Pastor Davis' Weblog
Think on This: Hope
THINK ON THIS: HOPE
This week I have been reading Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. In the first chapter he encouraged the early followers of Jesus to really have the eyes of their hearts opened to a number of things.
One of them was the HOPE of our calling. Think on the hope that you have in Jesus.
Christian hope is not like, “I hope it won’t rain.” Such a statement is not based on any certainty. That kind of hope is more like a wish than anything else. We would be better off to say, “I wish it not to rain.”
Christian hope is like, “I hope for summer.” We have no doubt that summer will come again. It is certain. It just is not here yet. This kind of hope gets us through the doldrums of cool, rainy spring days.
Think on HOPE. Our HOPE is heaven. It is certain through the blood of Jesus. It just is not here yet. This kind of HOPE gets us through the doldrums of all sorts.
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THINK ON THIS: RICHES
A second thing Paul wanted them (and us) to think on is the RICHES of our glorious inheritance.
Think on how you’ve got it made! You are an heir to an estate larger than the Kennedy or the Rockefeller or the Gates fortunes. Yours is the Kingdom.
Oh, for a little while you will have it tight in the here and now until the estate kicks in. But someday… wow.
So maybe gas or a new car or a big screen TV or an updated wardrobe or fancy dinner out is too expensive for you. Be patient. You have the RICHES of a glorious inheritance.
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THINK ON THIS: POWER
For those without green thumbs: have you ever almost killed a plant? It looks dry, flowerless, lifeless. And then you water it. Water. The power of water to restore life. What power there is in water!
We have a greater power. Paul calls it the surpassing greatness of the power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly realms.
Think on the power that it takes to raise the dead. Imagine, not just a dying plant, but a dead person. Think on this. A dead person. And God raised him. Really. What power!
That is the power that is at work in you and in your life. The power of God to raise the dead, a surpassingly great power, is at work in you.
Makes things not seem so desperate! Think on POWER.
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WATCH AND TALK WITH THE KIDS
A young person in our area died this week. Apparently he was experimenting with choking himself to produce a massive head rush. He made a mistake. He died.
Moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas—let’s be engaged with what our children are doing.
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OVERWHELMED?
Can you imaging having to see the people of Israel through the wilderness like Moses did? Can you imaging having to take the Gospel to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth like the disciples did? Can you imagine having to go one on one, toe to toe with Satan for forty days like Jesus did?
Each faced overwhelming challenges! But each persevered because the Holy Spirit had been poured out on them.
That same Spirit is in you by virtue of your Baptism. He is at work through the Word of God.
You may FEEL overwhelmed, but you’re not. John wrote, “Greater is he who is in you, than he who is in the world.
Remember, the Spirit shores up the overwhelmed!