Posts Tagged ‘James’

Hope

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

Hope is an important part of who we are.  Without a feeling of hope, we wither away.  Without hope, we give up. And, hope is the groundwork of our faith (Hebrews 11:1).

Where we place that hope is important.  We all know the feeling of having hope destroyed, that feeling of being let down.  Sometimes our hope is misplaced, and we are pinning our hopes to something that will fail.

Individuals, institutions, and situations ultimately will fail us.  Everyone experiences loss when hope is placed in these things.

The one place that we can place our hope, the one in whom our hope truly rests, is God. In Psalm 38:15, it says,  “For in You, O LORD, I hope;  You will hear, O Lord my God.” (NKJV)  When our hopes are placed elsewhere, we run the risk of great disappointment.  When our hope is in God, we are hoping in someone who has been proven over and over, many times before.  Nobody else, nothing else, has that track record.

When we have hoped elsewhere, and get let down, it is important to remember where our true hope lies.  Psalm 42:5 states, “Why are you cast down, O my soul?  And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.”  (NKJV)

Our true hope is in the true Source of life, the Giver of what is good and perfect (James 1:17).  When everything and everyone else fails, even that in which we believed strongly, and defended adamantly, fails, we know that we can return to our true hope.  We need not be destroyed and despairing (”Why are you cast down, O my soul? “) but we can hope in believe in someone who wants to see our greatest hopes realized (”Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.”)

Be blessed and have a great day.

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Seeking

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

“But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” - Deuteronomy 4:29 (NIV)

The Bible reminds us in many places of the importance of seeking God. Likewise, it promises that we will find Him when we seek. Throughout the scripture there is promise of reward to those who seek Him.

In our modern society, many people call themselves “seekers”, and churches advertise services that are “seeker-friendly.”  It would seem that with all the “seeking” going on, there would be a lot more “finding” than seems to be evident.

This is not intended to be a rant against society or the church, but rather an encouragement.  Although I am sure that there are people who fit the description of 2 Timothy 3:7 - “always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth” - there are also many who are sincere, desperately wanting to know God.

We live in an era of mass communication and commercialization of everything in society.  It is also an era of high speed, quick-fix, ready-made, and instant everything.  Even relationships are increasingly disposable when the time investment and effort become too much for us.  We can become quickly discouraged when everything isn’t on the “fast-track” and we can’t see results at the speed of light.

Seeking God is not of that nature.  God asks us to invest our time and ourselves in pursuit of Him, in the deepening of that relationship.

Think about this as an example: the longer we know someone, the more time we invest with that person, the more we get to know who they really are.  Think about the people whom you have met that did not impress you at first.  Then when you got to know them, you really liked them.  Then think of the people that you met who made a killer first impression, but later on were found out to be people with distasteful qualities.  In both cases, it took time to discover the person. Likewise, it takes time to discover God.  The more time we invest, the more we know Him, and the closer the relationship with Him becomes for us.

It takes time and effort to grow, it takes time and effort on our part to have a truly deep realtionship with God.  But it is not impossible. The first part of James 4:8 states, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” (NIV)

God desires us to seek Him, to pursue Him with our whole heart.  He promises that we will find Him, and that as we come near Him, He will come closer to us.  God is not playing hard-to-get, He is accessible and desires us to be near to Him.  Keep seeking, keep moving forward, and keep growing and deepening that relationship that exceeds all others.

Be blessed, and have a great day.

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Realizing Potential

Monday, June 1st, 2009

I have been thinking a little bit the last few days about the multitude of gifts that people posess.

Many people have various talents and gifts, and have potential to do great things, but for various reasons, these gifts lie unused, and these resources lie untapped.

Just a few of the things that seem to get in the way are past failures and setbacks, discouragement by others, lack of confidence (sometimes stemming from feelings of unworthiness), and a lack of motivation brought on by long periods of hard work with little positive result.

Concerning failure, the bible encourages us to get up when we fall and keep going (Proverbs 24:16).  It is important that we learn to persevere, and God will give us the strength to do so  (Job 17:9 ).

When we have been discouraged by others, directly or indirectly, or lose confidence, or feel unworthy, it is often difficult to get going, either for the first time or to get restarted.  In order to overcome these things, we have to remember the importance of connecting with God, drawing closer to Him and allowing him to strengthen us.  As we draw close to Him, He draws close to us (James 4:8).

Concerning hard work with little to show, we also have a promise from God, that we will be rewarded if we continue (Galatians 6:9).

Do not misunderstand me, I am not a self-help guru, and I do not promise instant success or a complete dismissal of everything that goes wrong.  Even though we try very hard, we still face problems and obstacles.  However, God makes provision through every circumstance, and His word gives us instructions and encouragement to keep going through difficult times.

I hope that you fulfill all the potential that God has placed in you.

I also have that same hope for myself.

Have a blessed day.

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