Tag Archives: Hope

God’s glory gives light

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Have you ever noticed how suffering has a way of stripping away the layers of who you think you are, to reveal who you really are inside?  Who I am as a man, as a leader, as a provider for my family – a father, husband, grandfather – a contributor to my church, an influencer of others for the kingdom of Christ… All these have changed, some in small ways, others more significantly, through the journey of Leukemia. This is good when it involved surrender to God and being molded in His image. But there is also a certain grieving of the journey from Gal 2:20 and 2 Cor 5:17. It seems we carry so many labels and hold some of these dearly close to us. Some aspects of these need to be stripped away. The remainder all need to be submissive to the one label of God’s child, devoted follower of Jesus.

 

Lately, I am reflecting on the glory of God filling his temple (2 Chron. 5:14 and many other verses). I think on 1 Cor 3:16 (and others) where we are reminded that we ourselves are the temple of God. It follows of course, that His glory should fill us, that others should see his glory when they observe our lives, filled with his presence.

 

It is like the story of the little girl who asked her mother, “Is it true that when we ask Jesus into our life that He lives in our heart?” The mother replied, “Well yes dear, that is right.” “And isn’t He the light of the world?” the girl continued. “Yes, that is true,” replied the mom. “Then shouldn’t others see Him shine through us?” the girl asked. Out of the mouth of babes comes a truth for us. Some extent of the glory of God should be revealed through us if His Son lives in us.

 

This label of glory-filled-holiness is a worthy (and daunting) one to consider.  It is our true identity that no one and no circumstance can strip away unless we let it.  It is a banner we can only carry by continual surrender to Christ in us, the hope of glory. When He carries this banner others can see Him…in us.

 

What other identity rivals this one? Let God’s glory shine in and through your day. For the glory of God gives light!

What measure of faith

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I reflected on this during a recent meditation, especially on Romans 12:3 and Ephesians 4:7. The former says:
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

The Ephesians passage mentions according to the measure of grace bestowed upon us. I don’t know why one mentions grace and the other faith, except both are complementary gifts from God. And it seems to me that when our focus is increasingly on God’s amazing grace poured over us, like a cup that is filled to overflowing, we find our God-given faith growing even more. There is of course a faith that is an act of will and a faith that is from God. While they appear opposed to one another, I believe they too are complementary. Does not God-given faith give us the ability to exercise our will and say, “and yet I will still praise you!?”

I am encouraged, when I am tempted to think my measure of faith is too small, to remember Mark 9:23-25, where the father of the sick child said, “I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief.” In other words, grow my faith!

So IF some are given a greater measure of faith than others, we all are gifted by the Holy Spirit who helps us in areas and times of unbelief, who grows our faith and conquers fears that are opposed to the dispensation of faith.

It seems we all wrestle with this issue of belief and unbelief. The tendency to reject or suspend our faith is a fearful and prideful reaction to our real and imagined circumstances. Praise God that He never leaves us alone in this struggle, but grows our faith each time we respond by exercising any measure of faith.

I hope you will be encouraged by the hope that your own faith bears. I don’t know how long the waiting is. I only know, by faith, that it is not forever.

Hope while you wait

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In addition to visiting with my sister who spoiled us during our memory making trip, and walking in the mountains, we were very glad to finally meet Jill Giallanza. Jill’s family and ours have been praying for each other over the last two years. When her husband went to heaven last spring, I felt I had lost a good friend I never had met. So meeting Jill at my sister’s house was a real blessing.

We talked about lessons learned during the struggles we each face and the hurts experienced in the journey. But also evident in Jill’s sharing was the real and sustaining hope in the reunion one day in heaven (what a day of rejoicing that will be!). Hope in knowing that deep dark places of great pressure are where gems are formed. As Pastor Dale said, “What is restored is worth more than it was before.” Hope in realizing the promise of God’s sufficient grace and strength in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Hope in waiting for the One who is always faithful, whose timing is never late.

Most of the time, that is our focus with this walk through Leukemia. Today marks the one year anniversary of my stem cell transplant, another “new life” anniversary. And still we wait, in hope, for the healing, restoration, and repurposing of our lives yet to come.

It is difficult to wait, isn’t it? We all want answers and resolution to our problems right now.  But wait we must when so much of life is beyond our control. Sometimes we have to wait for God’s presence to be made more evident in our daily life.  Are you waiting on God for an answer to prayer? We have a choice: wait in anxiety or wait in faith. Be strong and courageous because you wait on real promises that will not disappoint. “Say YES to your life, trusting God in your struggles.” (Sarah Young)

Be of good courage and He will strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24

 

 

What mountains do you face?

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One of the highlights of our recent memory maker trip was to hike in the mountains. I ended up being sick most of the trip, but God allowed sufficient strength and short breaks from the illness to take two hikes, one in the Organ Mountains near Las Cruces, New Mexico and after a few days’ rest, another in the Franklin Mountains outside of El Paso. Neither would normally be extremely difficult climbs but they both provided challenge for this Leukemic body.

??????????My sister took a photo of me on an easy part of the hike and facing “my mountain.” She thought it symbolic of the challenges we face and our necessity for perseverance in the journey. I was simply trying to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation while finding the balance between pushing myself to a goal and not overdoing it.

As I was resting on one of many boulder ‘rest stops’ I contemplated how terrifying and exciting it would have been to experience the moment when God told the mountains to rise. I also think about the mountains we all face in our lives. . . those parts of our life walk that require more effort and greater endurance to overcome. What mountains do you face? Be they cancer, chronic physical pain, emotional turmoil, relationship stress, financial struggles, or any other serious difficulty, climbing that mountain can certainly be more intimidating and oppressing than my 2 1/2 hour hike.

??????????What do you need to equip yourself in such a journey? Certainly real hope that secures your footing and keeps you from stumbling along the path. Also faith that allows you to see beyond your current suffering. And perseverance that produces the character that doesn’t give up, and the ability to find the secret of contentment in both the journey and the destination. Finally, we all need a friend who will walk with us all the way, who helps us up and encourages us to push on. Jesus calls us ‘friend’ and He also provided such a wonderful friend in my soul mate, Marcia. (If photos do not show in the email post, click on link to website to view.)

God promises to make a way through the mountains in our lives. Today is a great day to trust Him with your journey.

“And I will make all my mountains a way and my highways will be exalted.” Isaiah 49:11

Now arriving

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While traveling on a ‘memory maker’ trip last week, we were greeted by this sign in one of the airports.

NOW ARRIVING:
HOPE
DREAMS
FAITH

It was a refreshing greeting and reminded me that wherever we go, our hopes, dreams, and faith (also love) go with us. And I wondered, are these evident when we go about our routine daily travels? Are they ‘carry ons’ or ‘stow away luggage’? Are faith, hope and love generally manifest when we walk into a room? Is our everyday conversation more often characterized by these or by complaining? Do we carry the dreams of who we want to become when we go to the grocery store or pay our bills? Or do we reserve these honorable qualities for more ‘spiritual’ times?

While visiting with my sister, the question came up:
Are we primarily spiritual beings with an earthly body, or are we earthly beings with a spiritual component? How would you answer? On the one hand, the earthly side of us is quite evident. We breathe, laugh, cry, suffer in pain, and experience the wear and tear on our physical bodies. And of course we have ambitions tied to those earthly bodies, desires for certain foods, clothes, shelter, and so much more. We readily feel and experience the effect of both pain and pleasure on our physical bodies, don’t we?

On the other hand, the bible tells us that while we are created both physically and spiritually, our essence and purpose is spiritually and relationship driven. Paul writes that we are aliens and strangers in this land, ambassadors to a foreign country. He further says that this earthly body is like a temporary tent while our spirit is our permanent temple.

If that is the case, why don’t we more often experience the world through our spiritual self? Why don’t we more often see with spiritual focus, hear with spiritual enlightenment, and touch with spiritual compassion? After all, our lives are blessed as are others when we experience life in this manner. Perhaps it is because we lack the regular discipline to consider spiritual living as our default mode. We are often distracted by ‘shiny things’ and the call of worldly things. We get off track dozens of times each day. I confess, sometimes I find myself distracted even while praying! What are we then to do?

Consider what you do when you encounter a road detour. Your choice always is to either focus on the problem or focus on the solution. It doesn’t help to ignore the physical situation but focusing on your hope of finding your way to getting back on track is the solution that sees you through. Isn’t the same true with spiritual living? There is no need to beat ourselves up over life distractions; simply turn our focus back to God and enjoy the reconnection with his presence.

Here is a practical application. Whenever you change environments this week – from one room to the next, from one meeting to the next, from home to work – ask yourself, “Is faith, hope and love arriving with me?”

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

Great hope for today

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Many people have feelings of worthless or low self-esteem.

Looking up at the stars on a clear night has a way of putting our minute lives into perspective. We are quite small in comparison to the vastness of God’s creation. Crises also have a way of humbling us in a most vivid way. At the end of ourselves with no hope for our own ability to solve something like cancer, the loss of a loved one, joblessness, financial ruin, or other catastrophe, we come to realize our profound dependence on God. We realize that our very breaths are measured by Him. And we feel very small in the presence of the creator of the universe, the one who has no beginning or end.

But this smallness, this sense of being unimportant to the grand scheme of things is not the whole picture. There is reason to have great joy and hope right now. For God so loved us that He sent His only begotten Son to rescue us. When? When we were still rebellious sinners, since we were determined to go our own way. God says that to whoever believes in His Son, He gives them the right to be children of God. And not just adopted children but also heirs of His kingdom, an eternal life of joy, a life with no tears or pain or sorrow. And part of that kingdom can be experienced right now. Real joy and hope that starts now and lasts forever!

We are distracted by other things in this world, things we think are greater pleasure. Even in the important and necessary things of life, we forget God, and we forget to thank Him. And how does our great God respond? He graciously waits for us. Why does He love us so? I really don’t know; only that He made us and longs to spend time with us. Just like you long to spend time with your loved ones and feel fulfilled when they choose to spend time with you, God enjoys being with us. I am convinced this is partly for His pleasure but also because He desires the very best for us. Admittedly, don’t you want the very best for your life? Don’t you want the very best for those you love? It is found in one place, with God.

In the small and big parts of your life you are of great importance. You are highly valued, esteemed, loved and treasured. So if you are feeling down and unimportant, invite God to your pity party. He will remind you of how precious you are and you will experience more of how awesome our God really is.

A One in a Million Answer for You

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If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. – Jesus, John 15:7

Are you waiting for an answer to prayer? Have you been waiting so long you feel like giving up? Like maybe God isn’t listening or that he has forgotten about you? He IS listening and he hasn’t forgotten. Some answers require the free-will cooperation of others; others require further transformation of our own heart. Other prayer concerns are meant more to draw us closer to God than to achieve another external goal.

Maybe you think your prayer has a “one in a million” shot at being answered. As you wait for your ‘not now’ answer, consider this poem by Eileen Walker, and find hope in abiding in Jesus as you wait for the perfect answer God has for you.

ANSWERS
I don’t know all of the answers
to life’s perplexities.
But I know enough to ask The Lord to come and intervene….

He says, ‘Don’t fear it nor fight it
Neither yield, nor deny it,
find the appropriate response’

When you’re facing the dark shadows,
Turn around and face the sun.
When the mountain stands before you,
And won’t move into the sea,
It doesn’t mean God hasn’t heard you,
It means, change your strategy.

Find His way to rise above it,
Or construct a tunnel through.
God has a million answers,
He’s designed one just for you!