Hope-Full Living

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken ... Hebrews 12:28 I have three children that live in California. All have experienced that strange feeling of the earth shifting beneath their feet. My parents lived in the Midwest. Their home was completely destroyed in a tornado as they sat in a hallway and experienced the destruction firsthand. I don’t know anyone person...

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. 2 Corinthians 12:10 Forms of the Greek word translated as “content” in the above verse are sometimes translated as “pleased,” as when the Father is “well-pleased” with his Son (Mark 1:11). It is one thing to be content with the trouble God permits in our lives, but pleased? Really? Paul co...

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 My sister Sue was the victim of an inebriated driver who hit her head-on. Her accident, at the age of 18, left her walking with a leg brace and cane and eventually using a wheelchair. Then came two bouts of cancer, the last of which ushered her into heaven at age 59. But she was never bitter. To my knowledge, not even for a secon...

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help ... Habakkuk 1:2 In the Old Testament, Habakkuk asks a question we often ask, “How long?” He was distressed over his present conditions and wanted God to act. What is your “how long”? Are you waiting for God to resolve your difficulty? Are you waiting for medical test results, financial provision, or a loved one to know Jesus? In prayer, Habakkuk acknowledges,...

“In the world you will have tribulation.” John 16:33 I am amazed at how positive some people are. A friend of mine recently discovered she has cancer, but that has not changed her positive attitude. She is determined to beat it. Whenever another friend of mine finishes something successfully, he borrows a phrase from his father-in-law and proclaims, “Another day ... another success story.” In this...

“Take my yoke upon you ... for my yoke is easy ...” Matthew 11:29-30 To think of a yoke is to think of a confining object around one’s neck that forces one to do something he or she doesn’t want to do. Think of oxen in a yoke, walking in a circle all day, or Jeremiah wearing a yoke (Jeremiah 27:2), or you wearing a yoke of pain or loneliness. The yoke Jesus speaks of is entirely different. It free...

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.” John 5:39 When I hold my devotions, I do “A Round with Scripture.” I see how many times I flip through the Bible to find the right verse. So, if I’m looking for John 5:59, I may first flip to Matthew, then to Luke, until I find the right one in John. I count the number of ti...

... if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 In 1986, I was part of a missionary group that built an orphanage and held a Bible camp for the villagers in Madurai, India. During one of the preaching sessions, a filthy woman came forward for prayer. It was obvious she was a troubled woman. After we prayed fervently for her, the woman left the village. When she returned the ne...

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. Nahum 1:7 Ian roared into southern Florida with huge storm surges that wiped homes and businesses off the map! I felt indicted. I’m a trained Red Cross shelter worker, and yet, here I was safely visiting a friend’s lovely home in Canada ... a trip that had been planned for months. Prayers continually inter...

“... call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” Psalm 50:15 Recently, I was in a crisis, trying to seek help, yet every avenue I explored was a dead end. I felt helpless, afraid, desperate! All I could think to do in the moment was to cry out to God — loudly — for help. God delivered, just as he promised. Grateful and in awe, I cried out to God again — loudl...

... the word of the Lord remains forever. 1 Peter 1:25 Words, words, words. Words may be spoken, sung, or written. Some sources indicate that our English Bible is composed of more than 783,000 words. Our theme for this quarter is centered on three words: trials, triumphs, and transformations, and yet they are only found in scripture 13 times in 11 of the 66 books. In our Lutheran Service Book, Div...