Whispering Hope

"We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain." Hebrews 6:19

"In hope of eternal life, that God, who never lies, promised before the ages began." Titus 1:2

In the country church where I grew up, each fall we celebrated the harvest season with a church supper and bazaar. Youth were invited to share music during the meal. One year, I played "Whispering Hope" on my clarinet. Septimus Winner wrote the hymn inspired by Hebrews 6:19. (You can Google "Whispering Hope" to learn more.)

On Sunday, August 28, 2016, we sang the hymn, "God is Calling Through the Whisper." Note: God calls us with a whisper - not loudly and demanding. Yet, God's hope is sure and steadfast.

Everywhere I look, the word "hope" jumps out at me. The college football preview, Husker Extra, Lincoln Journal Star is simply titled "Hope." In part, the sub-title states, "loyal fans remain constant in their belief of better days." A "Guideposts" magazine headline proclaims, "Embracing Hope - in Troubled Times." Perhaps it is because we are bombarded with messages of troubled times that we hunger for words of hope. We are reassured by the words in Hebrew 6:19 and Titus 1:2 and other scriptures.

Prayer: God, we need your promises of hope today more than ever. Be with us in our daily lives and as we seek your hope of eternal life. Amen.

Lois Poppe (reprinted from 2016)

Do Good; Seek Peace, and Pursue it

  I will extol the Lord at all times;

    his praise will always be on my lips.

  I will glory in the Lord;

    let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

  Glorify the Lord with me;

    let us exalt his name together.

 

  I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

    he delivered me from all my fears.

  Those who look to him are radiant;

    their faces are never covered with shame.

  This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;

    he saved him out of all his troubles.

  The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,

    and he delivers them.

 

 Taste and see that the Lord is good;

    blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

  Fear the Lord, you his holy people,

    for those who fear him lack nothing.

  The lions may grow weak and hungry,

    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

  Come, my children, listen to me;

    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

  Whoever of you loves life

    and desires to see many good days,

  keep your tongue from evil

    and your lips from telling lies.

  Turn from evil and do good;

    seek peace and pursue it.

 

  The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

    and his ears are attentive to their cry;

  but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,

    to blot out their name from the earth.

 

  The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;

    he delivers them from all their troubles.

  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

 

  The righteous person may have many troubles,

    but the Lord delivers him from them all;

  he protects all his bones,

    not one of them will be broken. Psalm 34:1-20

A Time for Everything

 

There is a time for everything,

    and a season for every activity under the heavens: 

     a time to be born and a time to die,

    a time to plant and a time to uproot,

     a time to kill and a time to heal,

    a time to tear down and a time to build,

     a time to weep and a time to laugh,

    a time to mourn and a time to dance,

     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

     a time to search and a time to give up,

    a time to keep and a time to throw away,

     a time to tear and a time to mend,

    a time to be silent and a time to speak,

     a time to love and a time to hate,

    a time for war and a time for peace. 

What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.  Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

Singing of God's Great Love Forever

 

  

  I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;

    with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known

    through all generations.

  I will declare that your love stands firm forever,

    that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.

  You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,

    I have sworn to David my servant,

 ‘I will establish your line forever

    and make your throne firm through all generations.’”

 

 The heavens praise your wonders, Lord,

    your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.

 For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord?

    Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?

 In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;

    he is more awesome than all who surround him.

 Who is like you, Lord God Almighty?

    You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you. Psalm 89:1-8

Paying Attention

 

There’s a kind of white moth, I don’t know

what kind, that glimmers

by mid-May

in the forest, just

as the pink mocassin flowers

are rising.

 

If you notice anything,

it leads you to notice

more

and more. ~ from a portion of The Moths by Mary Oliver

 

I love the poetry of Mary Oliver, partly because she loved and noticed nature as I do. I think we can’t help but take more notice of nature in the summer, it’s so prolific! Everything is growing, blooming, living.

But maybe this poem is about more than noticing nature, maybe it speaks of paying attention to those fellow human beings around us. Maybe we’re called to notice those in pain, those who need a helping hand, those who just want someone to see them.

An incident happened in my life recently that made me consider more carefully how we interact with others. Often our energy only allows us to worry about our own people, ourselves, our jobs, what to fix for dinner and how we can afford to repair the car. Whatever little reminder you can give yourself to pay more attention to others will not be in vain.

Prayer: Lord, help me to notice those around me with whom I may come into contact today. Help me to see them as your children. Amen.

Donna Gustafson

(click on photo to view larger)

How to Involve the Body of Christ in the World

I would like to base my devotion "How to Involve the Body of Christ in the World" on a scripture from The Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus is speaking:

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven. Matthew 5: 14-16

Jesus came to the earth, in the form of man, to shed light to the world so men might see God through Him. Christians are to shine for Jesus' sake, or in other words, to carry on Jesus' message of hope and love to the world. Jesus is saying that we, as Christians, are the light of the world.

Man is to be the bearer of eternal light. Man is to let his light so shine that other men shall see the light and give glory to God. We as Christians must radiate God’s light through Jesus, for Jesus and God are one.

As Christians we sometimes feel that we have to debate with ourselves whether or not to love, to hope, or to perform any other action which shows Christ’s light in us. We often feel that we must hide the fact that we are Christians.

The sun warms the earth with light and we too as Christians must show our Christian love by gathering and reflecting light from Christ to the world around us.

As a college freshman, life on campus is new, exciting, and presents challenges. The biggest challenge is to live as Christians - showing Christ’s light. We have been reared in Christian homes, but now we are on our own and it is difficult at times to remain a shining light. We are set in a new world of changing forces surrounding us. I guess you might say we had been in a protected world through high school, but now we are faced by an open new world.

In a church related college, the students have a common background, but at a state college such as Towson State College, it is more of a challenge because of the varied backgrounds of the students. It is more of a challenge to shine our light as a Christian.

I have picked a few examples that I have observed on my own campus relating to the new world in which we are faced.

1) The first is going to church on Sunday. At college you don’t have your parents encouraging you every Sunday morning and it is easier to just not go, for many. But I have found that those of us who do go set an example for others to follow.

2) Second is taking the Lord’s name in vain. It stops me short when I hear this going on, but I have found that setting an example of yourself and not using it is the best remedy for people that notice. 

The whole idea of showing light is based on setting an example for others by the way we carry out our lives. If we can live a life as a Christian, we are showing others the Christian life – thus involving Christ in the world. I have found that the people at college who live a Christian life and involve Christ in their everyday life tend to be looked up to and followed by others. (I went to Towson State College in Baltimore, Maryland, and belonged to a Christian Fellowship group.)

When the lights go out, confusion results but when they resume, things go back to order. This can be related to us as Christians. If we turn out our light of Christian love and hope, then the world will be in confusion. Let’s keep our light burning for Jesus – setting an example for others is letting our light of Christian love and hope shine.

~Susan Taylor, adapted herself from an essay she wrote in 1965, during her freshman year in college. Susan found this recently when cleaning out storage areas.

Words from Romans 8

 

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. Romans 8:18-30