is no room for doubt with such a hope, and we pray the same prayer as the father of the evil-spirit-possessed boy did, “ … I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). Therefore, biblical hope is a confident expectation or assurance based upon a sure foundation for which we wait with joy and full confidence. In other words, “There is no doubt about it!”

The third eternal quality from the last verse of 1 Corinthians 13 concerns love. This is something that we considered a few days ago, and Paul reminds the Corinthians believers that this is the greatest of the three eternal qualities. So in conclusion, we read the last verse in 1 Corinthians 13, with the knowledge that “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love”. Of course, we desire the spiritual gifts because God has provided them for us, to build up, encourage, and serve the community of believers, known as the body of Christ, for the common good and God’s glory. But underpinning them all are the qualities of faith, hope and love, and particularly love. Without them, the spiritual gifts will not be of any use.

Dear Lord, we love You, praise You and worship You today. Please forgive us for the times when we have failed to love others. Amen.

Faith, Hope and Love (1)

Posted on by korgrocker

“When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:11-13 NLT

In the context of the verses we are considering today, we find that love is the essential quality required to enable the spiritual gifts to function. Paul started 1 Corinthians 13 with the thought that no matter how effective a person was in their Holy Spirit gifting, unless they loved others, anything they did, even in God’s name, would be ineffective and pointless. Love of others, true agape love, is the foundation upon which the spiritual gifts are able to function. It is the “glue” that binds believers together and enables God to bring Heaven into our earthly lives. But take away love and the whole Christian faith becomes pointless, indeed no more than a clanging bell peeling from a church tower on a Sunday morning, calling the believers to an empty void in a loveless building. There will come a day, Paul reminded the Corinthians, when the spiritual gifts they enjoyed so much would no longer be required, because once in Heaven there would be no need for them. In Heaven will be found Perfection, and Jesus Himself would eclipse any partial or incomplete experiences of the gifts. Sadly, there are some who believe the Perfect has already come in the form of the Bible, God’s Word, but how can that be possible? There is only One who is Perfect, and He is Jesus Himself. A man-made object, the Bible, even if it contains writings produced under the influence of the Holy Spirit, can never be totally perfect because it, too, only reflects God’s message in a way that is sometimes puzzling and dark. 

Faith, Hope, and Love

There are three eternal qualities that will last forever, even surviving the journey across the Great Divide, death itself. They are faith, hope and love, Paul wrote, and although essential to us pilgrims, they are qualities despised and ridiculed by the secular people around us, who have been prevented from seeing the truth that emanates from Jesus Himself. The devil hates these three qualities, and he will do everything he can to destroy and disrupt, because he knows that once a believer applies them in their lives, he has lost them forever. 

Faith we know everything about, because it is through faith that we have become believers. “A biblical definition of faith reaches beyond mere belief—the simple acknowledgement that God exists—into the realm of trust. Genuine faith involves abandoning all human reliance on self-efforts and placing total dependence upon God’s character, His actions, and His promises, as revealed in His Word” (quote from Gotquestions.org). We all know the verse in Hebrews 11:6, “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him”. We pilgrims have that faith, I know, because we are believers in Jesus, who died in our place as a punishment for our sins. How can we ever thank Him for that? But our faith extends further as we apply God’s promises in our lives. This world will throw us many situations that threaten to overwhelm us, but through our faith in God, we are overcomers, applying it and affirming that He is who He said He is. 

Dear Father God. Many will ridicule and even attempt to turn us away from You, but we thank You that through Jesus, we have the strength and determination to be overcomers and stay faithful to You. We declare that we have the faith we need to know that You are who You say You are, and we stand on that foundation today and every day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hope in God

Posted on by korgrocker

“Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.”
Psalm 25:4-5 NLT

A humble prayer from David, as he asks God to teach him, to lead him, and save him. He then finishes verse 5 with the statement “All day long I put my hope in you”. There is no better focus for our God, as I’m sure we agree, but human beings are notorious for hoping and trusting in other things and in other ways. But that hasn’t changed since the days of Adam. Psalm 20:7, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God”. “Hope” and “trust” go hand in hand in life. We hope in God for our future, and we trust Him to lead us in His ways.

But before we get ahead of ourselves, we must think about how worldly people understand hope. They use it in contexts such as, “I hope I don’t get Covid”, or “I hope it doesn’t rain on my birthday”. There is an element of doubt in such a definition of hope. A response to the question, “will you go to Heaven when you die” is “I hope so”, again demonstrating that they have doubts, though not strong enough to make them do anything about it. 

The whole concept of “hope” comes about because we cannot see what will happen in the future. That introduces another word – “faith”. Hebrew’s 11:1, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”. What do we pilgrims hope for? There will be many things, depending on our stages in life. We hope for the right job, house, partner, and so on. But one thing we all will agree on is our hope in God for our eternal home. And we can see the extraordinary experiences believers have gone through because within them was the hope of a better life ahead. Biblical hope is different from the hope that the world understands. Biblical hope carries with it a surety that what is hoped for, aligned as it is to God’s Word, is definitely going to happen. We might not see it taking place, but we have faith that whatever it is will come about. Jeremiah wrote, “For 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” (Jeremiah 29:11). That’s a great promise of God, and one we must believe for our lives and those of our loved ones. 

We pilgrims have a firm and unshakeable hope in the future, and we share it with those around us. 1 Peter 3:15, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”. Do we have our answers ready? Are we a people who are living out God’s truth in our lives, so that others can see it? Are we beacons set on a hill, for all to be illuminated by, standing out from the crowd around us? On Easter Sunday this year I met a dog walker and the conversation came around to what she referred to as the terrible state of the world. She was scared about the wars and threats of war. Of the politicians and their messages of gloom. a poor woman with nowhere to turn to where she could find hope for her future and her family’s. But I shared about Jesus and his resurrection, that through Him we have hope for the future. She admitted that she was an atheist and hurried off, but hopefully I was able to plant a seed of hope. The Holy Spirit I’m sure will water and nurture the good seed of the Gospel planted in that lady’s life that day.

We pilgrims really need to understand the meaning of God’s “hope” and apply it to our lives. We mustn’t be like the house wife in Wales who prayed, when she went to bed, that the coal slag heap behind her house would be cast into the sea, hoping that God would answer her prayer with a much better view when she woke up. On opening her curtains the next morning, the slag heap was still there, her hopes dashed. Her comment was that she knew that her prayer wouldn’t work anyway. When we hope for something we must have faith that the God of hope will answer our prayer.

Paul wrote, “ … We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)” (Romans 8:23b-25). We hope and we wait in faith for our hope to be realised.

Father God, in difficult times it is easy to lose hope and faith in You. Father, we admit that we have lost sight of You. In this prayer for hope, Lord, we ask that Your Holy Spirit reignites within us the hope and faith in You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Praise the Lord!

Posted on by korgrocker

“I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvellous things you have done. I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.”
Psalm 9:1-2 NLT

Another Davidic Psalm from the Bible’s song and prayer book. These two verses contain words such as “praise”, “tell”, “filled”, “joy”, and “sing”. These are all words that are not very common in the secular society around us. Unbelievers won’t experience the joy of being able to praise God. They won’t appreciate the “marvellous things” God has done. They won’t be making their ways to work this morning humming a hymn tune or singing His praises in their hearts. I can remember some years ago walking through an underpass under the River Thames in London and many people were hurrying the other way, heading for work. I was struck by the tight and drawn look on the faces of most of them. No joy visible. No lightness and freedom present. The best efforts of a busker largely ignored. Just people existing in a Godless environment, shackled to a secular world where there is no God worthy of praises, able to fill them with joy. 

In 1 Kings 8:23, Solomon starts his prayer of dedication with, “ … O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven above or on the earth below. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion”. The Psalmists were scathing about those who denied the existence of God. Psalm 52:1, “Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!” It is so sad that all those people who do not know God, who have not ever experienced the joy of salvation, who have never seen the marvellous works created by God, and who have no song of praise to sing, just exist without hope, heading for a lost eternity.

At the start of this day, we pause and step through the door into another Kingdom, where we find God in all His glory. Where we focus on praising Him. Where we feel His joy filling our hearts. Where we feel His touch and His Spirit bringing reassurance and guidance for the day ahead. And as our time with Him draws to an end, we step back into our monochrome world but bringing the colour of knowing God into the dark places of hopeless souls. People with no hope who are desperate to hear some Good News. Where the “marvellous things” of God will be able to penetrate their hardened hearts. In the Old Testament we read about Moses having to wear a veil, because His face radiated the glory of God. “When Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, he wasn’t aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the Lord. … But whenever he went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with the Lord, he would remove the veil until he came out again. Then he would give the people whatever instructions the Lord had given him, and the people of Israel would see the radiant glow of his face. So he would put the veil over his face until he returned to speak with the Lord” (Exodus 34:29, 34-35). As we pilgrims emerge from our time with God, do we have radiant faces. Are we glowing with the presence of the Lord? Perhaps those around us will see God in us, in our faces, and will feel within themselves something lighten up. And they might even ask us why. Why are we so joyful when circumstances dictate otherwise? We have an answer to that question, in the person of Jesus. Only He has the words of eternal life. Only He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. And we pilgrims, shining like beacons in a dark and dismal world, can introduce the hopeless and depressed around us to our wonderful Saviour.

Dear Lord Jesus. We praise and worship You, the Giver of life to the lifeless, the Giver of hope to the hopeless, and the Giver of salvation to all who come to You in faith and repentance. Thank You. Amen.

If Only (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.””
John 11:30-32 NLT

Poignantly, Mary said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” “If only” implies a regret, that, with the benefit of hindsight, something could have been different and better. Mary only had the faith to consider Jesus as the healer, but the resurrector? The thought that Jesus could raise the dead had probably never occurred to her. 

Often, we look at the past with rose-tinted glasses, picking out the good bits but conveniently ignoring the not so good. But our lives are full of seasons and a new season awaits us. But do we allow our futures to be dictated to by our past? Paul wrote in Philippians 3:13-14, “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us“. We pilgrims look forward towards the light, and not backwards to a life of sin. We remember what happened to Lot’s wife, who had second thoughts about leaving Sodom and looked back with regrets about what the old life had for her. Genesis 19:26, “But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt.”

There are many congregations that have become stuck in a previous move of God. But instead of following God, as the Israelite slaves did in the wilderness, looking out for the signs that it was time to break camp and move onto the next campsite, they stay where they are, following a liturgy and routine that doesn’t connect with God anymore. In the wilderness, the slaves had no option other than to break camp because to refuse to move would quickly lead to their demise from lack of food and water. The provision of manna followed God, and would have disappeared into the distance behind the pillars of fire and smoke, leaving any stragglers without the means of life. The manna today comes through the blessings of the Holy Spirit and, sadly, many churches find themselves in a place where the Holy Spirit has moved on. As someone once asked, if the Holy Spirit left our church would we know any difference? Hmmm…

The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me” (Jeremiah 29:11-13). The antidote to “if-only” syndrome is to wholeheartedly look for, and follow, God. It is never too late to turn our backs on our past and resolve to look for the future. The thief on the cross had a life full of regrets. Full of “if-only’s”. But in his dying breaths he looked forward and reached out to Jesus who, in His compassion, saw right into the thief’s heart, finding repentance there, and granting him the gift of eternal life. 

Are we pilgrims looking forward or back? Are we full of regrets or are we believing what Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:20, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think“? ‭‭There are exciting opportunities ahead of us because we follow an infinite God who will never fail to surprise us – if we let Him. As the old song goes, “I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back“. 

Dear Father God. We indeed commit ourselves wholeheartedly to You. As the Apostle Peter said, “ … Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life”. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

Our Hope

Posted on by korgrocker

“But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.”
1 Peter 3:14-15 NLT

If the average person in the street was asked what they hoped for, I would expect a whole raft of responses. Perhaps someone might say they hoped to get married, or get a new home. A new job or promotion. I met a man recently who has never worked and, now in his forties, with a life blighted by alcoholism, he confessed that he would really like to get a job, though sadly for him, a hope never likely to be realised unless he can turn his back on his addiction. There may be flippant or unimportant responses, such as a hope for a nice day tomorrow, or for a white Christmas. Perhaps our person in the street, driven by tv advertising, is hoping to buy a new pair of designer trainers or afford a new phone. A materialistic hope would perhaps be commonplace. People generally have “hopes” in their lives, but what would they say if they were asked about any hopes they might have for the time after they die? Most unbelievers wouldn’t waste much time in thinking about such a “hope” because they would prefer to put their heads in the sand and hope it will never happen. A fear of dying is commonplace, though someone I once knew said he wasn’t at all afraid of death – he just didn’t want to be involved. But a hope for a post-death future is mostly only talked about amongst believers.

A worldly “hope” is nothing like the hope Peter is writing about in his letter. Peter referred to the “hope as a believer”. Is this different? There are many Scriptures that refer to “hope”. The go to New Testament verse is Hebrews 11:1, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see“. A believer’s “hope” involves faith in God, that what He has said will come to pass. And as we go on to read the rest of Hebrews 11 we see examples of men and women who have died full of faith in God, though failing to fully realise their hope. The fruition of their hope came with Jesus.

God says much in the Bible about who we are and what our future will be. Through faith we believe that what He has said is right and true. There is no room for doubts about God’s Word. The believer’s “hope” is therefore much more than what the world understands from the word. Our hope is based on the certainty that what God has said He will bring to pass. The believer’s hope is of course too good to keep to ourselves. We must share it with the sad and dying world around us. We are, or should be, full of joy, part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And others around us will see that joy and take note. We read in Acts 4:13, “The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus“. Do those people around us recognise that we too have spent time with Jesus? Some cynic once asked the question – if we are arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict us? No doubt about that with Peter and John before the Sanhedrin. With the hope that we possess, oozing out of our every pore, there should be no doubt with us either. To us pilgrims, our hope is a reality. We use the word “hope” because the evidence of our faith hasn’t happened yet. But the reality isn’t far away. Eternal life spent with God is coming closer with every clock tick. And then we will become “knowers” not “hopers”.

Dear Lord Jesus. We know that You are preparing a place for us to live with You. From what You said to the adjacent thief at Calvary, we know that it will be Paradise. We look forward to the coming day, where we will join You, the Living Hope. Amen.

The Resurrection

Posted on by korgrocker

“Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.”
1 Peter 1:21 NLT

The verse today amplifies a connection between God and man through God’s Son, Jesus. Before Jesus the gulf was too large, as we can see by reading the Old Testament scriptures. The Jews never seemed quite sure about the relationship and ended up by trying to make it rule based, a disaster that spawned people such as the Pharisees. Their attitude to following the rules to the exclusion of all else inspired Jesus to call them out, such as we read in Luke 11:42, “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things”. 

But when Jesus came He ushered in a new order. In Matthew 5:17,20 we read, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. … But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven”! The Old Testament rules and laws were intended to bring righteousness to mankind – if they were followed. God knew that, on their own, even His own chosen people could never become righteous and worthy enough to enter His presence by following a set of rules. 

In his Ephesian letter, Paul wrote, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure” (Ephesians 1:4-5). Through Jesus, and our belief in Him, we have the opportunity to achieve what following a set of rules couldn’t. 

Peter wrote that it was through Christ that we can now trust God, and have faith and hope in Him. The rules could never replace the relationship. Jesus came to this earth, becoming the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. And in the process he conquered death by returning to life on that first Easter Sunday. Suddenly, we have nothing more to fear from life’s final enemy, death. Jesus came to this earth as a man, and showed the way back to God, bringing hope to a hopeless world. God loved us so much, so what else can we do but respond to that love and be obedient and play our part in His plan for our salvation. The resurrection of Jesus was the one single event that has changed the course of history. Without the risen Christ there is no faith and hope. But because of the defeat of death, we pilgrims now have a hope for eternity. 

Of course, the sceptics will demand evidence. But that is where faith comes in. That Jesus lived on this planet is evidence based. He was really here. And His sinless life was recorded for posterity by a few faithful men who lived with Him. One of them, John, wrote, “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son” (John 1:14). And in the previous verses John wrote, “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God” (John 1:12-13).

Peter wrote that we can find faith and hope in God because Jesus rose from the dead. And He is now deserving of all the thanks and glory. The greeting “He is risen” is not just for Easter Sunday. It is a reality we can embrace each day of our lives.

Dear Lord Jesus. We thank You for Your ultimate sacrifice at Calvary, and that wonderful event when You returned from the grave. You are alive today and forever. Amen.

Paul’s Prayer

Posted on by korgrocker

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13 NLT

The word “hope” appears twice in this verse, and it points out that the hope Paul is writing about is something that comes from God. So it isn’t a natural hope, like “I hope it doesn’t rain today” or “I hope we have a good holiday”. Paul continues to pray in the next sentence that this “hope” is something full of confidence and powered by the Holy Spirit. And the consequence of this “hope” is a complete infilling with two qualities enjoyed by Christians – “joy and peace”. Perhaps when we consider this verse we are looking for a meaning to the word “hope” that is different from the world view.

As we look into other parts of the Bible we see that “hope” is a word often associated with “faith”. We read Hebrews 11:1 from the Amplified version, “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]” (emphasis mine). It’s the fact that a Christian’s “hope” is “divinely guaranteed” that is exciting. We believe through faith that the promises of God will come to pass. We “trust in Him”, as Paul wrote.

What God-given promise is most likely to fill us with “joy and peace”? A “hope” that God has guaranteed? There are many such hopes written in the Bible, but where else can we initially turn to other than to John 3:16? We read, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. The promise is that one day we will “have everlasting life”. Eternal life. Endless life spent in God’s presence. In Revelation 21:3-4, we receive a hint of what this future life will be like. “I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” “Death or sorrow or crying or pain” just about sums up every negative human emotion and experience and we “hope” that one day God will deliver the promise to do away with them “forever”. And, poignantly, God will personally be involved with each one of us, wiping away our tears.

In the meantime, we have a “hope” in this life. Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope“. As we journey through the years remaining in our natural lives, God reminds us that He has good plans for us. He sees our years laid out before us, and He knows what’s coming our way. Perhaps some people view this as a negative. Weary people populating a pew and waiting for the day when they cross the Great Divide and enter eternal life. But God has so much more for us in this life. Exciting things. Things that are the manifestation of our hope in Him. And Paul’s prayer was that we would experience “joy and peace” as we “trust in Him”. What a prayer! But what a Saviour!

Dear Lord. Thank You for showing a world without hope that there is a future. We are a part of Your plans, and so we declare our trust in You with our future, in this life and the next. Amen.

Hope and Encouragement

Posted on by korgrocker

“For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, “The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.” Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
Romans 15:3-4 NLT

How do we wake up in the morning? Depressed because there is another day, with all its hassles, that we have to face into? Or raring to go, full of energy and vigour, more than willing to take on anything the day ahead can throw at us? Too many of us will probably fall into the first category, dragging ourselves out of bed in obedience to the alarm clock or a strident voice echoing up the stairs. A parent once told me of an infallible way they used to get their reluctant teenagers out of bed in the morning. It was a variation of the cold wet flannel. Instead they used to threaten a teaspoon of cold water poured into whichever ear was uppermost. Just a threat was sufficient, they said.

What do we do when we get up in the morning? Is it a mad dash to get to the office on time, or a more leisurely start? Do we start the day on our smartphones, reviewing the emails and messages that came in overnight? Then do we check our bank accounts and scan the news headlines? All tasks soon followed by feelings of regret that we even bothered because the bank account suffered from overnight transactions and the news was all bad. All worthy things to do in themselves, but would we have been better off reading the Good News, and lifting up our spirits into Heavenly places? I know we can’t live in denial, but perhaps God’s Word will give us the perspective we need to see the world through God’s eyes.

So, one thing we definitely need most mornings is a dose of hope and encouragement. Paul wrote in Romans 15:4 that this can be found in Scripture. And so it can. A good start would be to turn to Jeremiah 29:11. A well worn verse we know, but full of encouragement. “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Imagine it. God has plans for us. Good plans. And in them we have a “future and a hope“. And then we have Isaiah 41:9b-10, “ … For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand“. God said that we are His chosen ones, and as we look to Him, with our hands palms up to receive, He will provide the strength we will need for the day ahead. His “right hand” is a picture of that strength, and it is “victorious” as well, implying that He has defeated all the foes who have come against Him.

There may be times when we have gone to bed, discouraged and oppressed after a bad day. Well, read Lamentations 3:22-24, “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him“”! 

Why do we wonder that we are depressed as the sun emerges in the dawn? When the morning breaks upon our consciousnesses? Paul wrote that we should be patiently waiting “for God’s promises to be fulfilled” and we can only do that as we take the trouble to find our what the promises are. When we neglect our spiritual well-being, the day, more often than not, becomes overcast with difficulties. A few minutes in God’s presence is worth far more than an extra hour or two spent in bed. In John 7:37b-38, Jesus said, “ … Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart‘”. A prayer I regularly pray in the mornings is this, “Jesus has been glorified and he is waiting for people to say, “I’m thirsty, Lord, desperately thirsty, and I’m going to go on coming to you until you give me something to drink deeply. I want living water inside. I am thirsty, and I want to be baptised inside, and I want within me a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”” Praying the promises of God is a powerful way to start the day, filling it with hope and encouragement through the power of the Holy Spirit. And you never know – those around us will probably be impacted as well.

Father God, thank You for all the gracious and loving words of encouragement contained within Your Word. Amen.

Rejoice in Hope

Posted on by korgrocker

“Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.”
Romans 12:12 NLT

What do we hope for? The answer will depend on our circumstances. A resident of Ukraine will be hoping for an end to the current war. A young single mum in poor quality accommodation will be hoping for something better. A young man stuck in a dead end job will be hoping for a new opportunity. People hope that they will win the lottery. After another breakdown, a driver will be hoping that they can afford a new car. A student will be hoping that they get a good mark in their finals. An old person lying in a hospital bed will be hoping that they can get home soon. The list of “hopes” is endless, and totally related to our circumstances at the time. But these are all temporal “hopes”, grounded in our humanity and time being spent on Planet Earth. They all refer to a “hope” pinned to a point sometime in the future. Possibly to come to fruition, if at all, in a day or two. Or years away. The “hope” of mankind is a wistful thought, unlikely to happen, but rooted in a fantasy, often totally unrealistic but imagined anyway. Call it wishful thinking.

Paul wrote about a different “hope”. Galatians 5:5, “For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope”. Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”. Romans 8:23-25, “And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)” Can we see the picture that is building through these Scriptures? Through our relationship with God we have faith that what He has said will come to pass. So our hope is much more than wishful thinking. It is rooted and grounded by faith in the assurance, through the Holy Spirit living within us, that one day we will be in God’s presence, with all that means.

Paul was convinced that the hope he had was going to happen. He started his letter to Titus, “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness – in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time” (Titus 1:1-2, emphasis mine). No messing about with Paul. His hope for the future and eternal life was based on something far more tangible than human hopes and wishes. It was based on his faith that what God said will happen will indeed happen one day. 

We pilgrims have a message of hope for this hopelessly dark and evil world. We too have a “hope” like Paul’s, sharing His faith and assurance. And we must tell those around us, in our families, communities, schools, and workplaces, that Heaven is real, and Jesus saves all who come to Him. Living out our hope will not be easy. We will experience ridicule and persecution. Opportunities in this world may be lost to us. We will have to make difficult choices as we live out the hope we have for an eternal future. However, Jeremiah exposed God’s heart when he wrote, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11, emphasis mine). Wherever we are in our Christian walk, we have a hope, an assurance even, that one day in the future we will be with God in Heaven. The Holy Spirit who lives within us says so. 

Dear Father God. One day we will be with You in Heaven. You promised us that in Your Word. You said it, so we believe it. We pray that this transformational truth will motivate and empower us as we share the Good News with all around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.