Archive for the 'Love' Category
We Have a Living Hope
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In God’s great mercy he has caused us to be born again into a living hope, because Jesus Christ rose from the dead.45 God’s power protects you through your faith until salvation is shown to you at the end of time.6 This makes you very happy, even though now for a short time different kinds of troubles may make you sad.7 These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. This purity of faith is worth more than gold, which can be proved to be pure by fire but will ruin. But the purity of your faith will bring you praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is shown to you.89 And you are receiving the goal of your faith—the salvation of your souls. Now we hope for the blessings God has for his children. These blessings, which cannot be destroyed or be spoiled or lose their beauty, are kept in heaven for you. You have not seen Christ, but still you love him. You cannot see him now, but you believe in him. So you are filled with a joy that cannot be explained, a joy full of glory.
Hope is both a strong belief and the anticipation that something good is going to happen. When our goals are not achieved, we may experience discouragement, which over time can turn into depression and even despair—the absence of hope.
How can we remain optimistic in the face of unmet expectations? First, we’re to remember the reason for our confidence: our relationship with Jesus. At salvation, we were born into a living hope (v. 3)—God made us a “new creation,” and we are no longer in bondage to the old sin nature (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV). His Spirit lives within us. We have been made co-heirs with Christ, and our true home is in heaven with Him. Nothing can alter our familial connection with the Lord.
Second, to maintain a positive outlook, we must spend daily time in the Scriptures. Romans 15:4 says that the Bible was written to give us encouragement and hope. The Psalms can be especially helpful in difficult times because they express the feelings we have and also tell us about the comfort available from God.
Third, we rely on the Lord’s faithfulness. Trusting in Him will never disappoint us because all of His promises are yes in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20).
Believers should not react to trials as the world does. We’re to live by faith—“being sure of what we hope for ” (Hebrews 11:1 NIV). When circumstances overwhelm you, shift your focus to the Lord. Read the Scriptures to find encouragement, and be reminded of what is yours in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-8).
(devotional by Dr. Charles Stanley from In Touch Ministries)
March 12 2010 | Bible and Blog and Christianity and Church and Devotions/Devotionals and Faith and Family and God and Grace and Hope and Inspirational and Jesus and Life and Love and Mercy and Opinion and People and Personal and Philosophy and Quotes and Religion and Spiritual and Theology and Thoughts and Uncategorized | No Comments »
Glynnis Whitwer, Senior Editor P31 Woman, Speaker for Proverbs 31 Ministries
Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)
There are many things that secular organizations can do just as well as the church. They can build homes, feed the hungry and clothe the poor. But there’s one area the church should excel in, and that’s extending grace.
Grace is a foreign concept to the world. We learn early that we are graded and judged on our performance. There is no free lunch. We must earn our own way. And it’s every woman for herself.
But along came Jesus and He introduced the world to a different way – God’s way. Jesus began many of His parables with these words, “The Kingdom of heaven is like …” Then, Jesus proceeded to tell a story that turned the economics of the world upside down. After all, what shepherd would leave 99 sheep alone to search for one? How can a few coins given by a widow be of more value than the donation of a rich man? And what about the father who willingly welcomed a once-rebellious boy home with a party?
God’s grace to His children is completely unmerited love and forgiveness. It is an extravagant love that defies our human understanding.
While our soul longs for grace, we are confounded that it could actually be extended to us. But even more difficult to comprehend, is that it is also extended to those who offend us.
Grace is a gift, and cannot be earned. In his book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace,” Philip Yancy said, “None of us gets paid according to merit, for none of us comes close to satisfying God’s requirements for a perfect life.”
This truth can transform our relationships. You see, if God offers grace to us, then we should offer grace to others. As we represent Jesus to a broken world, we can best reflect His character by extending grace – unmerited love and forgiveness.
The hardest place to extend grace is often in our own homes, beginning with our spouse and children. But it’s the best place to start living out the higher calling of Christ.
My prayer for today:
“Heavenly Father, thank you for your extravagant love toward me. Thank you for your great sacrifice so that I can approach your throne of grace and receive mercy. Forgive the times I have not shown grace to another. Help me be more like You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Application steps:
Consider how God has given grace to you. Identify those ways.
Reflection points:
What comes to mind when you hear the word “grace”?
Can you think of a time when you either performed an extravagant act or were the recipient of one? Share how you felt and what was the response.
There are many areas where we are not given grace, including: secular culture, graceless religion and parents who fail to offer loving acceptance. Have any of these been a factor in your life?
Can you think of something good in your life you received but did not deserve?
Have you neglected to show grace to someone in your life? What should you do about that?
Power Verses:
Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (NIV)
Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. (NASB)
John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (NIV)
II Thessalonians 2:16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word. (NASB)
Hebrews 12:15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. (NIV)
March 09 2010 | Bible and Blog and Christianity and Church and Devotions/Devotionals and Faith and Family and God and Grace and Hope and Inspirational and Jesus and Life and Love and Mercy and Opinion and People and Personal and Philosophy and Quotes and Religion and Spiritual and Theology and Thoughts and Uncategorized | No Comments »
Psalm 25:2
O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.
Gail called herself a good Christian. She read her Bible, prayed daily, attended church every Sunday, and pitched in whenever her church needed her. God seemed to be a very real part of Gail’s life, and yet, whenever her faith was put to the test, she seemed to give up. Her answer for everything was, “Well, God couldn’t be bothered with me, I suppose.” The truth was, Gail was afraid to put her full faith in God, for fear He might let her down. Her feelings of unworthiness blocked her from putting her trust totally in God. Trust takes time. We need to practice putting our trust in the Lord, but when we do, we find a new confidence that He will be faithful to us. The more we trust, the more we are convinced that our trust is well placed. The key to trust is to try. Try putting your faith in the Lord, and watch wonderful things happen.
Prayer: Assist me as I try to let go of my doubt and fear and put my trust in You. I sometimes become my own worst enemy, Father. Save me from myself. Amen.
(devotional from Christianity.com – Wisdom from the Psalms)
March 07 2010 | Bible and Blog and Christianity and Church and Devotions/Devotionals and Faith and Family and God and Grace and Hope and Inspirational and Jesus and Life and Love and Mercy and Opinion and People and Personal and Philosophy and Quotes and Religion and Spiritual and Theology and Thoughts and Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
(by Charles Swindoll from Insight for Living)
One of the first weddings I performed as a young pastor had all the promise you could hope for in a marriage. Both in their mid-twenties, both believers, he was a medical student, she was a nurse. It should have been a model marriage filled with peace and joy. Struggles would come, of course, but an enduring hope would get them through the dark days.
Yet when I saw the bride about eight years later she looked twenty years older. She described a spiraling tragedy of drugs, adultery, bitterness, and separation. Long gone were the original peace and joy. And that weary soul had lost the one thing that could have snatched her marriage from the lowest levels of matrimonial misery: she had lost hope.
How about you? How would you rate your own level of joy in the Christian life? Have you become depressed? Has that original fire for knowing Christ cooled to a simmering indifference? Have the tribulations of daily life rendered you hopeless? Pastors today constantly counsel believers struggling with depression, broken marriages, anxiety, anger, and weak self-control. They can’t help but wonder, “Where’s that abundant life Christ promised in John 10:10?”
Unquestionable Hope
In Romans 5:1-11, Paul takes us from the marriage altar of our Christian faith to a new relationship with Jesus Christ—a relationship of peace, joy, and hope. This passage reveals how lasting joy in the Christian life can be achieved even in the midst of trials and struggles. Look at it with me.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand. (Romans 5:12)
The justification Paul describes is that moment when you placed your faith in Christ alone to forgive your sins and give you new life (Romans 5:5-11). For me that happened back in the 1940s. For some of you it may have been the 60s . . . or 80s . . . perhaps even more recently. If you’re a believer, at that moment you said “I do” to Jesus Christ you became His bride, a member of His family, the Church, committed to Him forever. In this same paragraph Paul also describes the present effects of this past event: we now stand in grace (5:2), and we exult in hope and peace (5:1).
When someone says the word hope people usually think about the future—“I hope things get better” . . . “I hope I get that new job” . . . “I hope I don’t get sick.” Most of the time these hopes are no more than wishes based on personal desires. Such hopes can be easily shattered when reality barges in like a raging bull. Trials land on us. Disappointments linger. And inevitably joy languishes.
But in Romans 5, Paul urges believers not only to look back on their past justification but also to look forward, beyond their immediate hardships and let-downs. He writes, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him” (5:9). Don’t miss the tense: “We shall.” That’s future. That’s hope. And because we know we’ll spend eternity in Heaven, we can face any earthly hardship—even death itself (Romans 8:35-39). That is our unquestionable hope!
Are you experiencing that kind of hope today? If not, why not?
Unquenchable Hope
How can we have an unquenchable hope that withstands even the worst onslaughts of despair? We rejoice our way through them! Paul points out three levels of rejoicing: we rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2), we rejoice in our tribulations (5:3), and we rejoice in God (5:11). Notice that we don’t rejoice because of tribulations. We rejoice in the midst of them. We rejoice in spite of them because we know “that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint” (5:3-5). Think of it this way: you’re God’s personal project of character growth. That means you can rejoice even more because God never gives up on His project (Philippians 1:6). He always has His eye on you, cultivating your character through tribulations.
Are you feeling like the Spirit’s fruit has withered up under the excruciating heat of trials? Paul’s answer is clear: when tribulations come, we must remember that these trials are a means toward a magnificent end. If I’m told that the road to my glorious destination is marred by loose rocks and potholes, every jolt along the way reminds me that I’m on the right road. But I must never forget that God accompanies me on the journey. His reputation as our loving Father is at stake. We don’t always know where we’re going, but He does.
With your past justification as your footing and your future hope as your fuel, you can take the present journey through trials and tribulations without losing your joy and peace. Yes, that’s possible! Your hope leads to perseverance, which builds character, which leads to greater hope (Romans 5:4). And that’s not just wishful thinking.
That’s unquenchable hope.
Adapted from Charles R. Swindoll, “Unquenchable Hope,” Insights (March 2006): 1-2. Copyright © 2006, Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
March 05 2010 | Bible and Blog and Christianity and Church and Devotions/Devotionals and Faith and Family and God and Grace and Hope and Inspirational and Jesus and Life and Love and Mercy and Opinion and People and Personal and Philosophy and Quotes and Religion and Spiritual and Theology and Thoughts and Uncategorized | No Comments »
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1 Peter 1:3-9 (NCV)
