A Moment of Hope

by Marilynn Chadwick Mercy triumphs over judgment  ( James 2:13  NIV ). Our two boys loved to wrestle with each other when they were little. If things got out of hand, the one who felt overpowered could cry out, "Mercy!" This was their signal of surrender. All tickling and roughhousing (at least in theory) was supposed to cease. Mercy calls out to the stronger to acknowledge the weaker one and sho...

by Marilynn Chadwick If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?  ( James 2:3-4 NIV ). This word "discriminate" is a hot-button for me. I grew up in the deep South during the birth-pan...

by Marilynn Chadwick If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless, and he deceives himself  ( James 1:26 CSB ). I love words. Words allow us to connect with each other—and with God. But I've seen the damage words can do to individuals, families, churches, even nations. James warns us to use our words wisely. He gives us a sober reflection on the dangers...

by Marilynn Chadwick Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds  ( James 1:2 NIV ). The Olympic Trials to be held in 2024 are always a spectacular event. Young athletes in various sports from all over the United States compete for the few coveted spots on the US Olympic team. Swimmers endure some of the most grueling training schedules of all the Olympic...

by Marilynn Chadwick But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves  ( James 1:22 ESV ). Keeping our faith—and our cool—can be challenging when the stresses of life hit. Maybe you need a little "faith-fix" as you approach this busy holiday season. I know I do. The book of James is filled with lots of practical wisdom. That's why some call it "The Proverbs of the New Testament...

by Marilynn Chadwick What about you—have you ever seen a sign or wonder? If you start paying attention, you might be surprised like I was when I started to find all those pennies! I continued to save these little reminders—pennies from heaven—I called them. Over the next months, pennies continued to appear. One day, I shared my "penny story" with my friend Kenna. I told her how these crazy pennies...

by Marilynn Chadwick I wanted to find a practical way to remember the amazing things God has done in my life. So I began to save my spiritual souvenirs, my "Ebenezers'' in a special box I call my "Ebenezer Box." Not much bigger than a shoebox, it looks like one of my grandmother's old hat boxes. What about you—have you ever seen a sign or wonder? If you start paying attention, you might be surpris...

by Marilynn Chadwick Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the Lord has helped us"  ( 1 Samuel 7:12 NIV ). The Bible tells how the Children of Israel came back to God after many years of wandering. They began to copy the evil behavior of the pagan people around them and even started to worship the demon gods of their enemies—sometim...

by Marilynn Chadwick Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus ( 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV ). The Bible actually speaks more about praise than it does prayer. I call it the "protein of prayer." Protein comes from a Greek word meaning "of first importance." And to me, thanksgiving is like "praise in detail." I am more of a pragmatist than mystic. I can't tell y...

by Marilynn Chadwick In the morning I will order  my prayer  to You and  eagerly  watch ( Psalm 5:3 NASB 1995 ). "Mom, you seem to see God work in the craziest ways," my daughter Bethany laughed after hearing about my latest answered prayer. My now-grown daughter, who was fifteen at the time, was used to hearing my "God stories." After all, she herself was the product of a miracle. Bethany had gro...

by David Chadwick We have spent the past three weeks learning how to live a life of faith, hope, and love. "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love" ( 1 Corinthians 13:13 ). They are the three qualities of this life that will exist forever in heaven. Love is our theme this week and we are wrapping it up today. I pray we all pass the agape test in  1 Corin...

by David Chadwick Huey Lewis wrote a wonderful song called "The Power of Love." It perfectly captures the incredible power that love has. He says, "It's strong and it's sudden and it's cruel sometimes, but it might just save your life. That's the power of love." 1 John 4:8 states that God is love. And his love is the most powerful force in the universe. It convicts us of our sins, which at times c...

by David Chadwick As followers of Jesus, we are to be demonstrators of love because God is love. As we understand more and more who God is, our lives will emulate the characteristics of agape love. What helps you live a life of love? Look at the cross. Remember it. Stare at it. Remind yourself of its power. Jesus's pain. His suffering. The price he paid all because he loves you. He took all that p...

by David Chadwick It takes intentionality to discipline ourselves in a life of faith, hope and love. This week we are learning how to live a life of love. Yesterday we talked about the many qualities of agape love found in  1 Corinthians 13 . Do you pass what I like to call "the agape test"? Is your life patient, kind, not easily angered? Are you quick to forgive? If not, maybe today's tip will he...

by David Chadwick For the past two weeks we have looked at how to live a life of faith and hope. This week, we're going to look at developing a life of love. In  1 Corinthians 13:13 , Paul wrote that it's important to have faith and hope "but the greatest of these is love." In fact, Paul makes an impressive list of the many attributes believers can attain, but goes on to say that without love, it'...

by David Chadwick We are finishing up our week of looking at what it takes to live a life of hope. Remember your story. Read Biblical stories. Read Christian biographies. Give hope to others. And today: know the character of God. You must know that you know that you know that God is the God of hope. This is a major way to increase hope in your own life. The Scripture is so clear that this is his n...

by David Chadwick We are on day four of looking at what it takes to develop a life of hope. I want us to be a people of hope. Expectant. Fruitful. Full of life. Did you know  Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life"? Without hope, our hearts get sick. Some have said over the years that happiness is only true happiness when it's shared. I w...

by David Chadwick We all should seek to develop a life of faith, hope, and love. But how? This week, we are looking specifically at cultivating a life of hope. What stirs up hope? How do we remain hopeful? First, remember your own story. Remind yourself of your history with God. Times where he provided for you, taught you, led you, or healed you. Secondly, read biblical stories. Study the accounts...

by David Chadwick A life of faith, hope and love is characteristic of the Christian walk. How do you cultivate a life of hope? Yesterday, we talked about remembering your story. How important it is to keep account of your story with God and to reflect on it often. Today, I want to encourage you to read biblical stories. Look at different biblical accounts where people stood in hope. Take Abraham a...

by David Chadwick Last week, we looked at what it takes to develop a life of faith. This week, I want to talk about how to develop a life of hope. Hope is one of the things that God's Word says will remain forever. "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love" ( 1 Corinthians 13:13 ). Hope is a crucial discipline to develop. Otherwise, we will inevitably find...

by David Chadwick This week we are looking at how to develop a life of faith. The only definition of faith found in the Bible is found in  Hebrews 11:1 , "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the convictions of things not seen." How do we develop a life of faith? We increase our faith and believe for more than what our human minds can conceive. We learn to have faith like a child. We le...

by David Chadwick We are practicing developing a life of faith. To be people of faith, we must increase our faith beyond what our human minds can comprehend. We must come before our Daddy God with faith like a child. We must learn our authority and walk in it. Today's point: we must be prepared to stand in faith even when life is dark. Life certainly does have hard times. When everything seemingly...

by David Chadwick We are learning how to develop a life of faith. To strengthen muscles that can be used to stand in victory no matter what is happening around us. We need to increase our faith and cultivate faith like a child. And we must operate in our authority and "just say the word" when presented with situations that need faith to arise. Just say the word. What do I mean by this? It's what t...

by David Chadwick All throughout Scripture, we see that Jesus loved children. He regularly used children and the characteristics and personality traits of a child to serve as a standard for how to follow and trust God. In  Luke 18:17 , Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." In  Matthew 18:5  he said, "Whoever receives one suc...

by David Chadwick The only definition of faith found in the Bible is found in  Hebrews 11:1 . Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the convictions of things not seen. Assurance is defined as "being certain in the mind." Conviction is "a strong persuasion or belief." As you can see, Biblically, faith is being certain of what you hope for and having a strong persuasion that what you can't...