A NEW BEGINNING ..HOPE

PUT YOUR HOPE IN GOD

A NEW BEGINNING

I heard many years ago that hope is the rope we hang on to when circumstances seem like they are drowning us in sorrow, despair, misery and desperation.  For me, when I am overwhelmed and feeling hopeless, it is a good time for me to rehearse my verses to the King and to remind myself that I am not alone… realizing others have gone before me with the same difficulties in life and that we have an advocate in the Father on our behalf, begins to build hope within me again.  Our economy and observing what is going on in the world recently is enough to drain hope in people.  When I begin to feel hopless, I need to remind myself that I needd to go to the ROCK (Jesus) who is higher than I.

We can lose hope in many areas of our life.  Health problems, being in constant pain, financial problems, relational difficulties, challenges working within the body of Christ, problems at our workplace, and just plain being overwhelmed by life.  Going to the word of God has a way of uplifting my spirits and puts things back into perspective for me.

I pray these scriptures are a blessing to you, I pray our God who is able will lift you up and out of your dire straits, and hold you close, breathing new hope within you.

When we have Jesus Christ in our hearts, we have reason to hope.  We are no longer far off from the promises of God and alone, but we are brought close to Him through His blood sacrifice for us.  How about this scripture: 

Eph 2:12-13  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Our faith and hope need no longer be in other things including leaning on our own understanding.. we as believers have a reason to hope.  Jesus was raised up from the grave, so we have the promise God will also raise us up not only on the last day, but He will raise us up from all our difficulties and those things that trouble us.

Titus 1:2 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

For example: if we are unfairly condemned:  Our Jesus is forever interceding for us. These words should give us hope in times when the enemy and everyone else seems to be coming at us!

Romans 8:34  KJB
Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

WOW!  We have access to His grace, and we can stand and rejoice and hope in His glory!!  And, not only that, but we can also rejoice in our hard times knowing that God is the midst of them is working beautiful characteristics in us, and we will not be ashamed. 

Romans 5: 2-5   By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.3  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4  And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost

Hallelujah! We have other men and women of God who have gone before us as examples of even hoping against hope believed .. and were rewarded for their faithfulness. 

Romans 4:18  Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

Our stronghold is JESUS, and I so long to turn to Him in every area of my life.  I so want to be a prisoner of hope. I fail miserably sometimes and miss the mark, but I do so love the promise that by doing so I will receive double blessing.  Lord, help us all to become prisoners of hope in Your Name. Amen

Zech 9:12  Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;

Woooo hoooo!  Our own Lion of Judah will roar… and the heavens and earth shall shake, but it will not come nigh His people, He will fill us with hope and strength!  Glory!!!  Powerful words.                          

Joel 3:16  The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

Awww.. this is one of my dearest friends favorite verses.. I love it too!  The valley of Achor was a place where God turned away His fierce anger and a memorial of stones was made for the people to remember. 

God is no longer angry with us, the blood of Jesus covers all those who come to Him in repentance.  He wants to give us the areas of productivity in our lives and to remind us and give us hope.  We shall sing, be youthful, as in the day when God delivered His people from bondage in Egypt.  We were all slaves to the enemy and in bondage and captivity until God parted the sea for us to go across unto the promised land of salvation.

Hosea 2:15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

As a baby, little ones do fret until they have latched onto their mother for nurturing, sustenance, comfort, and love.  They had reason to hope because mother was consistently there for them.  That is how God is for us.  We have reason to hope in Him, because He has proved himself over and over, that He is there for us.

Psalm 22:9  But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts

For those of us who have had the privilege of growing up in a Christian home, the blessing of being able to see God’s hand from a young age displayed through our parents, pastors, and other believers, is a rich heritage.  Learning to trust God from a young age is such a blessing, and instills strength for adult years.  For those of you who have not had this, I pray that God will restore those years for you and that God will instill within you supernatural hope.

Psalm 71:5 For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.

This is one of my very favorite verses.  I share it many times with those who are going through bouts of depression.  I am not a depressive type of person, however, everyone gets down at times.  At times when that would happen, my late husband, who was so funny and loving would take me to a place on the wall in the kitchen that he called his “anti-depression button”!!  He would press my finger on the imaginary button and say “there, now you can hope in God, all depression is depressed”!!!  This little comedy skit always made me laugh at myself and my own folly of not trusting in God, and it did help change my countenance!!

Psalm 425  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.

What about these two?  We don’t have to buckle in the midst of trials.  We can be courageous no matter what we encounter in this life, for our hope is in the LORD!

Psalm 31:24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

Psalm 33:18 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

God’s mercy is poured upon us according to the degree that we hope in the Lord.

Psalm 33:22  Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

Hoping in God will cause a merry heart, our whole nature to rejoice and we will find rest in hoping in the Lord.

Psalm 16:9  Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

May the Spirit that raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead "quicken" and bring to life everything within us that has been languishing, fading in hopelessness, ... everything that is weary in well doing....every fading ember of hopes and dreams planted in our hearts by the Lord....fill us with strength and might in our inner man...that out of our encouraged hearts our mouths will speak forth the prophetic proclamations and decrees of the Most High - so that NONE SHALL PERISH, but our HOPE is in JESUS CHRIST!

Psalm 38:15 For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.

Expecting and anticipating great things in your life,

Donna/Donsie

SELF ABSORBTION

This word was written and sent out as an email in 1997.  I was not sure which blog to put this in, Times with the King or here at The Comforter's Arms, as I am kind of feeling now that it is a word for today... and it does have to do with healing.  I really needed a time of refresing and a vacation when I wrote this, so I hope you will give me grace for the areas I am not walking in mercy!!  I pray you will be blessed by this word.

SELF ABSORBTION

Dear One,

Here is the copy of the e-mail you wanted.  It came out of a time where I was really pouring out of my heart to God for the body ... myself too!!  If we can only grasp a portion of the blessings He has for us and His plans. we’d become absorbed in something so much greater and important... I love you much... glad this ministered to you, honey... you’re gonna make it!!   We have Father’s guarantee!!

THE SIN OF SELF-ABSORBTION

We have always found in counseling that if one is depressed  (it is 90% of the time, in my opinion, a sign of inverted eyeballs, unforgiveness (God, self or others), or apathy, or self pity.  It also could be the result of a shock or trauma, perhaps childhood abuse for one example, and the full circle of events is still being sorted out in one’s life.  Also, it could be chemical... what is chemical anyway?  I  tend see it as the world's term for what is really lack of communion with God and being back on the right track and relationship with the Great Physician, but I could be wrong on this … I just believe that no matter what the cause, Jesus can heal.

It is amazing how when you feel awful about life in general you can minister to someone else and find yourself coming out of the pigpen of self pity and wallowing… Time for the body of Christ to come to it's senses as the Prodigal did and realize that this revival that is going on is only for a period, if we don't allow God to do what He wants to do in our lives.. we will not be prepared for the next move and will be left behind.    I think there is always a reason that God revives us, we had to have been alive at one point to be revived right?  Well, if that is so.. I think there is something up ahead in the near future we will all need the reviving for.  I for one do not want to miss being empowered by His Holy Spirit for what is about to come, and I know your don’t either.  I asked the Lord, what about all this laughter in this Revival move?   What came to my mind was that He was filling us now with His joy because the JOY OF THE LORD is our strength.  And why will we need strength??  I don’t know exactly, I just know I need to have the one who IS MY JOY fill me now!

But I digress...  getting back to depression…  I think there has been so much of “me and my problems in the body of Christ” I think the key here is to pray for one on one encounters with Christ.  He is the only one who can remove depression!  Another thing that does seem to help, is volunteering.  My husband feels so strongly about this that when we counsel someone who is depressed, he writes out a "spiritual prescription" for them stating: "find a place to volunteer your time".  It does help because whe we are looking in other areas to be busy with, we do forget about our own problems!  There is something wonderful that happens when we "come out of ourselves" and begin to focus on other people.  You've heard the old saying, "I was complaining about not having any shoes until I met a person without any feet". 

I believe anyone who has known the Lord for twenty four hours or more, should be wanting to bless God.... whatever it is we can do, we should be doing according to our natural and spiritual talents and gifts... just as the ONLY way out of lack is giving.. there just aren't any short cuts.. the only way out of depression is giving of yourself to someone else... a kingdom cause, something eternal and lasting. 

I know there are many exceptions where people have been so down trodden by life, it takes time for healing to take place, but I think about the woman who was caught in adultery and I can’t even imagine the lifestyle she grew up in to be so hurt by life that she had given herself to so many men.. but WOW ! When Jesus spoke to her, she instantly was healed and shared the good news!!  Amazing!

I just read an article today where a national intercessor... stated that America is like a burning ship in the ocean of life... unless we come out of ourselves and begin to realize that we are burning fast... we will be just like the Roman Empire who thought they were so great, nothing could really cause them to crumble... and then it happened... and what was the outcome? I remember my Mother telling me when I was a young woman maybe eleven about the Roman Empire and how it is important in life to follow God,   and how the Roman Empire crumbled due to self indulgence and self pleasure.  Just like Sodom and Gomorrah, the main sin according to the word was not sexual sin which relates also to the Roman empire and America also.  No,  the sin was pride and hedonistic living... not doing the everyday things necessary, not doing what we ought..  and our pride at thinking everything will be alright, believing self-centered living will be overlooked... pride at believing it wouldn't happen. 

These are serious times.. we need to realize there is MUCH WORK to be done in the Kingdom... we have a great responsibility.. this mark of Christ we bear is not one where we are carrying the torch and passing it on, but unfortunately we are constantly crying out for others to carry us and to light the torch for us!  We are called to  carry the torch for our families, and the body of Christ, and for our co-workers... we must NOT allow complacency slip in.  First generation born again believers must break the generational curses and war against the old worldly ways of thinking and the old patterns and landmarks that have been set...  God has begun to show me that there were even believers in our own personal generational backgrounds who were not willing to press in and fight for the right and the ways of God and gave into the voices of the enemy, complacency and self absorption, and the landmarks of His ways (God’s ways), and the boundaries that God had set as life and truth were not adhered to because of a lack of commitment to God and a zeal for the house of the Lord. 

We must make sure we fight for the spiritual land God has given us and not allow the enemy to steal, pervert or move the boundaries of freedom He has set.  It is important that we contend for it in our own lives, but also for the future generations that will go on after us should the Lord tarry.  It breaks my heart that the the boundaries God has set have been so changed.   We need to intercede and not compromise the Gospel truths the landmarks must be a settled issue in our hearts and minds.

Am I angry at what the enemy has tried to accomplish?... YES... discouraged?... yes... have faith that God can and will do miracles for those who are WILLING to pay the price.  YES!  Well, He already has paid the price... all we need do is walk in the price He already has secured for us... and peace, joy, and contentment return... enough of the sermonizing!!  But it is definitely on my heart at the moment!

Just tired of seeing the body of Christ allowing Satan kick them around the block and not getting out and giving him a good kick in the teeth or at least believing by faith our advocate and intercessor will do it for us as in Psalm 1 or 3? ... and He will KNOCK OUT THE TEETH OF THE ENEMY.  Wow, I must need a vacation, I am not normally this way.

Another thing that really gets me is the ones who need the body and the support the most, and who are in the worst shape, and who need the body the most and the love the most and the fellowshipping the most.. come to the fewest services and reach out the least...  I believe the enemy puts barricades up so that they won’t be able to receive God’s love and grace?  

Where does our help come from?  Our help comes from the Lord who made

heaven and earth... if He made us and heaven and earth, certainly His plan for our lives should work ...  and that plan includes receiving our strength from Him, but also from the body of believers.

My friend, my heart for you is that you will open up to your local body, honey and share your heart and feelings and pain and failures and all that is going on inside of you so that you can be healed... I know you’re afraid, I know you are timid, and feel you don’t want to burden anyone, but there’s a difference between wanting to be pampered and stroked, and wanting to sort out and receive support and encouragement to help you through a difficult time... No man is an island and we are made to help and encourage each other.  I would not have much of a relationship with Bart if I did not share my thoughts and feelings, up and downs with him.  I mostly would not have much of a relationship with God if I did not pour out every thought, concern and share the love I have for Him on a one on one basis right?  Same thing with the body.  As we come to know each other more and more, and are drawn to ones we feel God is leading us to, we share hearts and compassion for one another begins to grow, maybe a word of wisdom, maybe a gentle hug or a shoulder to cry on.. This is what life is ALL about .. loving God and loving His creations!

I get weary of the body of Christ not realizing we are the head and not the tail... of sharing truth in what seems to be pockets with holes... How many times does God think and say that about me, I wonder?  He must get so tired of sharing His truths with me and it must seem to Him it’s to NO avail... Help me Jesus to be patient, loving and long suffering and to have grace and love for myself and others in the process...  Which reminds me of the joke of a bible character who was lamenting to God about how he was longsuffering with a person … God’s answer “I have been longsuffering with this person before he was formed in his mother’s womb, and you can’t long suffer with him for a fortnight??” !!! LOL  Yikes I feel like Pogo in the old comic strip  “we have met the enemy and he is us”!

POGO!

Oh God, help us to have fruit that remains.  How can we ever reach the dying world when we can't reach beyond ourselves?... help us Lord to see the larger picture... the great commission is calling us ... breathe your life into dead bones, and dead works, and cause us to march on enemy territory and destroy the works of the evil one...  We love you so much Lord, and we desire that all our actions come from a place of being with you, and hearing Your way.  We want to be moved by Your compassion as You moved with compassion and healing took place.

We must make a choice of how we will spend the rest of our lives..... ABSORBED IN... OURSELVES, AND WALKING IN THE SIN OF SELF ABSORBTION WHICH LEADS TO DEATH?   OR OURSELVES BEING ABSORBED... BECAUSE WE ARE ABSORBED IN KINGDOM LIVING ..

AND SPENDING OUR TIME, TALENTS, RESOURCES AND LIFE ABSORBED WITH OUR REEDEEMER, IN KINGDOM PURPOSES WHICH LEAD TO LIFE AND FRUIT!

The only way we can come out of this beloved of God and friend, is to receive His love and grace and come to a knowing in our knower (our Spirit), that God is FOR US and that there is something so wonderful He has for us outside all our tribulations and pain and trials that we are going to pass this test and the ones that will be coming in the near future, and move up and on in HIM.  Remembering that He is FOR US, that we not lose sight of this in the days ahead, and to grasp the truth that the harvest, the lost and being part of His healing team with His words of life in His Kingdom, is a reason worth living for!!  It IS honey, He GAVE HIS LIFE FOR IT...... HE GAVE US ALL WE NEED AND HIS LOVE TO CARRY US THROUGH SO WE CAN GIVE OUR LIFE BACK TO HIM IN GRATEFULNESS AND LOVE!!

I hope this helps you some dearest one... hey, guess what... we’re all learning TOGETHER... you’re not alone..

Faith is a gift for you...Lord,  infuse her inward being with devil stomping grit and bulldog tenacity to press on and forget about everything else ... it's the only way ... 

let us see a cause so much greater than ourselves that it catapults us out of our apathy, and spurs us on to new depths of commitment, direction and contentment...

You are loved in heaven and on earth!

From my heart to yours,


Pastor D.

donnatrex@yahoo.com