I am supposed to be meal planning for the upcoming days. We have teens out playing ultimate frisbee, little boys are helping dad paint a room, and I am taking a break from counting 22 family members x 3 meals a day will equal 411 meals prior to our Tennessee friends arriving, then it takes on a whole new insaneness. That is just hilarious when you think about it! (shhh, don't tell Barry I'm not working!) I just can't seem to move ahead on planning until I share Bro. Bill's message today!
Do you have HOPE?
Not the worlds word hope. (Their hope is a wish this would happen or an I would like this to happen, but probably won't kind of hope.)
I am talking about the real life, real deal, true HOPE!
The confident expectation of assured future events!
Pretty sure you need to read that again...."the confident expectation of assured future events!"
He was sharing with us today at what makes music so beautiful. Do you know?
It is the conflict and then the resolution. You hit the same notes and it just becomes an irritant. But as the notes offer all kinds of different things it becomes a wonderful and beautiful sound as it is played out.
Have you ever thought how our life IS a song of contrasting chords?
There are ups and downs! Struggles, trials, and moments of peace! But each of those things is what makes our life beautiful music. Without those valleys I would never appreciate the mountain tops. More importantly without Gods HOPE I am not sure I could face what tomorrow might hold. My life is full of conflict and resolution. I am not sure all of us feel resolution. And apart from Christ, how could we?
The world is walking a life of no hope. Our pastor shared some shocking statistics of how many people are living with depression. More shocking was the number of 5-6 year olds living on anti-anxiety medications! REALLY? And yet, I can believe it. Without Christ, there really is no hope. Why?
Because He IS HOPE.
Romans 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all the joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
*made possible by God - "May the God of hope fill you..."
- the hope of the godless will perish
- But the Hope in the Bible is the confident expectation of assured future events.
*made joyful by believing - "...with all the joy and peace as you trust in Him..."
- hope is never weak when our faith is well
*made abundant by the Holy Spirit - "...so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
- more pressure equals more abundance
"No pit is so deep that God is still not deeper!" by Betsie Ten Boom
(We loved seeing our kids heads spin around in church and look at us as we just read Corrie Ten Boom and saw the movie, "The Hiding Place"! It is amazing the road some are asked to walk in this life.)
Do you have the real deal Hope?
Is your life singing the song of contrasting chords?
When you are pressed, WHAT comes out?
~If your not sure you know the Hope that is shared in this post, check out the link in the sidebar to Josh McDowell-How to Know God
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