Tag Archives: hope does not disappoint

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Don’t Lose Your Sparkle

And How to Get It Back If You Have

PREVIEW: Do you ever wonder why there are some people whose eyes just always seem to sparkle? Is it because they have such a naturally sunny disposition? Is it because things are continually going their way? Is it because they are just so much better at life that they outshine the average person? What is it about these sparkly people? Well, it could be any or all of the above factors contribute to their winsome approach to the world. But I would venture to guess that these folks have also developed the ability to practice hopefulness in the midst of all the negative stuff that might send a less hopeful person into the tank. My friend, put your hope in the promises of God.

“The #1 contributing factor that leads people to quit in life—in relationships, in vocation, in spiritual matters—is the failure to practice hope. Friend, choose daily to put hope in God’s promises.” —Ray Noah

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 13:3

Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.

Do you ever wonder why there are some people whose eyes just always seem to sparkle? Is it because they have such a naturally sunny disposition? Is it because things are continually going their way? Is it because they are just so much better at life that they outshine the average person? What is it about these sparkly people?

Well, it could be any or all of the above factors contribute to their winsome approach to the world. But I would venture to guess that these folks have also developed the ability to practice hopefulness in the midst of all the negative stuff that might send a less hopeful person into the tank.

Aaron Beck, a leading marriage researcher, found the number one belief that kills marriages is that a spouse will never change. Once that belief set in, there was the loss of motivation, surrender of perseverance, and simply giving up. Here’s the thing: Underneath the failure to endure and quitting on the relationship, there was a loss of hope.

The Bible tells us in Proverbs 13:12 that “hope deferred makes the heart sick.” But when hope is practiced, whether in marriage specifically or life in general, there is tremendous motivation not only for growth and change but for that winsome radiance to dominate our personality in a way that both elevates our moods and is consistently visible to those we are around.

That is why we must choose daily to put our hope in the promises of God.

That’s what David did. He practiced hope. In the first two verses of this six-verse psalm, David focused on the overwhelmingly bad things in his life that were dragging him down. But in the last two verses, his focus has shifted to the overwhelming mercy and grace of God — and it changed everything. What did David do to pull off that turnaround?

  1. He prayed. David went to God, pouring out his complaint: “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?” (vv. 1-2)
  2. He made a bold request: “Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him,’ and my foes will rejoice when I fall.” (vv. 3-4)
  3. He put on hope. He went back into the memory banks of his experience with God and recalled that God had never failed him — not even once — and since God had been faithful in David’s past, it only made sense to trust him in the present: “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.” (v. 5)
  4. He praised. David began to sing of God’s constant goodness and never-ending love: “I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.” (v. 6)

David practiced hope — and before knew it, the sparkle had returned to his eyes.

Hebrews 6:19 says of the practice of hope: “We have this hope as an anchor of the soul, firm and secure.”

And when we practice, too, hope — praying, reflecting, singing — we can expect the sparkle to return to our eyes. As Romans 5:5 says, “hope does not disappoint us.”

My Offering of Worship: If at the moment worrisome circumstances have you feeling down, David’s psalm has provided a recipe for doing the most powerful thing you can do to turn any situation around for your good. He prayed, he asked boldly, he praised, and he put on hope. Try that if you are going through a rough patch, and see if the sparkle doesn’t return to your eyes.

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Hope is Alive

Nothing Else Matters

CHRIST IS RISEN—AND NOTHING ELSE MATTERS! If you believe Jesus rose from the dead, then stop living like he’s still in the tomb. Jesus died on Good Friday and rose again on Easter Sunday so that you and I can live with hope on Monday—and every other day of the week throughout life and for all eternity.

Enduring Truth // Matthew 27:50, 1 Peter 1:3

Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit…Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Jesus died on Good Friday, but rose again on Easter Sunday, so that you and I can live with hope on Monday—and every other day of the week throughout life and for all eternity. That is what Peter calls living hope:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3)

When you fully embrace this living hope, you will quit living like Jesus is still dead! That is our problem, I think: We embrace Good Friday and rejoice in Resurrection Sunday, but go back to work or school on Monday and live as if the Lord’s body is still in the tomb.

The story is told of Martin Luther, who once spent three days in a deep depression over something that had gone wrong. On the third day his wife, Katie, came downstairs dressed in mourning clothes. Luther asked, “Who’s dead?” She replied, “God!” Luther was offended, “What do you mean, God is dead? God cannot die.” Kate replied, “Well, the way you’ve been acting I was sure He had!”

Peter calls to us today, to snap out of post-Easter funk, because Jesus lives! We have a living hope that really matters beyond Easter!” I love how historian Jaroslav Pelikan said it, “If Christ is risen—nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen—nothing else matters.”

What difference does an Easter resurrection make on a back-to-work Monday?

  1. Christ’s death and resurrection are the foundation of your faith. The fact is, without the resurrection, your faith (and life) is meaningless. I Corinthians 15:14 says, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.”
  2. Christ’s death and resurrection are the basis of your hope. 1 Corinthians 15:19-20 says, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than anyone else in the world. But Christ has been raised to life! And this makes us certain that we will also be raised to life.” Hebrews 6:19 says, “We have this hope as an anchor of the soul, firm and secure.” Romans 5:5 say this “hope does not disappoint us!”
  3. Christ’s death and resurrection are the guarantee of your resurrection. Jesus said in John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” If you do—believe, that is—the cross and the empty tomb become God’s signature on the Divine contract with you assuring you of eternal life after you die.

Yes, Christ is risen, and nothing else matters!

Thrive: When you wake up tomorrow, try singing, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.” It just might fill you with hope, and that can’t hurt.

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Romans 5: (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding

Read Romans 5:1-11

(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained
access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
~Romans 5:1-2

Digging Deeper: Elvis Costello & The Attractions (I know, your favorite band) first popularized the song, “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” back in the late 1970’s.  If you haven’t heard it—it’s actually a pretty catchy song—you might want to download it to your ITunes.

Anyway, that’s a digression from what I want to talk about.  But I do think it makes a pretty good title for Romans 5:1-11.  The essence of Paul’s argument here is that we have peace with God (not just inner calm and serenity, but literally, the mutual hostility between God and man because of man’s sin has been ended) and access (free, unlimited, and irrevocable) to his grace (unmerited favor) because, through his love, we have been justified (a once-and-for-all legal settlement) by Christ’s sacrificial death.

I don’t know about you, but I find that funny. Not just kind of funny, but gut-splittingly funny!  “Funny” not in the sense of ridiculous—although getting credited with righteousness before God through Christ’s account is a pretty ridiculous equation, wouldn’t you say?  Not just “funny” in the sense of foolish—although the idea of being right with God apart from good works and human effort is the height of foolishness to those who are not saved. And not just “funny” in the sense of odd—although how odd is it that God would go to such great links to prove his love by loving that which was completely unlovable? (Romans 5:6-8)

No, I’m talking “funny” in the sense that what God has done for you and me is so undeserved, and we are such unlikely candidates for his grace, that the only response you and I can offer in return is to fall on our knees, undone by love, overflowing with gratitude, and giddy with joy!

These first eleven verses are so amazingly profound that no commentary I or anyone else can offer will really do them justice.  So I want to recommend that you simply read and re-read them until the Spirit who inspired them illuminates them to you in a fresh way and brings you into a true and deeper understanding of what it took to justify you, and what it means for you to stand in peace and grace in God’s presence.

I have a sense that when you really begin to understand this—although I’m not sure we will ever really and fully “get” what has been done for us—you will probably fall on your knees in laughter, or dumbfounded silence, or tears—because all those responses are appropriate when you begin to understand even in the slightest the amazing grace and the deep, deep love of God!

What’s so funny ‘bout peace, love and understanding?  Everything!

“Mercy for the sinner, help in the hardest place,
everything for nothing, that is grace!”
~C.C. Beatty

This Week’s Assignment (Including two options for scripture memory):

  • Option A—Memorize Romans 5:1-4,  “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
  • Option B—Memorize Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
  • Read Romans 5:1-11 once a day for the next seven days (you might want to use different version on different days). Ask God to give you a fresh understanding of the richness of these verses.