Hope Victorious

Seeds come in all shapes and sizes.   If you dump a packet of mixed wildflower seeds into your hand, you will find a great variety.   Some are smooth, shiny and rounded.   Others are flat and pointy, still others have tiny filaments sticking out to catch the wind or get stuck in the fur of animals (or your socks!).   Seeds are dispersed in a variety of ways; including wind, water, animals and people. Seeds have their own set of parameters; in order to germinate the seed needs a specific amount of time and water.   Sometimes the temperature or amount of light exposure is specific in order to stir the seed to begin to grow. Hope is like a seed.   When you hope, it is like a seed being blown into your future.   Dreaming, wonder, anticipation …. These too are seeds of hope that you sow into the landscape of your life. When you look at a dry seed, it doesn’t look anything like the plant it will become.   Whether a flower seed, an apple seed, an acorn or the tiny seed of a Redwood tree,

  Several of my favorite scripture verses contain the words “all things”.   Here are a few of them: ·         And we know that God causes  all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.     Romans 8:28   ·        Therefore, I say to you,  all   things  for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.   Mark 11:24   ·        And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God  all   things  are possible.”   Matthew 19:26   These verses contain some big claims!   “All” is a huge sweeping word!   Can the scripture truly mean “ALL things”?! Every. Single. Thing.   Can all things truly be worked together for our good?   Did Jesus truly intend to promise that one who prays with faith will receive all things they have asked for?   Can Jesus make the massive claim that with God ALL things are possible? I heard a Christian speaker say, “if

Freedom is one of the concepts that is most often defined by its opposite or by what is lacking.   Freedom is the absence of necessity, coercion and constraint in choice or action.   Freedom is the liberation from slavery or restraint from the power of another.   It is independence or the state of being exempt from some negative force, being unrestricted or unlimited. Even within the spiritual context we often define freedom by what we are free from.   Freedom from shame and guilt, from the force of sin and death.   People speak of being free from depression, from addiction or negative habits. We don’t talk as often of what we have been set free into . Galatians 5:1 says , “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”   I would paraphrase this verse in this way: Christ set us free so that we would enjoy our freedom. So, steward your freedom and don’t allow yourself to exchange it for another kind of

  You are my answer In every place of uncertainty and pain Jesus:   Love - Life You are the way forward I don’t have to find the way – it has been found already You are the voice of hope, there is no other voice to follow   I turn to you in my discouragement In my worry and fear I need you more than answers to my questions You are my answer Walking with you Increased awareness of you I find confidence and hope in you   I turn to you in my weariness In my sorrow and pain. I need you more than ease from my burdens You are my comfort Being loved by you Brings me strength I find rest and life in you   I turn to you in my weakness In my failings and needs I need you more than ability for my future You are my future Being found in you Increased life in you I find my future and hope in you   You are my answer! Your wisdom and love my constant companions The comfort I find in you brings the peace I crave as I walk through uncert