Tagged: hope

  Now the passage of scripture the man was reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In humiliation justice was taken from him. Who can describe his posterity? For his life was taken away from the earth.” Acts 8:32-33, NET   We need to understand justice through the rough-hewn frame of the Cross. God is the God of Instead, who in His mysterious magnificence practices the beautiful principle of exchange. He takes upon Himself the punishment so that we might receive the reward instead. The justice we long for is beyond our reach. It is too dear, too expensive. Unattainable in human power. Underneath the… Read More

And Noah did all that God commanded him—he did indeed. Genesis 6:22, NET The earth was ruined. Not by global warming, massive flooding, or earthquakes. But by human hearts.  The heart has that mighty, terrible power. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time (v.5). God’s heart was wounded, and He was highly offended by the ones He had created. Yet there was one who brought God comfort. His name was Noah, and he walked with God.  Noah was a godly man; he was blameless among his contemporaries. He walked with God (v.9). We humans are not the only ones who find comfort and hope in a friend willing to walk with us when our hearts are broken. God… Read More

Written by a gospel worker who needed to remind her troubled soul. Why do I put myself in peril, and take my life in my hands? Even if he slays me, I will hope in him... Job 13:14-15a I already made this decision, Lord. It is not one to be revisited. I decided as my child lay in the hospital fighting for his life that I would trust You. It is finished. I trust You. I trusted You that night. I will trust you today, as I am assailed on every side, and the one I love is not exempt from the bullseye. What more will You allow in Your sovereignty? I do not dare imagine; I refuse old practices of bartering and bargaining with… Read More

  The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He takes me to lush pastures, he leads me to refreshing water. He restores my strength. Psalm 23:1-3     Hope for a Saturday Morning Song   A song hums low  Behind the noise Beneath the chaos Invitation to joy.   A narrated song With video I see the images A picture show.   A happy list Of things to do Not things I must But only want to.   Visit the garden shop Choose some roses Linger among  Violets and posies.   Make an oasis Privacy screen With roses for walls I’ll sip my tea.   Meet a friend For no good reason Except for revelry In blooming season.   Make good bread Knead it… Read More

They went out and got into the boat. John 21:3b Her house is gone, just gone. In its place is a garden. But when I stand there, listening to the creek that has not altered with time, I feel her front porch beckoning me. The swing sings on the wind, inviting me to sit awhile. I can smell the pungent odor of her marigolds, which she swore kept the mosquitoes away. I can see the sparkle of her blue cut-glass candy dish with the fancy lid, always full of cinnamon candy and butterscotch drops. It’s as real as it ever was. But my grandmother’s house is gone. Just gone. It was razed to the ground after a terrible loss. Nothing could ever be the same… Read More

Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread everywhere. Song of Songs 4:16   But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 I stood looking out over the pitiful inlet, feeling deeply sorry for myself. My husband and small son were mercifully asleep, and it was the first quiet moment I’d had all day. The past twenty-four hours… Read More

Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well!—Sing to it!— Numbers 21:17 We have spent two weeks in the place of springs, the valley of weeping and affliction that bears that beautiful invitation to spring-making and spring-naming. Today, we shall sing, for there is another secret to springs in the valley: they become wells. In Numbers 21 we find the Israelites on the way to the Red Sea, going around the land of Edom. Scripture tells us, And the people became impatient in the way (v. 4). Impatience is the spring they chose to drink from that day, and it made them more thirsty. Instead of refreshing them, the Spring of Impatience widened their gaping need, filling their souls to the brim with crippling… Read More

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose hearts are the highways of Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs. Psalm 84:5-6 In our last devotional together we examined the cost of spring-making. Psalm 84 prepares the pilgrim for two realities on the Way: the reality of weeping, and the reality of refreshing. [bctt tweet="Jesus paid the cost of spring-making, and because of that, we can walk the Valley of Baca with hope. With the strength Jesus gives, we can also practice the discipline of spring naming. #hope " username="audreycfrank"] Spring naming transforms the pilgrim pathway, making it a place of refreshment for us and a resource for those who come behind. The discipline… Read More

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose hearts are the highways of Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs. Psalm 84:5-6 The desires of our heart, the ones originating in God’s heart, then planted in ours by His hesed love, often come at a cost. To make the Valley of Baca a place of springs is a noble desire. There is much talk of refreshing and rest these days, for the world is wounded and weary. As followers of Jesus, we know the Source of all rest. He is our personal Friend and the Lord of our lives. It would seem, therefore, that it would be easy to be a source of rest… Read More

I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.  Isaiah 42:8-9 St. Francis of Assisi loved the tau symbol of the cross. As the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet, it signified for him not merely an ending, but an opportunity to begin again. Those who knew him reported that he lived in constant hope of new beginnings. St. Bonaventure wrote that toward the end of his life, St. Francis said to his brothers, “Let us begin again, brothers, for up until now we have done little or nothing.” These… Read More