Hope in the Rock

 

"Now the just shall live by faith…" Hebrews 10:38

 

"Believe God's Word and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences. 

Your Rock is Christ,

and it is not the Rock which ebbs and flows,

but your sea." ~Samuel Rutherford

 

"Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast…" Hebrews 6:19

 

Resist the push and pull of emotions today. 


Tuck yourself into the Cleft of the Rock and hide there from the rushing tide. 


You will be safe. 

You will be sheltered. 

You will survive the storm!

A Motivating Hope

 

"Servants don't blow a trumpet out in front of themselves." ~ Dr. Carter

 

"Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them:  otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

"Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men.  Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."

Matthew 6:1-2


We don't lose our reward if we are praised by men for our good works.

We lose our reward if the motivation for our good works is the praise of men.


 "That we should be to the praise of his glory…" Ephesians 1:12a

 

Our sole motivation (and our soul motivation) should be to bring God glory.


Why do you do what you do?

 

Hope in Climbing

 

"Not many of us are living at our best. 

We linger in the lowlands because we are afraid to climb the mountains. 

The steepness and ruggedness dismay us, and so we stay in the misty valleys and do not learn the mystery of the hills. 

We do not know what we lose in our self-indulgence,

what glory awaits us

if only we had courage for the mountain climb,

what blessing we should find if only we would move to the uplands of God."

~J.R.M. (Streams in the Desert)

 

So…let's get on our climbing boots…

("…your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;" Eph 6:15)

And head out for those hills!!!

(The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places…" Habukkuk 3:19)


"But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine." Isaiah 43:1

 

Hope in Holding On

 

"For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;" Hebrews 3:14

 

"The problem of getting great things from God is being able to hold on for the last half hour." ~Selected from Streams in the Desert

 

"For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry." Habakkuk 2:3


God's promises are not always swiftly kept,
    But they are surely kept! 
God moves at exactly the right time, every time.
.

 

Uncomfortable Hope

 

"You will never learn faith in comfortable surroundings"~L.B. Cowman

 

"Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.  This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me."  Psalm 119:49-50

 

Let despair drive you to the Word. 

Your faith will come alive as you trust in Him.

 


Hope in There

 

"He turned the sea into dry land; they went through the flood on foot there did we rejoice in him." Psalm 66:6

 

"How many there are who can endorse this as their experience: 

that "there", in their very seasons of distress and sadness,

they have been enabled, as they never did before,

to triump and rejoice."

~Dr. Macduff, Streams in the Desert


No matter where your "there" is…you can rejoice in the Lord today.

 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face;

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

~Helen H. Lemmel

 

 

Hope in Hiding

 

"…in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;" Isaiah 49:2


"The photograph of His face can only be fixed in the dark chamber.

"But do not suppose that He has cast thee aside.  Thou art still in His quiver, He has not flung thee away as a worthless thing…" ~Meyer

 

Praise the Lord, He is holding me close, even in the darkness…I am hidden in His hand!