He Redeems

Here is another quote from Eugene H. Peterson that I found in my 2020 journal.  Powerful words!

God is not a stolid, immovable principle of being.  He has not set up mechanical laws of human existence that are going to be carried out impersonally and fatalistically.  The universe He created is full of possibility, full of freedom, full of surprise.  He is alive in all of this — changing, responding, redeeming, working continuously in it.  This is why all fixed, mechanical concepts of predestination are foreign to the spirit of Scripture.  God has not ordered the details of your life so that they will come to pass willy-nilly regardless of what you do.  You are a person and God respects you as such.  You can change — respond, initiate, create. As you do, God — who is always living in personal reaction and present grace — changes, responds, initiates, and creates.  When we talk of God repenting, we are not suggesting that he made a mistake and is sorry he made it and is now going to start over again  We are saying that God changes, moves with the situation, redeems what has gone wrong.  — Eugene H. Peterson, Every Step an Arrival, pg, 179-180

Competitive Spirits Shout

This week I’m sharing some quotes from a 2020 journal.  Great thoughts here!

The Bible says that “when the ten other disciples discovered what James and John had asked, they were indignant” (Mark 10:41).  Oh, be assured the ten will always hear it!  Competitive spirits don’t ever whisper; they shout!  They are bound to be heard!  — Jill Briscoe, One Year Book of Devotions for Women

But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed.  You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you.  These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the LORD; their vindication will come from me.  I, the LORD, have spoken!  Isaiah 54:17 [NLT]

Don’t brag about your wisdom or strength or wealth.  If you feel you must brag, then have enough sense to brag about worshiping me,  the LORD.  What I like best is showing kindness, justice, and mercy to everyone on earth.  — Jeremiah 9:23-24 [CEV]

The Heavenly City outshines Rome.  There, instead of victory, is truth; instead of high rank, holiness; instead of life, eternity.  — Augustine

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.  Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen and help you.  I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.  See all your angry enemies lie there, confused and humiliated.  Anyone who opposes you will die and come to nothing.  You will look in vain for those who tried to conquer you.  Those who attack you will come to nothing.  For I hold you by your right hand–I, the LORD, your God.  And I say to you, “Don’t be afraid.  I am here to help you.”  — Isaiah 41:10-13 [NLT]

Confident Hope

Here again is a quote that uses my Word of the Year — “Hope.”  What powerful, true  words from long ago!  

Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you.  I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.  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.  I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him.  This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.  Now he is far above any ruler or anything else–not only in this world but also in the world to come.  God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.  And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.  — Ephesians 1:15-23 [NLT]

Ultimate Hope

I love John Piper’s use of the word “hope” in the quotes that follow.  This entire year I’m focused on the word “hope” as my “Word of the Year.”  

Seeing the glory of God is our ultimate hope…”Our blessed hope [is] the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13)…Seeing and sharing in God’s glory is an ultimate hope through the gospel of Christ.  Such a hope, that is really known and treasured, has a huge and decisive effect on our present values and choices and actions…Study your own soul to know how to make the glories of the world collapse like the pagan idol Dagon in 1 Samuel 5:4.  Let all glories that distract you from the glory of God shatter in pitiful pieces on the floor of the world’s temples.  Treasure the glory of God above all this world. 

–John Piper

Rejoice in Hope

This week and next I’m sharing quotes from my journals that use my Word of the Year — “Hope.”  

Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  — Romans 5:2 [NIV]

Rejoice in our confident hope.  Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.  — Romans 12:12 [NLT]

Nothing can shake me; He’s right by my side.  I’m glad from the inside out, ecstatic; I’ve pitched my tent in the land of hope.  — King David, Acts 2:25-27 [MSG]

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.  — Hebrews 10:23 [NIV]

Forever Family

This first quote is from an older journal; it really touched my heart when I first saw it, because the description matches my own family.  Forever family–and not just in the close-knit family; believers together form family-like ties, too, that will last forever.

I know that everything God does will last forever.  Ecclesiastes 3:14a

He forgives me–that’s final and it will last forever.  He will not suddenly change His mind.  He loves me forever, and He changes me forever, refusing to let me jettison my preparation for life in another dimension.  He gives me family who are forever:  a forever husband, two forever sons, and a forever daughter.  He sends me forever friends and helps me engage forever pursuits.  — Jill Briscoe

The person who will influence you most is not the person you believe in; it is the person who believes in you.  — Unknown

The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear.  What can mere people do to me?  Yes, the LORD is for me; He will help me.  I will look in triumph at those who hate me.  — Psalm 118:6-7 [NLT]

The message of the gospel is that God invades us with life, and the life changes what we presently are.  He is not a means by which we solve problems.  He is not a means to avoid problems.  He creates new life.  He is not a problem solver, but a person creator.  These birth stories are all around you–in the person of your child or your wife or your husband or your friend or your parent or your brother or your sister or your neighbor.  Be observant.  Be aware.  — Every Step an Arrival, by Eugene H. Peterson, pg. 11-12

God is present and working in the lives of our family members, as we pray and trust Him for them.  I’m so amazed to see how all of us grow and mature, and most importantly, are transformed by His life within.  True miracles are happening every day around this troubled world!  Other families are struggling (ours does at times, too, of course); but the fact remains that God is ultimately creating life (often out of death) and doing the things that only He can do.  Life and transformation occur; trust and dependence on Him in all situations is key.  Underneath it all, we can experience the eternal Presence of His unconditional love, grace and peace!  

A Skeptical World

It is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today.  — Acts 26:6

[Apologetics is] the task of commanding Christianity to thinking people as needed truth.  — J. I. Packer

Note:  In the following quotes from one of my journals, you will see that my Word of the Year — Hope — is highlighted!

In the arena of ideas, Christians are often passive listeners.  Our society generally lifts up the sciences as factual and only humors the faithful as opinionated.  But God has called us into the courtroom of this world, wherever we find ourselves in it, to give a defense of the hope we have with us.  We have answers, even when the world doesn’t ask the right questions.  We are authorized by heaven to speak.

That doesn’t mean that we have all the answers, of course.  No one does, except for God.  But we can point people in the right direction.  And where we start is where Paul focused his argument in Acts 26.  He defended his faith in the promises of God…Other religions are founded on codes and principles.  Ours is founded on promises  There’s an enormous difference.

Arm yourself in Christian apologetics.  That’s how we can engage a skeptical world in discussions about truth.  As long as they think our faith is wishful thinking and personal opinion, they can discredit it easily.  But when we can show how it is founded on real history — actual people and places — it is convincing.  When you find yourself on trial, defend your hope as well.  

— Chris Tijgeren, The One Year Wonder of the Cross

On Trial Because of Hope

Today’s quotes are from the Apostle Paul.  He was on trial because of hope!

I worship the God of our ancestors, and I firmly believe the Jewish law and everything written in the prophets.  I have the same hope in God that these men have, that he will raise both the righteous and the unrighteous.  Because of this, I always try to maintain a clear conscience before God and all people.  — Acts 24:14b-16 [NLT]

Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors.  In fact, that is why the twelve tribes of Israel zealously worship God night and day, and they share the same hope I have.  Yet…they accuse me for having this hope!  Why does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead?  I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene.  Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem.  Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison.  And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death.  Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus.  I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.

One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests.  About noon…as I was on the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions.  We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?  It is useless for you to fight against my will.  “Who are you, Lord?” I asked.  And the Lord replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.  Now get to your feet!  For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness.  Tell people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future.”  — Acts 26: 6-16 [NLT]

Hope Deferred

Have you ever had to wait for a scriptural or personal promise to be fulfilled?  For life to start to become what you’ve hoped for?  This week I’m sharing quotes that use my “Word of the Year” — Hope.  This book quote is so helpful and true!

While we wait for the blessed hope.  Titus 2:13

Everyone has a blessed hope.  For many, it’s a peaceful and prosperous retirement.  Others have a more immediate desire to live in the perfect setup — the right location, the right vocation, the right partner to share it with…the right everything.  In fact, most of us spend at least some of our time and energy trying to bring the blessed hope into the present.  As Proverbs 13:12 tells us, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”  We’re tired of sick hearts.  We want the tree of life as soon as we can get it. That’s why waiting is so hard.  There’s a gap between the promise of a future blessing and the blessing itself — a very long one sometimes — and the interim period can be excruciating.  But there’s design in that delay.  God uses the hope of future blessings to shape how we live.  When we’re looking forward to nothing in particular, we become aimless.  But when our eye is on the prize, we live accordingly.  We discipline ourselves to press ahead, we develop the characteristics we will need in order to fit the calling, and we grow into the future God has for us as He increases our capacity to receive it.  We become fit for the blessing by longing for it.

Paul writes of the ultimate blessed hope.  It’s the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, and it shapes who we are today.  How?  It causes us to say no to ungodliness and to live uprightly in this present age (v. 11).  We have an amazing knack for finding the right road when our sights are true, set on a goal.  Our perspective defines how we live.  It’s extremely important to guard your perspective.  A clear focus on the blessed hope you’ve been promised will profoundly affect what you do today.  A lack of focus will also profoundly affect what you do today, but for the worse.  Fix your eyes on the goal, and your feet will find the right path.  — Chris Tiegreen, The One Year Wonder of the Cross

Hurt

Once again, I recently noticed a precious quote that I wrote in my 2020 journal during a time of need.  This is what God gave me at that time, to speak to the specific situation I found myself in.  He is so very, very faithful and present, always!

Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.  — Romans 12:21 [NLT]

Have you been abused?  Have you been hurt by a dear friend?  Have you been framed by another for his wrongdoing?  As much as you try to move on are you still plagued by pain or resentment?  How do you forgive these deepest cuts, especially when the transgressor refuses to admit their deeds?  

Study:  Matthew 6:5-15; 7:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35; Romans 12:9-21

Contemplate:  God, what is forgiveness?

• Is it unilateral patience and love from me to another?
• Is it a form of absolution by operation of Your grace that is greater than the sum or repentance from one, and love from the other?
• Must a transgressor repent his deeds before his neighbor can forgive him?
• Is forgiveness a blessing that we are duty bound to confer upon our neighbor?
• Or is forgiveness a blessing unto ourselves to heal the pain that we feel?
• How do I let go of my pain?
• How do I look assailants in the eye?
• How do I forgive them?

Prayer:  Gracious Father, as I long to fulfill the Golden Rule please give me Your grace that I need to forgive my deepest cuts and please watch over my neighbors so that we may live together in harmony as much as we are able.  — Name Withheld

—Holy Questions–2014 Lenten Devotional Book, Trinity United Methodist Church, Denver, CO