Dark clouds are gathering to the north, the setting sun gleams golden to the west, and the first lily has bloomed in the back flower bed.
A reminder that God provides.
Matthew 6:25-34 Be not therefore anxious…
Tag Archives: trust
Monday Morning
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing live, for I have put my trust in you. Psalm 143:8
New Year’s Hope
Hope v. : (transitive) 1. To desire with expectation of obtainment or fulfillment. 2. To expect with confidence. (intransitive) 1. To cherish a desire with anticipation: to want something to happen or be true. 2. archaic: TRUST
Hope n. : 1. archaic: TRUST, RELIANCE. 2. a. desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment; expectation of fulfillment or success. b. someone or something on which hopes are centered. c. something desired or hoped for
Merriam-Webster
On a New Year’s Eve that is brimful of hope – desire in expectation- perhaps it is a good time to bring back the archaic meanings too.
May my reliance not rest in my ability to write my story in 2018. May my trust be in the Divine Author’s plan.
May I continue to hope in Christ’s promise to complete the work begun in me.
May my reliance and trust hold unwaveringly in Christ himself.
May this be my continued prayer for 2018:
Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:5
Happy New Year!
He Ordained Peace
O LORD, you will ordain peace for us; you have done for us all our works. Isaiah 26:12
Peace.
I doubt whether there is anything so sought after or valued in this world. Peacemakers are commended, both in Scripture and by society.
Why, then, is there not peace? War and conflict spread overwhelmingly and unceasingly around the world, which begs the question, “Is complete peace possible?”
And yet, God promised peace in Isaiah. Even more than that, the Sovereign Lord decreed, commanded, ordained that it should be so. Peace for us.
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” Luke 2:13-14
Around 700 years after Isaiah told of God’s promised peace, angels descended on the hills of Bethlehem to declare that peace had come to those of God’s favor. What peace was this? This peace was Jesus, the Christ, who did our works for us. The Messiah who was our righteousness, became our sin, took our judgment, and delivered us from death.
And he ordained for us peace. Peace with God the Father through forgiveness. Peace because Christ has overcome this world — including sin and death. Peace that guards our hearts and minds. He is the Prince of Peace. Since it is his sovereignty that has ordained peace, peace must, therefore, be ours.
That must also mean, then, that wars and sin struggles are not the end. Senseless violence will not endure.
God has ordained peace. By His Spirit we have peace with our God that our hearts can feel even in this war-torn world. By His perfect peace and strength may we persevere as peacemakers even as we await the fulfillment of time when the people at peace with God will live in a world of peace.
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you; because he trusts in you.
Trust in the LORD forever, for the the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. Isaiah 26:3-4
Psalm 34:8
Oh taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Psalm 34:8
In all of His works, the LORD shows Himself to be good. Always. Without fail. But those who do not run to Him, who do not taste, who do not seek will only look from a distance and say “my way is disregarded by him; he is not good.” This is the way of everyone unless the LORD in His mercy draws a person to seek Him. Those who “taste and see” take refuge in Him. And the LORD is such a strong refuge that a person can be called blessed, even while their troubles roar and surge at them. They are blessed because their trust and peace — because they themselves — are in Him.
Consider…
… the lilies,
how they grow:
they neither toil nor spin,
yet I tell you,
even Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass,
which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,
how much more will he clothe you,
O you of little faith!
And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink,
nor be worried.
For all the nations of the world seek after these things,
and your Father knows that you need them.
Instead, seek his kingdom,
and these things will be added to you.
“Fear not, little flock,
for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Luke 12:27-32
