I always find when I write, that I write so much more than the message I really want to convey. And, I'm sure I will continue to do that here.
Between a comment my brother posted about my last post, and an email he sent to me, he hit on the absolute core of what I really wanted to say in my last couple of posts. It only took a few good words in the comment and in his email, but I thought about them a good bit, and I'm going to ramble here about my thoughts.
God's word is enough. When God speaks, nothing matters, but what He is saying. God's very word creates peace and joy, as well as brings blessing to His people. God's word is the only word powerful enough to bring a universe into being, and the only word powerful enough, by itself, to bring hope into my heart.
The word hope, in it's verb form, is used so often, just as "love" is. Truly, we can all decide to use these words how we wish, and I use both of these on a daily basis to mean lots of things. My thought is this though. When we use the verb forms of these words so freely in our daily language in discussing unimportant things, we often fail to recognize the difference when we use both the verb and noun forms of the words in discussing weightier things. We make trite, words and phrases that truly do have meaning, in spite of what any dictionary says or doesn't say about the words.
But, I don't think that's the root of the problem. This is where we get to the real issue. "I love my car." "I love God." Do these really have different meanings? Sure, because we really do love our cars, houses, jobs, families, whatever, and we don't really love God. Or, I guess I should say, that we love Him on a lesser level than we do these other things, when our love for God should be exponentially greater than our love for things and people. Our hope in God should be exponentially greater than our hope in and for things.
So, maybe we don't need to stop using hope and love in everyday language. Maybe we ourselves just need to learn, and teach, the sure confidence of the gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ by which we see the very worth of God Himself. Maybe we need to look at our savior, and learn what love really is; See God's promises fulfilled in Christ and know why we have hope. Maybe it's not about words. Perhaps it's about doing more than just pretending to be God's people, and about having real experience with the subjects we're discussing when we use these words, hope, and love, in light of the gospel. Maybe then the words really will have meaning.
- david
Friday, March 31, 2006
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Hope : Part 2
As we discuss the meaning and weight of the word hope, consider the following verses from Romans 4. And, as you read, think about what it is that gives Abraham reason for hope.
17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.
20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Abraham is old. He has no children. Sarah's womb is barren. Does his life experience, or common sense for that matter, give him reason to believe he is to be a father, let alone, "the father of many nations"? Of course not. So then, what is the source of Abraham's hope? Why in the world might he hope against hope?
Verse 19 says that Abraham did not weaken in faith when he considered the things that would seemingly make fatherhood for him an impossibility. He allowed himself to consider the possible roadblocks, which I do as well in times of trouble, or when I'm facing an insurmountable goal. But the difference between Abraham and myself is that his faith was not weakened when he pondered the "difficulties" that lay ahead. Abraham realized something about hope that we rarely do. I'll come back to this shortly.
In my last post, I discussed the use of the word hope in daily conversation. I feel that most of the time we use the word hope, we could choose something better in its place. I wish. I want. I would like. Again, hope is a desire for something to happen, with expectations or confidence that the something will actually happen. So, if it would just be really nice for something to happen, but we have no solid arguments or any real expectations, then another word might better suit the situation. I then gave the example of hoping that the Mavericks win the championship as a technically good use of the word. I listed several reasons for my hopes about their chances. I could list many more. So, I have solid arguments and real expectations, but, in the end, I don't think a basketball championship is something worth "hoping" for. Wishing or wanting? Sure! But the word "hope" should be reserved for weightier things, and things with stronger arguments. This is where we get back to Abraham.
So, what did Abraham realize about hope that most of us rarely do? The source of true hope is a promise which will be kept, no matter what. If you promise me that the Mavericks will win the championship, does that give me hope? I should say not!! You have no power over the situation at hand. And, I have no reason to believe your promise. Man has the ability to be untruthful. Man can break a promise. So by default, we cannot place our hope in anything man says, because there will always be that lingering question of whether or not we can trust the promise of the one attempting to supply our hope.
This is the difference with God. God always keeps his promises. When God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, His very words were enough to supply hope in Abraham. Enough so that when Abraham considered the difficulties ahead, he realized they did not matter. God had spoken. God told him what would happen. He had complete confidence in God. And Abraham did not hope FOR the thing which God promised. Instead, he hoped IN God himself because God had made a promise to him. God's promises are our only source for real hope. We can have complete confidence that what He says will actually happen.
By the way, don't think because of what this portion of Romans 4 says that Abraham was perfect. He made plenty of mistakes. And, he had plenty of faithless moments. This reminds us that hope has nothing to do with us. God made a promise to Abraham. God created hope in Abraham. God kept His promise. And God was and is glorified in this.
So, the next time you are faced with doubts about God's word, or specific words He has spoken to you in prayer or through faithful teachers, just remember that God's promises are always kept. We can doubt the words of man, but God's word, and His promises are immutable, everlasting, and not dependant on us in any way. Let that create hope in your heart, real hope. Wait on God to keep his promises. And glorify the only giver of real hope by sharing that hope with others!
- david
17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.
20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Abraham is old. He has no children. Sarah's womb is barren. Does his life experience, or common sense for that matter, give him reason to believe he is to be a father, let alone, "the father of many nations"? Of course not. So then, what is the source of Abraham's hope? Why in the world might he hope against hope?
Verse 19 says that Abraham did not weaken in faith when he considered the things that would seemingly make fatherhood for him an impossibility. He allowed himself to consider the possible roadblocks, which I do as well in times of trouble, or when I'm facing an insurmountable goal. But the difference between Abraham and myself is that his faith was not weakened when he pondered the "difficulties" that lay ahead. Abraham realized something about hope that we rarely do. I'll come back to this shortly.
In my last post, I discussed the use of the word hope in daily conversation. I feel that most of the time we use the word hope, we could choose something better in its place. I wish. I want. I would like. Again, hope is a desire for something to happen, with expectations or confidence that the something will actually happen. So, if it would just be really nice for something to happen, but we have no solid arguments or any real expectations, then another word might better suit the situation. I then gave the example of hoping that the Mavericks win the championship as a technically good use of the word. I listed several reasons for my hopes about their chances. I could list many more. So, I have solid arguments and real expectations, but, in the end, I don't think a basketball championship is something worth "hoping" for. Wishing or wanting? Sure! But the word "hope" should be reserved for weightier things, and things with stronger arguments. This is where we get back to Abraham.
So, what did Abraham realize about hope that most of us rarely do? The source of true hope is a promise which will be kept, no matter what. If you promise me that the Mavericks will win the championship, does that give me hope? I should say not!! You have no power over the situation at hand. And, I have no reason to believe your promise. Man has the ability to be untruthful. Man can break a promise. So by default, we cannot place our hope in anything man says, because there will always be that lingering question of whether or not we can trust the promise of the one attempting to supply our hope.
This is the difference with God. God always keeps his promises. When God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, His very words were enough to supply hope in Abraham. Enough so that when Abraham considered the difficulties ahead, he realized they did not matter. God had spoken. God told him what would happen. He had complete confidence in God. And Abraham did not hope FOR the thing which God promised. Instead, he hoped IN God himself because God had made a promise to him. God's promises are our only source for real hope. We can have complete confidence that what He says will actually happen.
By the way, don't think because of what this portion of Romans 4 says that Abraham was perfect. He made plenty of mistakes. And, he had plenty of faithless moments. This reminds us that hope has nothing to do with us. God made a promise to Abraham. God created hope in Abraham. God kept His promise. And God was and is glorified in this.
So, the next time you are faced with doubts about God's word, or specific words He has spoken to you in prayer or through faithful teachers, just remember that God's promises are always kept. We can doubt the words of man, but God's word, and His promises are immutable, everlasting, and not dependant on us in any way. Let that create hope in your heart, real hope. Wait on God to keep his promises. And glorify the only giver of real hope by sharing that hope with others!
- david
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Hope : Part 1
I think we overuse the word hope. People throw it around all the time in casual conversation. "I hope the Dallas Mavericks win the championship." "I hope I can get a reservation for Friday night." Not that these are incorrect uses of the word. After all, hope is a desire for something to happen, with expectations or confidence that the something will actually happen. The Mav's are playing very well this year. I think they probably have their best chance ever. I can talk about statistics, matchups, desires, common goals for players and a coaching staff that knows how to win. So, yes, I have reasons to have hope that they will win the championship for the first time in their 26 years as a team. On the second use of the word hope, I know that I have been able to get reservations at my favorite restaurant on numerous other Friday nights. And, this Friday is not a special holiday that might bring more people out to eat than normal. So, I can expect based on these things that I will be able to get a reservation.
But these are really just wishes with some reasoning to back them up. I could just as easily say, "I would really enjoy seeing the Mav's win the championship, and I've got a lot of reason to believe they can do it." Or I might say, "I'd really like to get a reservation for Friday", and leave it at that. Really that's all I meant when I first used the word hope. It was more about something I would like to happen. More of just a wish, a desire, a feeling of longing even. But, I wouldn't bet much on either happening, because they're not worth much. These things carry no real weight in the scheme of things.
So the question is then, what is worthy of our hope? And why?
To be Cont'd.
But these are really just wishes with some reasoning to back them up. I could just as easily say, "I would really enjoy seeing the Mav's win the championship, and I've got a lot of reason to believe they can do it." Or I might say, "I'd really like to get a reservation for Friday", and leave it at that. Really that's all I meant when I first used the word hope. It was more about something I would like to happen. More of just a wish, a desire, a feeling of longing even. But, I wouldn't bet much on either happening, because they're not worth much. These things carry no real weight in the scheme of things.
So the question is then, what is worthy of our hope? And why?
To be Cont'd.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Taking a Stab at This
Tricia and I are spending a Wednesday night together. She's getting acquainted with myspace.com, and I'm writing my first ever blog. Really, this is just filler text so I don't look like I have nothing to say. Maybe this will be a new type of quality time for the two of us, as we work on desigining and re-designing our pages.
Here I hope to post daily, or at least regularly, my thoughts about life, love, dogs, what I'm studying in my Bible, computers, the Dallas Mavericks, and anything else I feel like. Also, I plan to keep you all updated on the big events of our lives. By the way, when I say "our", I'm including myself and my wife, Tricia, our dogs, Dexter and Maverick, and the rest of my family and friends.
Well, that should do it for now. I'll try to write something a little more interesting shortly. For now, I've got to finish figuring out what in the world I'm doing here!!
Here I hope to post daily, or at least regularly, my thoughts about life, love, dogs, what I'm studying in my Bible, computers, the Dallas Mavericks, and anything else I feel like. Also, I plan to keep you all updated on the big events of our lives. By the way, when I say "our", I'm including myself and my wife, Tricia, our dogs, Dexter and Maverick, and the rest of my family and friends.
Well, that should do it for now. I'll try to write something a little more interesting shortly. For now, I've got to finish figuring out what in the world I'm doing here!!
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