Nationalism and Love

When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:33-34 ESV)

Nationalism and Love

I was the new kid in school. And it was difficult. Friendships in my class had already been well established. And the cliques already were not enthusiastic about non-clique folk, let alone a newcomer. They had learned (after no doubt, the discipline of teachers) to be tolerant of those other schoolmates, but a completely new face? They were not interested in me.

We generally do not like outsiders.

In Leviticus 19:18, God had already commanded the Israelites to love their neighbors as they loved their own people. He was referring to those Canaanites that would be allowed to dwell in Israel after the conquest. That was already hard for them to hear, I expect. But God pushes the concept even more.

Despite the fact that the Israelites were just starting to feel that they were special in God’s eyes… the apple of His eye, so to speak… God tells them that they were to love those NON special folk. And not just the remaining Canaanites… but even complete outsiders, even strangers.

God reminds His people here that nation is not as important as relationship, particularly relationship with Him.

They were not the beloved of God, the bride of His Son, because of nationality. Rather they had nationality because they were His beloved. It starts with God’s last statement in Leviticus 19:34. “I am the Lord YOUR God.” He is their God, and therefore they are His people.

And that models for the Israelites His intentions for their relationships with outsiders. The Israelites were broken outsiders whom God surprisingly loved. They were very ‘other.’ Yet He chose to love them. And so these special, set apart Israelites were supposed to love outsiders in the same way.

They were not particularly good at it. Think of Jonah and the Ninevites. Think of The Jews and the Samaritans.

Hopefully, remembering that, we can be better, ourselves.

It is far too easy for us to be prejudiced against other nations, other ethnic groups, the other gender, other skin colors, other political viewpoints, other personalities, other anythings. When the only distinction that matters is whether all those other peoples are the Lord’s.

Take the love God grants us.

Nationalism and Hope

…so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth… (Philippians 2:10 ESV)

Nationalism and Hope

I begin every football game with hope. I hope my team will win. Even if I am not loyal to one of the competing teams, I will temporarily choose a team to like, so that I can watch the game with hope.

That same hope extends towards my country. I like my country. I appreciate my country. I enjoy my country. And so, in the words of Andre the Giant, “I hope we win.”

That same hope is even MORE true regarding my real citizenship in the Kingdom of God. (Philippians 3:20)I hope that God’s Kingdom wins. I hope it stretches from sea to sea, from mountain to mountain, from river to river, and from end to end. I hope that the Kingdom of God will be visibly triumphant.

And it will be.

Every knee will bow… both those that bow in joy, and those that bow in sorrow. Every knee will bow… both those that bow willingly, and those that bow in subjection. Every knew will bow… bot those that bow in hope, and those that bow in terror.

May it be soon, Lord Jesus.

Take the hope God grants us.

Nationalism and Faith

He makes nations great, and he destroys them; He enlarges nations, and leads them away. (Job 12:23 ESV)

Nationalism and Faith

I used to brag about my Fork-Lift Driving License. I had completed a course and had received a plastic card that entitled me to drive fork-lifts. AND I felt that few others also had such an amazing license. Surprisingly, I eventually realized that no one else really cared about the Grand Association of Fork-Lift Operators.

It was not as important as I had thought.

Nations are also not as important as we think.

Our identity is often tied up in our nation, country, or homeland. Our Nation defines who we are, what we do, and what we think is important. We are Americans, or Australians, or British, or Dutch. And the potential loss of that part of our identity feels devastatingly terrifying.

But Job understands something that we do not.

As useful, beautiful, and strong as our Nation might be, Nations pale to insignificance in the face, light, and presence of our Lord. He moves them like pawns. He raises them and destroys them according to His Will. Nations, in God’s eyes are trivial.

Because HIS Kingdom is powerful. Because HIS Kingdom is eternal. Because HIS Kingdom is what matters. Because HIS Kingdom is His.

When the Nation you depend on is faltering, remember that your citizenship is in a stronger Kingdom. (Philippians 3:20) When the Nation you love is changing, remember that your citizenship is in an unchanging Kingdom. (Luke 1:33) When the Nation you are loyal to is traitorous to your ideals, remember that your citizenship is in a Kingdom that God has created. (I Peter 2:9)

Your citizenship is in a Kingdom based on faith. The faith that God has given you like a plastic membership card in His Kingdom.

And THIS Kingdom matters.

Take the faith God grants us.

Music and Love

Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda. (Proverbs 25:20 ESV)

Music and Love

Music and love are interconnected. Not merely do we often use music to assist in romantic feelings, but music, scripturally, is an important tool of love.

Consider this Proverb. Singing songs is a way to lift the heart of someone suffering. The Proverb does not examine exactly how this works. And really, we do not need to know. Somehow, music is an act of kindness. Somehow, music is something we can do FOR someone else. Somehow, music is an indicator of encouragement, thoughtfulness, and affection.

In other words, music communicates love. In fact, music is a means of love.

Consider David, when first called into King Saul’s service. Already by this time, David knew that God intended David to be the King of Israel. And while eventually loyal David served Saul best in the battlefield, David began by showing his loyalty, devotion, and formal love to King Saul by playing music for him. (I Samuel 16:21-22)

Clearly, that music helped Saul, and so was an act of love from David. Clearly that music lifted Saul’s heavy heart, and so was an act of love from David. Clearly that music eventually was a sacrificial, dangerous action, and so was an act of love from David.

If music sooths the grieving heart, lifts our praises to God, provides insights into our troubles, calms our fears, raises our spirits, relieves our internal pains, and provides peace in conflict, than we should give music to each other more often.

Because we love.

Take the love God grants us.

Music and Hope

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. (Psalm 40:3 ESV)

Music and Hope

Perhaps the most famous Kansan of all, Dorothy, is silly. She sings of a better time and place, somewhere, just over that rainbow. But her hope has no foundation. It is Hollywood hope.

Similarly, the orphan, Annie, is silly. She sings of tomorrow’s sunrise, with the good things she thinks the sun will bring. But her hope has no foundation. It is a Hollywood hope.

Christians have a hope that is real. It is a hope that is solidly founded on the love of the One true living God. It is a hope that is solidly founded on the unconditional love of our dead and resurrected savior, Christ Jesus. It is a hope that is solidly founded in the promises of the God who knows the future as surely is He knows the past, and the present.

And while today we might be singing dirges, laments, or the blues, Psalm 40 promises us a new song. Psalm 40 promises us that we will understand God enough to wholeheartedly praise Him, with honest completeness. Psalm 40 promises us that our music will be wonderful.

And result of that music will be the expansion of God’s kingdom. The more we sing, the more lost souls will find hope and trust in God.

That is no mere Hollywood hope.

Take the hope God grants us.

Music and Faith

Saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” (Hebrews 2:12 ESV)

Music and Faith

Words are the tools of stories. But they are not the only tools that can relay information, persuade, encourage, admonish, delight, and tell stories.

Music can do those things, too.

Here, in Hebrews,singing is used to praise God. But not simply by relaying feelings, the previous sentence also shows that music can be used to inform. To describe God’s name. To connect the author’s ‘brothers.’ To unite the congregation.

I personally can not fathom music doing such things without the foundation of words. But it is clear that the Word of God can be illuminated, understood, and driven into our hearts through God’s created music.

We often push music into the category of emotions, feelings, and gushy stuff. But music is also, apparently, a means of informing, convincing, and connecting.

And maybe even an avenue for faith.

God grants us faith when our reason comes up short. Faith and reason are both ways for God to teach us, change us, challenge us, and encourage us.

And God has given us music as a way to nudge us towards faith.

Thus music is an integral part of worship. Thus music moves us. Thus music assists our understanding. Thus music gives rise to love, aimed at both God and mankind.

In times of doubt, let music encourage you. Let music remind you of God’s love. In times of fear, let music strengthen you. Let music remind you of God’s power. In times of worry, let music calm you. Let music remind you of God’s faithfulness.

Take the faith God grants us.

War and Love

…and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” (II Corinthians 6:18 ESV)

Love and War

We were watching a movie on TV recently, and suddenly we saw a young woman whom we knew years ago. While the movie had been tolerably fine up to that point, NOW things were different!

We love to watch our beloved at work.

When I pretended to play Little League Baseball, my parents would attend. They did not come to the game because of my skill. They attended because the loved me.

We love to watch our beloved at work.

“Take your child to work” days are popular with children. Not because they care about auto sales, spreadsheets, or meetings. But children enjoy seeing their parents no matter what the parents are doing, at least for a little while.

We love to watch our beloved at work.

Jesus fights for us. He fought in His life, He fought in His death, and He fought in His Resurrection. He fights for us from His throne, He fights for us in our prayers, He fights for us in His ongoing ordering of the universe. One of God’s most famous names (in the Old AND New Testaments) is El-Shaddai. Which is usually translated as the Lord Almighty.

Knowing that He is already victorious allows us to consider, understand, and watch the Lord’s battles with a sort of joy. Knowing that the Lord fights on our behalf allows us to relax during the battle. Knowing that the Almighty One uses His power, His grace, and His love on our behalf lets us joyfully watch the war.

Take the love God grants us.

War and Hope

(sorry for the delay... interweb issues)

He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2:4 ESV)

War and Hope

I have not physically experienced international war. But I have read enough to realize that war is awful. If war is waged around you, you would look forward to the end of war.

I have experienced other kinds of war, and so have you. Warfare against God’s enemies is all around us. We usually call this warfare, Spiritual War. But in addition to Satan, God’s enemies are the world, and the flesh.

And these wars seem awful, too. The effects of these wars shatter families, churches, and nations. The effects of these wars divide our hearts and His people. The effects of these wars are the source of sorrow, grief, and pain in the world.

But the end result of those wars has already been declared. Christ was, is, and will be victorious. (Deuteronomy 20:4, John 16:33, Romans 8:31, I Corinthians 15:57, et al)

And in that light, Isaiah gives us hope that warfare will end. National military war, as well as Spiritual War will end. And we can see signs of it around us. Family conflict finding resolution in Christ. Internal conflict with our sinful natures finding redemption in Christ. Worldview conflict finding peace in the gospel of Christ.

Where is your battle? Lean on hope instead of war.

Take the hope God grants us.

War and Faith

The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name. (Exodus 15:3 ESV)

War and Faith

When I was young, war seemed glamorous. Human warriors were exciting, heroic, and admirable. But while those who protect others through making war are noble, war itself is not. Robert E. Lee said it best when he said something like: “It is well that war is so terrible – otherwise we should grow too fond of it.”

In Moses’ song described in Exodus 15, though, we learn something important about war. As terrible as it is… as deadly as it is… as destructive as it is… as life-ruining as it is… It is still merely a tool in God’s almighty hands.

He is a ‘man of war.’

Sometimes we act and pray like war is outside of God’s bailiwick. But even war is a wielded by God to accomplish His goals, His very good goals.

The wars found in scripture display this hard-to-understand fact. God used war during the conquest of Canaan to remove unrighteousness, to teach His weak children to depend on Him, and to establish His Kingdom on earth for a time.

God used war as first Israel, and then Judah fell to God’s servants (albeit perhaps unwittingly) to discipline His wayward folk, to diminish pride, and to prepare the way for the suffering servant.

And we might see war again. And we will not like it. And we should not like it.

But remembering that the Lord is a man of war can be a conduit for faith. War is His, as much as peace. War is not something to fear, or worship, or set as an impossible barrier to God’s work. War is His.

And not only national military conflict. These things are also true concerning our war with temptation. These things are also true concerning our war with our sinful nature. These things are true with the battles going on with God’s enemies: the flesh, the world, and Satan.

Take the faith God grants us.

Contentment and Love

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39 ESV)

Contentment and Love

My fuzzy slippers make my feet content. My diet coke makes my taste buds content. My library makes my book-brain content. My lawn mower makes my manly-sense content. Holding hands with DeAnne makes my romantic-sense content.

But even more than all those things, the Beatles had it right. “All you need is love.” (na na na na na…)

Love is thesource of contentment. When we know we are loved, storms seem less stormy. When we know we are loved, fears seem less scary. When we know we are loved, pain seems less hurty. When we know we are loved… all is well.

And God’s love is absolute, secure, permanent, and dependable. Jesus showed that with clarity when He died for us. (John 15:13)

When your problems cause discontent, remember you are loved by God! When your worries make the loss of sleep, remember you are loved by God! When your loneliness fills your heart with emptiness, remember you are loved by God! When you think no one understands or cares, remember you are loved by God!

Take the love God grants us.

Contentment and Hope

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19 ESV)

Contentment and Hope

At breakfast, I worry about bacon. The bacon on the plate never looks like it will be enough to satisfy everyone. Particularly me.

But it usually is.

God does not promise in this verse to give me all the bacon I want. Even better, He promises that I will have every need satisfied. We might quibble about exact items on that list, but God knows what we actually need. And He promises us that we will not be in want. (Psalm 23:1)

And thus we will be content.

Contentment is not found in physical things. Rather, contentment is found in our understanding of God’s distribution of those things. When we trust that God has given us what we have, because He knows what we need, we can be satisfied.

If we are not commonly content, this verse assures us that we will be. He will supply our needs, and contentment will be born. We will realize that God really IS good, and contentment will be born. We will focus more on what we have than on what we lack, and contentment will be born.

Take the hope God grants us.

Contentment and Faith

Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. (I Corinthians 7:17 ESV)

Contentment and Faith

I wanted to spike the volleyball and win the game. But our coach did not place me in the front of the line. He put me in a useless place on the volleyball court, in my opinion.

“Tom,” he said. “You are more useful in that corner. You serve reliably, and you are not tall enough or quick enough to spike.”

I was not content.

In a similarly childish way, sometimes we are not content with our situations in life.

Consider what God has done. He has created the world for the benefit and enjoyment of His people. He has given us life itself. He has loved us while we were yet sinners. He has transferred our sins unto Christ’s burden, and given us the light burden of Christ’s perfection.

And God has assigned to each of us a particular life. Fitting us into the tapestry of His Kingdom in exactly the place that He, in His wisdom, knowledge, and understanding has deemed best.

Not mildly best. But joyfully best.

God has done this with His people throughout history. He put Joseph in a cistern, in prison, in Potiphar’s household, and in Pharaoh’s court. God knew where He needed Joseph to best save Joseph’s family. He put Jeremiah in a pit, falsely accused and then ignored. God knew where He needed Jeremiah to best write the book of Lamentations. He put Jesus in Gethsemane, grieving and aware of the suffering just ahead. God knew where He needed Jesus to save us, His people.

And Joseph, Jeremiah, and Jesus were content. Remember Jesus’ words, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42 ESV)

When discontentment lurks, have faith that God knows what He is doing. Have faith that God has you in the right place on the volleyball court. Have faith that God has you in the right job. Have faith that God has you in the right place, at the right time, with His right plan.

Take the faith God grants us.

Thanksgiving and Love

for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1 ESV)

Thanksgiving and Love

I know that my gratitude for bacon is shallow. I know this because I cannot narrow down my enjoyment of bacon to just one factor. I am grateful for bacon because it is tasty, greasy, nutritious, texturous, useful, helpful, and attractive. My gratitude for bacon is spread out among dozens of bacon-qualities.

But my gratitude for God is focused and specific. I am most thankful for God’s love. In fact, every other attribute of God for which I am thankful is actually only a facet of His love.

Psalm 136 repeats 26 times that the Psalmist is thankful for God’s steadfast love.

God shows His love through creation, providence, and redemption. He shows His love through patience, patience, and patience. He shows His love through sacrifice, selflessness, and kindness. He shows His love through His attention, His understanding, and His mercy.

God shows His love by giving us faith, hope, and love.

Take the love God grants us.

Thanksgiving and Hope

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we rememberedZion. (Psalm 137:1 ESV)

Thanksgiving and Hope

Someone described the flu as: “First I was afraid I was going to die, and then I was afraid I wasn’t.” I have felt that sick… and felt that I was so ill I would never recover. Things seemed so bad that there was no hope.

I did recover, though.

Psalm 137 shows us the exiles weeping. But that weeping was a mixed emotion, because remembering Zion was a two-edged sword. Yes, they remembered Zion and regretted the sins of their nation. But they also, I believe, wept with hope.

Remembering Zion meant remembering God’s covenant promises. Remembering Zion meant remembering that God had promised an end to their suffering. Remembering Zion meant a future restored to God’s presence, with the same blessings they had experienced in the past.

In the midst of their sorrow, guilt, fear, and loneliness, God gave them hope. At the same moment that they were giving thanks for the wonder of Zion, they knew Zion would return. Their thankfulness for God’s patient goodness in the old days gave them hope that God would once more be merciful.

And He offers us that hope, too. He gives us mountain-top experiences to give rise to hope in the valley. He gives us memories of blessings to give rise to hope in times of curses. He gives us the amazing narratives of God’s awesome deeds in the Bible to give rise to hope that God continues to act today.

So give thanks to God for those Zions in our past. Biblically as well as personally. And follow our paths of gratitude to hope.

Take the hope God grants us.

Thanksgiving and Faith

Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like me, (Isaiah 46:9 ESV)

Thanksgiving and Faith

My past is littered with Star Trek. It was my first real favorite television show. My first friendship was formed around Star Trek. At times, I have scheduled activities around the times Star Trek was playing. I have, at times, attempted to model my personality after Mr. Spock. My first cell phone was, in my mind, a communicator.

My memories seem like a tapestry threaded with Star Trek.

And that is silly.

According to Isaiah, though, remembering the past leads to God. He (and there is no other!) was in ALL the former things of old. Look into your past, believer, and You will see God acting.

It is sometimes easier to see His presence in our lives while remembering the past than it is to know with surety that He is present now. Hindsight sees God’s loving hands more clearly than our present senses perceive.

That is the connection between being thankful for what God has done and faith. When our remembering is focused by faith, we find much for which to be thankful.

Creation, a thing that we believe that is in the past, is a reason for thanksgiving. Biblical prophecies fulfilled in Christ, which were given and fulfilled in the past, are a reason for thanksgiving. Christ’s sacrificial atonement on His cross, which occurred on a specific day and gives oomph to our faith, is a reason for thanksgiving. We can believe that God has protected, sustained, nurtured and blessed you, and given you so many reasons for thanksgiving.

Remember what God DID and be thankful.

Take the faith God grants us.

Love and Love

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35 ESV)

Love and Love

Another word for ‘disciple’ might be ‘fanatic.’

Some time ago, I joined a discussion group for close-up magicians. The group talks about recent technological advances in sleight-of-hand illusions. But in reading the discussions, I have realized that I do not fit in with the group. Because they are fanatics. Apparently, these folk go through their days constantly looking for opportunities to display their tricks. They are eager to pull out a deck of cards, a coin, or some magical gadget and perform at any opportunity.

They live to show their skills.

Instead of magic-performing, Jesus’ fanatics grow to have a fanatical attitude about loving. We do not merely love… but we love to love.

We have been so imploded by God’s love, that we can now not help but love. We do not love grudgingly (what would that even look like?) We do not love cautiously. We do not love conditionally. We do not love slowly. We do not love only when appropriate. We do not love halfway. We do not love sleepily.

We live to love.

Do not despair if you are not there, yet. We will become more Christlike the longer we live in Christ. And the more we love, the more we will love to love.

And then comes heaven. Heaven will be filled with this kind of fanatic. The last wisps of our selfishness will evaporate when we get to heaven. The last shadow that prevents us from seeing Christ’s light will disappear when we get to heaven. The last iota of caution, insecurity, pride, and fear that presently hinder our love of loving will be erased.

We will love to love, and we will GET to love. All the time.

Take the love God grants us.

Love and Hope

The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life.    The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 121:7,8)

Love and Hope

What really lasts?  My favorite shoes become hole-y. My favorite food does not stay fresh, even in the best refrigerator.  My favorite tv show becomes repetitive and trite.  My favorite electric drill wears out.  My favorite Santa hat becomes stained and faded.  My favorite uncle moved away.  My favorite football game has a time limit.

The things I favor, and the things that favor me, do not last.

But God’s love is forevermore.

All of Psalm 121 speaks of God’s never-ending love.  These promises of God’s presence in our lives are nothing more and nothing less than promises that God will love us tomorrow.

       I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

       My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

       He will not let your foot be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

       Behold, He who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

       The Lord is your keeper;

the Lord is your shade on your right hand.

       The sun shall not strike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

       The Lord will keep you from all evil;

He will keep your life.

       The Lord will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 121 ESV)

Take the hope God grants us.

Love and Faith

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 ESV)

Love and Faith

It was a dark and stormy night…

Or at least, it was a dark and snowy night. I came outside after a long evening of work at the library and discovered a blizzard had snuck up while I was at work. Most rational folk would have noticed the ice layer on the road, covered by twelve inches of snow, covered by another layer of ice, covered by snow, covered by ice and decided to wait out the storm. But not me. I reckoned I could make it home.

I even decided to take the highway rather than the much safer city streets.

Exiting the highway, the road conditions overtook me, and I spun in circles while navigating the ramp. Somehow my spinning truck stopped in exactly the right position under the stoplight. My heart racing, my hands white-knuckling the steering wheel, my teeth clenched, I uttered a prayer of thanks.

For many years after that, snow-covered roads did not frighten me. If road conditions worsened, I remembered that Big Event and relaxed. My memory of the past comforted me in the terrors of the present.

The Big Event of Christ’s death can have an even better effect on us when we wonder if God still loves us. The storms of life, whether in the form of illness, sorrow, or fear, often result in insecurity when considering God’s love. Could our struggles be evidence that God has stopped His unstoppable love? Could His discipline be a mark of the end of His eternal patience? Could tragedy indicate that God’s limitless bounty has finished in our lives?

Remembering Christ’s death for us, proof positive that God’s love is unconditional, puts to rest such wonderings. That past Big Event focuses our attention on God’s present love. The cross-love can be enough to pull into focus God’s love even now, even in tumultuous troubles. Our faith in that unforgettable and undeserved love allows us to focus on God instead of our physical, emotional, or spiritual pain.

Take the faith God grants us.

Hope and Love

Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.’ ” (I Samuel 20:42 ESV)

Hope and Love

If you do not care about a football team, you do not care whether they do well. If you do not care about a stray dog, you do not care about its meals. If you do not care about a particular tree, you do not care about whether it survives a drought.

Jonathan did not merely care about David. Jonathan loved David. And that love give birth to a deep hope. Jonathan hoped David would find peace, despite the upcoming conflict with Saul. Jonathan hoped David would remain protected by God, so that David would know God’s blessings. Jonathan hoped David would survive the upcoming conflict with Saul, so that their offspring could be united in God.

When it comes to those we love, we hope. We desire the best future for them. We yearn to see them prosper in the Lord. We look forward to hearing good news about them.

And this is how the greatest lover of all time regards us. He hopes for us. (Hebrews 2:13) Because He loves us.

We get to imitate Him. As He hoped and hopes for us, we can hope for our beloved, too. Knowing that God has good things in store for His children allows us to be secure in that hope. We are not so much hoping in our beloved, but we are hoping in HIM for our beloved.

That is a lot of hope.

Take the love God grants us.

Hope and Hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13 ESV)

Hope and Hope

I am enjoying my new glasses. For the past few years, I have been using two different pairs of glasses. I wear one pair most of the day. And I switch to another pair for reading.

But I can use my new glasses for reading as well as for regular viewing. And that feels pretty good. I look forward to more reading with clear vision. I look forward to not carrying two glasses around. I look forward to less leaving a pair at someone’s house, forgotten.

That simple hope is peaceful, uplifting, and encouraging.

But the hope that God provides is even better. He is greater than my glasses. He is more helpful than my glasses. He is more eternal than my glasses. He is more loving than my glasses.

During the storms of life, hope helps. During the emptiness of loneliness, hope helps. During the insecurity of economic turmoil, hope helps. During the chaos of untrustworthy news, hope helps. During the pains of illness, hope helps. During the valleys of spiritual drought, hope helps. During the effects of old age, hope helps. During the fear of worldview conflict, hope helps. During the troubles of parenting, hope helps. During the gripping temptation of habitual sin, hope helps.

And God will continue to give us hope.

Take the hope God grants us.