When will I be rid of this bad temper? When will my sons give their school work the same attention to detail they give video games? When will my daughter accept that sometimes learning must come by books? It can’t all be games! (THAT revelation may still be a ways off, honestly.)
As I go into 2015, there are so many prayers seemingly left unanswered; so many things I’m still hoping for and my hope meter shows “low.” Some of these are new prayers; some have been yeeeaars in the making. How long will I still be hoping for these things in 2015? Will they ever change? Such despairing thoughts for New Year’s Eve!
The Holy Spirit takes me by the shoulders, spins me around and shows me the cross; Jesus hanging yet declaring, “IT IS FINISHED!” I know, I know, but I don’t see the answers, the changes in my life and those I love. Scene change! Now I see a high-speed slide show of all the prayers answered this year, and gloriously, beyond what I could ask or think. God… is… good!
Dare I say it, no, but I thought it. But what about…scene change back to the cross and to the words uttered there by my Savior. There is my answer. It’s in the One who hung and what He finished there. There He answered every question and made good on every promise. He finished everything that concerns me and anyone else who believes in Him. Hope placed in Him and what He did, never disappoints. Seeing can’t be believing! Hope is the building block of faith and “no one hopes for what they already see.” The evidences and tangibles will come, but the reality of them is already sure. As sure as the One who completed the work and said as much.
Whatever you’ve asked Him for, believe He already did it and thank Him for taking care of it. He heard you. He heard me. Just remember what He said before we ever prayed, “IT IS FINISHED!” and persevere in rest and with joy.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
________________________________________
SOUL FOOD
Psalm 25:3 NIV No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame…
Psalm 33:18 NIV But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love
Psalm 42:11 NIV Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Psalm 130:5 NIV I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.
Romans 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 8:24-25 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
Please note: the Greek word for hope (elpis) used is not at all whimsical or wishful; it means to have a confident expectation of good.
Vine Life Faith 
Exactly, Vanessa. Begins and ends with grace, with grace in between. And yet BECAUSE of that grace, Apostle Paul beat his body and made it his slave, worked himself for the prize. Not to earn it, but in unbound gratitude. A challenge to teach our kids this, esp in such comfortable times.
Diana
LikeLike
So true. Our children don’t have the motivation we had because they have it better than we did. My Dad taught me that’s how it should be. Our opportunity is alerting them to what God is doing in them so they demonstrate it in His honor. Thanks for sharing, Diana.
LikeLike