Tag: Hope

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Compassion For Today

Dear sister,

If I’m honest, I’d tell you I hate going through trials.  Hate it.  Yet it is in trials when I really need to cling to the character of God.  One of His many character facets is compassion.  He is a compassionate God.  But what does that mean and how can it help us in the depths of despair?  Sister, let us look to scripture to help us figure out why the compassion of God matters to us today.

Biblically, compassion seems to imply empathy (sympathy or understanding) with action.  In the Old Testament, God often had compassion on Israel after they had disobeyed Him.  He had compassion on them and forgave them of their sin or gave them relief from a trial.  Micah 7:19 says, “He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” In Lamentations, Jeremiah writes, “but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love (3:32).”  As we move to the New Testament, compassion is mostly used just before Jesus healed, fed, or taught people (Mark 6:34, 8:2; Lk 10:33).  So scripture seems to teach that God’s compassion is most given when sin, sickness, or physical ailments abound.  When these people were in their most need, God had compassion.  He felt deep sorrow and pain with them and then met their genuine need.  He healed, fed, cast out demons, and forgave sins, not because they earned it, but out of His compassionate love, grace, and mercy.

We serve a God who sees.  In fact, that is one of his names, El Roi.  He sees us in our despair, however that looks in our lives.  Perhaps you need Him to help provide for your family?  Or for Him to heal a sickness that threatens you or a loved one?  Maybe you need Him to see a spiritual or mental anguish that needs to be released? Does God still see us and give His compassion to us today?

Yes, sweet sister!  The same God that healed the leper, that touched the woman that bled, that forgave Israel for her spiritual adultery can answer your prayer today.  He sees your pain and sadness and still acts on it with His compassion.  But there is also a dig deeper way that He has shown His compassion.

God has seen His broken creation groan under the curse of Adam for thousands of years.  Millions of deaths, untold numbers of sickness, pain, and sadness that we thought were unseen.  Yet God had compassion on this creation that once was good and sent His Son, Jesus, to come and live the life that we could never live, by obeying God perfectly.  Then Jesus died the death that we deserve because of our sin.  God’s action was killing His beloved Son.  Yet Jesus did not stay in the grave, He rose again three days later cancelling our penalty of death forever!  His compassion results in our forgiveness and eternal life!  What hope that gives us in our sufferings!  That God’s compassion will end all sorrow, pain, and suffering.  We will see Jesus face to face and only have joy forever in heaven with Him!  Yes!  God’s compassion matters to us today!

Your sister in Christ,

Colleen

 

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Image Redeemed

Dearest sister,

While reading Genesis I was sweetly reminded that we are made in the image of God. Not only this but God breathed into man the breath of life. Everything else He simply spoke into being. But Adam He breathed into life. Wow! Living in the garden, Adam and Eve enjoyed unadulterated communion with the Lord God. They talked with Him, walked with Him, and were unashamed before Him. Just imagine what that must have been like!

But as we continue reading Genesis we come to a pivotal point in the narrative. The serpent approaches Eve, deceives her, and Eve falls (along with her husband) into sin and darkness. Now when they hear the Lord’s voice they are afraid and hide from Him.

Dear sister, let me share with you a situation that arose in my life that reminded me of how far I fall short of reflecting God’s glory. On Thursday I drove a perfectly suitable car with a clear view out of the windshield to and from work. That night I heard a loud crashing noise right outside my window. I opened the front door only to find tree limbs at my doorstep and a giant tree trunk on my car! Thankfully, there was no structural damage but my windshield was completely shattered.

Just how in one moment I went from being the proud owner of a drivable car to bumming a ride to work the next morning, so too did Eve go from perfectly reflecting the image of God to reflecting a shattered image that could not be distinguished.

Because of Eve’s disobedience, the image of God that we still bear is now tainted with sin and its consequences of guilt, shame and fear. We can no longer see Christ clearly through the temples that the Lord designed for us.

Thankfully we are not without hope. In order to redeem His image in us, God sent His Son Jesus to perfectly reflect God’s character—a feat we are unable to accomplish because of sin. Now, those who have Christ in their lives are new creations. And as we are cleansed from our unrighteousness, we are becoming more and more like Christ.

Second Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” And Romans 8:29 assures us that “those whom [Christ] foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

These two verses state two truths. 1) we are new creations, and 2) we will be conformed to the image of Christ because those in Him have been predestined to become like Him.

Let us look forward to this new year as we lean on Him to produce in us a character that reflects the perfections of Christ.

Your Sister in Christ,

Kayla

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Choose Joy

Dear sisters,

“What makes you happy Colleen?”  My husband asked.  I thought for a second.  After a tough day of the constant training of a tenacious two year old, I do find respite in a frothy latte and a bowl of cookies and cream ice cream.  A smile comes to my face as I lounge and indulge in the smoothness of both on my tongue.  The delicate delights of this special treat may last that night, but the doleful doldrums of training a sinful heart return in full force the next morning.  I feel like in this world I often seek immediate happiness in my circumstances, but what I really desire is a deep lasting joy.  But what is joy?

Joy is not contingent on a dessert or massage.  As a believer, the Lord commands me to have joy in all circumstances…even ones that are difficult and painful.  James writes to dispersed Christians to “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.”

But how do we do that, sweet sisters?  How do we have joy when all our children are crying at once?  When a loved one dies?  When we have another miscarriage?  When our adoption falls through?  When we feel as though our marriage is falling apart?  Oh, it is tough.  It is so tough to choose joy.  Yet we are commanded to throughout scripture.  The hope we have is that scripture tells us from where true and lasting joy comes.  It comes from Christ!  When we find our joy in the fact we have been forgiven of our sins and saved from the eternal wrath of God because of what he did on the cross, we have joy!  We are thankful Jesus took our ultimate fate of death and gave us eternal life in heaven!  That means our trials on earth get put in the proper perspective so even in the sadness of our circumstances, we have a deep joy in our hope in Christ!  Even in our disappointments and hardships, we know this world is not our home.  Our home is yet to come and sadness, death, tears, fears, and disappointments will all be forgotten!

If that is not encouraging enough, scripture also tells us we find joy in trials as we realize the Lord is drawing us to Himself during these times.  He is near to the broken hearted and hears all our cries.  He is making us more dependent on Him which is where we want to be.  He is shaking off the chaff of our lives, making us more like Christ.  He loves us so much that our trials bring us closer to Him, rather than further away.  Our trust in the goodness of our Sovereign God in difficult times brings us unadulterated joy!

Oh, live here sister!  Choose the joy that only comes from Christ!  Don’t settle for the fleeting happiness of a latte or ice cream.  Don’t live in the despair of circumstances.  Lift your eyes to the heavens where your help comes because in our weakness, He is strong.

Your sister,

Colleen

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When Did Words Become So Powerful?

My dear sisters,

“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will break my heart.” That was the first line to a song I used to play when I was a kid. Funny how most of us think it’s the other way around. I’ve also heard the phrase, “words can heal, words can kill”. True. I’ve been on both sides of that equation, have you? I also remember one of my students in Thailand asking me, “Ms. Colleen, how do words become “bad words”? Great question! Why do words have so much power and what makes them good or bad?

James asks a similar question (Chpt 3):

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet hit boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,3 these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

WOW! I don’t know about you, but that digs deep and is worth a second read. First we see that we all stumble with our words. We all have a palate for shoe leather. None of us can control our tongue and we can start a fire of sin and pain with what spews forth. Even the wildest animals can be tamed, but we cannot tame our tongue. We are hypocrites, saying we love God on Sunday or during small group and then we curse God for some circumstance or person in our lives. Ouch. I’ve done that, have you? Our tongue has a root that anchors in our hearts. In fact, the Bible says that out of the outflow of our hearts, the tongue speaks. So what is in our hearts, dear sister? Are they on the foundation of what we have in Christ? Do we fill our hearts with the truth of the gospel and the forgiveness of our sin or the gripes of the world and selfishness?

Even with this knowledge, we know we will fail. What is our hope when that happens? Our hope is in Christ. He spoke perfectly in our place! He paid the price for our evil tongue! He took the wrath of our unguarded speech so that our speech is now His!

Yes, words can heal and kill. Words can break our heart. And what about “bad words”? Bad words are those that come from a heart fixed on its own desires and feelings, not Christ. Words that heal come from a heart that honors Christ. Words that break hearts come from a heart that loves self more than Christ. Sweet sister, speak from a heart that seeks to glorify Christ and your tongue will become as healing as Christ’s!

~ Colleen

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Christmas Hope: Painted on the Scene of Despair

Cheer and hope is in the air this season, as we all flit around giving gifts and taking in the Christmas lights and sights.  But on that cool night in the Bethlehem inn, there was hardship, discouragement, and I’d bet there were even moments of despair.  Mary had been given a joyous task, but I am certain it was a chore to take the journey away from home, quite pregnant, to give birth to the Holy Child, Jesus.  And Joseph had his moments of discouragement and despair, I am sure.  His beautiful betrothed was with child…and before he had the vision to let him in on the what was happening, I can only guess that he was losing hope, having planned to ‘to divorce her secretly’, Matthew 1:19, HCSB…if my wedding had been called off, after all the excitement of planning and preparation, I’m sure I would have been feeling lots of despair.  Even the time in history God chose to paint the landscape of the Nativity Story was a dark one.  The governmental powers and challenges were tense, the rebuilding of the temple was slow and not nearly as grand as the previous one, and there had been no revelations from God for hundreds of years.  [source:  my knowledgeable former-pastor husband]
The events leading up to the birth of Christ were despairing in many senses.  And yet, isn’t this often how God chooses to work?  I know in my own life, numerous times, God has chosen dark times to break forth with the grandest displays of joy and hope.  My mid-twenties proved to be quite discouraging, but this was followed by a season of such joy, meaning, and encouragement.  You’ve heard the saying, ‘the night is always the darkest just before the dawn…” Joy and Hope shine brightest after the darkness of despair.
​But what does this have to do with you, this Christmas?  I believe it not only relates to what was happening on that quiet, holy night in Bethlehem, but it is what happens in each one of our souls on a regular basis.  We are all going through personal and public struggles, fighting against our sin nature, the world, and the devil.  We are striving to put aside our sin and despair, to CHOOSE the hope, peace and joy that are ours in Christ.  This Christmas, may I encourage you to keep fighting that fight?  Whatever your struggle may be, there is always hope in Christ.  Christ came on the scene during a dark time….and I urge you, He wants to come on the scene for you personally this Christmas…to be born anew in your heart, to be the hero for you, for your situation, for this lost and dying world.  That is the joy and hope of Christmas, my friend.  And it is ours for the taking.  
 
Hope is a candle
A light in the window
Showing the way for
A heart to come home
Hope is a Savior
Who was born in the manger
Sent down from Heaven
To rescue our hearts
Our Christmas hope
 
–The Christmas Hope, NewSong
 
Merry Christmas to You and to All You Hold Dear!  Ruth