Tag Archives: God

Faith!

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faith

Have you ever climbed a mountain? Ever taken on an outrageously huge project? Ever had paperwork over your head? Me too. When I get in those situations, I freeze. How can I ever do this monumental task set before me!?!? If I am honest, that is how I was viewing this post. More so, this topic. Faith. There was a brief mention of it in one of my posts last month. Hope and Faith are closely related.

But there is so much about faith that can be written! The bible speaks long about faith. And the fact that faith is not clear cut in what it means makes it even more daunting. Faith can be so many things to so many people. Where do I start?

 

So I froze.

 

Right now it is Friday morning. I usually post Tuesday some time.

I was fearful of writing something offensive. What if I posted something that was contrary to God’s word? Am I even qualified to do this?

My feelings say no but my faith says YES! So I sat down and started typing…

In the rest of the month, I want to share my thoughts from a few verses in I John. Faith is personal. So I will share my journey.

So I conclude with this idea:

 

Faith has nothing to do with feelings. (Thank you God!!!)

 

Hope…so what?

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So what? That is the question. We have the Person, Plan and Place of Hope. But why? There is a Purpose of Hope and to illustrate it, there is an Old Testament story that most beautifully describes Hope.

Jericho. You remember the story, right? The promised land was right there in front of them. The Israelites just crossed the Jordan river. BUT in the way was the massive, walled city of Jericho. Joshua gave the orders that came from God. The people marched. The people shouted. The walls fell! Praise God!!! Now the conquest of the promised land could get under way. Hold on…we need to take a closer look.

walls of jericho

Joshua 6: 15-19 says, “15On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! 17The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.”” You can read chapter 6 here.

The people followed God’s directions and the city was captured. Verse 18 says to “keep away from the devoted things,” Let’s keep that phrase in mind.

The first verse of chapter 7 give us a telling picture of the heart of man.

“But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel.” Italics mine.

Achan stole some plunder for himself. And, as a result, was stoned to death along with his family. Here are the last two verses of chapter 7, “25Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.” Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. 26Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since.”

The Valley of Achor. This is where we meet the story. Yes, we are living thousands of years later but the principles are the same. We can “covet” the devoted things of this world. In fact, that word, Achor, means trouble or disturbance. You know what I am talking about here. Not all of us deal with the same stuff but we all have that sin in our hearts. You might be a chronic liar or filled with anger. Does gossip push your buttons? For me, I was addicted to pornography for years. I am sure that all of could identify with Achan. We want things. We can live in the Valley of Achor.

That would be depressing if we live in a valley of trouble all of our lives. So now we get to the Purpose of Hope. Turn in your bibles to Hosea 2.

The prophet Hosea comes on the scene. Israel is being unfaithful to God. Just like Achan, I might add. Kind of like us at times. The prophet is describing how God will bring judgement. Not good. But then in verse 14 of chapter 2, God starts pursuing Israel. Here are the verses, “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.”

The Purpose of Hope is to show us how much God loves us. He decided to allure her (Israel). They were adulterous. He will lead her, speak to her, give back to her the vineyards. In fact, what ever was trouble, God will turn into hope. Israel was in the Valley of Achor both literally and figuratively. But God changed things. That valley of trouble is now a door of hope. That is how much God loved Israel.

He loves you and me that much also. Romans 8 says that nothing can separate us from the love of God. We always can come back to God.

And that is the Purpose of Hope.

To remind us that there is Hope even when all hope seems lost. God will not forsake you. Come back to Him. Enjoy Him and all of His glory. Surrender your life to him. Let Him turn your Valley of Achor into a Door of Hope.

wooden door

Hope…Heaven!

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It all starts with Jesus Christ. He is the Person of Hope that will never let us down.

There is also a Plan of Hope which is the fact the Jesus is Coming. He will come back for us!

But right now…Jesus is Constructing. He is in heaven right now, the Place of Hope!

John 14:1-6 is a passage that is filled with hope. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Next week, I am going to look at heaven more closely. For today, let’s agree that heaven is real.

heaven

This picture may or may not represent heaven but it helps us to know that God has a fantastic place in store for us.

BUT WAIT, THERE IS A CATCH…

There is sin in this world and in our hearts. 

That sin must be accounted for before a person can go to heaven.

Jesus died on the cross. That death is sufficient to pay for the sin. The penalty is paid.

Our part is simple. We must accept this gift from God by faith. See John 3:16.

Now a person can walk through this life with Jesus. 

There is now a Place of Hope.

So for this week, dwell on heaven. Think about spending eternity in heaven with your Creator. That should put a smile on your face. =-)

Half Full

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I had to shovel today. Twice. Living in Wisconsin can be frustrating. We have all four seasons but they don’t seem to be equal in length. Winter (cold, snow, ice etc.) seems to last 10 months with the other two months being composed of the other three seasons. Yes, I exaggerate but not by much. =-)

But as I kept throwing snow over my shoulder today, I was thinking about the warm weather that is soon approaching. It won’t be too long before I am outside wearing shorts. I look forward to cutting the grass again. But some people call me an optimist.

Yes, I am an optimist. You know why? Hope. That one word is reason enough to be an optimist. There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic (hopeful) in this world but we don’t have time to list them all here.

But hope can be fleeting. I mean that my hope in stuff, events, or even people can be broken or disappointed. That hurts. Generally speaking, no one tries to let me down or do something that would hurt the hope I have but it happens. Life can be filled with despair.

So what?

Romans 5:5 says, “And hope does not disappoint us,” The hope that is talked about here DOES NOT bring shame or disgrace. It DOES NOT put us to utter confusion. It DOES NOT disappoint. That is the kind of hope that never lets me down.

To really get the whole picture, read Romans 4 and 5. It will explain why there can be hope and what our hope is in. If my hope is correctly placed then I won’t need to live in despair anymore.

When my kids are fighting…I can have hope.

When my wife and I are in a disconnect moment…I can have hope.

When my job really sucks…I can have hope.

When my body hurts just because I am over 40…I can have hope.

When I have to shovel snow, again…I can have hope.

When my former addiction flares up…I can have hope.

When ________________…I can have hope.

I can have hope BECAUSE…of Jesus Christ. It is all about what He did. Whatever is happening right now is does not change the fact that Jesus loves me and died for my sins. Like I said, Romans 4 and 5, is a really good place when looking for hope.

For the rest of this month Hope is the topic.

So today, week 1, the Person of Hope is Jesus Christ

Until next week, have hope. Is your glass half full?

half full 2

Jars, the final episode.

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Have you had your fill of jars yet? One more post today about these wonderful and boring items. Let’s look at John 2:1-11

“On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”

This is an interesting story about Jesus just coming onto the scene with a big-time miracle. He even said that it was not his time to be revealed. But I don’t want to focus on that part of this story. As you may have guessed, let’s focus on the jars.

There were six jars. Huge jars. They were nearby. I am not sure what they had been used for in the past but at the present time, they were empty. Not being used.

Jesus said to fill the jars. First point to us: Jesus might want to use something in our lives that is, presently, empty and not being used.

What is in your life that is collecting dust? I am not specifically referring to an item but something more like a talent or ability. Do you sing? Maybe you are an artist of some sort. Can you build stuff with your hands? These things and so many more are like the jars from the story. We have them nearby. They are empty but may have been used at another time. Listen, is Jesus asking for the jars?

So they filled them to the brim. Second point to us: Whenever Jesus is asking something, go full tilt. Do it all the way. 

20 to 30 gallons. That is a lot of water. Even half of that would have been a lot. But the servants filled the jars all the way to the top. I think Jesus would have turned the water into wine regardless of how much water was in the jars. That is my view. So, why not fill them completely?

Whatever God is asking of you, give him your all. Fill your jars to the brim. Maybe even fill them to the point of sacrifice. It may cost you, yes, but it will be worth it all. Like the old song says, “It will be worth it all when we see His face.” From the song entitled “It Will Be Worth it All”

I will end with a question that I am asking myself as much as I am asking you.

What jars is Jesus asking me to fill in my life today?