Where Exactly Is Our Hope Placed? Temporary Centrality of Our Hope Only In Ourselves. Proverbs 11:4-8

In a worship song from the early 2000s, singer/songwriter Brian Doerksen sings, “Jesus, hope of the nations/ Jesus, comfort for all who mourn/ You are the source of heaven’s hope on earth.”

Looking outward into the world for all of the hope to be found and mined from the ground in all of the far reaching places we have ever traveled on this planet?

Looking upward into the heavens and the uncountable number of far reaching constellations of stars and planets we can never hope to reach – we are limited to this time – to this place – unto these bodies – to these tents which wear out.

But, why should we seek to limit ourselves and where we look for our hope, to look in all the places where the only thing likely to be found is disappointment?

If the only thing we believe we can ever find in life is one disappointment after the other, how is we can continue to justify our personal search for true hope?

Proverbs 11:4-8 The Message

⁴A thick bankroll is no help when life falls apart,
but a principled life can stand up to the worst.

⁵Moral character makes for smooth traveling;
an evil life is a hard life.

⁶Good character is the best insurance;
crooks get trapped in their sinful lust.

⁷When the wicked die, that’s it—
the story’s over, end of hope.

⁸A good person is saved from much trouble;
a bad person runs straight into it.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Where is Your Hope?

There is a well known country song with the title of “I’ve Been Everywhere.”

Some of the places which account for having “been everywhere” include:

I’ve been to Reno, Chicago, Fargo, Minnesota
Buffalo, Toronto, Winslow, Sarasota
Wichita, Tulsa, Ottawa, Oklahoma
Tampa, Panama, Mattawa, La Paloma
Bangor, Baltimore, Salvador, Amarillo
Tocapillo, Baranquilla, and Perdilla, I’m a killer

I’ve been to Boston, Charleston, Dayton, Louisiana
Washington, Houston, Kingston, Texarkana
Monterey, Faraday, Santa Fe, Tallapoosa
Glen Rock, Black Rock, Little Rock, Oskaloosa
Tennessee to Tennessee Chicopee, Spirit Lake
Grand Lake, Devils Lake, Crater Lake, for Pete’s sake

I’ve been to Louisville, Nashville, Knoxville, Ombabika
Schefferville, Jacksonville, Waterville, Costa Rica
Pittsfield, Springfield, Bakersfield, Shreveport
Hackensack, Cadillac, Fond du Lac, Davenport
Idaho, Jellico, Argentina, Diamantina,
Pasadena, Catalina, see what I mean

I’ve been to Pittsburgh, Parkersburg, Gravelburg, Colorado
Ellensburg, Rexburg, Vicksburg, El Dorado
Larimore, Atmore, Haverstraw, Chatanika
Chaska, Nebraska, Alaska, Opelika
Baraboo, Waterloo, Kalamazoo, Kansas City
Sioux City, Cedar City, Dodge City, what a pity

I’ve been everywhere, man
I’ve been everywhere, man
Crossed the desert’s bare, man
I’ve breathed the mountain air, man
Of travel I’ve had my share, man
I’ve been everywhere

Where exactly in all of those places the song writer has claimed to have been, where exactly was their hope for what ever it was they hoped for, searched for, which compelled them, moved them from one geographical locale to another?

In a worship song from the early 2000s, singer/songwriter Brian Doerksen sings, “Jesus, hope of the nations/ Jesus, comfort for all who mourn/ You are the source of heaven’s hope on earth.”

Looking outward into the world for all of the hope to be found and mined from the ground in all of the far reaching places we have ever traveled on this planet?

But, why should we seek to limit ourselves and where we look for our hope, to look in all the places where the only thing likely to be found is disappointment?

If the only thing we believe we can ever find in life is one disappointment after the other, how is we can continue to justify our personal search for true hope?

Recognizing God’s Sovereignty, Letting God Be True

Luke 12:16-21 English Standard Version

¹⁶And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, ¹⁷and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ ²⁰But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ ²¹So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

In actuality for all of their bravado, sinners have a little fun – while alive.

They make huge plans for pleasure and posterity.

They expect and hope to do bigger and better things.

They plan to get everything rolling along more perfectly.

Then they die.

Then they have nothing but a casket to show for it.

Then they are nothing – except the book of memories from their funerals.

Death is the great equalizer.

It mercilessly rips from the rich all their wealth; it tears from the strong any athletic prowess; it corrupts the face, body, and hair of the beautiful; it removes the wits and memories of the intelligent; it neuters the authority and power of leaders; it takes from parents their beloved children; it leaves homeless those who loved their fine homes.

No matter what the sinners expected or hoped to do, Our Sovereign God sends His Shepherd to us on our deathbeds and just like that, God takes it all away.

And still we sinners must somehow still find and focus on these words of hope:

Job 1:20-21 English Standard Version

²⁰Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. ²¹And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Instead of focusing on the ‘hope’ found from these words: “Curse God and Die.”

From the Parable in Luke’s Narrative, Jesus told of a rich man who planned new barns to hold his great wealth, and he said to himself, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.”

But God said to him, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luke 12:16-21).

Worldly men and woman arrive in life very naked and ignorant, and without exception, they leave the same helpless way – ignorant of what heaven holds.

Ignorant of what incomparable, indescribable, hope the Hope of Heaven has.

Yet they will still waste their lives chasing goals that disappear in one second – the second they die.

They see others die and take nothing with them, yet they keep running as fast as they can on the unmerciful treadmill of ambition, greed, and covetousness until it lets them go, hurls them and sends them off into their death and hell.

Psalm 14:1 New King James Version

Folly of the Godless, and God’s Final Triumph

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

14 The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good.

One just wants to shout: “Curse God and Die,”

What fools!

Then they have nothing.

Then they are nothing.

Are such words too harsh?

Are such words not harsh enough?

They are nothing compared to the shock of the first second in hell.

In a horrible flash of understanding, every sinner will know there is a God, that their whole earthly life was a waste, that they’ll have an eternity of unbearable torment ahead.

They will not think for a second about the legacy of their big plans on earth, for in an instant they’ll be entirely gone – and remembered by only a precious few.

Why do we think strong warnings about such a future are unabashedly harsh?

Am I deceived by my illusion of the importance of my personal sovereignty?

Are you also deceived of the importance of your own personal sovereignty?

The world is insane!

They set goals of high salaries, prestigious positions, large houses, fancy cars, fine clothes, the most expensive schools for their children, and other ambitions.

Some of them say, even more will find their bully pulpits and charismatically preach and teach and so live like, “He who dies with the most toys – wins.”

They chase after their neighbors “accomplishments” daily to make sure they are not left behind in the mad rush to accumulate things, experience pleasure.

Then “here today then gone tomorrow” they lose everything in one second.

Consider what David wrote about this madness in Psalm 39.

He wrote, “Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them” (Psalm 39:6).

Solomon, after experimenting with more than you can even imagine, added this summary: “I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit” (Ecclesiastes 1:14).

Believe it!

Consider what David wrote in Psalm 49.

Psalm 49:16-20 English Standard Version

¹⁶Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
    when the glory of his house increases.
¹⁷For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
    his glory will not go down after him.
¹⁸For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
    —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
¹⁹his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
    who will never again see light.
²⁰Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

There the Lord ridiculed the insanity of the rich and their ambitions.

It is a sermon to warn all men of the vanity of worldly riches.

Whether a man or a woman is wise or foolish, they die, and they cannot take anything with him.

There is nothing a rich man or woman can do to buy their way out of death.

Everything sinners hope for and plan for ends at death – their expectations and hopes perish.

All they valued is totally wiped out by the reality of the grave they’ll rest in.

They will never again be able to travel across the vast expanses of the earth, watch another Super Bowl, attend a World Series, or bet on March Madness.

But righteous people have eternal hope in their death (Proverbs 10:28; 14:32), for their expectation is of another world that infinitely far outstrips this world by every degree and measure as light is infinitely superior to chaos and darkness.

Centrality of Hope Found Only in the Resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:51-58 New King James Version

⁵¹Behold, I tell you a ^[a]mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— ⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ⁵³For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁵“O^[b] Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we recognize and worship Jesus Christ as the only true hope of the world, and yet it remains undeniably astounding how often we still pin the length, breadth, depths and heights of our hopes on human beings.

In all of our history books, it is clear that people are more inclined to find hope in sinful leaders, politicians, and celebrities rather than upon the one true God.

Why do we do this?

Proverbs 11:4-8 continually warns readers even today that placing ‘forever’ hope in humans is futile because human power will 100% come to nothing.

As the apostle Paul tells us, “There is no authority except that which God has established” (Romans 13:1).

By saying this, Paul is assuring believers that in all situations, even in the midst of national turmoil and global crises, God forever remains the only one who has all the Sovereignty and will 100% perpetually hold on to all of God’s authority.

Jeremiah 29:10-14 English Standard Version

¹⁰“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. ¹¹For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare^[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹²Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. ¹³You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Any human who has “power” has it only because God allows it to be so.

In other words, our hopes and desires must be found, must lie, must rely on and with the only One who created and sits upon the throne of the universe.

Our prayers must be oriented toward Christ, for he is truly the only hope—

The only one with the Authority and the Sovereignty and the Power who can change our minds, transform hearts, disperse powers, and bring restoration.

Children of God, make no boast of tomorrow, for you do not know what will happen tomorrow (Proverbs 27:1).

Proverbs 27:1 New King James Version

My Son, Be Wise

27 Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth.

While God allows us to make business plans, God expects us to do so in prudent wisdom, because we will not even, ever, know if we will be alive tomorrow, so we are to submit your plans to God’s will with these words: “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (James 4:15).

We need the breath of life and the breath of God, for any of our plans to work.

In the name of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 19 The Message

19 ^1-2God’s glory is on tour in the skies,
God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
Madame Day holds classes every morning,
Professor Night lectures each evening.

^3-4Their words aren’t heard,
their voices aren’t recorded,
But their silence fills the earth:
unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.

^4-5God makes a huge dome
    for the sun—a superdome!
The morning sun’s a new husband
    leaping from his honeymoon bed,
The daybreaking sun an athlete
    racing to the tape.

⁶That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies
from sunrise to sunset,
Melting ice, scorching deserts,
warming hearts to faith.

^7-9The revelation of God is whole
    and pulls our lives together.
The signposts of God are clear
    and point out the right road.
The life-maps of God are right,
    showing the way to joy.
The directions of God are plain
    and easy on the eyes.
God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold,
    with a lifetime guarantee.
The decisions of God are accurate
    down to the nth degree.

¹⁰God’s Word is better than a diamond,
better than a diamond set between emeralds.
You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring,
better than red, ripe strawberries.

^11-14There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger
    and directs us to hidden treasure.
Otherwise how will we find our way?
    Or know when we play the fool?
Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!
    Keep me from stupid sins,
    from thinking I can take over your work;
Then I can start this day sun-washed,
    scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
These are the words in my mouth;
    these are what I chew on and pray.
Accept them when I place them
    on the morning altar,
O God, my Altar-Rock,
    God, Priest-of-My-Altar.

Creator God, you made every living thing, and you hold all things together. Lord, bring restoration to this world that desperately needs your leadership and authority.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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If Hope Does Not Disappoint Us, Why Then Are Christians Disappointed All the Time? Romans 5:3-5

Author Hal Lindsey said, “Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air… but only for one second without hope.”

Hope not only affects how we live, it determined whether or not some people survive such catastrophic events such as natural disasters, devastating family, financial or healthcare news or the sudden unexpected loss of a loved one.

So, how is your hope?

Does it bounce back after being hit?

Or does it pop like a balloon lanced by a pin?

On what or WHO is your hope based?

The Bible shows us that people of faith are people of hope.

That makes sense, doesn’t it?

Those who trust God have more reason for hope than those who don’t.

But hardcore problems without visible solutions test the faith and challenge the hope of even the most devout.

Even when we are “poster children” for disappointment, guess what …

The Bible says to encourage each other every day (Hebrews 4:13).

Romans 5:3-5 The Message

^3-5There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Romans 4, the Apostle Paul recounts the story of the Patriarch Abraham.

Romans 4:1-3 English Standard Version

Abraham Justified by Faith

4 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? ²For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. ³For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

For the new followers in Rome, Paul greatly emphasized Abraham’s faith.

Paul said even Abraham, who was considered a God-fearing and good man, was praiseworthy not because he was so good but because in faith, he believed God.

If we ourselves go read the story of Abraham in Genesis, we will find quite a few examples of Abraham making substantial mistakes and committing great sins.

For example, twice focused only on what mattered most to himself and he lied and told an Egyptian that his wife, Sarah, was his sister (Genesis 12 and 20).

Abraham was a good man in many ways, but he was an ordinary, flawed person, like anyone else.

The great thing about Abraham was not anything about Abraham himself; it was his focus on the “one thing:” he faithfully put his trust and hope in God.

Abraham slowly disciplined his focus on what mattered most: believed God’s promises, Abraham faithfully put his hope in God’s being true to his promises.

The same is very much true for our disciplining our focus away from us today.

If we focus all of our hope in our own power or our own goodness or strength, we will constantly and continuously be indescribably hopelessly disappointed.

In ourselves, we do not have enough goodness to give us hope for the future.

Focus on faith in God, given to us by Holy Spirit, is the surest source of hope.

Do you and I have any of that self same disciplined focus on hope in God alone?

A Disciplined Focus on God’s Brand of “Sure Hope”

Hebrews 12:1-3 The Message

Discipline in a Long-Distance Race

12 ^1-3Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

A disciplined focus on Hope.

It’s the oxygen our souls need to thrive.

Hope is the wild-eyed creature that pops up after the enemy tries to eradicate the very beating of faith in our hearts.

It’s the essence of being a disciplined Christ-follower and as a hopeless, broken world watches us under an electron Microscope, as they scornfully question, “If hope does not disappoint us, why are you Christians disappointed all the time?”

However, before we can answer that question, we need to define what hope is.

Hope looks like light, seeing hundreds of fireflies lighting up a dark night.

Hope is the long barren heavily scorned and mocked Hannah praying fervently, disciplined in her knowing God hears her while she’s taken for a drunken fool.

Hope is a father staying at hope forgiving his undisciplined wayward child.

Hope is the oxygen our souls need to breathe to stay alive.

Hope is a category 5 torrential downpour that washes the world clean.

Hope is uncountable millions of little green shoots being nourished, unearthed after a long and cold winter’s nap and stretching and reaching to the heavens.

Hope is praying your loved one will be found alive after tragedy strikes.

Hope is knowing we will be reunited with our loved ones on the other side of heaven.

Hope is the soldier at war in a far away land who begged God to use His words to care for, to heal and to love his son or daughter miles away.

Hope is a foster child finally finding his forever home in a family that fiercely loves, protects and cares for them.

Hope is watching your autistic child make a friend.

Hope is walking hand in hand with God the Father, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit.

What Does ‘Hope Does Not Disappoint Us’ Mean?

The biblical definition of hope is “confident expectation.”

Christian hope is rooted in faith in the divine salvation in Christ (Galatians 5:5) and through the love poured into us through God’s Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).

What have you and I been hoping for?

Have we been trying to discipline our hope away from the world and unto God?

Where have we been disciplining our minds, where are we focusing our Hope?

Did anything above resonate with your heart?

Or have you given up?

Maybe you and I are too afraid to invest in hope again because we dread the possibility that if we try too hard to discipline ourselves, we will lose all hope?

Or perhaps we simply don’t remember what hope even feels like anymore.

We are physically, mentally, spiritually exhausted from trying to recall what hope looks, tasted, feels, sounds like – we do not care to know what hope is.

If you’re in this camp, we need to go back to the Bible, discipline ourselves back unto Word of God, to understand God’s hope isn’t the same as the world’s hope.

God’s hope is not and never will be the same as the world’s definition of hope.

Both denote a positive expectation, but the world’s hope is rooted in a fallible person, situation, or thing. God’s hope is rooted in Him.

The basis of Christian hope is found Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for.”

The Greek word for hope in this passage is ‘hypostasis.

The anonymous author wrote in the book of Hebrews, “Faith is the ‘hypostasis of things hoped for…” which literally means “that which underlies.”

Meaning our faith in Christ underlies our hope, the deeper our faith is, the more difficult it is for hope to be overthrown and turned into disappointment.

A hope that does not disappoint means God has given us hope that raises up to our defense – to become our sword and shield in the midst of disappointment.

This kind of hope is found not in our avoidance of suffering but our working through it with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit because, suffering produces joy, perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (James 1:2-4)

What Is the Context of Romans 5:5?

“Therefore, since we have been declared righteous (justified) through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 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,” Romans 5:1-5.

We learn what hope means in God’s kingdom through the words of Paul beginning in the fifth chapter of Romans. Full

Here, Paul tells us we have justice, peace, grace, perseverance, character, and hope which is all built on the faith we have in Christ.

The kind of hope that does not disappoint that Paul is talking about here is the kind of disciplined hope that only God can give.

This kind of hope Fully Relies On God—His power, His promises, and the sacrifices He alone made for us.

This type of hope carries a promise because of what He has accomplished.

As we read through the rest of Romans 5, we learn we have this hope because Jesus died for us while we were yet his utterly worst enemies (Romans 5:8).

We have been justified and we will be delivered from all things.

God didn’t save us based on our own righteousness.

We were saved because of our faith, hope and belief and love for God’s Son.

This hope points directly to the glory of God – “we boast in our hope of sharing in the glory of God” (Romans 5:2).

This means, no matter what comes our way: suffering, turmoil, tragedy, death, and heartbreak. God will conquer it all.

In other words, “Hope has a sanctifying effect. We who look expectantly for the return of Christ, knowing that when we see him we shall become like him, and purify ourselves “as he is pure” (1 John 3:3 ).

Hope also stimulates good works.

Following his teaching on the resurrection of the dead, Paul exhorts readers to do be “steadfast and immovable doing the Lord’s work abundantly since such “labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:51-58 ).”

Then, How Exactly Can Christians Hope When They Experience Disappointments?

Throughout Scripture, we find the same message trusting in God’s promises and hoping in the Lord:

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” Hebrews 10:23.

“I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance” Ephesians 1:18.

“I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word, I put my hope” Psalm 130:5.

If we read in between the vast array of scriptures about hope, we will also find hundreds of people inside the Bible who experienced true utter disappointment: Adam, Eve, Hagar, Job, Hannah, Moses, Sarah, David, Jacob, Gideon, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Jonah, the exiles, Nehemiah, Jesus, the Disciples, Paul, Elijah, others.

Yes! Even Jesus experienced disappointment during his ministry: when the people didn’t receive His message, when His disciples struggled with doubt, or when He encountered those legalistic religious leaders who wanted to kill Him.

Yet, each and every one of these biblical accounts of real-life people are marked by moments of every single one of them decisively overcoming disappointment.

They also went to accomplish great things for God and some even accomplished things beyond their wildest dreams.

The common thread of each of them was their hope in God.

Their belief in God was bigger than their disappointment.

Instead of blaming God when tragedy struck, instead, they turned to God.

“Hope in God transcends the lost hopes of human frailty and sin and begins to take effect in our lives precisely when human hopes are gone” (Romans 4:18).

How can Christians hope when we experience disappointments?

We put our hope in the Lord as we look at Paul’s example in Philippians 4:4.

Here, Paul was suffering greatly but he was writing to the church in Philippi which happened to be a church that was exceptionally poor.

But Paul was writing to them from a Roman Prison to encourage them to keep a disciplined, focused hope as they learn to be content with having much or little.

Paul wrote to encourage them through his example walking with Christ, even in the midst of disappointment, he could deal with humble means or prosperity.

No matter the circumstance Paul persevered through hope because no matter what came, he “can do all things through Christ’s strength, (Philippians 4:13, ESV).

The exact same One whose Grace strengthened Paul and provided contentment, courage, and a disciplined and focused hope is exact the same One working all things together—even disappointment—for our good too (Romans 8:28).

Because of the Sovereignty of God, Jesus’ resurrection power at work in us, the Holy Spirit interceding and praying for us when we have not the wherewithal to intercede for self, we can breathe in His kind of Hope that does not disappoint.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Prayer for a Hope That Does Not Disappoint

Lord God, our Creator, Author of our Life and Perfecter of our Hope, we raise our hearts, our souls, our hands high to thank you for your peace and for being our true source of hope. No matter what we walk through, may we lean on you. I believe that the hope you give us will not disappoint. You are working through every struggle and hardship we face. We will not be disappointed because of the salvation and blessing of a heavenly inheritance through Jesus Christ. Help us to abound in joy and to rest in your loving arms. Give us grace, strength, to lean on your powerful promises today.

Dear God, we praise you because you are true to your promises, we thank you that you are the true source of hope. Help us, by your Holy Spirit, to put our hope in you.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Today’s Choice: We Can All Fully Give Up, Or We Can All Fully Rely on God Who is Supposed to be Number One. 2 Corinthians 1:8-11

If you have ever traveled in the deep country, where there are nothing but narrow two lane and rutted dirt roads, then you’ve probably seen the sign,

“Pick your rut carefully, you’ll be in it for the next 20 miles.”

You know what it is like.

A story is told of a frog who was hopping across a dirt road and he fell into a rut.

He tried to jump out of it, but he couldn’t.

He cried out to his friends, “Help me, I’m stuck in this rut.”

Well his friends could not pull him out but they offered him encouragement and support, telling him what they had done when they had recently been in similar situations, assuring him he could do it, but he said he had tried and he couldn’t.

After a short while it was time for all his friends to leave, everyone was very sad, but there was nothing more they could do.

You can imagine their surprise when the next morning they saw all their friends at the riverbank.

“What happened?” they asked, “We thought you were stuck in the rut.”

“Well, so did I” their friend answered, “I thought it was a hopeless situation, when all of a sudden a sanitation truck came down the road and its tires were traveling in my rut! We had no choice but to rely on our survival to hop to it.”

Someone once said the only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.

2 Corinthians 1:9-11 The Message

^8-11We don’t want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us in Asia province. It was so bad we didn’t think we were going to make it. We felt like we’d been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead! And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing. You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation—I don’t want you in the dark about that either. I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise for God’s deliverance of us, a rescue in which your prayers played such a crucial part.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

If you have ever traveled in the deep country, where there are nothing but narrow two lane and rutted dirt roads, then you’ve probably seen the sign,

“Pick your rut carefully, you’ll be in it for the next 20 miles.”

You know what it is like.

A story is told of a frog who was hopping across a dirt road and he fell into a rut.

He tried to jump out of it, but he couldn’t.

He cried out to his friends, “Help me, I’m stuck in this rut.”

After a short while it was time for all his friends to leave, everyone was very sad, but there was nothing more they could do.

You can imagine their surprise when the next morning they saw all their friends at the riverbank.

“What happened?” they asked, “We thought you were stuck in the rut.”

Someone once said the only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.

It Always Takes Great Pressure to Make Diamonds

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 Amplified Bible

⁸For we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about ^[a]our trouble in [the west coast province of] Asia [Minor], how we were utterly weighed down, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life [itself]. ⁹Indeed, we felt within ourselves that we had received the sentence of death [and were convinced that we would die, but this happened] so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.

The Christian life is full of utterly impossible challenges.

Do we think we can overcome our sin and live a holy life in our own strength?

Have at it, my friend!

Come back in six months and tell me how it’s going for you.

You think you have enough wisdom and experience to help your children whatever their age, navigate all the landmines, pitfalls of their young life?

Well huzzah for you! (Side note: we really need to bring the word “huzzah” back into usage.)

Do you think you have enough personal insight to untangle the sticky relational or financial mess you, your family might be finding themselves in right now?

Do you think you have the strength to sufficiently lead your co-workers, small group, a worship team, a counseling team, a church planting team, or a church?

Do you believe you have the strength to sufficiently lead your own two feet to the floor of your bedroom when you first wake up after a “night” of slumber.

Right.

God bless,

Have at it my friend.

I’ll pray for you to have a soft bed in a padded room waiting for your return.

The reality is, God constantly finds us in situations of our own making that are impossibly far beyond our ability to bear up to.

He looks every which direction for us and always finds us smack dab inside the middle of befuddling, perplexing, overwhelming, even crushing circumstances.

Why does God keep looking for, finding us in these places?

Why does God keep on perpetually nudging us in our ribcages – “I AM here’

To assure us.

To humble us.

To quiet us.

To subtly or not so subtly redirect our spiritual eyesight.

To emphasize and indeed even over emphasize this point, to make us painfully aware, sharply remind us, we cannot make it through this life apart from him.

To shine the brightest lights in our eyes, cause us to look up and away from the catastrophe directly in front of us, highlight our desperate dependence on him.

God strips us of our own strength to make us totally reliant upon his strength.

God allowed Paul to be pushed and pressed, hit and hammered, beaten and even ship wrecked and even sentenced to “death,” SO THAT he would not rely upon himself, but straight upon the grace, the power of the God who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

God allows us to get into situations that are so far beyond our ability to survive so that when failure comes, deliverance comes, only God can receive the glory.

Speaking of pastoral ministry (but this quote applies equally to a million other situations), 19th Century English Theologian Charles Bridges says:

“Did we depend upon the failing support of human agency [strength], or upon the energy of mere moral suasion [our ability to persuade] – we should cry out, prostrate in heartless despondency – “Who is sufficient for these things?” But the instant recollection – that “our sufficiency is of God” – “lifts up our hearts in the ways” and work of the Lord.” (The Christian Ministry, page 19)

Are you in a situation that is too hard for you?

Are you being stretched beyond your spiritual gifts and abilities?

Are you pushed down and crushed, even to the point of despair?

Do you feel like butter scraped over too much bread?

Do you feel like you want to run and hide in some cave like David frequently did?

Maybe dig up your backyard and install an underground bunker, lock all doors?

You really only have two options.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 Amplified Bible

Behind door number one: throw your hands up not in praise but to give up.

Let the mounting lack of self-control, despair, anger, impatience and unbelief wash over you like an acidic shower, slowly dissolving eating away at your faith.

Start calling yourself: “highly educated motivated professional worldly realist.”

Allow all of the class 5 storms of unbridled cynicism to have their way with you.

OR…

2 Corinthians 1:10-11 Amplified Bible

¹⁰He rescued us from so great a threat of death, and will continue to rescue us. On Him we have set our hope. And He will again rescue us [from danger and draw us near], ¹¹while you join in helping us by your prayers. Then thanks will be given by many persons on our behalf for the gracious gift [of deliverance] granted to us through the prayers of many [believers].

Behind door number two: Fully rely upon the God who raises from the dead.

Throw aside any foolish remnants of self-sufficiency and depend wholly upon our mighty, powerful God.

Depend upon God alone to work in your rebellious children.

Fully Rely On God who alone is Always #1

Depend upon God alone to work mightily in your shaky financial condition.

Fully Rely On God who alone is Always #1

Depend upon God alone to save your “un-savable” relative.

Fully Rely on God who alone is Always #1

Depend upon God alone to give you physical and emotional strength to serve your family.

Fully Rely on God who alone is Always #1

Depend upon the God who slays giants, shuts lions’ mouths, and rescues out of fiery furnaces.

Fully Rely on God who alone is Always #1

God does incredible things, God does the incomparable, does the impossible when we finally stop relying upon our own abilities and start relying on him.

He does incredible things, the incomparable things, the impossible things when we finally “raise a white flag” on our own abilities, find all our strength in him.

Come out from the darkness, into the Kingdom of God, in the Strength of God!

In the name of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Dear Lord Jesus,

I know you must have countless reasons for allowing me to go through difficult circumstances, but here in your word I find one that comforts me. You are teaching me not to rely on myself. That’s a big job. I was born wanting to be in charge and my raising in this culture is geared toward making me self sufficient. So, when life is too big for me, that’s okay. I’m constantly learning that it’s not too big for you. You are, from everlasting to everlasting, bigger than the complexities of my life and will deliver me from my troubles. You send help in a myriad of ways. Some I have not even thought of yet. I will set my hope on you that you will deliver me from all my troubles. Help me remember this passage today as I face health issues, mechanical failures, relationship stresses and challenges in my work. Help to remember that you are a prayer away from delivering me. Don’t let me drive myself to your hospital. I will call your 911 and you pick me up. You loved me and finally you died for me, your grave was empty, were raised, were resurrected, how would you ever not rescue me?

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Do We Really ‘Feel’ What This Means Anymore: “We Love Because He First Loved Us?” 1 John 4:17-21

Sometimes, one too many times, believing God loves us so deeply can be hard.

When we mess up, we make bad choices, it can be difficult to believe God cares.

We are likely to ask of ourselves “why should God care about me anyway, I know what I have done, surely God knows what I have done, so why should He love me?”

The thing of it is – we are only likely to be asking this of ourselves, to ourselves.

In the real world we encounter today, we do not openly express such thoughts in an outward manner – we are not likely to be shouting this on the city streets.

We will be internalizing these ideas, blasting them against the walls of our souls until even the most ardent believer will find themselves poking very substantial holes, if not trying to dig vast canyons into their steadfast and immovable faith.

When we see all our failures and flaws we can often think that we’re unlovable.

Vulnerability overtakes us – we can’t help it nor can we seen to slow it or stop it.

However, in the midst of all our failures and shortcomings, and sudden onsets of unconquerable vulnerabilities – guess what – God chooses to love us anyway!

1 John 4:17-21 The Message

To Love, to Be Loved

^17-18God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.

¹⁹We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.

^20-21If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.