Hope - An Amazing Gift

Have you ever looked around at the evil in the world, the hurt, the sadness, and wondered what in the world the point is? Have you ever looked around and wondered what there is to look forward to in this life? I know Heaven is to come, but isn't there peace HERE that we can strive towards?

I certainly have, even though I don't always like to admit it. But, we all know by now that life is tough. Sometimes, it just sucks. But, Jesus has not just promised us eternal life. He's promised us abundant life. Here, now, we can have a life that is abundantly full of good things.

I had a situation arise this week that, honestly, left me wondering if anything I've ever done even mattered. This world is so ugly sometimes, and sometimes, that ugliness seeps into even our Christian homes and hearts, or our children's hearts. And, sometimes, all you can do is respond after it has happened. Sometimes, there is nothing you "could have done" to have made things different. And that can be a hard reality to accept. But, in the midst of whatever may be going on, we should always keep in mind that...

We are encouraged repeated in scripture to "take heart", "be encouraged", "stand", to have "hope", "strength" and "love". We have all of these things because of what Jesus did for us, and because He died and became sin for us, He also sent us the Helper. The One who can lead us, walk with us, stand with us, through this life. 

What is abundant life, here, you may ask. I asked too. A lot. And I always got some kind of different answer. But, recently, my pastor (Ned Crosby) was talking about abundant life and defined it in such a way that resonated with me. He said he believes that an abundant life is a life overflowing with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. That is the kind of life I want. The kind of life I want my baby to have. A life overflowing with the fruits of the Holy Spirit living within. 

And, finally, may we remember that as He fills us with joy and peace, we can "overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit".  If you are struggling today, please remember that we can ask in Jesus' name and we will receive (John 14:13-14). May we all receive that of the Lord that which we most need today.

I'm Hurting... But I Must.

What do you do when you've been hurt?

If you're anything like me, you withdraw. Slowly building a wall, thinking to yourself, "Well, now I know how ____ is. I'm not letting that happen again." And, slowly, I become hardened towards that person. And, when there are multiple hurts, the process only continues.

Hurting is hard. Obviously, we all know that. And life is full of hurt. We can't escape it. We may silently build our walls and allow the hardening of our hearts. Or angrily lash out at others, thinking that will protect our hearts.

But it doesn't. The Lord has promised us we will face trouble. Hurt. We will have hard times. Allowing our hearts to harden is not the answer. Because, as hard as we (well, at least it is the case for me) try, the more we push away those we are closest to. Even those that have not done harm.

And, most importantly, we push away the Lord. He wants a deep, personal and intimate relationship with us. We cannot have that while we are building our walls to protect ourselves from being hurt. To love is to open ourselves up to the potential for harm. There is just no way around that. And to love Jesus, we have to also love others.

And there is the hard part. I know. But here's the thing. No matter how often or how much damage a person does, we cannot allow ourselves to become hardened. No matter how much we dislike them. No matter how angry they make us. We are required to love. The thing is, we can't harden our heart towards only one person. It will penetrate our whole heart and effect every relationship we have. That includes our relationship with Jesus.

So, may I encourage you today. Don't allow yourself to become hardened. Love others. And when they hurt you, just remember that as you have been forgiven, forgive. Over and over and over. Your relationship with Jesus is worth it.