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Thursday, November 6, 2008

Our Hope Endures!

2 Choronicles 7:14 "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Psalm 71:14 "But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more."

Romans 5:5 "and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

OK, so I must admit. I have spent the last month or so being totally consumed with the election. I have always been somewhat of a talk show junkie and it just became a "close to" addiction of mine to listen to what was going on with the election and such. I believe that it is very important to be informed of what is going on, but I think that I was just a little too informed. I mean, I haven't watched ANYTHING except for Fox News for the past few weeks. I also love to listen to talk radio on my XM Radio. I am saying all of this to point out that sometimes it is easy to get so consumed with what is going on around us that we can easily forget what is important. I don't think it is a bad thing to be interested in the news etc... It is just so vital to keep priorities in tact. So I must confess, I spent much more time soaking up all of the things of no eternal value than soaking up the Word of God and finding what HE wanted me to hear amist all of the uncertainty concerning the election and the outcome.

In the last few days, I have heard the word of FEAR mentioned a lot. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Nothing happens that doesn't come through the hand of God first. The wonderful thing about God is that He has given us free will. How rewarding would it be to Him if we served Him like robots. When God's people cho0se to be obedient to Him and glorify Him through our lives, it is so much more rewarding. Although it breaks my heart to see that we as a nation are more concerned about the economy than the precious life of an unborn child, the Spirit prods me and says, "You have the answer, you have the hope, share it with all people!" I have dropped the ball. If we all get real with ourselves, we may be astonished to realize that serving our Lord is indeed not our number one priority. We have cheapened the awesomeness of God. It is like trying to offer someone something of little value. A child is not going to be all crazy about getting a gift that has missing peices or is outdated. We act so many times as if the Lord is "Just OK!" Why in the world would anyone want anything that we represent so poorly?

Jesus is The Way, The Truth, The Life. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is my sustainer, my rock, my salvation, my strength, my song, shelter from the storm, everlasting father, prince of peace.... The list goes on and on. I encourage you to make it a priority to clearly represent the One you Serve to everyone around you. He is the only One in which we can place our trust. Share the hope that is within you.

4 comments:

Addie Talley, Photographer said...

this is such a good lesson and one to take to heart

The Crawfords said...

Well said!

Audie said...

Thanks for sharing, big sis! I am glad that the LORD has been speaking to you in a real and personal way. I've been challenged by similar things lately. Continue to seek HIS face and live for HIM trusting in HIS sovereignty as HE reigns Supreme. I love the fact that HE never changes and that HE's on HIS throne aware of everything that is going on around us. Nothing in this life---an election, our misplaced priorities as Christ-followers, victories/successes, failures/disappointments---catches HIM off guard! Rest in the confidence and realization of who HE is. I love you and am praying for you!

Celeste said...

Great post insightful one! I especially loved the party about us offering a gift of little value. It makes us really think. I am so glad you are my friend! I love you, C-