Category: Spiritual Growth

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Joy and peace

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NIV

What does ‘God of hope’ mean? The first thing that we can know about the term ‘God of hope’ is that it is another name for God. The One and Only God. It is a beautiful way to describe God. The second thing is that the hope that God gives us when we accept His gracious gift of forgiveness and salvation is the hope of what lies ahead. Not just in this life but in the next. In the afterlife, for all of eternity. Our God is the God of hope, of resurrection, of eternal life, of not being held captive by the power of sin. This God, our God, wants to fill us with joy and peace.

Our lives are empty before we come to Christ. We fill them with all kinds of things that the world says are going to satisfy us, make us feel whole, but they don’t. Instead they make us feel like we need to keep looking for more. What we need to be filled with is from God. Joy and peace are just the start of what God can fill us with.

Joy is different from happiness. Happiness comes from what is occurring around us, those temporary situations that make us feel happy. Joy comes from within and it comes from being God’s child. When we are accepted into God’s family as heirs, we have the ability to be filled with joy. God will give it to us, but we have to accept it, and express it. True joy can be seen in how we deal with life, not just the good parts, but also it’s challenges, hardships and moments of utter despair. Joy comes from inside and from God.

Peace is defined in the world as being moments when there is no conflict in our lives. That is not the peace that is being talked about here. This peace is a state of mind that comes from God. Knowing that we are saved, not by anything we have done or could ever do, but by the grace that our amazing God has extended to us, can bring peace. We have to set our minds to focus on God and the peace that He has placed inside of us. Just like joy, true peace can be seen in our lives by the way we handle everyday life, good and difficult times. We build our relationship with God one moment at a time. We come to Him for forgiveness when we have sinned, we speak to Him in prayer and we place our faith in Him.

Peace and joy come from God. They are dependent on our inner situation, whether we are born again or still living in darkness. To be born again, we have to place our faith in Jesus, which means to also place our trust in Him. In the verse Paul wrote that ‘as you trust in him’. Trusting God to do what He says He will do is scary for us. We are used to dealing with each other, imperfect human beings who do not always follow through with what we have promised to do. God is different in that He doesn’t lie, He doesn’t make promises He doesn’t plan to keep. Placing our trust in Him is a sur thing and we won’t be disappointed by Him.

In the end of the verse Paul states ‘so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit’. Joy and peace are part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. When we are truly at peace and we are filled with joy, we are able to live life overflowing with hope. To be overflowing with hope means to have so much hope that you can’t contain it inside any longer and it flows out into every part of your life. Hope can also be described as a deep sense of assurance. Just like joy and peace, hope can be seen by others in our actions, our attitude, and our words.

To be filled with joy and peace and to be overflowing with hope are all blessings from God. When the Holy Spirit fills us, He enables us to be connected to God’s grace and love. Therefore, we can’t force ourselves to be filled with joy, peace or hope, it happens because of that connection with God.

Below are some questions that you can answer. Again, I would love to hear your responses if you are willing to put them in the comments section. If you don’t want to leave them where others can read them, you can private message me on my Facebook page ‘For His Honor.’

Do you experience joy?

How does joy present in your everyday life?

Are you at peace?

What does being at peace look like for you?

Are you saved by the blood of Jesus?

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Psalms 146:5

“Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.” Psalms 146:5 NIV

The psalmist in this verse is encouraging everyone who reads this verse or hears it to put their trust and hope in God. We often put our hope in other people, whether they are people we know or people we look up to. The challenge with this is that they are people, human and as people and humans we are not perfect. We let others down, others let us down. By placing our hope in others and not God, we are setting ourselves up to be disappointed, hurt and discouraged.

When we place our hope in God, we are placing it with the only perfect being. We could argue that even when we place our hope in God, we can be disappointed or discouraged. However, if we are willing to look at what is going on, what we are disappointed or discouraged about, we usually find that our disappointment or discouragement is occurring because we wanted a certain outcome and we didn’t get what we wanted.

Since God is perfect, not us, He knows what we need and what is the perfect outcome for each one of us. The result we are looking for may not be the best result for us and since God knows that, He gives us what we need, what is best for us. Those who place their lives, their decisions, their hopes in God are blessed and they will tell you they are blessed, if asked.

Where do you place your hope, who do you want help from, others or God?

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Even though we do not see Him

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:8-9 NIV

We are officially in the Lenten season. This is the time when we as Christians can take the opportunity to focus more intently on what Christ gave up during those 40 days in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry and then ultimately on the cross. Lent ends on Maundy Thursday, when we remember the last meal that Jesus had with His disciples. The next day, Good Friday, we remember the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made for each and every one of us.

At the moment that Jesus breathed His last breath on the cross and ended His time here on earth, His mother and all those who believed in Him and loved Him, grieved. They believed that they would never see Him again, talk with Him again, spend time with Him. They were surprised on the 3rd day when He appeared to them alive. They were struggling to believe that He was going to rise after His death even after He told them Himself. They completely believed and trusted Him once they saw Him in His resurrected body.

Peter was one of them, he had walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus, shared meals with Jesus, had listened and believed in Jesus for 3 years. So as he wrote this letter, he knew those he was writing to had not had that privilege. If they chose to believe in Christ they would be doing it without having ever seen Him. That is what faith is. John recorded in John 20:29, Jesus saying that “…Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”.

Even though you don’t see Him in person here on earth, do you believe? I pray that you do.

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Light has dawned

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2 NIV

Isaiah is talking about the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Even though he wrote this centuries before Jesus came to earth, Isaiah was telling the Israelites that a wonderful Light was coming. A light that was going to shine in the darkness, even the darkness where light has not been for a long time. There is nowhere that this light cannot shine.

It will be up to the people walking in darkness then to decide if they are going to choose to follow the light or remain in darkness. From the teachings that are provided throughout the New Testament, it is evident that not everyone chooses to follow the light when they see it. The important question for each one of us today, knowing that the Light has dawned, is have you chosen to follow the Light or to continue to walk in darkness?

Only you can answer that for yourself, and when you do, remember to be honest with yourself. No one else on earth may know what is in your heart but God knows. He wants you to choose the Light, but He won’t drag you to Himself kicking and screaming, it has to be a voluntary choice to have a relationship with Him.

The Light has dawned, which do you choose……Light or darkness?

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First or last?

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Matthew 20:16 NIV

This is a very vague statement that is made by Jesus when He tells the parable of the workers in the vineyard. This is the last verse for that parable. There are several interpretations of this statement. All of these interpretations have one thing in common and that is that they are all based on the individuals Jesus is talking about having accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Some people believe that the statement is meant to let everyone know that regardless of what we, as humans, have decided is worthy of reward, that in the end it is up to God and His grace. He will decide who gets what rewards, and who gets those rewards first and who gets them last. Those who we believe are the least deserving of rewards in the kingdom of heaven, may actually be first to receive God’s grace because God chooses to give it to them first. Others who we believe are the most deserving of rewards may be last to receive them. It is all God’s decision.

Other people believe that Jesus is telling those who are poor, by the world’s standards, that they will be rich in heaven and those who are rich, by the world’s standards, that they will have less riches in heaven.

The third interpretation that some people believe is that Jesus is telling the Israelites that even though they were the first to be included in God’s family, they were among the last to come to faith through Jesus. Gentiles believed in Christ as the Messiah before the Israelites came to believe in Jesus and who He was.

It is all up to interpretation and could mean all three of them. Only Jesus knows what He meant when He said it. No matter what it means, the only way we enter heaven is through believing in Jesus, accepting His gift of salvation and declaring Him to be our Lord and Savior.

So have you done that?

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Waiting

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalms 27:14 NIV

Who likes to wait?

No one really.

In the world we live in today, waiting is not something that very many of us want to do or are good at. We are used to instant gratification. With all the electronic devices we have, we don’t have to wait for much of anything.

Therefore, waiting for answers to our prayers can be grueling. As Christians, we should want to do God’s Will. We should want to be obedient to His plan for our lives and I think we are for the most part. It is the waiting to find out what God wants us to do, or waiting to see what His plan is for our lives that can be troublesome for us. We sometimes can take things into our own hands. When those moments come where we want to take charge of what we believe should be occurring, we can look to David. He has gone through so many of the same types of difficulties throughout his life that we have and he was able to return to a position of following God, waiting for God.

David, in this psalm, goes through several emotions, talking about those times when he is uncertain of what will come next. He starts out writing with confidence of God’s favor on him, he then cries out for help but ultimately ends the psalm with the confidence of knowing that he is to wait on the Lord and that he can wait on the Lord. That the Lord will be there for him.

This is a verse that every Christian needs to hear from time to time. We need reminding at times that God has promised to answer us. He has not promised us that the answer is always going to be what we want it to be, but there will be an answer.

By waiting on the Lord and being strong, we exercise our faith. Faith is not developed if everything goes the way we want, when we want it, all the time. Therefore, we need to have moments where we don’t get answers in the time period that we have set. Waiting helps us to become closer to God, as we walk in the knowledge that God wants what is best for us. That we can trust Him.

How well do you wait?

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Continue in faith

“if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.” Colossians 1:23 NIV

Paul was writing to the churches in Colossae while he was in prison for proclaiming Christ as the Messiah. He had not met the believers in Colossae but had heard great things about them and was wanting to encourage them to continue to grow in their walk with Christ.

Paul is telling the churches at Colossae that if they are truly committed to Christ then they are to continue to live according to the gospel. The truths they have heard are the foundation that they have built their faith on and that is Christ. They are to not give up hope but to persevere in trials that they will face, including in their everyday life such as not living like the world lives.

What does that look like in today’s world? The idea of continuing in our faith, not moving from the hope we have from the gospel. It looks like living in such a way as to be removed from the ways of the world. Removed from the idea of following our fleshly desires and instead we listen to the Holy Spirit. Wanting to follow what God wants for our lives, staying in communication with God constantly.

Dear Heavenly Father, Please help us to be in constant communication with You, so we are able to discern what You want us to do. Help us then to be obedient to Your will. Thank You for Your love and guidance. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

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Seek First

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 NIV

As with a lot of the direction and guidance given by Jesus, this verse is misunderstood and misquoted a lot of the time. There are people who use this verse to say that God will provide any materialistic thing you ask for if you seek Him first. That is not what this verse means at all.

Even though the meaning of “these things” in this verse is our basic needs such as food and clothing. Jesus has taught His disciples and believers that we are not to live with our minds filled with worry about how we will make sure we have food and clothing but instead He tells us to trust God the Father. By looking at the beginning of the verse, we need to realize that seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness first, is what our minds should be focused on.

When we use our time to explore God’s word, ask for His will to be done in our lives, trust that He is in charge and wants what is best for us, we come to realize how much God values us. This should be our priority, making sure that we are open to hearing what God wants us to do to fulfill His will and then being obedient to the call to do our part. By making this our priority, we are not just adding it to our list of priorities for the day or week or month, but we are to live with this priority of seeking God as our main priority.

The idea of seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness means deciding to live in a state of continual repentance because of our sin. This can lead us to live a life that is devoted to God. Seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness is making sure our heart is in the right state. One that is devoted to God, that wants what God wants for us. God will make sure that we have what we need to fulfill His will as long as we are sincerely seeking to do His will for our lives. Our motives matter.

Take time today to examine why you ask God for the things you ask God for. Are they things that will fulfil His will or your will?

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Have you asked?

“Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” John 16:24 NIV

This verse is part of the conversation Jesus was having with His disciples on the night He was arrested. Jesus had had many conversations with them but this one is the first time, according to my research, that Jesus told them to pray ‘in’ His name. By doing this He is giving them the knowledge that He is the mediator between them and God, that His will can be done because He has the authority to make things happen.

When we practice asking ‘in’ Jesus’s name, we are acknowledging that we are unable to do anything without Jesus. Once we accept this it becomes easier to realize that we need Him for everything. Jesus is the mediator between us and God. He is the only one who can go to God on our behalf and we definitely need someone to go to God on our behalf because of our sinful nature.

The last part of this verse says ‘Ask and you will receive’. I want to emphasis that it is not telling us that whatever we pray for we are going to receive. That is not what this verse says because that is not how it works. We need to understand that praying ‘in’ Jesus’s name is different than praying and simply using Jesus’s name at the end of the prayer. When we pray ‘in’ Jesus’s name, we are to be doing it in unison with God’s will. If we are not in union with God’s will then we should not expect to receive what we are asking for. We need to remember that God knows better than we do what we need. After all, He is God!

When we accept that we can do nothing, that we have the One who can do everything on our side, we can give it all to Him. He was willing to the cross for us, He is willing to be our mediator and give us what we ask for as long as when we do it in His name we are doing it in unison with God’s Will.

Are you asking for things simply using Jesus’s name at the end of your prayer or are you seeking God’s Will and asking for things ‘in’ His name?

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Being a good friend

“A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much.” Proverbs 20:19 NIV

This is a straightforward verse. It is not a verse that many people want to think about because no one truly likes to be called out on a negative behavior. Gossip is a very hard behavior to deal with. This is a behavior that our enemy, the devil, has figured out how to manipulate so that we may not even realize we are behaving in that manner until we are in the middle of it.

When we are told something in confidence that we feel led to pray about, our inclination can be to ask other Christians to help by praying as well. This is a wonderful idea, however, this is when we have to be extra careful in what we say. If we ask others to pray for another person and do not give their name or situation, I believe that is fine as God knows the person and circumstances.

When we decide we are going to give a small amount of information about the person or circumstance, we should know the personality of the one we are asking to pray. Some people are fine at being asked to pray and not having any information about the request. Some people are better at praying for others when they know the name of who they are praying for and unfortunately there are the people who have a challenge focusing on the prayer because they want to know the rest of the information.

Our enemy is sneaky and will take this good hearted desire to help others, praying for them and having a group of people pray for another individual, and he places the thought that maybe telling just the person what is going on will help them to really pray specifically for the need. The challenge is that often times that little amount of information can be turned into incorrect information that is spread around or the person who came to you in confidence doesn’t really want anyone else to know any of what is going on. Truly keeping the information to ourselves is important. We can ask others to pray for someone without giving any information beyond, the person needs prayer.

As much as we are to not be a person who gossips, we are also to keep in mind what we know about how well another person can keep a confidence when we decide to talk about issues others are having that we have been asked to pray for. So, as the new year begins, if you have a resolution about controlling your tongue, this verse may prove to be helpful when you are searching for biblical backing.