My Hope ❤️



I lift up my eyes to the mountains where does my help come from?
 
My help comes from the Lordthe Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121

Yesterday, I wrote an article and submitted it to an online magazine.  In it, I made no reference to my faith – just grief.  I usually always end my writings with a positive faith-filled message.  But I didn’t.  Why?  Because someone commented on a piece I wrote, saying that it was "great up until the religious part."  Friends, without the religious part, the faith part, the actual reason for our hope part – it’s just words, in my opinion. So I wrote a sad piece on grief and what to expect, without sharing my hope. I'm about to correct that now. Because my hope, my faith, my Jesus? They are everything to me.


I don’t understand a world where things just accidentally fell into place. Where there is no Creator, no author, no God of the Universe.  How does beauty come from chaos?  How would the human body with all its miraculous parts just happen? All the colors of the fish in the sea? The wonders of the world? The sun and moon and stars?  

No.  I have heard the voice of the One who knitted me together.  I have had conversations in the darkest hours of the night.  I have seen his hand at work in my life.  I have felt his presence and I have witnessed him do the impossible.  I believe that He holds my future, that I can wholeheartedly trust Him,  and that my future includes eternal life in Heaven with Jesus.

I believe the Bible.  I believe it is the inspired Word of God.  I am completely in awe of it – especially after traveling to Israel and seeing where Jesus walked and talked and lived. Where the evidence surrounds us.  No.  It’s not a ruse, a fantasy, a religion for the weak-minded.  It’s life, it gives life, and it’s eternal.  And it takes a lot of faith, strength and strength of mind to believe in what we cannot yet see with our eyes.

I know for some of you, you’ve been disappointed here on Earth.  I have been too. Somehow, you’ve ended up blaming the One that you say you don’t believe in, thereby rewriting a narrative where He is not in control. But friend, He is. And He is not the author of chaos or lies.  

In my grief, I don’t understand how a person can get up every day and continues to live with purpose thinking that there is no point in our existence.  That we are born, and we die, and there is no more. 

If I’m wrong, I have nothing to lose.  But if you’re wrong – if you miss Him – if you miss the life we are promised?  In a perfect world with a perfect Savior?  If you're missing out on that and the relationship that He offers . . .that’s the biggest and saddest tragedy my heart can imagine.

I will see John again, and my mom – my sister, and all the ones who have gone before me believing. Yes, they will be waiting to welcome me into my forever home. I LONG for that day – I am not afraid of it.  I don’t believe that when my eyes close for the last time that I’ll be extinguished forever.  Quite the contrary.  Life will just begin that day!  To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

I want that for you too.  Especially now when the world has turned upside down and the news brings fear and uncertainty. When depression and anxiety are out of control.  Dear one, I want peace for you.  I want you to be certain about what your future holds and who holds your future.

This faith I hold is not one that condemns.  It may convict – it may point you in a different direction, it may ask you to be obedient to the One who created you, but not because He is a controlling being – quite the contrary.  He loves you like a parent who would give their life for their child.  Because that’s what you are, His child.  He loves you with an everlasting love and he sings over you.  He gave his only son to save your life.  That’s how much He loves you.  He loves you enough to let you choose your own path, but He desperately wants a relationship with you, eternity with you.

Maybe you had a bad experience with church, or with someone else’s faith, or with someone of faith?  Or you’ve just found it easier to believe what the world has taught you.  You've given in to the pain of this life - but friend, won’t you give Him a chance to show you just who He is?  Not someone else’s faith, but just your heart and His heart?  People will fail you, we are not perfect . . .but He is.  

Ask Him in and let him fill you with the peace and belonging that you’ve been searching for all this time.  Let Him fill your heart.  Let Him fill that hole inside your soul – I think you’ll find that it’s shaped exactly to fit HIM.  

Father God, I ask that you show this dear one just how much you love him or her.  Lord, open their eyes to see you, to feel your presence, to invite you in.  Give them a renewed sense of joy, of peace, of belonging – and most of all Lord, give them hope.  Give them the everlasting assurance that You have a place prepared for them and that you are so very excited to run to them on that day, with arms outstretched just waiting to embrace them and welcome them into Your Kingdom. A kingdom so beautiful, we cannot imagine it.  In the awesome name of Jesus, Amen.


How do I invite Him in?
“Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be. In Your Name, Amen.”

From the Book of John – my favorite:

“In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.”

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
                                    ~Jesus

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