Despair, Hope, and Prayer

2 Corinthians 1:8-11

"We don't want you to be uniformed brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia."
Paul, a chief apostle, had lots of troubles in the part of Asia in which he was traveling and preaching/teaching the Gospel.

"We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself." Wow, Paul was under such great pressure, it was way beyond his ability to bear it! Have you experienced anything that you thought, "man, this is just too much for me to handle?" YES, and so have I! Paul was so stressed he actually was suicidal! This just hit me, as many times as I''ve read this - it didn't strike me, that the Apostle Paul (and those accompanying him) were suicidal. They 'despaired of life itself.' Like folks who do commit suicide, the Apostle Paul was in great despair, so much so that he felt like life wasn't even worth living! So much for folks who say that Christians who feel suicidal or are depressed just don't have enough faith; or real Christians don't get depressed.... Paul and his companions even thought and felt, "Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death." They thought that death was their destiny in the pressurized situation in which they found themselves!

BUT GOD. The difference between Paul et al and those who commit suicide is perspective....one Person...one Hope. Paul goes on. "But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead." So, Paul recognized, "yeah, I really don't have what it takes, yes, this is WAY beyond me, yes, if left on my own and if this was up to me...I really do despair and have a death sentence because, 'I can't do it.' BUT GOD. Paul wasn't all there was - he goes on, "He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us again. On HIm we have set our hope that HE will continue to deliver us..." He wasn't just hoping against hope or wishing or in denial. He knew whom He had believed, and knew who it was that had the power of life and death in His hands...the One who raised from the dead, the One who dwelt within him! The Only Hope!

But that isn't all. Paul writes, "...as you help us by your prayers. !!! The brothers and sisters he was writing to, it was they who prayed and Paul testified that through their prayers, they were delivered! We don't know exactly how this works, but Paul testifies that God moves through the prayers of the saints! You and me! He continues, "Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."

Your prayers matter. Of course it matters to whom you pray! To God the Father, through Jesus His Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit - who dwells within all believers.These prayers are connected to 'the comfort' wrote of in the preceding verses in 2 Corinthians 1. Your prayers and mine are powerful to comfort and see movement (God is at work even if we can't see what is happening) in peoples lives all around us, near and far. People and situations are better off as a consequence of the saints and our prayers...not because of who we are, but because of Whose we are. Because of the One who lives within us. You are a bearer of Hope!

"Lord, thank You that in and through You, we are bearers of Hope - Hope that is needed by individuals, families, communities, yeah even the world! The only Hope for (us) the world today is Jesus. We are Your image bearers and the bearers of Hope. Help us to see the end of ourselves, so that the real Hope will begin, and today minister to one who is in despair of even life itself - whether it be one who is reading this, or one who we know. Thank You Lord, we love You. Let us become more and more men and women of prayer. Hope Bearers."

Hope that doesn't disappoint

Dear Ones,
Today is a day of great (earthly) trial...there are so many serious issues going on with the house in which I live, and I have little understanding and no ability to actually correct/fix the issues! Yet, in the midst, by God's grace, I see the opportunity to lean on the Lord, to depend and trust Him to work these things out...whatever 'working these things out' means...it may not be worked out according to my understanding...BUT GOD...I trust His understanding and ask the Lord for 'ears to hear, eyes to see, and heart and mind to follow' where God is leading in the matters at hand.
By God's grace I already see how the Holy Spirit is working in me and through me as I respond to the situation and interact with those involved. It amazes me that I'm not 'loosing my patience or temper' and at the same time able to articulate clearly what needs to be said. That is God...and I thank Him.
I'm not sure what this testimony has to do with the Scripture that is our focus today - except that Hope is being spoke of - and I know that the situation I find myself in today is only possible to 'endure and find encouragement' in is because the God of the Scripture is my 'only Hope.'
How about you? do you have Hope today? If so, what is the source of your Hope? If not, I pray you find the only Hope that is sure..Our Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and Holy Spirit...

Romans 15: 2-6 :"Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: 'The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.' For everything written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement o the Scriptures we might have hope. MAY the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Faith, Hope, and Love

Romans 5:1-5

"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love" (1 Corinthians 13:13a). This is Paul's summary of his chapter on 'the most excellent way, Love.' These three - faith, hope, and love are highlighted in 5:1-5 of Romans:
"Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

Faith, Hope, and Love.

The progression starts with the gift of faith that God has given us. We have hope because of the glory of God and that hope grows as we walk through the trials and troubles of this earthly life by faith (faith in the hope of the glory of God!). And having this hope (JESUS is our hope!), increasingly, we are not disappointed because God has given us His love, He poured out His love into our hearts (and does so continually) by the power of the Holy Spirit.....who lives within us!

Faith, Hope, and Love - "God thank you for these gifts - faith, hope, and love that originate in You and grow by the power of Your Holy Spirit within us as we walk through the terrain of this earthly place. I pray that these gifts would increase within each one of us, as we depend and trust in You. Then Lord, along the way, help us to convey these three to all we meet, that they too would have Faith, Hope, and Love. Thank You Lord!"