What’s All The Noise About Hope?

dsc_5793

So, what’s all the noise and fuss about lighting this candle of hope at Advent season? What’s hope anyway in this bad, sad world of ours? What’s up with hope anyways in the wars, the riots, the killings, the shootings, the earthquakes, and all the ‘not so great things’ that happen daily in our own lives and in our own worlds? Hope? Is it some pie in the sky crutch to help Christ ones over the rough patches or some kind of brainwashing that has believers totally running off the reality track? What is it? Where is it and how on the wide side of the earth do we find hope within a world such as this? A world in such utter disarray and chaos? Is this thing Hope, really for real or just some word tossed about to get us by and give us some kind of false idea that all will be better by and by?dsc_6298

Yeah, it is for real! It resides in the hearts and minds of Christ’s disciples ~ in the hearts and minds of His followers. Hope resides there because His followers have tasted of the healing and forgiveness and faithfulness of the Lord and witnessed His hand of goodness even through the storms, the losses, the trials and the fires. Prophecies foretold of this wondrous hope splashed all through the pages of scripture, of this One who would step down from heaven and enter as the only solution, into a world crushed by sin and torn apart by it’s ruthless destruction. He would enter as a babe, so tender, so helpless, so human yet so divine! He would enter humbly and be laid in a manger as the Light of world! As the Saviour of the world! Yes, let’s light a candle to symbolize this Hope for the world! Prophecy foretold the Good news of His coming to take away the ugly sin-stain of mankind and heal their land, their hearts and their souls. Isaiah’s words to Hezekiah in Isaiah 40: 1-5 were words of comfort for the people of Israel at a very difficult time. It was a message of encouragement with the good news of forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration. A message still so real and relevant for us today as we sit in a broken world with broken lives ravaged by sin! And ah, yes, beautiful soul, He did come! He came as a babe to live, and walk among us and die and yet rise to defeat death so that our own hearts can be healed and forgiven and made new because the Light of the World came into the world! He came to seek and to save that which is lost. That’s you and I and because of this great event in history, we don’t have to continue to live in the darkness and the ruins of sin that so easily entangle us and make the world the bad, sad world that it is.

Oh yes, the hope is real and for ‘very’ real for sure!! There is Hope laced throughout the brokenness and the darkness of this dismal world, in the form of a Saviour, the Light of the world.
~k

Isaiah 40: 1 – 5
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD ; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

John 8:12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Proverbs 13:12
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

#Adventofhope

White Feather

by Categories: Advent Season, Bible, InspirationalTags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Rollin’ The Stone

_dsc0003

So ~ Sometimes when tensions mount and it all seems wrong it’s not really all wrong at all, but simply God rolling the stone away from the grave that we would bury ourselves in, if everyone had their way!

“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary of Magdala went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter, and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him.” John 20: 1,2

It’s ironic isn’t it, that it was still dark, when Mary arrived at the grave site and perhaps she didn’t see clearly enough to know what really went down. She was anxious and tension mounted in her heart of hearts, so she perceived the worst and spread a false rumour about the stolen body of her Lord. Anxiety, pride, and bitterness does that! It makes us act and over react in negative ways. In reality, her Lord had not been taken at all! He was still in control! He had just risen! Go figure! He was alive!
_dsc0042_1
So beautiful soul, when it’s a dark night for you,and you can’t see the forest for the trees, don’t assume that it’s all bad and all wrong. Perhaps God is just rolling the stone away to free you and let you live more abundantly, under His protection.

His will will prevail though the powers of darkness try to take you out.

#SoulFire

by Categories: Bible, Food for Thought, Inspirational, Soul FireTags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Invisible You


Invisible you and that’s the way you feel? Never seen and never heard ~ you just seem to blend in with the wallpaper unless you’ve said or done something wrong according to other’s opinions and then suddenly the invisible stands out in the crowd like headlines on the daily news! Well ~ Beautiful soul, God knows you inside out and who you are matters to Him! He stands in the gap with us through it all, no matter how the world sees us or how friends, acquaintances and onlookers approve or disapprove. Ah yes, He does and He’s got you covered with His sweet grace and awesome, unconditional love! Think of it! Even when you’re dragged through the knot hole of ridicule and rejection His blueprint and stamp of approval is all over you and there you sit with “His” approval ~ and that’s just okay because you’re okay even on a down day! You’re okay even on a bad day, even when you’re broken or when others disappoint and walk away. You’re okay because when it’s all gone wrong God’s love is all over you! His love is all you need! When it’s all gone haywire and you’re either invisible or plastered all over the front page of mistakes, His grace and favor rest on you! When David was in the wilderness of Judah, he reflected and meditated on God’s presence through the night. You see, in the absence of light, God is the light and in the quietness of it, he took time to focus on the true significance of life with the Lord. In Psalm 63: 4 – 8, he pens beautiful words from his heart, “I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. You satisfy me more than the richest feast, (could we say ‘approval of others’?) (Yeah, we can!!) He goes on to say, “I will praise You with songs of joy. I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on You through the night. Because You are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings. I cling to You; Your strong right hand holds me securely.”
p1000644
Beautiful you, when cumbersome circumstances, loneliness, rejection, ridicule, fear, anxiety or disappointment have their way with you and drag you into their vice of their night or eye of their storm or grip of darkness, meditate on your divine helper, your God and the God of David! Sing for joy anyway and find protection in the shadow of His wings, secure in His strong right hand, just as David did when the wicked plotted and schemed against him. Yeah, beautiful you, go on then and read Psalm 64 and know that you are indeed in good hands, when the whole world has gone out and plots against you.

#soulFire

❤ ❤ ❤

by Categories: Bible, Food for Thought, Inspirational, Soul FireTags: , , , , , Leave a comment

So Many Voices ~ So Many Lies


So many voices and so much chaos in that head of yours and they’ve wrapped their icy fingers around your heart and now it’s fear that nips at your heels and tugs at your heart strings and makes you feel just quite uneasy about it all. Yeah, it’s pretty loud and it’s pretty confusing and what’s right and what isn’t? The media paints a pretty bleak picture of government events with the upcoming election and takes us on a long, winding road of deceit and lies and if we can find a shred of truth anywhere these days it’s still up for grabs as to whether or not it’s for real. So whatever it is in our life that’s so perplexing, what do we do? To hide our heads in the sand and pretend troubles are non-existent, isn’t the answer because they surely are a part of our world so we can’t be so passive and naive as to live in denial. So what’s the answer for our complexities? The Psalmist offers counsel to those in need of protection and safety. To those in need of hope and shelter from the storm, when he pens, Psalm 91:1 “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”

and then ~ Beautiful Soul ~
Psalm 17:8
“Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings,…”

Psalm 36:7
“How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”

Psalm 31:20
‘In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.”

Psalm 27:5
“For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.”
dsc_5522
Psalm 61:3-4
“For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah

Psalm 121:5
“The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.”

Yeah, beautiful soul, the place to be these days and in the hour of trial, struggle, storm, hardship and confusion is smack dab in the awesome presence of the Sovereign God as the apple of His eye. Hiding under the protection of His wing away from the strife of tongues and the plots of men! He is our keeper and our stronghold. Let’s take refuge where the only true refuge can be found. In His tent of shelter from the day of trouble and in the shadow of the Almighty.


❤ ❤ ❤

by Categories: Bible, Food for Thought, Inspirational, Soul FireTags: , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment