The Hope I Need

Blog #31 June 11, 2022

As I watched the January 6th hearings on TV, I was filled with dismay. Some might say that we are a nation divided, but Brethren we are a world divided. Consider if you will the many ways we have discovered to put walls between them and us. Race, creed, color, doctrines, life style choices, social status, financial status, religion, guns, and all the other useless worldly THINGS we use to separate them from us. Dismay threatened to overwhelm me until God shared with me what I offer you today.

Proverbs 30:32-33
30:32 If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.
30:33 Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringest forth blood; so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.


I was relieved of my total dismay when I saw how completely God understands the depth of despair that exists within the human condition. What sorrow He must feel as He watches us we foolishly allow ourselves to be led away from each other, when in truth all we are accomplishing is our complete isolation from God, the ways of God, and the love of God. Yes, He does know, and if we will just shut-up and listen; He will lead us away from this house of despair to a place of light and truth.  


DC 98:4f Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion, for all flesh is in mine hands: be still, and know that I am God.
   


We of a covenant with God have been given all the necessary resources to labor with God, as the temporal hand of God, reaching out with the purpose of God to a world in need. Even with all of this, we must each day reassert within our hearts the decision to serve God willingly. 


1 Chronicles 28:9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts; if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever.


Solomon knew this and knew the importance of our willingness to serve, because the path to the Kingdom is hard. We must trust in God, the faith we have in Him, and the faith He has in us. We must learn to rely on God and the ways of God to gain the strength needed for the diligence required. Our greatest strength will be the purpose within our hearts. It is the foundation of all we seek to accomplish.



Jacob 4:8 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness, that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you.


We must understand the challenges we face. First of all we must realize that people are just people. They strive for things that leave them both broken and unsatisfied. They live in a way that the harm they cause others goes unnoticed. They try to do good and fail, because they face a world filled with chaos so completely perplexing that most just hide their eyes behind their hands and stumble along hoping to satisfy this days need and be alive in the next. They are all God's children and He loves them so completely that He sent His Son to die for them and He sent us to make them aware of that redemption. They live in a testimony of all that is. We must be a testimony of all that can be. Like John the Baptist, we are sent from God to be a witness. 



John 1:6-8 
1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
1:7 The same came into the world for a witness, to bear witness of the light, to bear record of the gospel through the Son, unto all, that through him men might believe.
1:8 He was not that light, but came to bear witness of that light,


Are we all evangelists? No, but in covenant with God each of us possess the truth of God, the love of God, and the promises of God. When we allow the purpose within our heart to become the restoration of God's way to the people and redemption of the people to God, our lives become free of doubt and fear. Without doubt we have no reason to fear. Without fear we have no reason to hate and within God's Spirit, every reason to look upon the world with love and compassion. We will grow and the people around will see our growth. They will realize that we now live a life of freedom. Free to make choices that require no more than a willingness to walk a path that leads to peace, joy, and security, forever. They will see this and want it for themselves. It is our labor and our joy to lead them to He who found us, and let them hear the words we heard, too.


Matthew 11:29 Then spake Jesus, saying, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.


This is the promise of God given through Christ. This is the promise we bring to the world in the name of Christ. We strive to build a city without walls open to all who will honor its ways and make their lives part of that light. We labor that the light of this city destroys any shadow or place where the corrupting force of lust and pride might hide. We seek to create a Kingdom that is of God, in God, and with God, forever. 


Psalms 31:24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. 


Yes Brethren I realize that we have a heavy load on our shoulders. I know that we are just people, but we have been given God's greatest gift. He has given us hope and in that hope we grow to become a people of both diligence and patience.


Romans 8:24-25

8:24 For we are saved by hope; but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then with patience we do wait for it.


In patient hope we come to find the strength of our humility and the Spirit that can guide us in that humility. 



Romans 8:26-27
8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 
8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.


We learn to be humble in our diligence that the strength of the Spirit will be alive in us. Then we share from the heart, so that all will hear the word we bring and the fellowship we offer. 


In fellowship with each other, we offer ourselves. In fellowship with God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we offer to all a loving Father and a family in God. In fellowship with God through the Spirit, we offer the will of God. As we grow in the will of God through the Spirit, His will becomes our will and as a people we join God in His labor. Let this be the desire of your heart.



Psalms 37:4 Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.


Praise God for all the blessings He brings us today.
Praise Him more for those yet to come.

FRED