The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
Tag Archives: Hope
Every Home Has a Hush
There’s an old Spanish saying that “Every home has a hush” – everyone carries a burden in some form or fashion. But it was the poet Robert Browning Hamilton who suggested that difficulty can be a strong teacher:
“I walked a mile with Pleasure; She chatted all the way; But left me none the wiser, For all she had to say. I walked a mile with Sorrow; And ne’er a word said she; But, oh!…..
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What God’s Grace Teaches Us, Part 1
Throughout the Epistles, biblical writers greeted their readers with the desire that they receive grace and peace. Since Scripture is clear that salvation is an outcome of God’s grace, how would the believers who were addressed in the New Testament letters not already have grace? Like most aspects of our salvation, there are multiple meanings for the biblical term “grace” and they relate to differing tenses. In the past, the Grace of God…..
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Faith in God Who is My Rock and Strength
Metaphors of God’s strength appear throughout the Psalms: my Salvation, my Strength, my Rock of Refuge, my strong Refuge and Guide, my Strong Habitation, Shelter, and Tower, my Shield, Help, Maker, and Deliverer. During weeks such as this one, in which my husband was in the hospital from Monday through Thursday during Covid when there are no visitors (even spouses) allowed in hospitals, those metaphors become very real to me. God…..
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Planted! (originally published Dec. 29, 2017)
One of my favorite verses is Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain you: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” The New Testament version of this is found in 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.”
Websters dictionary lists at least ten synonyms for the word “move”. They include proceed, persuade, activate, drive, impel, start, stir, act, budge, and…..
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Psalm 27 is one of my primary go-to passages when I can’t see past the chaos and need encouragement.
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Christianity in the Long Run
Acts 6:31 tells us “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” At that point of belief through which we enter into Salvation, we are redeemed, adopted, and sanctified. Our lives don’t freeze in that moment. Except in the case of eleventh-hour deathbed conversions, we generally aren’t carried to Heaven in that moment. We continue to live on this earth as spiritual newborns in Christ growing in the knowledge of God.
Scripture…..
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Forever
When I was ten years old, my fifth grade teacher asked the class what we thought we would be like or be doing at the turn of the century. The purpose of the exercise was her philosophy that, having lived a full decade, we should know what we wanted to do as adults and focus on that for the rest of our academic careers. When I thought about the year 2000, all I could imagine was my age. I…..
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God’s Strength Made Perfect in My Weakness
“Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.” Psalm 55:1-3
Recently my prayer has been similar to this one. Only it is not human voices that…..
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Out of the Mouth of Babies, Part 2
In Luke 18:15-17, Jesus talked about letting the little children come to Him:
“And they brought unto Him also infants, that He would touch them. But when His disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto Him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive…..
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Before the Cross: Comfort and Final Instructions From Jesus
Before He was arrested and taken to the High Priest to be tried, to Pilate to be convicted, to Golgotha to be crucified, and to a borrowed tomb to be resurrected, Jesus met with His disciples one last time to encourage them and to give them final instructions. His talk to His disciples took place after celebrating the Passover at supper in an upper room. While many passages in the…..