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Get Your Hopes Up!

29. Aug 2024 On The Way In Love
In the world we often hear people say, “don’t get your hopes up” but I feel the Bible’s message is the exact opposite, “Get your hopes up!” Hosea 2:15 caught my attention, “I will transform the valley of trouble into a gateway of hope” (NLT). This word “hope” means eager expectation. We all go through “trouble” from time to time, however, God can help us through these difficult times but we need to put our hope into operation in order for that to happen. We can put our hope in God because He is trustworthy, “For you are my hope, O Lord God, You are my trust from my youth” (Ps 71:4; NKJV). (See also 1 Tim 4:10, 1 Peter 3:5 and many places in Psalms).
Another very encouraging verse is Zechariah 9:12, “Return to the stronghold you prisoners of hope. Even today I declare that I will restore double to you” (NKJV). A prisoner of hope is someone who believes their expectant hope will set them free and repay “double for their trouble.” Hallelujah!
Hope is actually closely connected to faith; it is hope that maintains faith during the waiting period. Abraham is a good example, “Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations” (Rom 4:18; NKJV).
Paul encouraged the Jewish Christians to hold onto the, “confession of hope without wavering, since He who promised is faithful” (Rom 10:23; CSB). He also said that hope is “an anchor for our souls” (Heb 6:19; NLT). In other words, hope, like an anchor, will keep us secure in the midst of any storm.
So, keep your hopes up today! Be expectant, expect a miracle!

Call, Calling and Called

26. Aug 2024 On The Way In Love
“For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom 11:29; NKJV). Let’s look at some other Bible phrases concerning God’s call, calling or our being called. God has a holy calling on all of our lives (2 Tim 1:9). We are called, “out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9b; NKJV); that is out of a sin-filled life into the life He leads. We are called into fellowship with Jesus (1 Cor 1:9) and to share in His eternal glory (1 Peter 5:10). God calls us to holiness (1 Thess 4:7), salvation, faith, to be set apart for Him (2 Thess 2:13), to be a blessing (1 Peter 3:9) and to follow in the footsteps of Jesus (1 Peter 2:21). The apostle Paul exhorts us to be worthy of God’s calling (1 Thess 2:12, Eph 4:1-4). He directs us to walk out that calling with all humility, gentleness, patience, love, unity and peace. The apostle Peter taught us that God’s calling in our lives would be evident as we grew in: virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love (2 Peter 1:5-11). This, Peter said, would protect us from stumbling in our walk with God (2 Peter 1:10). We are not alone in responding to the call of God, He will change and sanctify or set us apart for His service if we allow (1 Thess 5:23-24). Let us end with an admonition from Paul. “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:14). Praise God! Let’s all do the same!

Jesus our Deliverer

23. Aug 2024 On The Way In Love
Joshua was the successor of Moses. His name in Hebrew means “Jehovah is salvation” or “God is deliverance.” Joshua delivered the children of Israel out of the wilderness into the promised land. Joshua points to Jesus which is the Greek name for Joshua; it means to deliver, save or rescue. Just as Joshua delivered the Israelites so Jesus delivers us from disease, addictions, mental illness, lust, anger, fear and much more. “And also that He might deliver and completely set free all those who through the “haunting” fear of death were held in bondage throughout the whole course of their lives” (Heb 2:15; AMPC)
At the beginning of His ministry Jesus announced the things He was anointed to do and one of them being, “to preach deliverance to the captives” (Luke 418; KJV). Jesus did in fact deliver many people from evil spirits in His ministry, one well known example is the man from Gadara (Mark 5:1-20). He was bound in chains and all the people of the area were terrified of him but Jesus cast the evil spirits from him and sent them into a herd of pigs. The man was completely set free.
Jesus can do the same for you and me; He can set us free from whatever is keeping us in bondage. However, the main thing that Jesus delivers us from is sin and hell. By His once and for all time sacrifice He bore the sins of the whole world in His body. He paid the penalty for our sin so we could be forgiven and redeemed. That is our Deliverer and that is something we should always be thankful for!

Ambassadors for Christ

21. Aug 2024 On The Way In Love
We are called to be ministers of reconciliation, ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor 5:18-19). Jesus commanded us to “Go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15; NKJV) and to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19; NKJV). To preach is simply to clearly proclaim the gospel, the biblical account of Jesus and salvation. A disciple is someone who follows and learns from a teacher, in this case, Jesus. What we are to proclaim is found in God’s Word, the Bible. God’s word is truth and life (John 6:63; 17:17) and, “the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Free from all the effects of separation from God and sin in our lives.
You may be thinking, can I really be that ambassador? I love the account of Isaiah being called to go out as a prophet (Isa 6:1-8). Isaiah felt unworthy as a sinful man in the presence of the glory of the Lord but a seraph touched his lips with a live coal from the altar in the temple cleansing Isaiah from sin. Isaiah was then able to say, “here am I! send me” (Isa 6:8b; NKJV). You might say, “I’m not Isaiah.” Yes, but as a Christian we are forgiven (Col 1:14), restored to fellowship with God (2 Cor 5:18), we have the power of the Holy Spirit living in us (Acts 1:8), and we have authority over all the works of the devil (Luke 10:19). The Holy Spirit empowers us to witness (Acts 1:8) and gives us divine appointments to share the gospel (John 4:4-42; Acts 8:29) and even the words to share (Luke 12:12). Let’s do it!

The Love of God

19. Aug 2024 On The Way In Love
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the child of her womb? Even if these forget, yet I will not forget you. Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands” (Isa 49:15,16; CSB). The AMPC version says, “indelibly imprinted (tattooed a picture) of you” for the word “inscribed.” I know it is hard to get our finite minds round this concept but we just have to accept that it is true and therefore believe it. If you never had a mother or felt rejected or separated from her love then verse 16 above should really encourage you. This is how much He loves you. God’s love for us is unconditional or agape love. He loves us no matter how much we mess up and regardless of our education, status in life, background or anything else.
1 John 4:16 tells us, “We have come to know and believe the love God has for us” (CSB). John 3:16 tells us that God’s love for us was so great that He sent Jesus to die for us (see also Eph 2:4,5; John 15:13; Rom 5:8). Romans 8:35-39 assures us that nothing at all can separate us from God’s love and 1 John 3:1 explains that it is because of God’s love that He made us His children. Jeremiah writes that, “God has loved us with an everlasting love” (Jer 31:3; NKJV).
If you are still not convinced, meditate on all the scriptures about God’s love for us until you get a revelation of it in your heart and then you will be able to believe it and it will start to seep from the inside out!

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