Skip to main content

"When you trust God with your future, hope naturally abounds."

 A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus (2006-08-29) from his book, Uprising (Kindle Locations 1807-1808). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

As I have mentioned here many times, I am now retired. I was for many years paid to be good now I am good for nothing.  What I mean by that is I am a retired pastor.  I am no longer paid to be responsible for a group of people.  But I am this week doing one of those duties that goes along with being a pastor, I am doing a funeral of a very special friend not out of responsibility but out of deep love for his family.

Now death is one of those problem areas even if you are a Christian but especially if you are not.  I mean from this side it is so final.  There seems to be no hope.  They’re gone and we will never see them again.  But the reality is when you trust God with your future, hope naturally abounds.  I mean He says that He is preparing a place for us and therein is our hope.  This life is not the final story there is another place and even when someone goes on ahead of us, if they have and we have a relationship with God through His Son then we will see Him and we will see them again. 

I have a hope because of my trust in God to see my dad again, to see my father and mother-in-law again, to see Doug again and so many others again.  

Yes saying, “Good bye” to my friend, Doug will be tough but someday I will see Him again.   

So what is your hope built on?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

“Hurry and love are incompatible.”

A thought by John Mark Comer from his book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry (p. 23). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Wow, pretty strong thought isn’t it? John says, “All my worst moments as a father, a husband, and a pastor, even as a human being, are when I’m in a hurry—late for an appointment, behind on my unrealistic to-do list, trying to cram too much into my day. I ooze anger, tension, a critical nagging—the antitheses of love. If you don’t believe me, next time you’re trying to get your type B wife and three young, easily distracted children out of the house and you’re running late (a subject on which I have a wealth of experience), just pay attention to how you relate to them. Does it look and feel like love? Or is it far more in the vein of agitation, anger, a biting comment, a rough glare? Hurry and love are oil and water: they simply do not mix.” He goes on, “Hence, in the apostle P...

"Lie 2: The more you worry about it, the better your odds of avoiding it."

A thought by Louie Giglio in his book,   Winning the War on Worry    (p. 5). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Here is another lie that the Enemy uses with us. And Louie says, "This is a tricky lie. Yes, we often have cause for concern and preparation. But the Enemy wants you to believe that if you worry or fret over a certain outcome long enough, you can keep something bad from happening." But this is so important to realize. He says, "The reality is worrying has never once prevented something negative from happening. Planning might. Prayer has. But worry never will." He continues, "The Enemy tells you that by worrying about a situation (or every situation) you can make your tomorrow better. Really, worry just robs you of today. Jesus implored us: 'I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body mor...

“The gospel is good news, not good advice.”

A thought by Timothy Keller (2016-10-25) from his book, Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ (p. 21). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I’m glad you stopped to catch a glimpse of what this thought really means. Tim says, “Advice is counsel about what you must do. News is a report about what has already been done. Advice urges you to make something happen. News urges you to recognize something that has already happened and to respond to it. Advice says it is all up to you to act. News says someone else has acted.” He then gives an illustration, “Let’s say there is an invading army coming toward a town. What that town needs is military advisers; it needs advice. Someone should explain that the earthworks and trenches should go over there, the marksmen go up there, and the tanks must go down there.”   That’s advice He goes on, “However, if a great king has intercepted and ...