Tag: hope

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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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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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Clothe yourselves

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Colossians 3:12 NIV

God chose to create us. He chose to let us continue living after sin entered the world and He chose to send Jesus to pay the final price for our sins so that we could be able to spend eternity in heaven with Him. He chose all of that. When we choose to believe in God and follow Christ then we are choosing God. God loves us very much. God has shown us compassion, He has been kind to us, He has been gentle with us and He has been patient with us.

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are to imitate Him in our actions, thoughts and words. We take off hatred, hostility, cruelty, impatience and pride. We are to replace them, as a new creation, with compassion, gentleness, patience and kindness.

Humility comes when we realize that we can do none of this without Christ, that those actions and thoughts are hard to be consistently shown by us if we rely on our human nature. We need to rely on Christ to help us demonstrate to others the same love and compassion that has been shown to us.

Heavenly Father, please help us to rely on You to show others the love and compassion, the patience and gentleness that You have shown us and instilled us to show others. Living in this world and trying to rely only on ourselves is a losing battle. Help us to not let the devil get a foothold in our lives. Continue to give us the strength we need to live life as Your chosen people. In Christ’s name Amen.

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Spread the news

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” John 15:16 NIV

Jesus is speaking to His disciples in this verse and reminding them that they did not choose Jesus, He chose them to be His disciples. He appointed them because He knew that they could bear fruit. The fruit Jesus is talking about is the ability of them to spread the good news of Christ to everyone. The disciples were given the ability to perform miracles as well by Jesus, but only when God deemed them to be done. They had to ask in Jesus’s name for God, the Father to permit the miracle to occur.

This verse is not only for the 12 disciples who followed Jesus. Jesus is speaking to you and me today as well with this verse. He wants us to spread the good news of Who He is to everyone. Do you spread the good news? Do you witness to others? Some people are afraid to witness with words, but everyone witnesses with the way they live their lives. We don’t tend to perform miracles, but we are able to be witnesses and spread God’s love everywhere we go.

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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.

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Be on guard

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV

In 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Paul has a lot to say. He is encouraging the believers in Corinth on several fronts and that areas he is encouraging them about rely on each other. First he is telling them to be on guard, to be watching around them, knowing what is going on in their community, church and family. Sometimes people like to overlook things so that they don’t have to admit them or address them. Paul is telling the church in Corinth and I believe us as well since we are followers of Christ too, to be alert to our surroundings. The believers in Corinth were going against their culture and customs in some areas and knowing what was happening around them enabled them to not return to those ways using the reasoning of ‘not knowing what was going on’.

The second thing is to stand firm in our faith. This means to not give up. The believers in Corinth were very new to the faith and this way of living. Paul was encouraging them to not lose heart but to remember that Christ was there for them, that their faith was worth dealing with hard times. There are going to be times when things get hard for us as well, and we should expect that because being a follower of Jesus does not give us a guarantee of a life without problems. Actually, it sometimes initiates some problems because not everyone else is a follower of Jesus. No matter what, we are to stand firm in our faith, don’t let life’s problems or hard times, shake our faith that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. He didn’t let hard times stop Him from standing in His faith that His father in heaven was with Him.

The third thing is to be courageous. As I said, these areas go together, and being courageous is made stronger by remaining firm in our faith, knowing Who we have on our side. In addition to making hard choices in life, being courageous or brave can also mean keeping our word or promises. When we follow through with what we have said we would do or not do in the face of adversary, we are being brave and courageous. This is especially challenging for new believers, which is what the believers in Corinth were dealing with. It is hard because not everyone around them believed what they did and challenged them, probably daily. We go through this same challenge as we begin to develop our walk with God and become courageous.

The fourth is to be strong. Strong, as Paul is talking about here, is not just physical strength, it is also emotional strength. The male population of Paul’s time were not very good at acknowledging emotional needs or strengths. They were better at exercising self-control than admitting that they couldn’t do something. So for us, when we recognize that we can admit when we are wrong, that we can exercise self-control, we are showing that we are being emotionally strong. Again, this can be built on knowing what is happening around us, being willing to remain in our faith and being courageous. By building those areas up in our lives, we are able to admit a weakness and it not destroy us as a person.

The fifth is to do everything in love. Paul writes in a later chapter of this book, that love is the greatest of 3 things, hope, faith and love. Love truly ties everything together. He was letting them know and letting us know that without love that our awareness of what is happening around us is dulled, our ability to stand firm in our faith is weakened, our willingness to be courageous is challenged and our committed to Christ, overall, is not strong.

Paul is reminding all of us that love is the greatest weapon against evil, against our enemy. Without love we are not as powerful as believers in Christ as we can be. Let’s not let our enemy have any kind of upper hand in our lives. Let’s practice and build, each and every one of these areas, each and every day of our lives so that our enemy has no foothold on us.

Heavenly Father, thank You for being our Lord and Savior. Thank You for always giving us what we need to be able to do Your Will, and be the warriors of our faith that You know we are capable of being. Because of You, Lord, we are able stand strong in our faith and show our enemy everyday that we are Your children. Please be with us as we continue to walk out our faith, growing stronger each day. In Your Son’s most precious name, Amen.