Hope.
Hmmm. Sometimes illusive. Sometimes sure. Sometimes mysteriously just out of
reach. Hopelessness can be a dull sick feeling in the pit of your stomach,
unidentifiable but it is there.
How about you? Has there been a lack of hope in
your life lately? Maybe someone you love is ill? Maybe you are concerned about
finances or a relationship has gone south? Maybe the News is getting you down?
Proverbs 13:12
“Hope deferred
makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life”. New Living
Translation
As I was researching
this verse I Googled and found this on the Nehemiah Project website:
“Hope is an
anticipation of a desired future. Hope keeps you going when nothing
around you seems to work. Hope is the heartbeat of future dreams and
goals. When you have no hope, no matter how realistic your goals or how
rewarding the promise, you will not continue to persevere. You will quit.
What causes our hopes
to be deferred? Our hope is deferred when we put our hope in the wrong
thing. Whenever our hope is bound by anything tangible it is at risk of
being deferred. We live in a sinful world and no matter how comprehensive
our plans, how righteous our walk or how worthy our goals, they will not always
come together the way we envision them or when we plan. Our hope must
always be based on the unchanging nature and character of Jesus Christ.”
Wow. Yes! A resounding
Yes!
Foundations. What foundations do I … do
you … base your life on? What do we base our hope on? If our hope to be solid
and unshakable as Believers we can base our hope ONLY on our Lord Jesus
Christ. The Truth of His Word can be the only foundation … the only grid on
which to place our hopes and dreams and goals and to submit to His sovereignty
in our lives.
So, even though there
seems to be plenty of hopelessness to go around right now this is the PERFECT
time of year to consider our foundations and the very soil we “sink our roots”
into which feeds and forms our values, beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, our very
lives! Want to go “back” to a simpler time? Let’s you and I go back to the
foundations of our beliefs during the Christmas season. Remember the simplicity
of Jesus, the Son of God, coming in the form of a baby as the Savior and
Messiah of … well, you and I.
So, if I may … It has
been scientifically proven that we cannot mentally focus on two things at once such
as fear and trust, joy and hopelessness, anger and
surrender, etc. We are told in Philippians
4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true,
whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such
things.” Instead of focusing on
why we are feeling hopeless what about if we CHOOSE to focus on what we are
told to in Philippians 4:8? What if we CHOOSE to focus on Jesus (after all it
is Christmas season … let’s focus on what we should be year round!J ) What if we CHOOSE to focus on why we are
grateful rather than hopeless or what we have to be joyful about rather than
why we are depressed or why we are blessed
instead of why we are afraid? Hey! Remember that Blessings Journals we have “talked
about” in past editions of Gentle Nudgings?
(Gift #1: How about
buying a special Blessings Journal for yourself for a personal Christmas Gift
to YOU? )
Let’s choose to be
proactive about CHOOSING Hope, Joy and focusing on the grace of Jesus and all
the blessings He has poured into our lives instead of allowing our minds to
drift down a lazy (and unproductive) river of hopelessness and depression. The
enemy of our souls loves to destroy, depress and discourage. We can CHOOSE to
both obey our Lord Jesus and His Word and defend against the enemy by CHOOSING to
discipline our minds and our hearts to focus on what is right about our lives
and being grateful!
(Gift #2: Choose a New Attitude focusing on and being
changed by Truth and Jesus starting December of 2012!)
Simplify your Christmas
Season this year! Give yourself a gift! Choose to focus on Hope, Joy and your Savior
Jesus!
2013 can really be a very different
year! How about beginning today!
Two verses for us to meditate on together as we are reflecting on what you are "reflecting" in life. (from Biblegateway.com)
- Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
- 2 Corinthians 3:18
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
We get to choose what we think on and if we obey the Word of God. What and WHO we reflect because of those choices is one thing we need to pay attention to as Disciples of Jesus Christ, as His ambassadors. If our hope is in ourselves, other people, work, politics, our health, our figure, our perfectly decorated home or coming up with the perfect Christmas gift, event or card ... we will be sorely disappointed at some juncture. If on the other hand we are transformed by the renewing of our mind by staying in His Word daily, memorizing His Word, choosing to put all our HOPE on Him and being disciplined to stay focused then the JOY that comes from that lifestyle WILL reflect on our faces, in our eyes and authentic smiles!
If someone looks, really looks, at us will they say ... Oh! "She has her Father's eyes" as Amy Grant's song says? I pray so for both of us! Let's reflect our Heavenly Father's eyes this Christmas season and more daily until we step into eternity with Him!
Blessings,
Coach Kathleen
