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You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope. Psalms 119:114
Do you have trouble throwing away those ‘love letters’ from long ago? Perhaps a card, or a note scribbled on paper from someone you love. Perhaps you even take them out from time to time when you are feeling hopeless because they remind you that even though life around you seems to be falling apart, you have this one gentle reminder that life will be okay, that the things that are troubling you are a blip on the screen of life.
Some look at the Bible as a confusing book that’s hard to understand. I look at it as a love letter. A friend of mine told me of a time her husband was deployed overseas. She was home with the kids. This was before internet and instantaneous, global communication.
When a letter arrived from her husband, the world stopped. She would sit and read it carefully. It was almost as if he were there. It was a reminder of hope. It was a reminder that this struggle was temporary. It was a reminder that she was making it and soon he would rejoin them.
The Psalmist paints that kind of picture of God’s word. Oh, the Bible is full of deep theological truths to be sure, but the overriding theme is a love story of a God who earnestly wants you to enjoy his company. Immanuel, God with us.
Some day, he’ll return in physical presence. Until then we have a love letter of hope. May His Word fill you with hope this Advent season and beyond.
I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. Ephesians 1:18
When we enter mindset of hopelessness, it’s hard to see things clearly. It can be like a dark cloud surrounds us. We tend to see the problems, not possibilities. We see obstacles, not opportunities.
Hopelessness can be physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausting. When we get tired it’s easy t to forget who we are or more importantly, whose we are. Feelings of hopelessness are not only be exhausting, they can be debilitating. We not only forget whose we are, we forget the resources available to us.
In one of Paul’s prayers for the Ephesians (and us) he prays that we, in the midst of our darkness, will see the light of hope we have through Jesus. Hope is future looking, not tied to the past. Hope is revealing. It shows that as bad as things may be now, we have a bright future.
Hope is vertical looking, not horizontal. It looks above your situation. Hope is eternal and thus, not affected by current circumstances. The God of hope has called you to a life of hope based on His riches in glory.
Don’t allow the darkness of hopelessness keep you from seeing the light of Jesus this Christmas.
So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord! Psalms 31:24
What we anchor our hope in determines the level of strength and courage we can draw from. Some place their hope in relationships, but relationships are fickle and can change with time. No one walks the wedding aisle with the idea that they will give this marriage thing a few months and if it doesn’t work out, we’ll move on. Of course not! One walks the aisle and vows to love until death. Yet, over 50% of the time, divorce happens.
Others may put their hope in money and career. But when recession hits, or your company downsizes, you find out quickly that hope in money and things isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Some put their hope in physical health. They eat right, exercise regularly, and do all the right things to be healthy. But we all know very healthy people who succumb to terminal illness, accidents and the like.
Courage and strength come when we put our hope in something that lasts. The Psalmist tells us courage and strength come when our hope is put in God through Jesus Christ. He’s never failed and he never will.
This holiday season, what is your hope anchored in?
Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! Isaiah 40:3
It’s the holiday season and many of us have been busy getting ready for parties, family get-togethers and perhaps even travel. Maybe you’ve decorated the yard with lights and decorations tied to the season. The tree is up and decorated, waiting for brightly wrapped packages. The interior of your house may have decorations to celebrate the season as well.
After all, it’s Christmas! We spend millions of dollars every year with decorations, food and gifts. Some neighborhood’s have contests (official or unspoken) to see who has the best light display. I love Christmas! All the work we put into decorating for a few short weeks is well worth it in my book.
While preparing all the external things for Christmas is important, of more importance is preparing our hearts. No doubt Mary and Joseph prepared for the coming of the infant Jesus as much as they could. But they could never have been ready for what God had prepared for them. I’m sure if they’d known everything they’d have done things differently.
What about us? We have the privilege of looking back. Can we prepare spiritually for celebrating Messiah? Among the lights and decorations can we find time to focus on the light of the world? While we enjoy all the holiday treats, can we remember to celebrate the eternal blessings of the babe in the manger?
Isaiah reminds us to prepare the way for Lord. He calls us to search our hearts for what we feel is important. He calls us to remove the idols of worry, doubt, desire and bitterness so we can experience the Hope of Ages, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Whether your tradition celebrates Advent or not, while you are hanging the lights and cooking all those Christmas goodies, don’t forget that Jesus is the reason for the season!
So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:7
Have you ever completed a project, then stood back to admire your work? It came out exactly as you’d hoped. You smile and look to share your accomplishment with someone else? Perhaps not!
The perfectionist in us always see a flaw or think of how it could be better. The pessimist not only fails to celebrate the accomplishment, but finds ways to hide it from others. The insecure may feel like showing it to others may risk having the flaws pointed out or be accused of pride.
Those who are confident are willing to take the risk because they know this project is exactly what it needs to be. It’s a hard but wonderful reality to realize that God shows us off as his perfect creation. Before time began he had an idea for the you you are.
Oh, it may have been a rough road at times. You may have failed, rebelled, doubted or become apathetic, but that doesn’t take away from the you he sees.
We tend to look in the mirror and see the you that struggles with life issues. But not God. When he sees the ‘you’ he sees a masterpiece. When He looks at the ‘you’ you are, he sees the potential, he sees someone Jesus died for, he sees…someone to be proud of.
Imagine God shouting from the street corner how wonderful the ‘you’ is! And it’s all because of Jesus, not the ‘you’ you
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 