Hope Unswervingly

  Read Jeremiah 17:5-8 and John 10:10 For the last five years, I have skipped the New Year's resolutions. Actually, it has been much longer than that, but it was in the last five years that I have chosen a new approach that has been working for me. Instead of a resolution, I choose a word that will be my focus for the year - something that I can apply to every aspect of my life throughout the year. These words help me grow, discern choices, and give me a mindset to hold onto. Two of my favorite words have been brave and improve . I've been thinking and praying about my word for 2021. I have considered hope , adjust , and stretch . Although these all speak to an aspect of what I need for the coming year, none of these settled on my heart. Then this morning I was thinking about how we have been living during COVID-19. The mindset tends to be "just get through it" or "endure it until it is over." To survive. The Casting Crowns lyrics came into my mind. "...

Read Isaiah 30:18 Our loving God has demonstrated His own patience in waiting. How can we do less? Isaiah 30:18 says “Therefore the Lord is waiting to show you mercy, and is rising up to show you compassion, for the Lord is a just God.” “Just" means fair – imposing sentence when needed. We sometimes lose sight of this quality of God, overemphasizing His love to the point of distortion. I’ve heard people wonder why a loving God wouldn’t just allow everyone into heaven, or allow only good things to happen. To even begin to understand, we must go back to the illustration of the parent and child. Does a loving parent never impose discipline or punishment? Does she always protect her child from the consequences of her choices? We have all seen the results when love is not balanced with fair discipline of children. This gives us just a little hint of the reason we must acknowledge both God’s love and His justice. Both are essential parts of God’s character and cannot be ignored. Isa...

Read Daniel 10 to get the full story, but today we will focus on just the first few verses. As you read, take note of how Daniel prepared himself to hear from God, and also notice the important messages given to him when the information was revealed. The book of Daniel is packed full of wonderful accounts of God’s power manifest in Daniel’s life – the fiery furnace, the lion’s den, the handwriting on the wall. There’s plenty there to study and learn. This time I want to focus on a lesser known account in chapter 10, which gives us a glimpse into the spiritual realm. The first thing I noticed is how committed Daniel is to his prayer. In verses 2 and 3 we read about his sacrificial approach and focus on seeking God.   He describes himself as “mourning.” The definition of the original word here indicates lamenting, or walking with head downcast.  When we find ourselves in this condition, we need to follow Daniel’s example and go directly to seeking God. And his isn’t a...

Read 2 Peter 1:5-7; James 1:2-4 I heard a discussion recently that centered on perseverance. Everyone there agreed - perseverance is a very good thing and is very important when times get rough. It will help see you through to the outcome you desire. Then someone added a caveat. She said that there comes a time when you may see that the outcome is not going to be what you wanted, so then it’s time to let go of perseverance. The trick, most agreed, was knowing when this was the case. Something in this didn’t sit right with me. As I looked around at all the nodding heads, I found myself asking out loud, “I wonder, is there value in perseverance even when the outcome is not what you had imagined?” Because of the setting, it was left hanging as a rhetorical question, but I have been reflecting on it ever since. If perseverance is only desirable if we can hope for a particular outcome, we are putting our hope in the outcome, and not in God or His word. We are settling for a huma...