Hope

Hope

Hebrews 11:1-2 NLT 

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.

Day 197: Hope for what is to come

Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

'For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. '

        Often in our walks we will come across this verse and wonder, really God, do you really know the future for us? Whenever we are in a sticky situation, are You sure God? Do You really know? When life hurts and the pain is fresh, really God? Do You? Yes, Yes, and Yes, He does know the plans for you. Notice how we do not really question God when times are good or prosperous… We just got a raise at work, really God? We were gifted an honor or an award, really God? It is funny how the only time we really question God is when life is happening around us that we disapprove of or do not understand.

         This is particularly interesting in where our hope comes from. Hope is an essential component of learning how to see 359˚ of beauty in your life everywhere. You have to anchor yourself in something far greater than yourself and KNOW that God does have a plan for even the worst of situations. There is so much about our responses to these situations in life that matters more than the situation itself. We will be tested, refined, and transformed through our walks with Jesus Christ as long as we have hope.

         Hope is an essential progression of faith. We have discussed this before but why else would scripture say in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.” There is a natural progression that comes first through the grace of Jesus to grant us the ability to have faith (which is our belief), that leads to Hope (in in our future), which in turn results in love (Love being all love rooted in Jesus). As stated above, God knows the plans He has for us if we will pursue Him with our whole hearts.

         This is further clarified for us in Jeremiah 29:12-14: “In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” With scriptures like this future promise upon seek Jesus with our whole hearts we know that we have a future and a hope!

         I said this is essential in being able to see 359˚ of beauty lifestyle, because it really is. We have to have and maintain hope in every circumstance that there is good to be found in whatever is going on. If we simply focus on seeking God’s beauty, we will see it in abundance because it surrounds every piece of our lives.

Dear All-knowing Father,

         Thank You that You have plans for us in our lives. Thank You that You did not just create us to wander aimlessly through our lives and that You created us with the purpose of sharing our lives with others, so that they may come to know You like we do. Jesus, let us honor Your work and bring Glory to Your name in this world. We are beyond thankful that You grant us hope in things seen and unseen in our lives and we are blessed beyond our measure to even be considered worthy of Your hope in us as sinners. Thank You for seeing through all that is within us to what we can become in our futures. Lord, You are good. In Jesus Christ’s holy name we pray, amen.

Day 198: We are a new creation

2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NLT

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

         In order to truly walk as a new creation after coming to know Jesus Christ we have to embrace the hope that did not previously exist in our lives. Honestly, I believe that it is hope that drives us to serve Jesus. I hope for different outcomes in my life due to knowing Him and serving Him. When we share the Gospel of Jesus, we hope that others will see Him and come to know Him. We have all the byproducts (Fruits) in the scriptures of coming into a relationship with Jesus, but it is hope that continually drives us into action.

         I heard once that the nature of our attitudes creates our circumstances. Generally, there are two types of attitudes that most people embrace, pessimism and optimism. This is true of 359˚ of beauty too. The 1˚ contrasting the 359˚ simulates the nature of our attitudes. When we are typically focused on the 1˚ we have a very pessimistic view of the world. Conversely, when we ask God to reveal His beauty we begin to see the 359˚ of beauty that surrounds every situation. It has so much to do with the outlook we have in life. Hope has significant implications for our expectations in life.

         One of my favorite questions to ask people is a very simple question, “Is the glass half empty or half full?” I believe this single question can teach you so much about how a person views the world around them. It is simple but its diagnostic value is significantly beyond normal questions. If a person answers that simple question as half empty, one can typically relate that answer with a pessimistic leaning person. On the other hand, one who views the glass as half full is generally associated as the optimistic person. For the person that ask for precise measurements to be able to determine which way the glass would be classified is someone you should run from… I’m kidding! They are the type of person that needs the details of life to be able to appreciate the question. Sometimes you have to find that person and leverage their unique gifts in your life.

         Over the years, I have developed an interesting answer to this question that suits me very well. I feel like this view suits the verse above in the fact that my views have dramatically shifted the deeper I walk with Jesus and the more I learn about living the 359˚ of beauty lifestyle. I originally would have claimed the glass was half full, but now my answer is altogether different. Now, I am simply grateful I have a glass, regardless of how much might be in the glass. Gratitude is the anchor in which I operate regardless of what I am seeing in the glass. This scripture essentially talks about us having a new lens and identity, which should grant us an amazing ability to HOPE for things in our lives. Therefore, with placing our hope and trust in Jesus, we should be able to embrace the new perspectives that God offers. Then, when you ask God to reveal His beauty in every situation, it becomes super easy to see every time.

Dear Glass Creator,

         Thank You for the glass of life You have clearly given to us. It is easy for us to see and know that You are present in all things, but we struggle to believe in the hope that You have assured us of on a daily basis. Thank You for reminding us that we are new creations in Christ Jesus and that He is perfectly equipping us with the ability to see glimpses of the world through Your eyes. We can embrace and see the beauty of the world around us because of Your grace and the amazing work of Jesus Christ in our lives. Help us learn to live in the 359˚ of beauty lifestyle and embrace hope as a foundational principle in which we walk throughout each day. We love You Jesus. In Christ’s Holy and Heavenly name we pray, amen. 

Day 199: Looking ahead in hope

Philippians 3:12-16 NLT

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.

         This passage is relatable on a lot of fronts. Have you ever been on a road trip to a place where you were excited to go? Have you ever felt like it was taking forever to get to your destination? The agony of waiting and the anticipation of what was to come made the minutes drag by as of time itself was slowing down… yet the hope within you kept propelling you forward. Finally, upon reaching your destination the sense of elation.  Our lives are similar in that we have a destination, heaven with Jesus Christ.

         We must learn how to keep pressing forward towards that goal. Hope comes in many forms. Although not explicitly stated, this passage is all about hope. One interesting aspect about this passage is what Paul is saying about daily living in verse 12, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.” Progress towards perfection is slow and filled with many mistakes and setbacks. It is just the nature of growth, but there is something that we must cling onto with all that we have in our hearts and minds. Because we are moving, we are still way ahead of those who don’t even know where the starting line is.

         I am not suggesting that we compare ourselves to others, but what I am saying is like what the scripture here is teaching us. We have not obtained perfection, but we must move past the things that would hold us back within ourselves and grasp the hope of future promises in Christ Jesus. When we can move from looking at our own two feet (or our situation) and cast our vision towards the beauty of God, we can then move with what we see in front of us, fixing our eyes and minds on the things of Jesus. Then, we can see the beauty of God surrounding every situation.

         By looking ahead in hope, we drive all our actions towards that hope. We fix our belief in Jesus, hope in eternity, and base all our actions out of love. What I love about the end of the section of scripture selected above is the unity that Paul is promoting in the body of Christ. We may not all be running the same race, but our destinations are the same! We are running the races set before us, but the hope in eternity remains the same. This is truly incredible in that hope promotes unity. You see this in the collective elation of arriving at your destination after a long road trip! Everyone has different motives, but upon arriving everyone is unified in joy! I believe the same will be true when we all are called up to be with Jesus!

Dear Author of Races,

         Thank You for our ability to hope in eternity through Your Son Jesus Christ. Thank You that He set forth and ran the race He had set before Himself and that He ran the race perfectly, so that we would have the opportunity to run our races with the eternal hope of grace. Father, You are the author of all our races and we are learning to trust in You for all that we need. Help us fix our eyes on the destination and grasp in our minds and hearts the hope of a future with You that transcends our understanding of life. Thank You for granting us the anticipatory hope of what is to come in our experiences and that the un-limitless nature of eternity exists beyond our comprehension. Bless the path set before us to help us set our eyes upon Jesus. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen.

Day 200: Endure the low times

Psalms 42:11 NIV

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

         Sometimes something so deep within us feels like it is lost or broken. Unfortunately, I have felt this to my core. I pray you never have to experience the brokenness within your soul for it isn't a fun experience at all. The question for us becomes, how do we survive these periods where everything seems so hopeless? 

         This is where this scripture offers the solution, praise. We must take an active stance to praise God especially when we feel hopeless. This is particularly important when we feel like all hope is gone because it helps remind us of who God is. He is our Savior. He is our God. He is Sovereign. He is the Healer. He is the Author and Perfector of our faith. He is Grace. He is our Confidence. He is our Everything. We just forget all that He is capable of very quickly due to our circumstances and situations in life. Praise offers us a way to remind ourselves of who God is.

         This whole Psalm is talking about remembering who God is in times of deep longing and depression. We must remind ourselves constantly who God is. Especially in the times that we feel the most discouraged. This idea of reminding ourselves who God is and to praise Him is echoed throughout all of the scriptures in the concept of endurance. Take for instance this passage in Romans:

Romans 5:3-5 NIV

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Now there are a vast number of other verses that help with these concepts as well. Feel free to check out a few of these: James 1:12; Isaiah 40:31; Luke 18:1-8; 1 Corinthians 15:58; 2 Thessalonians 2:15; Hebrews 12:1-2; James 1:2-4; 1 Corinthians 9:24; Philippians 3:13-14; Romans 5:3-4; Galatians 6:9; and Ephesians 6:10-20.

         God’s word is full of verses encouraging us to endure the hardships and downcast times with praise to God. We must persist when others quit. This world will be hard on us, but we cannot give up. Life will be hard at times, and you will feel like giving up, but there is so much more hope than we can possibly imagine. I know when I have felt like ignoring the beauty around me, I would still ask for it to be revealed, and God has always shown up.

Dear Praiseworthy Father,

         Thank You for so many things. Thank You that You help me endure when I feel down. Thank You that You often carry me through moments I do not always know how to navigate. Thank You that You have granted me grace upon grace when I felt like my soul was lost. Thank You for rescuing me upon that cross and knowing that You are with me in and through Your Holy Spirit. You Father are worthy of all praise, and I will praise You in the morning light and as I lay my head down to rest. Thank You Jesus for all that You have done in our lives. You are incredibly gracious to give us such hope. In Jesus Christ’s name, amen. 

Day 201: Invisibly visible Hope

Hebrews 11:1-3 NASB

Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen. For by it the people of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the world has been created by the word of God so that what is seen has not been made out of things that are visible.

Hebrews 11:1-3 NIV

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Hebrews 11:1-3 NLT

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.

         This is one of the anchor verses in understanding faith-based hope. If we can believe or have faith that this set of verses is true, then we can anchor our hearts in the hope of what Jesus Christ is providing for us because we also believe that He is sovereign above all things. Included today are multiple translations for you to study the nuanced difference between the interpretations of the scripture, but the theme and underlying truth are still the same.

         I don’t know about you, but for me, it is the unknown or unseen things that I tend to struggle with the most. Life has so many uncertainties that it can be overwhelming at best. This is where my walk with Christ has tended to spiral in the past walking through everything I have experienced. Now, I tend to walk differently in most situations. I continually ask Jesus a singular question, Lord, where is Your beauty? This question has profoundly altered my view and walk in life. It allows me to place my focus on God instead of the circumstance at hand. Understanding that everything happening in my life is meant for the invisible God’s glory. There is another section of scripture that has helped me conceptualize the nature of our invisibly visible hope in Colossians that mirrors this verse quite a bit:

Colossians 1:15-17 NLT

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

This section of Colossians is a very powerful section of scripture for us to dwell within for it changes the frame for which we perceive God. It is scientific, but also metaphorical. It speaks into the unknowns of our lives and allows us to encounter our God who is ALWAYS visibly invisible!

         So, we can be CERTAIN in the things we HOPE for IN Jesus Christ because the action of our hope is displayed in our faithfulness in Jesus’ power to create all things. Jesus is the invisibly visible God that LOVES us more than we could possibly imagine. He grants us choice to follow Him and one of the best ways you can do that today is to ask Him to reveal His beauty throughout the day.

Invisibly Visible Father,

         Thank You for the overwhelming amount of power You have put on full display for us to see. Thank You more for the amount of power You have that we never visibly see to hold everything together. Lord, Your infinite domain and authority is inexhaustible. We are humbled that You would love us this well. Would You grant us the ability to see Your beauty today in a profound way that allows us to stand in awe of Your creative power. Whether it is in the tiniest of things, or the grandeur of a sunset, let us look upon Your creation in awe today and know that You are faithful and true. Jesus, Thank You for dying on the cross and securing our eternity in Your presence. In Jesus Christ’s Holy name, we ask for Your beauty to be revealed today, amen.  

Day 202: Hope in all things

Romans 8:28 NLT

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Romans 8:28 NASB

 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28 NIV

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

        At this point in the American culture we have become inundated with spam phone calls. It is such a joke that people all over have been exploiting, “your car’s extended warranty is about to expire” for humor throughout the country. The thing is, that call does not have to be answered. This is true for our lives too. Sometimes we find ourselves not answering the call we have been given. If we continue to ignore that call, we will eventually develop the tools to block that call altogether. This is a dangerous dulling of our senses and God granted abilities. How then do we wake ourselves up to God’s calling for our lives.

         The first thing we must come to terms with is that hope is found in knowledge. The verses for today all illustrate the same knowledge necessary for growing and opening our minds and hearts back to the calling we have ignored. What is so cool about this verse in particular is that it is pretty much the exact same across multiple translations. God causes things to work together for our good. Notice something super important. He CAUSES things to work TOGETHER. That does not mean He only makes things good. It means that He uses ALL things to WORK towards our GOOD. This is radically different from how many people interpret this verse.

         There are subtle differences in how these actions are termed in these verses. The NIV suggest that IN all things, whereas the NASB and NLT are stating that everything is caused by God. We have to be very careful in associating causality to things of God, simply because His ways are significantly higher than ours and our knowledge is significantly hindered in understanding how God works. What we can determine is that God works towards our benefit despite our sinful nature. Otherwise, the cross of Jesus Christ would not carry the weight it does in the Christian beliefs. Because of Jesus Christ taking the wage of our sin upon Himself, we have access to the calling of eternity.

         There is a simple truth to derive our hope from in these verses, according to God’s purposes, all things can work together for our good. Especially when we find ourselves in His calling/purpose for our lives. Knowledge in what our hope is placed in is key to living in our calling of Jesus Christ. Many people fail to realize that scripture explicitly states our calling…

1 Timothy 2:3-4 NIV

This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Luke 9:23-24 NIV

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.

1 Peter 2:15 NLT

It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you.

While there are still more verses that explicitly state God’s will for our lives, the hope found in the knowledge of these alone are powerful sources of renewing our minds and writing God’s word on the tablets of our hearts.

Dear Life Calling Father,

         Thank You for calling us into life. Thank You for teaching us explicitly what Your will is for our lives. Thank You for inspiring us to walk daily into our calling of dying to ourselves and following You. Thank You that Jesus modeled the perfect life of walking in Your will. Thank You for always pointing us back to You and guiding us with Your word. Thank You Jesus, for the hope that we have in the knowledge that You work in and through all things in our lives for Your glory which is for our good. The more that we see Your beauty Lord the more we understand that all things can work together for our good, for You are faithful and true. Thank You Jesus, in Your name we pray, amen.

Day 203: Hope that our path leads past our most difficult people

Psalms 27:11-14 NLT

Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me. Do not let me fall into their hands. For they accuse me of things I’ve never done; with every breath they threaten me with violence. Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.

        In our society today we find ourselves surrounded by passive aggressive people that like to manipulate situations for their benefit. Individuals that, for whatever reason, are pursuing their own interest and generally do not care about those around them. People like this are the enemies that we would not necessarily call enemies in today’s world, just difficult people. Sometimes they are extremely problematic people to work with or even function around in our society. Recently this has played out in my professional life in multiple ways. Often, it is the petty little mundane acts that I have learned to let go of because of hope found in verses like today.

         Comments, actions, ignorance, unawareness, accusations, and more are the things I can look past with the hope that is found in waiting patiently for the Lord to act. Furthermore, I can be grateful in these moments with the confidence that Jesus Christ will have His justice. My sole responsibility is to honor Him and simply try to act in patience and love to those that are self-centered and seeking validation through whatever means necessary for themselves.

         This scripture provides so much hope. Whenever we read it, like really read it with a sincere heart like it was written in, it has the ability to change us deep within. Think about it, it is imploring the Lord to TEACH us HOW to LIVE, asking Him to LEAD us on the RIGHT path. Notice how it does not say, the path that avoids our enemies… It essentially says that when we are on the right path -- we will not fall into their hands. This is important to note because if we are being taught how to travel down the right path and we are to love our enemies, this means that they have to be present in our lives. Which fortunately means they are going to challenge us every step of the way! Yet it does not mean that God’s goodness is hindered at all, it is coming, but will we endure the path to find it?

         This is where the confidence we can have is in the hope of good things to come. Part of learning to see the beauty surrounding everything in life is in how we choose to walk the path God has set before us. We know we have to deal with our most difficult people with grace and sometimes mercy, while also being shrewd and wise in the ways the world works. We can remain confident, because our most difficult people will eventually stumble and be caught up in their own traps. We know they deceive themselves. We simply have to wait patiently on the Lord and His beauty is often seen in His Justice. So, next time you are dealing with that person that you know cares more about themselves than anything else, just be patient and love them for they are also a child of God… don’t take their abuse and stand up for yourself, but always hold on to the notion that God has this under control and that He has set you on the path to encounter them, but still protect you from their traps.

Dear Path Setting Father,

         Thank You that You have laid a path before us. Thank You for allowing me to see You at work in my daily walk and that You use Your word to TEACH us HOW to LIVE. Thank You for LEADING us on the RIGHT path every day. Jesus, You walk with us in grace and deliver us from those who would lay traps to ensnare us. Thank You for guiding our hearts back to Your truths and let us rest in and fully place our hope within Your divine justice. Let us love well and allow Your gentle spirit within us to be known to all.  Thank You Jesus for the Holy Spirit that guides and directs our steps to honor You. In Jesus Christ’s authority and power, we patiently wait. Amen.

Day 204: Our hope is not for us alone

Psalms 62:5-8 NLT

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.

         Our hope is not for us alone. People often use Psalm 62:5-7 to encourage themselves, but what is unique about the entirety of this scripture is the command for us to remind ALL of our people to trust in Jesus at ALL times. There is a universal hope that needs to be called upon to remind us of who we are and whose we are at all times. Sometimes, we all need all of ourselves to wait quietly before God. We need time to be in each other’s presence and to be still together. Honestly, other than a long car ride without the music on, I cannot think of a recent time when my family and I would just sit together without something on or there to distract us. Where most of these moments have come for us have been traveling whenever we would come to a scenic vista where often we would stand in awe together looking upon God’s creation. This is why I will always advocate for long road trips to epic places! It creates capacity for this level of bonding.

         During the times I can remember all of us just being in one of these moments, they are the moments where hope grew in my heart and mind. Upon that hope growing, the feeling of security also grew alongside it. There is an assurance that we can grasp when we know there are others that are willing to sit with us in this life regardless of the circumstances. This assurance eventually provides us with victory through Jesus Christ when He is what we choose to focus our hope on. Jesus becomes the foundation for which everything comes from through grace. It allows us that notion of peace, then rest, and then gratitude that leads us to hope for things seen and unseen in our lives.

         So, how do we get to the places where hope grows? Well, we have to learn how to wait in hope. How we wait is also important, otherwise, why would the Holy Spirit inspire the scriptures to say for us to wait quietly? We are to be open and, in a posture, to receive. We have to be open to hope. Without remaining open, we cannot full embrace the security Jesus offers us in the knowledge that we are protected by His grace. Therefore, let us encourage one another with verses like these, but let us do so with the entirety of this Psalm.

Dear Heavenly Father,

         Thank You for Your words are our prayer today. Let them guide our hearts to receive you in the quiet places of our hope.

Psalms 62:1-12 NLT

I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.

So many enemies against one man— all of them trying to kill me.

To them I’m just a broken-down wall or a tottering fence.

They plan to topple me from my high position.

They delight in telling lies about me.

They praise me to my face but curse me in their hearts.

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.

My victory and honor come from God alone.

He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.

O my people, trust in him at all times.

Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.

Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind,

and the powerful are not what they appear to be.

If you weigh them on the scales, together they are lighter than a breath of air.

Don’t make your living by extortion or put your hope in stealing.

And if your wealth increases, don’t make it the center of your life.

God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times:

Power, O God, belongs to you; unfailing love, O Lord, is yours.

Surely you repay all people according to what they have done.

Amen 

Day 205: Hope in the Audience of One

Psalm 147:11

The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.

         I put my hope in the Audience of One. In our world of social media, tick-toc videos, shorts, content creators, Instagram reels, Facebook followers, and influencers everyone is competing for an audience. People desire to be heard and followed. Our idols have become more and more human like in nature versus some greater deity. Many of the people that have influence in our lives have made themselves their own idol. They worship the ideals that they have postulated to be true. Most of the time, we do not realize the importance we have allowed them to have in our own lives or even how we have shifted our own self-importance to the forefront of our belief structures. We have forgone the days of humility and seek to serve ourselves and build our own kingdoms. We all must take a deep look into the mirror of life and see what we have built for ourselves.

         This is where we have to learn how to frame our perspective solely for the Audience of One. In order to set our perspective in this spirit we have to realize a few important nonnegotiable truths. The first being that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven, per His own claim. The second being, it is ONLY by acceptance of His grace that we even remotely gain access to His attention. So, for us to have an Audience of One, we have to accept His grace given through Jesus’s blood that was shed on the cross for us. This must be accepted as exclusive and absolute truth. It must rank as the supreme belief in one’s heart of hearts.

         Then, because of our reverent fear and knowledge of God, we can easily put our hope fully in Jesus. Ultimately, Jesus is the one who created us and all things around us, so why not trust in Him and place our hope in what He has promised us? His love is unfailing. That means it will not fail us. There is ultimately nothing we can do to cause Him to not love us. Yet, the argument comes that why would such a loving God condemn His creation to hell?

         Simply put, love is not necessarily the feel-good emotion that we have been brainwashed to believe in, for love is far greater than we can comprehend, especially God’s love. The way that God chooses to love is with and unwavering justice and divinity that we cannot fully comprehend in our limited capacities. This is potentially why the Lord DELIGHTS in those of us that would choose to fear Him and humbly submit ourselves to have an Audience of One. In application of this concept this simply means that what we do in this world matters more as an outward action of our inner faith. We believe in Him and the act in internalizing the truths that He claims are our new realities. We then pursue His favor and seek to have Him delight in us through acting out His will in our lives. His will that He has made abundantly clear in His word, as stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

To our Audience of One,

         Thank You for we can rejoice in Your goodness and unfailing love! We know You Father are such a blessing in everything for Your grace covers all. We trust in Your forgiveness clearly established through Jesus Christ’s work and not ours. We reverently seek to pray to You in humble adoration and submittance to Your will in our lives. We seek to have Your attention in that You make gaze in our direction and allow the blessings of Your glorious light to shine upon us. Lord, we know You are a God of justice, mercy, and grace and we know we must hope in You alone. Thank You for clearly pointing us in Your direction and listening to us when we pray. May we always seek to please only You in our lives and live for the Audience of the One in You God. In Jesus Christ’s authority and power, amen.

Day 206: Hope renews

Isaiah 40:31

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.

         Hope renews us. Every single day that we wake up and seek Jesus, we can renew our strength. What I absolutely love about this verse being where I am in life is the verse that comes right before it. Isaiah 40:30 states, “Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.” I have found this to be true in many situations in life, but this is not just talking about our physical ability to exert energy. It has more to do with our overall capacity to keep going despite exhaustion.

         You see, God grants His followers a deep sense of their identity. When we know Jesus, we also have access to the inexhaustible Holy Spirit of God. Our real superpower is in knowing Jesus in our lives. We can renew our hope every single day and at multiple points within our day knowing that God Himself is capable of carrying our most challenging situations. There have been many times in my life where my capacity was at its maximum limits. I was physically exhausted, mentally drained, and emotionally incapable of anything else. I distinctly remember a situation one Thanksgiving that took everything out of me. The day was ridiculously long and taxing. Ultimately, I found out that both of my children were hearing impaired, my wife had to have an emergency surgery, and my grandmother in hospice passed away within 12 hours… I tell this story in my book with greater detail, but at 3am the next morning, when I had absolutely nothing left, driving to get my wife’s pain medications, God Himself sent me encouragement to renew my hope and strengthen me. He literally sent me the words:

“Lay your head down tonight, take a rest from the fight, don’t try to figure it out, just listen to what I’m whispering to your heart, `cause I know this is not anything like you thought the story of your life was gonna be… There’s so much of the story that’s still yet to unfold and this is going to be a glorious unfolding…” – Steven Curtis Chapman

God wants to renew your strength. He desires His children to rely solely on Him. He does not wish us to be all poured out. He reminds us with His Spirit that we are so much more than the limitations of our own minds and beliefs. The ultimate question is do we actually believe this to be true?

         If our answer is yes, we believe God was to renew us and grant us the strength to soar and not grow weary, then how do we walk in this belief? We have to seek Jesus with our whole hearts. When we connect our minds with God’s word and write His truths in our minds, we allow Jesus to transfer those to the core of our belief within our hearts. Then, we have to express gratitude for all things. God is desiring us to express gratitude in every situation.

         Recently, a close friend confided in me that she was hurting and sensitive to some words that were said about her. It was not a big deal, but what was said were little daggers sent straight into her mind that hurt her heart. Now, she is one of the best examples of a Proverbs 31 woman that I personally know. A true sister in Christ and an amazing example of humility and prowess wrapped in a servant minded sister. I am truly thankful for her example and friendship as she is mentoring my daughters. We are at the time of the school year where we can grow weary quickly. We were there, but I asked her one question during this discussion, “What can you be thankful for in the words that hurt?” It took her a minute to think about the answer, but it was such a cool moment of watching her turn that sharpness into praise and gratitude towards Jesus. She was thankful for the insight it gave her into others and their insecurities. It became less about her hurt and more about what she saw in others and how she could potentially love them. Beauty is found everywhere through gratitude and that grants us renewed hope.

         The most God awesome part of all of this, is later that same day, this sister stepped into a situation with my youngest daughter where girls were saying and doing things that hurt her heart. My sister in Christ was able to share with my daughter the renewed strength and hope that she herself had found. Our hope is renewed in Jesus and through the most interesting ways of walking with Him daily. We have to learn to trust Him enough to let Him carry us through everything.

Dear Hope Renewing Father,

         Thank You for the reminders this morning that You renew our hope every day. Your desire for us is not to grow weary or faint, but that we would be able to access Your Holy Spirit and Your energy to carry us through the most difficult of times. You desire to grant us strength that others will marvel at so that they will desire a relationship with You. Jesus, You have taught us the way to live, and we desire to seek You in all things. We are thankful for all that You have given to us, and we want to praise You for You are perfect and righteous. Thank You for the words in others that reveal their insecurities, so that we can love them better with Your guidance. Thank You for the toughest of situations that reveal Your glory and beauty. Thank You for Your work on the cross. Thank You for renewing our strength. In Jesus Christ’s authority we have all the hope necessary for life, amen.

Day 207: Watching in Hope

Micah 7:7 NIV

But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

         Watching in hope is something I think we are all well versed at. We just do not realize it most of the time. Think about the last time you watched your kid play a sport. Every time they came up to bat, stepped up to the line, or even attempted to go and play, you were watching in hope. You were hoping that they would do well, not make any mistakes, and overall feel successful in whatever they were attempting to do. I know I have been in this situation hundreds of times as an archery dad and every time I have the same hope. Sometimes we see that hope fulfilled, and other times we do not. However, every single time my daughters walk up to the shooting line getting ready to shoot, without fail, I have that same hope spring up within me.

         The book of Micah is interesting in that it refers to God’s justice for Israel a lot. Even the verses before this one, Micah is recounting that those he should be able to trust, such as his family, are the ones that he tends to have trouble with. This is because when uncertainty reigns in our lives, we find ourselves striving for whatever grants us temporary relief from our situations. This is where we have to determine within ourselves that we will not allow our hope to become misplaced in our lives.

         This is ideally where the new question I am challenging you to begin asking all the time becomes so powerful. “God, where is your beauty?” In asking this question it has a unique ability to reset your situation and allows you to focus on God rather than whatever your situation is. This is true only if you actually put in the practice of doing it so that it becomes a habit. Focusing on God, the source of our hope is the most powerful resource we have for perspective shift. We have to know that in our waiting God hears us. We have to have the patient endurance in our waiting and trust that God has already answered our prayers and requests.

         Too often, we forget that we are still sinners when talking with God. Micah 7:9 reminds us of this truth in our waiting, “Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until he pleads my case and upholds my cause. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.” We must always moderate our expectations in that we are yet sinners with consequences to our sin nature and in our waiting for God, we are holding on to the hope and promises of Jesus Christ. We maintain assurance due to receiving a portion of our inheritance in the Holy Spirit that also acts on our behalf in the waiting. It is the Holy Spirit that delights when you ask God to reveal His beauty. In doing so, you are essentially seeking the counsel of the Holy Spirit for a divine awakening to what is going on around you.

Dear Heavenly Father,

         Thank You for another day of hope in You. Lord, let us wait in patient endurance for the hope You have provided in Jesus Christ. Thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide and direct our steps. Lord, where can we see Your beauty today? Will You reveal it in ways where we just know it is You in growing us in Your presence. Thank You for the multitude of blessings that You have granted upon our lives. Thank You for the grace You created us in. Thank You for loving us well. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen.

Day 208: Hope in the unseen

Romans 8:18-25 NASB

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the eagerly awaiting creation waits for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only that, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, through perseverance we wait eagerly for it. '

        The whole of creation is hopeful for the new things to come! Yet those things still remain unseen for all of us who are found in Christ Jesus. Have you ever wondered what these verses are truly talking about? They are not necessarily easy to comprehend, but they are in reference to future things in the way we are governed by time. All of the creation that we know is governed by the timeline set forth in the beginning by God Himself. Everything was initially meant to be perfect. This means the full order of things was meant to be in homeostasis with the Creator.

         Think about what you hopefully already know in Genesis, Adam and Eve were created and walked with God daily in a perfect place without the issues we face due to sin. Eventually, they made a choice to disobey God and ALL of creation fell out of its perfect status. Within this fall, the garden of Eden was locked away somewhere on this earth never to be found again. Honestly, it sounds like the basis of every fairy tale I have encountered… but the reality is in the creation itself has fallen. It has been recreated through a flood, but it is in growing pains in the sense that it desires and longs to be back in the status that God originally intended for it. Therefore, it longs and hopes to be restored back to its original created essence. Remember that all of this was a part of God’s plan for He is the beginning and the end… So, it was not as if He did not know that Adam and Eve would make that choice, it was that He was prepared in grace preceding that choice that He would deliver His creation back to its created state.

         Ultimately, this is true for us as well. We have fallen, and honestly, we were born into that sin. We did not have a choice in our creation, but we have been given the choice on what it is we are to do with our creative lot in life. We have been given the first fruits of the Spirit… but what does this mean? According to Ephesians 1:13-14 it is, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” We have received the first fruits of our inheritance in Jesus Christ in the form of the Holy Spirit. A Holy Spirit that has a key role in the hope of unseen things.

         Romans 8:26-28

Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

While we are in this waiting, we are to place our hope in Jesus Christ and His promises to us for this new creation that remains unseen. We not only will have a new heaven and earth (Rev 21:1-4), but a new physical body as well(1 Cor. 15:42-49). Ultimately, we have hope in all this unseen and unfulfilled prophecy of what is to come!

Alpha and Omega,

         Thank You that You are the first and the last. Jesus, You have come so that we can see the promise of all the things You have done. We can clearly see the Gospel and the mysteries of creation in that Your glory and beauty are revealed in our lives. We now await with endurance the fulfillment of all things that remain unseen to us. Lord, we know You are in control and we submit to Your authority, but we also wait in humble anticipation for what it is You are going to do in our lives and in our eternity! We praise You Jesus for You are worthy of ALL praise. Thank You that You see the unseen things to come and that You are perfecting them for us to receive according to the richness of Your grace. In Jesus’ authority we hope, wait, and pray, amen.

Day 209: Be Joyful in hope

Romans 12:12

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.

         How do we be joyful in hope? Well, I don’t know, fully. I am not sure it is within our capacity to remain joyful in hope while simultaneously patient in affliction… What I do know is that it is possible to maintain these things with one significant action, prayer. Prayer. PRAYER. Now, we need to repeat this action multiple times every day, every week, every month, every year, pretty much for the rest of our existence. Prayer is the key for us to understand and grasp everything, especially remaining joyful in hope!

Dear Heavenly Father,

         Today our words are few, but we are thankful all the more. Thank you for calling us to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. May the words we offer of our most sincere hearts be pleasing in your sight Lord. Jesus, You are our King and our provider of all things. Thank You for blessing us in all things, in all ways, and turning everything meant for evil to our good. May receive the joy in hope through Your beautiful manifestations of Your glory. In Jesus Christ’s Holy authority and wisdom we open our hearts to hear You speak, amen.

Day 210: I’m hopeless, Jesus isn’t

Ephesians 1:18-21 NASB

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

         I’m hopeless whenever I choose to operate within my own flaws. I have no problem saying this as truth. Whenever I try to do anything on my own strength, boy do I mess things up. I know I have done this so many times in my life that I often feel completely unqualified. In working with men for over a decade this is pretty much true of every guy I have ever worked with. We all feel unqualified, but rarely do we find a safe place to offload the burden of being men. We know we need help from someone far superior to us and we have been trained through society to be strong and stand on our own two feet. I see this each week as new men come and desire more, but when it comes down to it, many will leave because their worlds become seemingly more out of control if they take an hour or two for themselves (at first… eventually, if they continue coming everything shifts!!! Praise be to Jesus Christ!). All of this is counter to what God would have for men.

         The concept of feeling unqualified for men is similar in women. Taking on the role of motherhood, I will never forget the day when I was standing at the microwave heating up some food and talking about how crazy and chaotic a situation felt when my teaching partner asked, “Do you know what you are experiencing right now?” Of course I had no idea at the time, but when she told me what I was feeling, it was like I was seeing light in the darkness after being in the dark for a long time. She said, “This is mom guilt… all moms feel this way… like you are never enough…” It explained everything that I had taken on in the previous year of life, and I just felt wholly unqualified and like I would never be enough.

         In the two roles I have, I have felt like a hopeless failure. Still today, I have to be careful not to let myself feel that way again because it is not the truth. What is true is the verses today and this one in Romans 15:13, “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.” I have been learning and will probably always be learning how to fully trust in the Holy Spirit, because I am in desperate need of an overflowing of God’s Spirit every day. I need the eyes of my heart to be enlightened.

         We need enlightenment SO THAT we WILL KNOW what the hope of HIS calling is. Our hope is not found in ourselves. It is found in Jesus Christ’s grace and work. It is nothing of ourselves other than trust in Jesus. When we KNOW this to be true, we can understand the richness of Jesus’s inheritance – all authority and power – and that we have access to that same inheritance through the Holy Spirit as a direct result of Jesus’s forgiveness and our choice to make Him Lord of our lives. Therefore, we can remain all the more hopeful in and through JESUS versus anything within ourselves. We are hopeless apart from Christ Jesus. Yet He causes hope to abound in a limitless display of His power! All we have to do is ask Him to reveal it through His beauty in the world around you.

Dear Limitless Father,

         Thank You for those that would read these devotions. Lord, just like Paul, I am greatly encouraged by the work You are doing through all things. I am praying that the eyes of those that would read would be enlightened to Your hope and Your calling to share the gospel in all things. I ask that You would reveal the beauty found in the Holy Spirit in their lives and the power they have been granted through Your grace. Whenever they feel unqualified or not enough, I pray they would know that those hopeless moments are false and they would embrace the hope and provision You are supplying to us through Jesus. We praise You for Your Glorious and wonderful works, in Jesus Christ’s name, amen.

Day 211: Encouraged by enduring hope seen by others

1 Thessalonians 1:3-4 NLT

We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people.

1 Thessalonians 1:2-4 NASB

We always give thanks to God for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly keeping in mind your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brothers and sisters, beloved by God, His choice of you;

         In Paul’s greeting to the church in Thessalonica, he recognized the work of the gospel in their lives. He offers constant prayer for the church and then specifically gives things that he is thankful for in the Lord about them. In the education world we call this specific academic feedback. With the right mindset, feedback like this is meant to reinforce the good things that are already there. More specifically, Paul is presenting these things up to God as evidence of their work through faith. The various translations offer us slightly different views to take from these verses.

         One thing is to pray for someone constantly; another thing is to mention them in prayer. Paul was likely praying for the church consistently. This is where interpretation and nuance should not necessarily take away from the context of what is being said, but honestly, it can. However, notice the constants within both interpretations: We always thank God, God loves us, and ultimately, we were chosen in Jesus Christ.    

         Subtle differences are found in the interpretations include of faithful work or work or faith; loving deeds or labor of love, perseverance of hope of enduring hope. These all serve as examples of the subtle differences within the interpretations. There can be a wide variety of beliefs generated through these subtle textual designs of God’s word. We have to be very careful not to get too hung up by these differences. If we do allow these types of things to get in the way of the gospel, we are missing the point of it all. This is meant to be proof of what the church was doing, but also an encouragement of the good things that were being done!

         Simply put, wouldn’t we all love to be encouraged by someone writing this to us and encouraging us by sharing their prayers they pray on our behalf. It would be beyond encouraging to me, to know I am not alone and that others see the faithful work of Jesus Christ in my and through my life. Life is not an easy road to navigate in general. The more we can encourage one another through prayer creates that enduring hope that allows each of us to persevere through all things with thanksgiving. Being reminded of these truths is important for us because we are encouraged by the enduring hope others see in us as we navigate the various trials and tribulations God has granted us the ability to respond to Him in.

Dear Enduring Father,

         Thank You for always loving us well. Lord, teach us to gleam the intent of Your word in the application of it to our lives. Continue to use it to encourage us to have enduring hope that comes through Your promises Jesus. You are an anchor to our souls, and we can rest in the peace You provide for us in abundance. Thank You for Jesus, in His name we pray, amen.  

Day 212: Hope for better relationships

Revelation 21:4-5

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”

         Life can be really hard sometimes. I have experienced parts of it I would not wish on my worst enemy. One of the deepest pains is when those around you fail to forgive you and seek to harm you for what they call the betterment of you. There is a fine line between feedback and criticism, and it is difficult at best to walk. Everything has to do with delivery and intent. Generally, pain, mourning, death, all these things come with frail emotions and sensitivities that serve as multipliers of anguish experienced. For men, there is a level of disrespect that people can tap into that will just trigger his inner warrior and he will not back down. In contrast, some women once triggered go scorched earth and destroy everything, whereas others crumble into a puddle of emotions. Neither is right, but both cause destruction.

         This is where the hope of this verse comes into play. These verses come right after the presentation of the new heaven and new earth. Then it speaks about God living and walking among His people and in the process of God being with us, we see the anguish of living going away. Our interpersonal conflicts resolved. We will be able to speak to each other with our needs met to exceeding capacity due to the nature of God and we will likely have significantly less strife amongst ourselves if any at all. We will not have to worry about that other person’s betterment, because God will have already taken care of that.

         So then, how do we live this out now? Well, there is the challenge. We have to learn how to not overstep our calling. We need to stay in our lane and focus on what God is doing rather than what we want or how we perceive a situation. We need to be mindful of how others speak into us because what they may be saying is deceitful, or false if not measured and proved in scripture. We also need to seek forgiveness when we do or say the wrong thing. This is hard, but the hardest part is checking ourselves against scripture. We have to seek out wise and Godly counsel to speak into our lives with biblically accurate knowledge.

         When we can find people that will forgive our failings, help guide our hearts closer to Jesus, and not condemn us when we make mistakes that we are inevitably going to make, we need to hold on to that community and work with them as they will help usher in God’s presence in our lives today. All of these things grant me great hope and joy in Jesus, for He is at work around me, in me, and is constantly revising and refining my life for the better. I see that every day and His beauty is immeasurable.

New Heaven and Earth Creator,

         Thank You for granting us hope for what is to come. Lord, You have a plan and that provides significant clarity in our lives, and we hope that we can honor You in everything we do. The level of complacency we have in our lives to just be stuck in the status quo of everything is something we hope you will forgive us of and that You would grant us the desire to share Jesus every where because He is everything to us. Help guide and direct our steps and help us honor You in our relationships with each other. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen.

Day 213: Hope does not decay

1 Peter 1:3-4 NLT

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.

        Hope does not decay! What rejoicing in this thought can we have! It is truly incredible to think about hope and how it works, especially the older we get! I have reached the point where I am desperate to renew various aspects of my life. Yet each morning as I wake up, I feel the decay within my frame. It is disheartening at best to know that the world as we know it is slowly descending into chaos, but it is meant for that to happen according to God’s purpose and will.

         This is where today’s scriptures offer incredible vision for us to develop our lives around. We have a unique opportunity to embrace the eternal hope granted to us through God’s grace and mercy. This is truly beautiful in that it can change everything about who we are. I know and God knows that it is a struggle for us to embrace this mentality given the nature of all that we experience, which is why the continuation of this scripture is beyond important. There is significantly more encouragement in the verses ahead to shape our thinking and renew our minds to the inexpressible Joy that comes from the belief in Jesus.

1 Peter 1:5-9 NLT

And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold.

So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

There is not much more that needs to be said for the scriptures to speak for themselves. Just be encouraged to chase after this hope that does not decay. God has a purpose for it!

Dear Eternal Father,

         Thank You for a hope that does not decay. Lord, You renew us each day and grant us grace and mercy in ways that we can never fully understand through Jesus. We just hope that these promises remain in our hearts and minds as a source of the strength You have placed in the fabric of our being. Jesus, You created all things, both seen and unseen and you placed the things of heaven and dwelling within You in the longing of our souls. May we be evermore satisfied in You Jesus. Thank You for another day where we can rest in Your grace and hope that transcends our capacity to think. May you grant us the ability to share this hope with others today. In Jesus Christ’s authority and eternal hope, amen. 

Day 214: Hope will finish its work

Philippians 1:6 NASB

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus.

         Have you ever wondered if you would have the same faith as the apostles? Has it ever occurred to you that you are as capable as they were in their faith. The root of who we are in Jesus Christ is the same as it was over 2000 years ago. The faith of David, Moses, Elijah, Abraham, and Issac were relatively the same faith we have access to today. Faith is found in the steadfastness of God, not from us. We embrace little faith at times because of our lack of belief that we have the same access to the faith those who have gone before us had. Likely, due to a lack of understanding or knowledge connected to a shortfall of discipline or experience. However, guess what we are slowly in the process of learning every day? Discipline and experience, thus enhancing our faith! We are working out our salvation with fear and trembling.

         This is the true beauty of this verse, Paul, he had the discipline and experience to be able to tell us bluntly that hope would run its course and that God would complete the work He has started. This was his prayer to the greater church, that we would know that God will see the work to completion and that we would grow in the knowledge, thus leading us to a deeper conviction and faith in Jesus is who He said He is and that He has promised us so much more than we can possible imagine if we stay the course and run the race set before us.

         All of Philippians is a letter of significant encouragement to us in our time to remember that God will see us through whatever we are facing. We just need to be faithful to the calling God has on our lives. There is a little distinction that we should notice in this encouragement, who started the work? Let’s go back to elementary school grammar here and look at the He that this scripture is referring to in the paragraph before this verse:

Philippians 1:3-6 NASB

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus.”

         Why is this so important for us to look at, well to remember our place in everything just like all of those that have gone before us. Faith is partly understanding that we are responding to God’s work in our lives, not controlling what is happening. There is a significant difference in mindset and understanding because of that awareness. It also helps us discipline our responses to every situation as we grow in our knowledge of Jesus. If God started the work, then He will see it through… I have found this to be true in all things!

Dear Holy Finisher,

         Thank You Jesus for finishing the work You started when we responded as humans in sin nature. Thank You that You came to earth, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross to pay the penalty of sin in our lives. Thank You that You will see hope finish its work in and through our lives for You Father have ordained things to be the way they are, and You will provide a way through it all. You have a plan for everything, and we must respond in trust of what You are doing every day. Thank You for the opportunity to follow You Jesus and love others through Your grace. In Jesus’s finishing work we pray, amen. 

Day 215: What is the hope of His calling

Ephesians 1:18-21 NASB

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

         Have you ever been so certain of something that you were willing to face the consequences of that certainty whether good or bad? Have you ever been so convinced or convicted of/by something that you were willing to take a stand no matter what it cost you? There have been many times in my life I would have died on my own proverbial sword because of what I believed in a given situation. Whether that be dumb luck, pride, ego, or any number of other reasons, I have been willing to fight until my last stubborn breath that I was sold out to the cause or reason of what I believed. This mindset is what Paul is praying that we would become open to in our lives in these verses. A mindset of total certainty.

         Jesus Christ’s calling is simple. Die to self, daily take up our cross, love God, and love others. Do these things and an eternal face-to-face relationship with God is not just a wish, but something so certain that it is absolute truth. This calling is an anchor point in our lives that should provide us with absolute security in Jesus and His promises of an eternal life, final glorification being united with Him in heaven, and in perfect communion with God. This is a powerful enlightenment to grasp, and it is specifically the hope that Paul is praying we would all be open to seeing not just with our minds, but in our hearts, at the very core of our belief.

         Being able to anchor ourselves in such a deep conviction of Jesus Christ would make us an unstoppable force in this world for His good. While it is more than reassuring, it is also humbling as humans to accept this gracious gift being lavishly given to us through grace. This is the beginning parts of our inheritance as believers and we cannot receive this through any work of our own, but it is only found through Jesus Christ’s authority and power. Ultimately, it is hope in the assurance that we have access to our promised seat at Jesus’ table in heaven…

Dear Assuring Father,

         Thank You for another amazing verse spoken through Your word to us. The assurance You have granted us through Your grace is unmatched and reassuring. Your word is a lamp unto our feet, but also a anchor for our souls. May we be enlightened through Your strength and grace to the point where we are so assured of Your promises Jesus we live with a bold confidence in You. That we would proclaim You in all that we are doing because is Your will for our lives to share in the glorious richness You have lavished upon us through Jesus’s work on the cross. Father, thank You. Thank You for this assurance and hope in Jesus’s calling. In His name we pray for the enlightenment that the Holy Spirit prayed through Paul to become true in our lives and the lives of those around us, amen.

Day 216: Hope unites

Romans 15:4-6 NASB

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another, according to Christ Jesus, so that with one purpose and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

                 Think about this for a moment. The biblical scriptures have been around for about 3,400 years. We are reading things that have been taught for thousands of years. Using a 25-year standard for each generation, that means approximately 136 generations have passed since the first manuscripts were written. The morality taught through the Old Testament and the prophecy contained within it is quite incredible to say the least. If words on parchment can endure throughout the ages, how much more can we survive all that we experience given our nature to adapt and overcome.

         Notice in this scripture what Paul is telling the Romans about the scriptures of old, that they were written to give instructions. These instructions were meant to teach us how to have perseverance and encouragement in HOPE. Hope is a driving force in our lives. Old Testament people did not have the same access as the prophets or anointed had in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They were governed by the hope granted through the sacrificial system. Atonement of their sins came through the inadequate sacrificial system. Therefore, their hope was in future promises much like ours is today. The difference between us and them is the gift through the grace of the Holy Spirit and that the sacrificial work has already been done on our behalf through Jesus Christ’s work, not ours. People of old endured with a broken system holding on to the hope that one day it would be fixed. Now, we hold on to the future promises, much like they did, in that our broken system has been fixed in Jesus but comes with eternal promises of restoration through resurrection.  

         One of the most amazing parts is in the unity this new hope and the encouragement of the scriptures now brings into our lives. While we all hope for and in different things, we have a central hope that is unifying in that Jesus Christ has promised us an eternal resurrection and home with him in heaven. We can be assured of the promises contained within our lives and live with unifying hope together in harmony. We are meant to become one voice praising God with thanksgiving for all that we have been granted through Jesus’s work in all our lives.

         Between thousands of years and hundreds of generations, the scriptures are encouraging us to honor God with our lives and teaching us to have a renewed hope in His promises every day. When we read and study God’s Word, we are transformed into better humans. It changes us from the inside out and renews our minds in ways that enable us to begin seeing the beauty God has designed around us in all things. God is good, God is Great!

Dear Trustworthy Father,

         Thank You Lord for over 3000 years of Your word being recorded and preserved throughout generations to come to us today. Since Your word endures and survives, we can trust that we will to! The weight and power of the Old Testament scriptures is not lost on us for they reveal Your nature and what You have endured to show us the love you have for us in grace. You have granted us the Holy Spirit through Jesus’ work on the cross and we bring nothing but our responses and thanksgiving to your feet. Thank You for loving us better than we can love ourselves. You are a gracious Father. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen. 

Day 217: Renewed Hope

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NASB

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

         I have some dear friends that have recently faced something I know nothing about. They are in the middle of a tribulation filled with grief and anguish as they work through the loss of what would have been their second child through miscarriage. Knowing how to comfort them, I have no clue, even in my experiences with grief, I’m at a significant loss. All I know is to be present and continue to encourage them as best I can. How do I encourage them, through prayer… but there are also other ways I try to reach out to them.

         You see, they live over 10 hours away so we may have random phone calls once every two months or so, text messages whenever I feel the Spirit prompting me. Almost every single time that the Spirit moves in us we are all often saying similar things to each other. Just the other day when my sweet friend reached out to me, I sent her some scripture to meditate on and it was some scripture God had already led her to in her pursuit of Him. It was reaffirming to her that she was following the right track in her pursuit of letting go of her anxiety and trying to honor God and His word.

         This is where today’s scriptures seem to be very relevant to many situations in life. It is of great encouragement to me that our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. I want to ask Paul- are you sure that they are small? What I have been through and what my friends are going through does not feel small to me… yet, in the light of eternity, they are pretty small. While they are small, man are they producing significant changes in all of us.

         I am thinking about my friends and their marriage right now. I know they are struggling, but what I see from a faraway place is two people trying to work things out. Are they perfect, absolutely not, but they are working it out with maximum emotions and grief that randomly triggers within their hearts. What God is producing within them far outweighs anything they would have had before BECAUSE they are pursuing God within the context of their situation. They are seeking Him to help them work out things within themselves. It is not an easy process, and it comes with significant reliance on the Lord Jesus. They do not know what happened in the unseen to their second child, but they must trust the Creator of the unseen and seen to guide their hearts into trusting- not understanding- but trusting of Him. This is the hope found within todays scripture. It is encouraging us to trust in the beauty that God is producing in all things, both seen and unseen. We can be encouraged that everything has a purpose that we may not ever fully understand, but that we can trust in the process because of who God is.

Dear Creator of the Unseen,

         Thank You for another day. You have laid on our hearts all those that have lost a child due to miscarriage or some other tragic outcome. Lord, I know many that have faced these struggles and I am praying for all of them right now. My prayer is that they would trust in You Jesus, for You are the Creator of the unseen and the seen. You know fully what You are doing in all our lives and that everything You choose for us is for our benefit. Lord, reveal Your beauty in all things and thank You for scriptures that help renew our trust in You every day. Thank You for my friends. I am praying that You bless them in their faithful journey to pursue You Jesus. In Jesus Christ’s authority and power, we pray blessings over all that trust in Him, amen. 

Day 218: Hope makes us immovable

1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

         Hope makes us immovable in our resolve to love the Lord! We know that everything that we are experiencing is for the goodness of our God and to His glory not ours. There is so much to be encouraged by in this scripture, but I know what you are likely thinking, what does this have to do with hope? Isn’t this about how we are to work and stand firm in our faith? Yes, of course, but contextually there is so much more here. There is a hope that death is defeated and that we have a future promise that allows us to stand firm and immovable. Let’s look at this in context:

1 Corinthians 15:50-57 NLT

What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

If there is any truth, the older we get, the more we understand that our physical bodies are becoming worn out! They are meant for an expiration date, but what is most hopeful is the promises contained within the entire context of the scriptures here. We are working to transform our minds here and have a new heart, but God Himself will transform our bodies to match what has been reborn and renewed through God’s word here.

         I don’t know about you, but that grants me significant hope. It also leads me to love the Lord even more. I know what He has done for me here. I know how much He has transformed me and brought me out to the darkness, how much more has He promised me if I will endure and continue to pursue Him with all that I am? I know promises like these make me desire to stand for Him more and more. I hope the same is true for you today. Become immovable in your faith through trusting the Lord and allowing Him to transform your life.

Dear Promise Keeping Father,

         Thank You for Your word and the hope and encouragement it grants us in this day. You are worthy of all praise, and Your works Jesus are marvelous. Thank You for allowing us to see the beauty within Your promises of more than this existence. Lord, grant us the ability to humble ourselves in Your presence and love others well. Lord, You are King, let us bow down in Your presence and worship You. Let others see Your faithfulness in our lives and desire to know You through Your works. May we be humble servants and tell them about the hope and promises You have provided through Jesus Christ. Thank You for loving us so well. In Jesus Christ’s authority and power, amen.