Glory Seed Devotional’s, 2017: Anticipating and Experiencing Jehovah-Jireh...
The two sides of hope…
Shalom!
As I see it there is hope and there is Hope. I see hope (little h) as believing something will turn out the way I want it to, another way of looking at it would be to see it as wishful thinking. And I see Hope (big H) as believing something will turn out the way God Wills it to turn out. I have never considered for Hope to be contingent on what I do other than exercising faith, belief, and trust in God’s plan for my life, but recently I discovered along with exercising faith, belief, and trust I must also exercise the courage to stand up against the forces of doubt that will test my faith, belief, and trust. Hebrews puts it this way…
“Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.” (Hebrews 3:5–6, NLT)
I believe the Psalmist was also referring to “God’s house” when he wrote, “Unless the LORD builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the LORD protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.” (Psalm 127:1, NLT, emphasis mine)
The apostle Paul wrote that our bodies were the Temple of God but I never considered myself “God’s house” but perhaps Jesus was thinking along those lines when he said, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” (Revelation 3:20, NLT) I can think of no greater source of Hope than to have the Living Christ within this “God’s House” named Gary Piper (please insert your name for mine), as illustrated by the Psalmist. “Unless the LORD builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the LORD protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.” (Psalm 127:1, NLT, emphasis mine)
And then there’s this. “The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD." (Lamentations 3:22–26, NLT)
Crustyism 1:1 “It is the wise person who goes from hope to Hope!”
“May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favor on us.” **
Grace and PEACE,
Gary
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“Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.”
**Psalm 67:1, New Living Translation
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