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July 26 HopeI read this a week or two ago in a devotional Aaron gave me for Christmas. It is by Eugene Peterson, the translator of THE MESSAGE.
"Without hope a person has basically two ways to respond to the future, with wishing or with anxiety. Wishing looks to the future as a fulfillment, usually miraculous, of desire. It expends its energy into daydreaming and fantasy. Anxiety looks to the future as a demonstration of inadequacy -- present weakness is projected to the point of disaster.
Hope is a response to the future that has its foundation in the promises of God. It looks at the future as time for the completion of God's promise. It refuses to extrapolate either desire or anxiety into the future, but instead believes that God's promise gives the proper content to it."
This has really made a shift in my thinking about the future. I have participated in both wishing and anxiety, and neither are very solid approaches to life. When you know where your hope is - God's promises - you can have such an assurance about the future. Not that it will be without trouble; I just read in 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body." I am hopeful and confident that when God makes promises, He is able and intends to keep them.
My Hope
by Hillsongs
My hope is in the Name of the Lord You are righteous July 20 Ephesians 6:12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
I heard a speaker say with regards to this verse, "If it has flesh and blood, it is not your enemy."
That has stuck with me and given me perspective on my Christian walk. There is so much war imagery in the Bible, it's kind of strange when you think of the twists that have been made on Christianity. One that it is a method of attaining health, wealth and all kids of prosperity. Or that it is a repressive drudgery that we endure until we die. It is much more exciting than that. But this speaker also said that the battle language that the Word of God uses can hit a person's "Redneck Button" and incite people to go to battle against the wrong thing. We all have a lot of energy and passion to expend, especially when you have been delivered from the pit of yourself (grant it Lord) and want to see others saved as well.
This is a totally random and wandering blog, but I was also thinking about what another teacher said about oppression. He says that "God is the God of the oppressed." So watch out when you are the one doing the oppressing. He talks about how God heard the cry of Israel when they were slaves in Egypt, and delivered them. But then after they had been delivered, they turned right around and started enslaving people in the land where they settled. So guess what, God STILL heard the cry of the oppressed. Just because Israel was His chosen people, God didn't change and allow abuse to be inflicted on innocent people. Strange how the abused often become the abuser. But God doesn't waiver in His commitment to overcoming the principalities, powers and rulers of darkness. So there really are absolutes. My job is to make sure I align myself with God's principles and join myself in the battle that He is fighting, not the one that particularly irritates me. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if flesh and blood IS my enemy, I'm in the wrong fight. July 10 2 Timothy 1:7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
This has always been one of my favorite scriptures. I am a worrier by nature, and I come from a long line of worriers. Grandma Cooper had perfected the art of worrying about things, and made you feel like a heal if you didn't worry too. So I struggle a lot with anxiety. When my postpartum was at its worst, I would have waves of panic wash over me and be so full of fear that I was paralyzed. I remember telling my Dad that I was scared, and when he asked me of what, I had no answer, just full of fear. I first memorized this scripture when I was 17 and had my first job in an office at a daycare center at Mt. SAC in California. I would repeat this over and over on my way to work because I was so afraid that I made myself sick every day I had to go to work.
I had a dream two nights ago that my doorbell kept being rung by kids and adults trying to sell me something for a fundraiser at school. LOL It was like Halloween, and the stream of people kept coming, waving coupon books and trinkets to sell. I knew one of the people, and she started telling me that she had started building something, and the foundation of what she was building was purely negative. I asked her why not build on something positive, but she insisted on building on the negative. When I woke up, I thought of 2 Timothy 1:7. I can't approach my life with a spirit of fear! And believe me, I have plenty of fears, especially surrounding my kids. I can think of many things I DON'T want to happen to them, many characteristics I DON'T want them to have, etc. But I felt the Lord convict me that I am trying to build something on the premise of fear, and avoiding negativity instead of seeking out His glorious will for my life.
Praise God for an alternative! He gives three times the positives to my one negative. Power, love and a sound mind. My prayer is that I can change my focus and approach to everything in my life and not be reacting out of fear, but building a life based on the power of the Holy Spirit in my life, the love of God in action in my heart and a sound mind that knows and exercises His wisdom. July 02 The Twins are TwoElijah and Emily turned two on Saturday, the 30th of June. We've made it this far in parenting multiples. I can't believe it has gone by so fast in some ways, and in others it seems like I've felt every minute of the last two years. We took the kids to Chuck E Cheese for their birthday, just the five of us. The twins had a lot of fun on all the little rides that you used to only see outside the grocery store. LOL And Lydia had fun climbing all over the slide. They were a little rough in the car though. I have too much confidence in them and gave them pens and paper to write with. They ended up drawing all over their legs and arms. You would think I would learn. I gave Emily a pen and paper while we were waiting for the doctor the other day (two year check-up) and she wrote all over her tummy. It looked like I don't bathe my kids! And Elijah was screaming most of the time as I tell Dr. Johnson that he is so easy going.  And Emily is sitting there like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth and I'm thinking about all her little fits she's been throwing lately. My answer right now to the questions, "Is it getting easier?" is a loud NO! Running after two toddlers all day is tough. But Bro. Harrison totally convicted me and encouraged me in the same moment yesterday. Isn't that cool that we can see our faults and be inspired to be more like Christ in the same instant? I remember when the twins were very little and Bro. Harrison came over to me and told me what an important job I had, and that people underestimate the importance of mothering children. Yesterday while I was getting ready for church and the twins were trying to crawl into the bath (at an inappropriate time!) I again asked the Lord what He was thinking giving me twins. I felt reminded that He doesn't necessarily want me to have an easy life, but an ABUNDANT one. That I have! |
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