Hear the word of God:
Praise is due to you,
O God, in Zion;
and to you shall vows be performed,
O you who answer prayer!
To you all flesh shall come.
When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,
you forgive our transgressions.
Happy are those whom you choose and bring near
to live in your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
your holy temple.
By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
By your strength you established the mountains;
you are girded with might.
You silence the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
Those who live at earth's farthest bounds
are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning
and the evening shout for joy.
You visit the earth and water it,
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.
Psalm 65 – NRSV
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Expectation of liberation ...
A prayer of hope:
Our Father in heaven!
We anticipate the day that we will
be with you in heaven, yet
we live in expectation that somehow now, today,
we will be in your presence,
we will live within your protection,
we will experience your joy.
May your Name be kept holy.
We trust that you will cleanse our lips
as we dare to speak your Name;
we hope to echo your Word so that
we might properly speak of your person;
we desire to live holy lives so that our story
might not defame your holy name
but lift it up to glory.
May your Kingdom come,
This is our expectation of liberation.
Yet we would be free from our sin today,
And we would help free our neighbors
As we have been freed ourselves.
We trust that your will might be done on earth,
just as it moves forward among your holy ones in heaven.
May we seek to enact your wisdom so that
glimpses of your community, your holy people,
might give hope to a world awaiting us
in eager expectation.
Give us the food we need today –
and since more than enough comes our way,
help our trust in your providence empower
our practice of sharing, not just our food,
but our story and our table.
Forgive us what we have done wrong,
but more than that, transform us
into people who bear your true image.
Shape the mind of Christ in us so that
we might practice the virtue of grace.
Thus, we too, will have forgiven those who have wronged us,
and find ourselves free from resentment’s burden
And cynicism’s caustic hardness.
And do not lead us into hard testing,
Yet if we must travel through your wilderness,
Fix our eyes on the signs of your presence, day and night,
In order that we might faithfully follow your path.
But keep us safe from the Evil One
So that we might not be persuaded to see the word
Or the world as he would have us see them.
For kingship, power and glory are yours forever,
And these are the fullness of our hope.
Amen.
Blessings,
Ron
From CJB, Matthew 6:9-12
Our Father in heaven!
We anticipate the day that we will
be with you in heaven, yet
we live in expectation that somehow now, today,
we will be in your presence,
we will live within your protection,
we will experience your joy.
May your Name be kept holy.
We trust that you will cleanse our lips
as we dare to speak your Name;
we hope to echo your Word so that
we might properly speak of your person;
we desire to live holy lives so that our story
might not defame your holy name
but lift it up to glory.
May your Kingdom come,
This is our expectation of liberation.
Yet we would be free from our sin today,
And we would help free our neighbors
As we have been freed ourselves.
We trust that your will might be done on earth,
just as it moves forward among your holy ones in heaven.
May we seek to enact your wisdom so that
glimpses of your community, your holy people,
might give hope to a world awaiting us
in eager expectation.
Give us the food we need today –
and since more than enough comes our way,
help our trust in your providence empower
our practice of sharing, not just our food,
but our story and our table.
Forgive us what we have done wrong,
but more than that, transform us
into people who bear your true image.
Shape the mind of Christ in us so that
we might practice the virtue of grace.
Thus, we too, will have forgiven those who have wronged us,
and find ourselves free from resentment’s burden
And cynicism’s caustic hardness.
And do not lead us into hard testing,
Yet if we must travel through your wilderness,
Fix our eyes on the signs of your presence, day and night,
In order that we might faithfully follow your path.
But keep us safe from the Evil One
So that we might not be persuaded to see the word
Or the world as he would have us see them.
For kingship, power and glory are yours forever,
And these are the fullness of our hope.
Amen.
Blessings,
Ron
From CJB, Matthew 6:9-12
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Root of all hopes ...
Christians have more than one hope.
We hope for the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6; 24:15).
We hope in God’s promises (Acts 26:6).
We hope to share the glory of God (Romans 5:2).
We hope that the creation will be freed from decay (Romans 8:20).
We hope in our share of blessings here on earth (I Corinthians 9:10).
We hope for rescue (2 Corinthians 1:10).
We hope in heaven (Colossians 1:5).
We hope for grace (1 Peter 1:13).
Yet the root of all hopes, and the sum of them, is Jesus Christ.
"The root of Jesse shall come,
the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
in him the Gentiles shall hope."
Romans 15:12
In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:11-12
We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope …
1 Timothy 1:1
For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
1 Timothy 4:10
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Titus 2:11-13
Without Christ, no hope is adequate. To act as if we were hopeless is to deny Christ and the hope that abides in him. To have Christ is to have hope. To live in that hope is to find the power to face life as it confronts us.
Choose hope.
Blessings,
Ron
All scriptures are NRSV.
We hope for the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6; 24:15).
We hope in God’s promises (Acts 26:6).
We hope to share the glory of God (Romans 5:2).
We hope that the creation will be freed from decay (Romans 8:20).
We hope in our share of blessings here on earth (I Corinthians 9:10).
We hope for rescue (2 Corinthians 1:10).
We hope in heaven (Colossians 1:5).
We hope for grace (1 Peter 1:13).
Yet the root of all hopes, and the sum of them, is Jesus Christ.
"The root of Jesse shall come,
the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
in him the Gentiles shall hope."
Romans 15:12
In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:11-12
We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope …
1 Timothy 1:1
For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
1 Timothy 4:10
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Titus 2:11-13
Without Christ, no hope is adequate. To act as if we were hopeless is to deny Christ and the hope that abides in him. To have Christ is to have hope. To live in that hope is to find the power to face life as it confronts us.
Choose hope.
Blessings,
Ron
All scriptures are NRSV.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Grasping for hope ...
Today’s devotional thought is from Shiann:
I spent my growing up time in what I've always thought of as mainstream Churches of Christ. We openly discussed many things some churches avoided, yet our practices were primarily considered conservative. As a result, I had not been exposed to, and never fully understood, the concept of one’s raising hands in worship, prayer, and so forth.
Being a primarily logical sort, I generally rejected that which I didn't understand. In college, I tried to explore the subject of lifting hands further because of my desire to understand the people around me and their motivation. “Lifting holy hands” was mentioned in scripture, so I did not disdain those who participated in this expression, but I still just didn't "get it." It continued to seem a bit awkward to me, and sometimes even showy. (Here I must insert that my expression of worship at this time was almost solely hands-on service.)
I continued to live in the tension of not understanding the raising of holy hands until one rainy day in early spring just a couple of years ago. My understanding came, not during a worship service, but during a funeral service. The funeral honored the life of a twenty-something man who had passed unexpectedly. The father of this young man expressed an array of emotions during the service, as one might expect. He and his wife clung to each other as parents, confused and deeply hurting. With his other hand, he reached up as far as he could. It seemed as if the man was grasping for the very hand of the Father. He reached for the comfort and hope that only the Creator could give. His reach appeared painful as his hand stretched so long and so far to grasp at hope.
Many lessons come from this story. At times, hope is easy to hold onto. Sometimes we have so much hope, we need to use both hands to keep it all in, in an almost palpable fashion. Sometimes, we must reach so far for hope and yet we still do not feel it in our grasp.
Hear I Corinthians 13:13 from The Message: "But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love."
Hope is one of the things we have to hold onto as we lean deeper into a completeness of our relationship with our Father/Brother/Comforter/King.
Blessings,
Shiann
I spent my growing up time in what I've always thought of as mainstream Churches of Christ. We openly discussed many things some churches avoided, yet our practices were primarily considered conservative. As a result, I had not been exposed to, and never fully understood, the concept of one’s raising hands in worship, prayer, and so forth.
Being a primarily logical sort, I generally rejected that which I didn't understand. In college, I tried to explore the subject of lifting hands further because of my desire to understand the people around me and their motivation. “Lifting holy hands” was mentioned in scripture, so I did not disdain those who participated in this expression, but I still just didn't "get it." It continued to seem a bit awkward to me, and sometimes even showy. (Here I must insert that my expression of worship at this time was almost solely hands-on service.)
I continued to live in the tension of not understanding the raising of holy hands until one rainy day in early spring just a couple of years ago. My understanding came, not during a worship service, but during a funeral service. The funeral honored the life of a twenty-something man who had passed unexpectedly. The father of this young man expressed an array of emotions during the service, as one might expect. He and his wife clung to each other as parents, confused and deeply hurting. With his other hand, he reached up as far as he could. It seemed as if the man was grasping for the very hand of the Father. He reached for the comfort and hope that only the Creator could give. His reach appeared painful as his hand stretched so long and so far to grasp at hope.
Many lessons come from this story. At times, hope is easy to hold onto. Sometimes we have so much hope, we need to use both hands to keep it all in, in an almost palpable fashion. Sometimes, we must reach so far for hope and yet we still do not feel it in our grasp.
Hear I Corinthians 13:13 from The Message: "But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love."
Hope is one of the things we have to hold onto as we lean deeper into a completeness of our relationship with our Father/Brother/Comforter/King.
Blessings,
Shiann
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
With a great hope ...
Hear the word of God from the book of Samuel …
The Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude; they came up and encamped at Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. When the Israelites saw that they were in distress (for the troops were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns. Some Hebrews crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling …
Saul counted the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that is at Migron …
Saul faces circumstances which are indeed overwhelming: his enemy has vastly superior technology (they have chariots; he has none), and they outnumber him exceedingly (there are 10 enemy horsemen to every one of his men). What is he to do? How is he to respond? The writers of Samuel rarely bother to tell us what is going on inside someone’s head, but they give an account that is so vivid that you can deduce much from a character’s actions. We have two clues. First, Saul moves his troops to a place inaccessible to chariots, and then sits down under a pomegranate tree. He is not moving, not doing anything. Second, look at his people! They are hiding in any hole that they can find. They have crossed past despair into abject fear.
What does this tell us about Saul? How a people behave tells us something about their leadership. To quote Julius Campbell from Remember the Titans, “Attitude reflects leadership.” If the people are in despair, it’s very possible that leadership is as well. And when Saul stops doing anything, that is the sign that he, too, has lost hope.
Fortunately, that is not the end of the story:
One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, "Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side." But he did not tell his father … In the pass, by which Jonathan tried to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on one side and a rocky crag on the other; the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. One crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.
Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will act for us; for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few." His armor-bearer said to him, "Do all that your mind inclines to. I am with you; as your mind is, so is mine." Then Jonathan said, "Now we will cross over to those men and will show ourselves to them. If they say to us, 'Wait until we come to you,' then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. But if they say, 'Come up to us,' then we will go up; for the Lord has given them into our hand. That will be the sign for us."
From a worldly point of view, it is hard to blame Saul and the people for their despair. But they have forgotten the divine perspective! Jonathan has not. He lives with a great hope: “It may be that the Lord will act for us.” Jonathan has hope that God will take care of him, but he acts with the realization that both he and God are persons with free will. Just because he wants God to act in a certain way doesn’t mean that God will. Yet, underneath his great hope is an unshakable one: “Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many, or by few.” Nothing can stop God from making hope into history! Notice one other thing: because Jonathan refuses despair but chooses hope, his armor-bearer follows his lead: “I am with you; as your mind is, so is mine.” Jonathan’s hope makes hope credible for others. What is that hope? God is the saving God. Nothing can stop him from taking care of his people. Just as this is Jonathan’s hope, it should be ours as well.
How does the story end? There are twists and turns, yet the hope and action of Jonathan and his armor bearer reveal the power of God acting for a mighty victory that day. God’s people triumph overwhelmingly. Still, someone had to hope. Some human being had to do something, even if that something seemed insignificant at the time. Jonathan was that hopeful someone.
Ultimately, hope is revealed in godly action just as despair is revealed in faithless inaction.
May God help us act today in hope of his mighty saving power.
Ron
1 Samuel 13:5-7; 15; 14:1-10 – NRSV
The Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude; they came up and encamped at Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. When the Israelites saw that they were in distress (for the troops were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns. Some Hebrews crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling …
Saul counted the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that is at Migron …
Saul faces circumstances which are indeed overwhelming: his enemy has vastly superior technology (they have chariots; he has none), and they outnumber him exceedingly (there are 10 enemy horsemen to every one of his men). What is he to do? How is he to respond? The writers of Samuel rarely bother to tell us what is going on inside someone’s head, but they give an account that is so vivid that you can deduce much from a character’s actions. We have two clues. First, Saul moves his troops to a place inaccessible to chariots, and then sits down under a pomegranate tree. He is not moving, not doing anything. Second, look at his people! They are hiding in any hole that they can find. They have crossed past despair into abject fear.
What does this tell us about Saul? How a people behave tells us something about their leadership. To quote Julius Campbell from Remember the Titans, “Attitude reflects leadership.” If the people are in despair, it’s very possible that leadership is as well. And when Saul stops doing anything, that is the sign that he, too, has lost hope.
Fortunately, that is not the end of the story:
One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, "Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side." But he did not tell his father … In the pass, by which Jonathan tried to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on one side and a rocky crag on the other; the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. One crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.
Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will act for us; for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few." His armor-bearer said to him, "Do all that your mind inclines to. I am with you; as your mind is, so is mine." Then Jonathan said, "Now we will cross over to those men and will show ourselves to them. If they say to us, 'Wait until we come to you,' then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. But if they say, 'Come up to us,' then we will go up; for the Lord has given them into our hand. That will be the sign for us."
From a worldly point of view, it is hard to blame Saul and the people for their despair. But they have forgotten the divine perspective! Jonathan has not. He lives with a great hope: “It may be that the Lord will act for us.” Jonathan has hope that God will take care of him, but he acts with the realization that both he and God are persons with free will. Just because he wants God to act in a certain way doesn’t mean that God will. Yet, underneath his great hope is an unshakable one: “Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many, or by few.” Nothing can stop God from making hope into history! Notice one other thing: because Jonathan refuses despair but chooses hope, his armor-bearer follows his lead: “I am with you; as your mind is, so is mine.” Jonathan’s hope makes hope credible for others. What is that hope? God is the saving God. Nothing can stop him from taking care of his people. Just as this is Jonathan’s hope, it should be ours as well.
How does the story end? There are twists and turns, yet the hope and action of Jonathan and his armor bearer reveal the power of God acting for a mighty victory that day. God’s people triumph overwhelmingly. Still, someone had to hope. Some human being had to do something, even if that something seemed insignificant at the time. Jonathan was that hopeful someone.
Ultimately, hope is revealed in godly action just as despair is revealed in faithless inaction.
May God help us act today in hope of his mighty saving power.
Ron
1 Samuel 13:5-7; 15; 14:1-10 – NRSV
Monday, February 16, 2009
More than a pleasant dream ...
Our devotionals last week led us to consider truth, and the virtue and practice of truth-seeking and truthfulness. For centuries, these virtues have been central to Christians. The trouble is, sometimes an awareness of truth, and the reality that truth makes harshly clear, bring us to despair. Truth can be troubling. We understand what God’s truth requires of humanity. We understand what kind of humanity we are. The difference is enough to overwhelm us.
How about an example? As Christians, we understand that Jesus prayed for us to be one as he and the Father are one (John 17:11, 21, 22). Paul tells us that “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4). Yet it does not take a very sophisticated analysis to reveal the truth that the church is far from united, no matter how you define church. Those of us who have worked toward even uniting a relatively small group of people can tell you that the challenges involved with this task very quickly bring one into an encounter with the temptation to despair. Those who don’t have the heart for despair tend to become cynics.
Why do I say that considering despair is a temptation? Because despair is denial. It doubts the victory of Jesus. It questions the love of God. It ignores our status as favored children. Christians are to continue faithfully, even when “we are afflicted in every way.” We might be perplexed, but we ought not be crushed. We are “not driven to despair” (2 Corinthians 4:8). Despair is a sin. Despair practiced is a vice. Despair is depression gone to seed and raised to the second and third generation. Despair is not a godly practice for any Christian.
Instead, Christians ought to practice hope. Practicing hope leads to hope. After all, we have been called to “one hope” (Ephesians 4:4). Hope is more than some pleasant dream, some fond wish, or even a hard-worked for desire. In the Bible, and in our faith, hope is the reasonable, even unshakable belief that God will do what he said he will do. God is not ignorant of truth. God is Truth. God knows the reality of his hope and the realities of humanity better than humanity knows itself. Yet this God of Truth acts toward making our hope reality. To deny hope and take up despair or cynicism is to slap the God of Hope in the face.
If any Christian was ever tempted to cynicism or despair, it would have to have been Paul. Yet hear the good news about hope that pours from his pen:
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:1-5
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Romans 8:18-25
As we explore the practice and virtue of hope this week, may we see that it is not blindness to reality, simple optimism, or a delaying tactic. Instead, let us practice hope and see that it is the key that opens up a new godly reality in our world today. Today.
May God stir in us a powerful hope,
Ron
All scriptures are NRSV.
How about an example? As Christians, we understand that Jesus prayed for us to be one as he and the Father are one (John 17:11, 21, 22). Paul tells us that “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4). Yet it does not take a very sophisticated analysis to reveal the truth that the church is far from united, no matter how you define church. Those of us who have worked toward even uniting a relatively small group of people can tell you that the challenges involved with this task very quickly bring one into an encounter with the temptation to despair. Those who don’t have the heart for despair tend to become cynics.
Why do I say that considering despair is a temptation? Because despair is denial. It doubts the victory of Jesus. It questions the love of God. It ignores our status as favored children. Christians are to continue faithfully, even when “we are afflicted in every way.” We might be perplexed, but we ought not be crushed. We are “not driven to despair” (2 Corinthians 4:8). Despair is a sin. Despair practiced is a vice. Despair is depression gone to seed and raised to the second and third generation. Despair is not a godly practice for any Christian.
Instead, Christians ought to practice hope. Practicing hope leads to hope. After all, we have been called to “one hope” (Ephesians 4:4). Hope is more than some pleasant dream, some fond wish, or even a hard-worked for desire. In the Bible, and in our faith, hope is the reasonable, even unshakable belief that God will do what he said he will do. God is not ignorant of truth. God is Truth. God knows the reality of his hope and the realities of humanity better than humanity knows itself. Yet this God of Truth acts toward making our hope reality. To deny hope and take up despair or cynicism is to slap the God of Hope in the face.
If any Christian was ever tempted to cynicism or despair, it would have to have been Paul. Yet hear the good news about hope that pours from his pen:
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:1-5
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Romans 8:18-25
As we explore the practice and virtue of hope this week, may we see that it is not blindness to reality, simple optimism, or a delaying tactic. Instead, let us practice hope and see that it is the key that opens up a new godly reality in our world today. Today.
May God stir in us a powerful hope,
Ron
All scriptures are NRSV.
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