Category: Hope

  • Anchor One-a-Day Tuesday  9/3/19

    Anchor One-a-Day Tuesday 9/3/19

    We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure (Hebrews 6:19).

    Go with the flow.

    Drift with the tide.

    Float wherever the breeze may take you.

    Uh, no thanks.

    Ships that drift are not happy ships.  They have an awkward tendency to bump into things like rocks and reefs and other ships, with unfortunate results.  Ships need guidance and direction and, when it’s time to rest, an anchor to hold them secure.

    Yesterday we talked about hope.  As you looked at the things your heart aches for you may have seen all kinds of desires: physical healing, financial security, marriage, children, a loved one coming to Christ.  These are all worthy desires, but none will keep you from drifting, because none is guaranteed. An anchor must be a sure thing, solid and unmoving.

    Like Christ.

    Our hope in Christ is unlike any other hope, because it cannot fail to come to fruition.  Frankly, there is no guarantee that the other hopes we have talked about will ever come to pass.  I would love it if you were healed, or got married, or became wealthy, but nobody has promised you those things—at least, nobody with the power to make them happen.  But Jesus has promised you some pretty powerful things. He has promised to love you forever. He has promised that you are his, wholly and completely. He has promised to be with you, now and always.

    Jesus is not the God of Maybe.

    He is the great I Am.

    So don’t drift through your day, Beloved.  Set your anchor and let your soul rest.

    Happy Tuesday

  • Hope   One-a-Day Monday  9/2/19

    Hope One-a-Day Monday 9/2/19

    Welcome to Hope Week!

    This week we focus on Hope, because…  

    Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12).

    There’s a whole lot of sick hearts out there.

    We hope, we hunger, we long for something, and it tears at us.  We feel a hole in our hearts, and we yearn for that which will fill it.  And then, after weeks, months, years of patience, we obtain our hope, and all is bliss.

    Except when we don’t.

    Or we do, and it turns out not to be enough.

    Then what?

    I’m going to open the week with a simple question:  What do you hope for?

    I said simple; I never said easy.

    Do us both a favor; don’t tell me—or God, or yourself, for that matter—what you think we want to hear.  Because, “I hope for Christ’s return, when I will be glorified with him and made complete in him,” sounds incredibly spiritual, and is a gold star answer in Sunday School, and is probably even true.

    But it’s not all, is it?

    Dump out your heart this morning.  Sift through all the bits and bobs.  What do you find yourself yearning for, aching for, hoping for?

    What is missing?

    Just something to ponder as you head into your week.

    Happy Monday, Beloved.