Hope

Two Men and Two Boats

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Two Men in Two Boats

To the sea one day two men went down

Paul as a prisoner and Jonah skipping town

“I’m out of here!” was all Jonah could say

Then he slept through the storm when he should have prayed

 

But prisoner Paul cried to God in his boat

Till an angel came down with a message of hope

Then with determination he encouraged his friends

Saying Jesus would keep them all safe in the end

 

It took a big fish to get Jonah to go

Tell others of mercy and God’s love for the world

But our friend Saint Paul shows us the right way

That if God sends the storm we must trust and obey!

 

 

 

 

Wings of the Morning

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Forty five years ago we left the Christian commune where we lived which had slowly degenerated into a cult. Thankfully unlike other groups our leadership majored in booting people out rather than trying to force them to stay.  That morning we hurriedly packed our car with suitcases while squeezing our 6 week old son in between all the stuff in the back seat. A grey cloud of spiritual confusion surrounded me, but then God brought to my mind His promise.

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;  Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. Psalm 139:9-10

That morning I wished that I had real wings so I could fly fast and far from my fears and disappointments. People I had trusted had misled me but on the other hand, I was young and foolish enough to follow them away from what I knew was right. Thank God that His love was greater than all my sins and stupid choices.

Looking back, I now can see that He has kept and led us all through the long years to heal and rebuild our faith. Over and over He has patiently shown what true humility and forgiveness we can find in following Jesus Christ.   People say that you can’t run away from your problems, but the good news is that God can fly faster than our problems! He always has a plan in place for us even when we don’t know what it is. When we fly away with morning wings we will discover that when we land on the other shore He is already there. In our darkest hour He reaches out His hand to lead us and then He takes in His arms and holds us through the night until the new day dawns.

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The God of Hope

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As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.  “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”  John 9:1-2

It is hard for us to even imagine the position of disabled people in Jesus’ day. Rather than compassion the general public often was indifferent. In place of encouragement, there was rejection. Religious people were no better, in fact even His disciples were asking Jesus if this blind man had sinned or if he was paying for his parents’ sin. But to this blind man for whom no one held any hope Jesus came with an entirely different message. Jesus’ words brought hope even before he brought healing.

India and Nepal 101

Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him  John 9:3

Do our words bring hope? Some people have lost all hope for themselves. Like this man they have had problems since the day they were born. They have no idea what life might be like without suffering. This blind man began to hope when Jesus stopped and did something for him. The fact that Jesus chose to heal in the strange way of making mud with spit, tells us that God’s hope shows up in the most unlikely ways! In Pakistan God’s hope looks like a sewing machine given to a widow. In Nepal God’s hope smells like chicken curry cooking for a hungry child. In Guatemala God’s hope feels like a free wheel-chair for a disabled child. In our neighborhood maybe hope is like an invitation to our dinner table. He is a God of all kinds of hope and He may choose you or me to be the mud he uses to help someone to see!