Through Him [Christ] we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5: 2-5) Hope. It is something that we have all experienced in our lives, whether it’s hoping for that one particular birthday gift, …
The Hope
We went to visit my aunt yesterday. She is so ready to go home from rehab. She was sure she was going home today. While we were there, she was convinced that surely tomorrow would be the day. After we left, I got the message that Thursday would be her day. She will be living, hoping and waiting for Thursday. Scripture comes to mind – Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life. I get it don’t you? Sometimes we can so focus on what’s going on around us that we …
Our Living Hope
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy he had given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the time.” I Peter 1:3 – 5 I have the awesome privilege of being a mentor for a group of women recovering from addiction. When a …
Reset
Deb Rice introduces us to Christian woman who will share words of encouragement to you as we begin a series entitled “Reset” as we journey through these turbulent times.
Faith is Seeing in Advance
Faith is defined as “a complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” You’ve heard people say, “just have faith, it will all work out,” when they’re faced with a difficult or stressful situation. Some will respond by, “that’s easier said than done.” You can have faith in many things. You can have faith that your car will start and get you to work on time. You can even have faith in the pilot (whom you seldom even meet) will get you from one city to another. But, faith in God is seeing in advance. It’s trusting in …
History Teaches Us To Hope
Biblical history is full of hope. There are great lessons to be learned from these legendary stories. If you know God, you know that He NEVER changes. He’s the same today as He was yesterday, and 2000 years ago. But, we change. As we develop from childhood to adulthood, our personality changes, our surroundings possibly change, and yes, our circumstances change. Change can be a good thing. It’s your reaction to change that typically affects your circumstances. I’ve read where children growing up in poverty, one would think that this would be their destiny, but the opposite often …
How Jesus Responds to Our Doubts
What happens when God doesn’t intervene? When circumstances grow worse, doors close, and illness lingers? Is He still good? Does He still love you? Intellectually, we know sometimes bad things happen to good people, but sitting in the middle of chaos and catastrophe, doubts take hold. A couple years ago, while on her first college coop, our daughter’s depression spiked. She did all the appropriate Christianity things. She went to church, read her Bible, meditated on Scripture, and prayed. She prayed and prayed and prayed. And yet, her depression remained. And though she knew they were lies, comments she’d heard previously tore at …
In Hope
“Rejoicing in hope.” Romans 12: 12. In this chapter of Romans there is a wonderful list of instruction for us to live godly in Christ Jesus. One of these instructions is to rejoice in hope. How do we do that? How shall we be in hope and then also rejoice in it? I am so glad you asked! We are to rejoice in hope. Rejoice in Greek is chairo and carries the meaning of being cheerful, calmly happy, or well off. This is a place of settled peace and feeling good about what we believe in and stand upon. In …
Finding Joy
It was in the Chihuahuan Desert of West Texas, Ft Bliss, that I first met Judy. Perhaps it was the heat, the lack of any color beyond melted butter and toasted cacti, or the distance to the nearest lake that masked the joy of the adventure, but the desert brought out the worst in me. I fell victim to a depleted spirit as we left the lush landscape of Arkansas and the closeness of family for our first duty station at Ft. Bliss in El Paso, Texas. With deployment looming and the day-to-day difficulties of being a mom with three …
God Satisfies Me
Scripture: God Satisfies me with Good Things and my youth is renewed as the eagles. Psalm 103: 5 An eagle is thought to be one of the strongest most fearless of all birds, but It is said when an eagle is about five years old, it begins to lose its feathers and that gives one the appearance of renewed youth. During that process, the bird may look sickly and weak, but when the process is complete, an eagle has the look and feel of renewed strength and power. I’d like to compare elderly believers to the eagle, and will use myself as an example. Although one hundred one …
Life’s Storms
The I 30 corridor…not a pleasant phrase when the storms are kicking through in East Texas. I watched them all day yesterday, first one tornado warning and then another. It was the positioning of the storms that gave me pause. So often in the past those East Texas storms would fly up the interstate and cause us problems in Arkansas. At one point I got a text from a precious cousin, whose daughter and husband were on their way to a storm shelter near Texarkana. We prayed together via text and asked God to watch over them. Finally, the storms …
This Hope Does Not Disappoint
It’s hard for me to even type that title. Not because I don’t believe it, but because it overwhelms my soul. You see, it has been a season of crushing disappointment for me and I wonder how many of you can say the same? I was joking with a friend that I was really tired of being surprised. Not, “oh that’s wonderful news!” surprised, but “I can’t believe I didn’t see that coming.” surprised. And it makes me mad at myself for holding on to my last thread of hope that circumstances will be different this time. But that is not …
