Hope

Calling Hope to Mind

/ Jana / 2 Comments

21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;

23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

Lamentations 3: 21-24

I hear a song in my spirit when I read these words. It is Emily McCoy singing at one of our Unhindered Encounters. “The steadfast love of the Lord never changes. His mercies never come to an end./ They are new every morning. New every morning. / Great is your faithfulness to me./ Great is your faithfulness.

This is a supernatural math equation. It adds up every single time for our good. When we call to mind, when we consciously, purposely, submit, remind, immerse, surround ourselves with truth about God, the bottom line sum is always the same — “therefore I have hope.”

What is the truth? No more and no less than the steadfast love of the Almighty, Living God. For me, for you. His steadfast love gives me hope when I am empty. And it is His mercy that washes my life and circumstances. Not my love, not my mercy. But His steadfast love and mercy that rises every morning like the sun.

The LORD is my portion, therefore I will hope in Him. Don’t miss this. He is the sum total. “The thing.” The goal and measure of success. Not my looks, my money, reputation, relationships, kids or dreams. Not even my work done in His name. He is the portion; He alone is the piece that pacifies and satisfies my soul.

“Lord, thank You for the simplicity and power of this statement. Thank You for showing me that I can choose to call to mind the truth about You. Thank You that because You never run out of love and mercy, that I too can have love and mercy for myself and others. And Lord, thank You for revealing how I try to fill my cup with other things. You alone are my portion, therefore I have hope.” Amen.

So Take A Step. . .

/ Jana / Leave a comment

“Nothing is impossible with You
Nothing is impossible.
Nothing is impossible with You,
You hold my world in your hand.

I believe that you’re my healer,
I believe you’re my everything
Jesus you’re all I need.”

This song, Healer by Kari Jobe, is what the Lord woke me up with this morning. I love that. I love Him. I love that I can be running around inside my own head screaming, or sitting in a corner sucking my thumb (figuratively, of course) and He cares enough to encourage and soothe and inspire me.

I don’t know if you have seen the movie, The Count of Monte Cristo (2002), but among many great quotes is one made by the dying priest. They are both serving life imprisonments and nearing completion of an escape tunnel. After a mortal wounding, the priest bequeaths his hidden fortune to Dantes. The pious priest instructs the wrongly imprisoned Edmond Dantes to not waste his pending freedom by committing the crimes he was unjustly serving time for. Bent on revenge, Dantes says he will surely do that very thing.

The priest says to Dantes, “Here is your final lesson – do not commit the crime for which you now serve the sentence. God said, ‘Vengeance is mine’.”

Dantes retorts, ” I don’t believe in God.”

“It doesn’t matter. He believes in you,” the priest said.

Why would God believe in us? Why would He go to such lengths to strengthen and spur us on to good works? There are obvious world needs that demand intervention. But on a more personal level, I think it is a multi-layer answer. When you or I hear His still small voice and respond, He is delighted that we recognize Him.  When you or I recognize Him and attempt something beyond our little world, He is delighted that we acknowledge His power, His presence, His glory. When we acknowledge Him, we see Him more fully, and thus we see us more fully. He wins. We win.

Just now I am reminded of Psalm 147: 10-11

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man;the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.

We hope in Him, we trust, depend, expect, desire, stretch, wrestle, and decide on Him.  How can you love that which is never known?  How can you trust that which is never tested? And how can you grow faith if it is never required?

All this to say, we are sending in our $100 deposits for two seats to Zimbabwe. Nothing is impossible with You.

Eye on the Prize

/ Jana / 2 Comments

“Count them happy who for their faith and their courage endured a great fight.”

This was inscribed on a Charleston statue in honor of the Confederate defenders of Ft. Sumter 1861-1865. But when I read it, I didn’t only think about blue and gray uniforms, or redcoats and colonists, or Yanks and Brits against Nazis.

I thought about being “surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses” as we endure this great fight of faith. It is a battle. It does require courage and faith. And, if rightly grounded in truth, it does make us happy, even when it costs us our lives. But what are we fighting for?

Hebrews 11:1 says faith is believing in things hoped for, and evidence of things yet seen. So we do well to KNOW what we are “faithing.” What is it that we are hoping for, what unseen thing are we banking our whole lives on?

Sure the church answer is, “heaven.” But that sounds almost a little too scrubbed clean. Too far off. We need something that is up close and personal. As close as a bullet whizzing past your head. Certainly in those sweat-soaked, heart-pounding moments, you have to KNOW what it is you’re risking your whole existence fighting for.

“I have come that they might have life to the full,” Jesus declared. And when He said it, the impact was as rousing as a mud-soaked soldier lifting a tattered flag and yelling, “FREEDOM!” What we battle for is Freedom. Freedom to live in Christ in all His fullness. Unhindered. Not one day, but Today. His power revealed in us to love, to heal, to live as He did. Christ in us is truly the hope of glory that we live and die for.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,
and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame,
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2