Thoughtful Tuesday
The past week in my devotional it has been talking about finding hope, grabbing on to hope, and living in that hope! I found that the scriptures that were presented on each day were nourishing for my soul during such a time as this! Do you ever have anything like that happen to you?
On Monday, the title of the devotional was When Life Isn’t Fair. It started out with Psalm 25:5, “Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in You.” It talked about a lady who from birth was dropped causing physical ailment throughout life where she had to walk with a cane bent over. Instead of being bitter she shined the light of Christ on those she came into contact with and commonly made the statement, “Isn’t Jesus sweet?” The end always has a prayer and it pierced my hear…Dear Lord, I confess that words “Isn’t Jesus Sweet?” are not the first ones our of my mouth when life seems more than I can bear…” I think about my friend who just found out that she has breast cancer. I have been reading her blog (http:warriorswearpink.blogspot.com) to find that she has more hope then I can possibly fathom having due to her circumstances.Pray for her as she is enduring surgery and what’s next during this week.
Another verse that has stuck out to me during this week’s devotionals was Philippians 4:4, “Always be full of JOY in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice!” You know it is so true what she said about how as Christians we respond to this verse by putting on a front and acting as though we are happy to rejoice in all of our circumstances. The truth is we aren’t really rejoicing in our hearts. Some people struggle to come to the realization that life is not a walk in the park….it is a “slugfest.” How do you perceive this verse? When she broke it down for me I will carry away a new appreciation for this verse…of course, I love the book of Philippians anyway. The verse above tells us that we should be full of joy IN THE LORD. Not in people, not in circumstances, but IN the LORD. What about the Lord should we find joy in…how about His peace, His power, and His very presence?
I was reading in the book Tribes by Seth Godin the other day about how Religion without FAITH will faulter. When everything is stripped away there is still faith and the religion simply emphasizes the belief in what or whom. I believe that Faith requires the quality of HOPE. So what do you have Faith (or HOPE) in? What do you HOPE to do to build God’s Kingdom today? Do you let people crush your HOPE in life?
I look to Jesus for my HOPE that one day I will stand face to face with my Creator.
