Hope Victorious

  Urgency is a human thing God’s perspective eliminates all negative associations with the passing of time There is no being late or too late No stress of immediate, urgent need God knows all things – He is not surprised or caught off guard He is never unprepared!   We worry and fret Deadlines and urgency are familiar to our human experience We try to catch-up and keep-up, stay ahead of all that is required We don’t want to be late or behind Life can feel like a race Trying not to lose ground   Stress and urgency often mark our view of current time Regret and sorrow invade our view of the past While anxious thoughts tempt us to worry over the future   This is foreign to God and the atmosphere of heaven God knows and understands – but He is different than us Jesus understands Scripture tells us that He faced all that we do, and yet without sin Urgency is a human thing, an earthly reality In heaven there is no need   God’s redemptive power eliminates all regret,...

  The power of God is in no way limited by my understanding of it. However, my insistence on understanding the power of God limits by ability to receive it.   The faithfulness of God is in no way limited by my understanding. However, my need to understand the faithfulness of God critically limits my ability to receive it.   While the love of God is in no way limited by my understanding of it; my desire to fully understand God’s love can limit by ability to truly receive it.   Insert any number of words into this claim and it remains true: goodness, justice, forgiveness, mercy, will…. The need to understand and explain is a human desire. It is one critical difference between humanity and the divine. God told Moses in Exodus 3:14, “I am who I am” . What kind of introduction is that? God is. He needs no explanation! We are told in scripture that God existed before anything was created; that His spirit hovered over the dark void. (Genesis 1:1-2) In the opening...

  Your words are life    Speak to me -        That I might live     I hunger for your words to me You reveal what is stirring in the depths of me         Sometimes I cannot discern my own heart Your words calm the storm and restore me to peace Your words expose my motives, my fears and my longings   This revelation lights my path forward Hope and Courage are released by the words you speak Reminding me of who I am   Your words bring freedom Transforming the death and darkness inside of me Life, growth and promise grow up from the seeds of your words I plant them in the quiet, cool depths of my heart   I will wait with hope For your words grow up from within me Wisdom and strategy develop and bloom I find that I am thriving   Filled Satisfied And yet still hungry for your words   Your words are life    Speak to me -        That I might...

I’ve been writing for as long as I remember. In high school I remember the frustration of having to “force-fit” my writing into the structured rules and expectations of my teachers. I remember the joy of writing as I wanted to and sorrow of feeling like it “wasn’t any good”. In college I studied biology and chemistry – not much creative writing there!   Writing was a hobby, a way that I processed my thoughts and experiences. Until I published my book in December 2020, I didn’t share much of my writing publicly.   Since then, I have been growing in the discipline of writing and sharing my writing more. Last January I shared a post titled “Purpose & Resolve” where I reflected on the changing, but consistent role of writing in my life. I shared my purpose in writing and my goals for that year for both writing and for my blog. Now, one year later, I re-visited that post and witness how I have grown. The goals I set for 2024 were to prioritize writing on a weekly basis and ...

  As this year closes and another begins, I am aware of the significance of how I choose to view both years. There is great tension within me as I consider the things that remain unresolved and unfinished in 2024. There are several unknowns that continue on from this year into the next. There are hopes and dreams that began in this year that is ending, which will be carried on into the coming year. There are possibilities; some joyful and others offering a sense of dread. As I reflect on the closing of this year, I feel challenged to be healthy in how I both look back and forward. I want to end and begin with hope! I am profoundly aware that how I choose to view this past year directly impacts the way I will view and feel about the coming year. I see and hear people celebrate the end of a year as if the turning of the calendar page seals up the past forever. “Over and Done!” The new year is celebrated as a fresh start, untarnished, a new beginning. Is it? Is it truly fresh ...