Posts Tagged: Psalm 42:5
“THERE’S HOPE, AND THEN THERE’S HOPE!”
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.” (Psalm 42:5, KJV)
“Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues.” (Brother Lawrence. Read more: https://www.christianquotes.info/top-quotes/16-encouraging-quotes-about-hope/#ixzz4wiEMwLpV)
My sponsor, Bob, is good about encouraging me, but at times he also challenges me. For example, part of my report to my sponsor this morning was the following:
Subject: REPORT AND AFFIRMATION
Dear Bob,
“I plan to live in recovery today, without exception I hope!”
AFFIRMATION: Today, by God’s grace, I will an exceptionally 12-step life.
My sponsor replied, “Get rid of the qualifier, ‘I hope’. You cannot give yourself permission to fail. Do or Don’t, there is no try.”
Enjoy your day 😊
However, I e mailed him the following reply:
“Not so sure you’re right on this one. After all, hope is one of the three eternal virtues (1 Corinthians 13: 13).
I think that the crucial question is this: In whom or what am I trusting? If I am trusting in myself or my unaided efforts, my “hope” would be another word for despair.
But if I am hoping in God, that is an entirely different matter.
However, your comment has invited me to ask a very difficult and important question. Is my hope centered in God?
I hope (!!) this clarifies matter. 😊
Warm Regards”
But in a very profound sense, my sponsor is right. I do frequently use hope to give myself an out for failure. And when hope is used in that way, I am setting myself up for failure, and hope is not biblical hope.
“Hope thou in God,” says the psalmist (Psalm 42:5, 11). And God is the One in whom I can hope confidently. God forgives my sins, but God does not make room for those sins. Rather, God makes room for me. And a huge part of that “making room” for me is cleaning out all the moral, relational garbage that I tend to cling to as if it were some sort of treasure.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
- “Grandma’s Pump” October 8, 2024When I was a little critter, I would stay at my grandma’s house for a night or two sometimes. I liked this for a lot for many reasons. One thing I liked about staying with her was that Grandma’s house was much more technologically advanced than ours was. For one thing, she had indoor water—sort […]
- “Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out” October 5, 2024Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one […]
- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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