June 17, 2013: THERE IS HOPE!
Category: General
Posted by: IDF Webmaster
THERE IS HOPE!
THE NEWS FROM TELEVISION, RADIO, NEWSPAPER AND OTHER MEDIA SOURCES ARE FULL OF STORIES TELLING US THAT OUR NATION AND OUR PEOPLE ARE IN TROUBLE. FROM THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING TO 9-11, FROM THE CATASTROPHIC OCCURRENCES OF NATURAL DISASTERS; TSUNAMIS, HURRICANES, FIRES, EARTHQUAKES, TORNADOES; TO THE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION OF WARS AND RUMORS OF WAR HAPPENING ABROAD AND ON OUR CITY STREETS. WE HEAR THE HORROR STORIES AND SEE FOOTAGE OF PEOPLE IN PERIL THAT LEAVE LASTING IMPRINTS IN OUR MINDS FOR DECADES. HERE AT HOME WE ARE FEELING THE AFFECTS OF OUR ECONOMY; HAVING TO CONSERVE, REDUCE, CUT-BACK, CUT OUT, FURLOUGH AND LIVE LOW. WE BUILD UP TO TEAR DOWN, AND TEAR UP TO REBUILD. WE ARE CHALLENGED AND CHARGED TO FIND NEW AND CREATIVE WAYS OF DOING WHAT WE DO; THE ROUTINE THINGS, THOSE THINGS THAT ARE THE NORMAL DAY TO DAY. WE STRUGGLE TO ACCEPT THE THINGS CANNOT CHANGE, YET WE FOR MOST, WE CHEERED AND HAILED A NEW MESSAGE OF A PRESIDENT WHOSE MESSAGE WAS ALL ABOUT 'CHANGE' HOWEVER PERSONALLY, WE STRUGGLE WITH TROUBLES IN HOW WE LIVE; MANAGING MARRIAGES, FINANCES, FAMILY AND OUR FUTURE. MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, "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;" (2 CORINTHIANS 4:8-10). THERE'S TROUBLE EVERYWHERE, BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT OUR GOD IS STANDING BY AND IN HIM, THERE IS HOPE!
Minister D. Maxwell
HOPE, ACCORDING TO WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY, IS TO DESIRE OR EXPECT WITH CONFIDENCE AND ANTICIPATION. I’M REMINDED OF HOW HOPE IS USED IN DEFINING FAITH FROM HEBREWS 11:1 "NOW FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR, THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT YET SEEN." THAT BLESSED HOPE OR WAITING IN CONFIDENCE AND EXPECTATION AND ANTICIPATION THAT SOMETHING BETTER IS COMING; IT STIRS UP OUR SPIRIT WHICH BUILDS OUR CONFIDENCE TO THE POINT THAT WE CAN GO ON AND SHOUT ANYHOW BECAUSE MY FAITH TELLS ME THAT IN HOPE, TROUBLE DON'T LAST ALWAYS. PSALM 30:5 TELLS US THAT "WEEPING MAY ENDURE FOR A NIGHT BUT JOY COMETH IN THE MORNING!" SIGNIFYING THAT THERE IS A TIME FOR TROUBLE AND A TIME FOR JOY; BUT WE WAIT IN HOPE THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST KNOWING THAT HE IS, THAT HE CAN, AND HE WILL.
THE NEWS FROM TELEVISION, RADIO, NEWSPAPER AND OTHER MEDIA SOURCES ARE FULL OF STORIES TELLING US THAT OUR NATION AND OUR PEOPLE ARE IN TROUBLE. FROM THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING TO 9-11, FROM THE CATASTROPHIC OCCURRENCES OF NATURAL DISASTERS; TSUNAMIS, HURRICANES, FIRES, EARTHQUAKES, TORNADOES; TO THE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION OF WARS AND RUMORS OF WAR HAPPENING ABROAD AND ON OUR CITY STREETS. WE HEAR THE HORROR STORIES AND SEE FOOTAGE OF PEOPLE IN PERIL THAT LEAVE LASTING IMPRINTS IN OUR MINDS FOR DECADES. HERE AT HOME WE ARE FEELING THE AFFECTS OF OUR ECONOMY; HAVING TO CONSERVE, REDUCE, CUT-BACK, CUT OUT, FURLOUGH AND LIVE LOW. WE BUILD UP TO TEAR DOWN, AND TEAR UP TO REBUILD. WE ARE CHALLENGED AND CHARGED TO FIND NEW AND CREATIVE WAYS OF DOING WHAT WE DO; THE ROUTINE THINGS, THOSE THINGS THAT ARE THE NORMAL DAY TO DAY. WE STRUGGLE TO ACCEPT THE THINGS CANNOT CHANGE, YET WE FOR MOST, WE CHEERED AND HAILED A NEW MESSAGE OF A PRESIDENT WHOSE MESSAGE WAS ALL ABOUT 'CHANGE' HOWEVER PERSONALLY, WE STRUGGLE WITH TROUBLES IN HOW WE LIVE; MANAGING MARRIAGES, FINANCES, FAMILY AND OUR FUTURE. MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, "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;" (2 CORINTHIANS 4:8-10). THERE'S TROUBLE EVERYWHERE, BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT OUR GOD IS STANDING BY AND IN HIM, THERE IS HOPE!
Minister D. Maxwell
HOPE, ACCORDING TO WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY, IS TO DESIRE OR EXPECT WITH CONFIDENCE AND ANTICIPATION. I’M REMINDED OF HOW HOPE IS USED IN DEFINING FAITH FROM HEBREWS 11:1 "NOW FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR, THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT YET SEEN." THAT BLESSED HOPE OR WAITING IN CONFIDENCE AND EXPECTATION AND ANTICIPATION THAT SOMETHING BETTER IS COMING; IT STIRS UP OUR SPIRIT WHICH BUILDS OUR CONFIDENCE TO THE POINT THAT WE CAN GO ON AND SHOUT ANYHOW BECAUSE MY FAITH TELLS ME THAT IN HOPE, TROUBLE DON'T LAST ALWAYS. PSALM 30:5 TELLS US THAT "WEEPING MAY ENDURE FOR A NIGHT BUT JOY COMETH IN THE MORNING!" SIGNIFYING THAT THERE IS A TIME FOR TROUBLE AND A TIME FOR JOY; BUT WE WAIT IN HOPE THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST KNOWING THAT HE IS, THAT HE CAN, AND HE WILL.
