Hope, It's a Faith Thing

Can you look at tomorrow with confidence? With expectancy?

'Hope,' it's such a beautiful thing. It stirs up expectancy within our hearts. It gives our hearts courage to push through today until the light of tomorrow dawns.

In American Sign Language the sign for hope is as if you are 'taking a thought and looking for it in the future.'  

So what happens when the future becomes cloudy? The Apostle Peter puts it like this:

Blessed be the G-D and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory (1 Pe 1:3,6-8 italics mine).

Beth Moore sums it up like this:

"A heart pumping love for G-D--that's what compels us to endure when a time of testing nearly kills us. That's what makes us get back up. That's what keeps us in it when we want to quit." (Audacious, 2015)

Perception (inner knowing) is the means of faith, which is the path to the Kingdom of Heaven being made visible on the earth. Our hearts have to know G-D and His ways--to have faith in Him. Clear inner vision is required to see the path of faith into the Kingdom.

How do we have clear vision? Spend time with G-D. Get to know Him intimately, by His Word, and by His Spirit. The Holy Bible is G-D's inspired word (2 Tim 3:16), and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth who leads us in truth (Jn 16:13).

Ask G-D to reveal Himself to you. He will (Jn 17:25-26). He loves you (Jn 3:16), and desires to have a friendship with you (Jn 15:15). Not a casual Facebook friendship, but one that endures the test of time (Mt 28:20). A friendship built out of companionship, through good times and bad.

You are going to have to leave your opinions behind. Followers of Jesus live by faith and not by what we see or don't see happening around us (2 Co 5:7). Just exist in the moment, knowing that G-D is good (Mk 10:18), and all He does is good (Ro 8:28). Don't have faith in your expectations. Have faith in G-D. What does this mean? Have faith in who He is, not what you expect Him to do (though what He has done is evidence of who He is ).

For example:
     Your finances are in crisis. You need a miracle from G-D or else you may lose your home, or your power will be cut off, or creditors will plague you with phone calls, etc. Hope comes from knowing that G-D is our Provider (Mt 6:8, 32). He is merciful and forgiving (1Jn 1:9) towards our ignorance or neglect of finances, and He is generous (1Tim 6:17). If we place our faith in 'G-D will _____' then we will be let down, because G-D rarely works according to our imaginations. His ways are far above our ways (Is 55:8-9), and we are not able to understand them. However, G-D will work things out---and for our good (Ro 8:28). We can expect that He loves us (Ro 5:8), has a good plan for our lives (Jer 29:11), and is working on the bigger picture, not just on this one moment in time.

So rest in the knowledge of G-D's love for you. Place your hope--your expectations--in Him. He cares for you. Wait patiently for Him to move on your behalf, and trust that even when things don't go as we desire, He is still in control, and will bring about good in your life.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life (Prov 13:12).

Hold on. The answer is on its way!

Sweet Apples! It's Fall!

Sigh. Fall. Its beauty is upon us. The cool crisp air, the crunch of leaves under our feet, and pumpkins popping up everywhere are little kisses that October brings. Finally the heat of summer is over, and we can now delight in a new season!

Aren't you thankful for new seasons? Life is so much more interesting when things change. Good times and bad come upon us. Life happens. But aren't the good times so much sweeter after a difficult season passes? Tasty like a Honeycrisp apple. You know, that apple did not just appear. It had to be harvested, and before this it began as a seed lying dormant inside another apple that had to die in order for the seed to live. Buried deep within soil, the seed seems to be gone, but suddenly it breaks through the soil and grows into a beautiful flowering tree eventually bearing delicious apples. 

Life is like that; a journey from being a seed to bearing lots of fruit for others to enjoy. We do not come from ourselves and were not created for ourselves. Col 1:16  We come from G-D. The apple that had to die in order for us to live is Jesus. (and yet He is not dead because He arose from the grave!) The Word of G-D says that Jesus is the firstfruit of many sons. Rom 8:29  He is the One who was planted, and we who have faith in Him are the ones who break through the soil into the Light.

Daddy G-D, the Master Gardener, sends forth the rain of His Spirit watering us, causing us to grow. Is 55:10,11 Each year He prunes away not only dead branches, but crowded branches too. This pruning makes room for more fruit. Jn 15:1,2 It also causes us to become fuller, giving off shade for those seeking refuge from the hot sun.

The secret to a good harvest? Do not pick the fruit for the first three years. He gives us time to grow and become rooted in the soil where He planted us. The fourth year all the fruit is to be Holy--an offering of praise to the L-RD. Then, beginning in the fifth year, the fruit may be eaten by the people. Lev 19:23-25

What is this fruit that we bear for others? It is the fruit of our Creator: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, inner strength, Gal 5:22-23 and good works. Eph 2:10 Being consumed may not feel pleasant, but there is joy in doing what G-D created us to do. Heb 12:2 

Beware! Unforgiveness and living a life for yourself separates us from our Creator and we fall short of His grace, leading to a bitter root springing up and causing trouble. Heb 12:14-15 Some people like sour lemons and other like bitter kumquats or even crabapples! They ferment the apples turning them into cider in order to get drunk! These fruits have purpose too, but I will leave that for another time.

So, if you are in a hard season, hold onto Daddy G-D. He is pruning you. And if you are in a good season, rejoice, because you are either growing or bearing fruit for others to take delight in your sweetness.

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to let go,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace

Ecc 3:1-8

Tough As Steel

It still amazes me how everything in this earth realm can give us glimpses into the unseen world. Jesus showed us this by His teachings: ‘the Kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed into his field,’ or ‘like a mustard seed,’ or ‘like a treasure hidden in a field,’ plus many more. Today Daddy G*D is showing me how the Kingdom of heaven is like a metallurgist who finds rock that he knows contains iron ore and decides to make it into steel.

The rock must first be melted down in order to burn off impurities, leaving iron ore. The ore continues to be heated to burn off the oxygen and then carbon is added back into it. This process is called ‘smelting.’ (Hmm, kind of sounds like that hidden treasure in a field, doesn’t it?) The iron is cooled by a rapid wind blowing over it, and forms what is referred to as ‘pig iron’ which contains too much carbon to be steel. It is brittle and not flexible. So the iron is heated to soften it. This process is called 'annealing' which has three phases: recovery, recrystallization, and grain growth. (Bear with me. It’ll get better!) Now the metal must be 'quenched' or rapidly cooled in water or oil. This leaves the metal strong but brittle, because it is so strong it doesn’t give. Sometimes the metal must be strong. Other times it must be tough (not easily broken). Therefore, the steel must be 'tempered.'  This is done by heating the metal to a degree below the critical temperature for a certain period of time and then allowing it to cool in still air in a cast that later can be rolled into the final product at a finishing mill. (Thank you Wikipedia for the lesson in steel production.)

So what does this have to do with the Kingdom of heaven? Well, you see, Adam (human) was formed from the dust of the ground (Ge 2:7). We are the rock, G*D is the metallurgist who sees potential within us, the iron ore. (BTW, the human body is composed of 96% gases {most of which is water, H2O} and 4% of minerals. Yep, that’s right. We are dirty water!)

The trials that we go through in life cause the smelting process to purify us. Life happens. We mature. The rapid wind is the Holy Spirit of G*D blowing over us to reveal our G*D to us. The problem is that we become ‘pig iron’ and not much good for others. We are easily offended (brittle) and fixed in our ways (inflexible). So our Creator, the metallurgist, turns up the heat on us again. To make us strong. ‘In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed’ (1Pe 1:6,7).

In this second heating G*D brings healing to our soul (recovery), renews our mind by replacing our old beliefs with His truth (recrystallization), and the fruit of His Spirit increases (grain growth). Now we must be rapidly cooled by water (the Word of G*D) or oil (the Holy Spirit of G*D) to keep us from becoming arrogant.

We are now strong but not yet tough. Tough people know when to stand firm and when to be flexible; how to stand on the Word of G*D and to be lead by His Spirit. We need to be tempered. Life will once again heat up, but not to the point of being critical. Then we will be poured into a cast, a mold. We are all called to be molded into the image of G*D’s Son, Jesus (Ro 8:29). We will be set aside to cool in still air. The Holy Spirit is the ‘air’ of G*D. Even though He doesn’t seem to be moving, He is there. We enter into our place of resting in Him. Now we are ready to be ‘rolled’ into the final product that Daddy G*D will use for a specific purpose (Jer 29:11).

The good thing is that steel never outlives its usefulness. It can be recycled. Don't you just love the idea of going back through the fire to be recasted into something that is useful for today? I don't either, but there is purpose in the suffering. This is G*D's grace molding us into His likeness, and He is right there with us. We are never too old to begin again, and will enter into new phases of life and Kingdom purposes, if we continue in our faith in Jesus and our Daddy G*D!

See, I have refined you, though not as silver.I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another. (Is 48:10,11)