Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
3/14/2022
“Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.”
Hope guides me. Encourages me. Hope gives me strength to stand for Christ when the world is shouting me down and threatening everything I believe and hope for. To me, life begins with hope, just as love begins with hope.
We purify ourselves, are sanctified, and make progress because we have hope. Hope is what causes us to take each step along the way.
“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” 1 John 3:2-3
What does that Hope mean to you? If that sits upon a shelf collecting dust then how can we know it? How can we know the eternal strength of it or the eternal love of it? Isn’t it the light that shines in the darkness guiding us and giving us strength for the journey? When was that last time you thought about the Hope of your salvation and what that means…really?
We see through a glass dimly. The ways of God are so far above ours who cannot fathom them. And who are we to even think there is something even remotely worthy in us to qualify for this priceless gift?
“To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27.
In us, God gave this richness…this mystery beyond the understanding of the worldly man. A hope that someday we will reign with him in Glory. What does that mean? I’m not sure how that will pan out. I only know that I have this hope that is bigger than any fear I have… More than any anxiety I face. It is my lifeline to life itself. Christ in me, the hope of Glory.
“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6.
“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14.
What hope does that inspire in you? What strength to carry on comes with that truth? We have the hope of His promise after promise. They are everywhere in his word! We see hope all around us. The sun and moon, the universe, the sunrise and a lightning storm. And when we draw close enough on those special days we see the explosion of Hope raining down on us with every word written and inspired by God himself.
“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” 1 Peter 5:10.
God’s thoughts for you are to perfect you, strengthen you and in it all give y9u a peace that is beyond any natural understanding. God's hope is unfailing because He is unfailing. When we stumble in our thinking, when we are in the battle of the month, our flesh cries out with fear as Peter did when he was sinking below the waters. But Jesus is the Hope of every person. We can grab hold of hope in our deepest despair and know that God’s grace is sufficient and we will grow to trust in the name of the Lord our God.
And for you my friend who is suffering in too long of a stormy season.
James 5:11-13 "As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy."
Yes, he restored it all and multiplied his joy because “ I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11.
Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud this week.
Be an Ambassador of Hope.
Riley Clemmons – Fighting For Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in1uxSpvsw0&list=PL3oW2tjiIxvTstLS9GlgaT_mqONT0WVDw&index=13
