HOPE

 

 Hope is a blessed thing. Biblical hope is one of the three great graces listed in 1Corinthians, it promises rest for the weary, and is so powerful that even in the most troublesome times the hopeful can rejoice and not be ashamed that trouble has fallen upon us. Paul wrote that the God of hope would fill us with all joy and peace in believing, that we may abound in hope. I pray that our hope is so evidently supernatural that people will ask, “What reason could you possibly have to be so hopeful?” May our answer always be, “Jesus.” Keeping our eyes on Jesus always makes our problems seem smaller.

LOVE - HATE

(John 15:17-18) These things I command you, that ye love one another. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

 Doing right will not make everyone love you. Hate comes so naturally in this world and the more you look and act like Jesus Christ the more many will naturally hate you. So, be prepared for hostility and persecution so that you will not return it in kind. Prepare yourself to respond instead with love, grace and truth.  

(Proverbs 10:12) Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

Responding with hate always aggravates problems. Wrong actions only stir up strife, discord and division.

Love covers transgressions. Love never makes wrong right, but it does put it in perspective and allows us to work on resolution. “Love bears all things…” 1Corinthians 13:4-8a.

We need to be asking ourselves this question.

How do we move from defensive reactions to loving actions?

Talking Parrots

We constantly hear people “parrot” things with great conviction that do not address root problems but instead tend to make the current situation more serious and often violent. With various perspectives no longer considered, love, and compassion are cast aside like unnecessary waste. It is only as we trust God’s word and ways that we will be able to stop and listen long enough to care and learn what the true need of another is. “Parroted” rhetoric needs replaced by genuine love; and God is love. May our words be overshadowed by God’s love and compassion flowing through us.