God’s Hope

Finding Hope

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The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, Ephesians 1:18 KJV

My friend’s voice sounded somewhere between hopeless and amused as he told me about waking up on Mother’s day to find snow on deck. Maybe dragging into this 8th week of shutdown you are also running a bit low on hope. Today Paul reminds us that our greatest hope is in heaven because that is the place God has promised His people. Our great hope on earth begins where Jesus suffered on the cross for our free gift of salvation. But our great hope right here and right now is put to work when we love others in daily practical ways. Together we share a common hope and finding feet to wash may be the best medicine for hopelessness because it gives earthly reality to the heavenly hope we have in Jesus Christ our Lord.

COVID-19: God’s Preferential Deference? — mulyalemutisya

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I don’t re-blog many articles but I loved this post by Mulyale Mutisya from Nairobi, Kenya.  She put in clear practical and personal terms questions I have had about how the Corona Virus was changing everyday life in other parts of the world. I especially loved her quote from Monika Hellwig;

“The fears of the poor are more realistic and less exaggerated, because they already know that one can survive great suffering and want.”

Thanks Mulyale and have a blessed day all!

 

A few days ago, I took an evening walk with a friend who had visited. We follow the train track, breathing in fresh air from the surrounding forest. This is refreshing especially after spending time in quarantine. After about twenty minutes, the train track makes a diversion and leads us to a wide road and […]

via COVID-19: God’s Preferential Deference? — mulyalemutisya

Waiting on God’s Weaving

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Wait for the Lord: be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.           Psalm 27:14 ESV

One of my least favorite plays (which I was compelled to watch because mom said so) was titled “Waiting for Gadot” It involved a couple of guys hanging around  waiting for a friend who guess what…never showed up! For an eight year old who far preferred Davy Crockett; Daniel Boone or Kidnapped; this was akin to Chinese water torture. Though I hated the play, it left an indelible impression on me about waiting. However when King David uses the word wait in this Psalm he isn’t at all suggesting the waiting for the train kind of waiting that we might associate with it.

Instead the Hebrew word for wait: quvah – comes from a root which implies two cords being woven together into a rope. Secondarily it includes something that my second language of Portuguese calls it; which is hope. In fact in Portuguese hoping and waiting are even the exact same word!

So what you might ask, “what good does that do for me?” That’s a great question and the answer is plenty! This kind of waiting isn’t just hanging out and hoping that God will show up. In fact God already has shown up in Bethlehem and His plan since that moment is that in our times of doubt and fear that our hearts will be steadily and slowly woven together with His. As the Apostle Paul states  in his letter to the Romans:

“And hope does not put us to shame because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who is given to us. Romans 5:5 ESV

So whether our crisis is a sickness like the Corona virus which has brought our nation to a halt; a broken relationship or shattered dreams, God is right here – right now waiting for you and I. His heart is open and ready to receive us when we open our hearts to receive Him. As Jesus hung  in agony on the cross He gave His spirit into His Father’s hands. Our waiting on God means putting our hearts into His hands and then stepping back as the Holy Spirit weaves us together with Him in the love of Jesus Christ!

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