ADVENT SERIES: THE LORD IS PEACE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.”

And Gideon did so.

Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.

When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”

So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. Judges 16:19-24

The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace. Psalm 29:11

For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people. 1 Corinthians 14:33

Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. 2 Thessalonians 3:16

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After spending the first week of Advent looking at the theme of hope, we turn to week number two and the matter of peace. And as we will see in the first message of this series, peace begins with the Lord who is peace. The scriptures affirm as much.

For starters, look again at this passage from the Book of Judges as God works to summon Gideon to come into His service:

Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.”

And Gideon did so.

Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.

When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”

So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. 16:19-24

You may remember that Gideon was much like the New Testament disciples, Thomas (John 20:24-29). He wanted to believe that Jesus was indeed speaking with him but needed some additional evidence before he would go all in.

And so in the lead in to the verses above, we find this exchange between the Lord and Gideon, who didn’t quite know who he was talking to:

The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

“Pardon me, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in Your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”

And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.” 6:14-18

Here, we find the Lord patient and in a peaceful state as He helped Gideon process his calling, even honoring the request to stand by until the reluctant servant brought his offering which comprised of a “young goat” and “bread without yeast” that he had made “from an ephah of flour”. After bringing these things and offering them to the Lord “under the oak.

It was there that we read where the “angel of God” told Gideon to place the prepared goat and bread on a rock minus the broth which was to be poured out. As soon as Gideon had complied with the request, the scriptures tell us that the angel “touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand” and when he did, “fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread”.

As soon as this happened, the “angel of the Lord disappeared” and when he did, Gideon suddenly realized who he had been talking to and in distress, cried out to God saying:

“Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

Note what the Lord did in response to Gideon’s cry. He simply sought to put him at ease, saying:

“Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”

And with that, Gideon was okay because he had gained peace from the Lord who is peace. In fact, we read where Gideon “built an altar to the Lord” in that spot and “called it”, “The Lord Is Peace”.

Friends, this Lord of peace acknowledged and praised by Gideon is the same Lord of praise we serve today. As David discovered, He is the Lord who “gives strength to His people” and “blesses (them) with peace” (Psalm 29:11). He is “not a God of disorder” but rather a Lord “of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33) who “through the blood of the eternal covenant brought” Jesus, the “great Shepherd” and Savior of the sheep, “back to life”. All this was so all Christ believers could be equipped “with everything good for doing” the will of God the Father, the God of peace (Hebrews 13:20-21).

It was through this Lord that we find the Apostle Paul writing this following benediction to the Thessalonian Christians, a benediction that will serve as the closing for this message as I wish for you, the reader, to experience peace in your life from the One who is peace:

Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. 2 Thessalonians 3:16

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

ADVENT SERIES: HOPE POINTS US TOWARDS GLORY

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of His body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the Word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them, God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

He is the One we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end, I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.

Colossians 1:24-29

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The Advent season, the season that runs up to Christmas day, is all about Jesus at its core. For it is a time of spiritual preparation and excited anticipation for all Christian believers, a time of personal readiness to celebrate the blessed birth of the holy Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

In other words, take away Christ and you don’t have Christmas anymore, at least the real reason for the season anyways.

But thankfully, God did love the world so much that He didn’t wish for any single person to perish but to have the opportunity for eternal life (John 3:16). And so He, through the Holy Spirit, impregnated a young virgin girl named Mary who would bear the Savior of the world, a son that they named Jesus as commanded (Luke 1:26-38). By divine arrangement, the soon expecting Mary and her faithful husband, Joseph, would travel to the little town of Bethlehem where Jesus would come into the world and change human history forever. He would become the Way and the Truth and the Life, the only One through which anyone could come to God the Father (John 14:6).

This truth became the heart of the Gospel, a truth that Jesus Himself taught during His three years of ministry and then commanded all disciples afterwards to carry on in what is known as His Great Commission:

“All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

Note here that salvation was available to anyone, whether Jew or otherwise, the “otherwise” referred to as Gentiles in the scriptures. This was the “mystery” that had been “hidden for ages and generations” as Paul’s describes on our passage for today from his letter to the Colossian Christians, most of which were definitely under the Gentile classification. Through Jesus, the apostle shares that God had “chosen to make known” the “glorious riches” of the mystery which included Christ dwelling within all of them who had placed their trust in His name. In doing this, we read where they, like all Jesus followers, gained “the hope of glory”.

The spiritual life or death nature of this was why Paul dedicated his life to sharing the good news of Jesus wherever God sent him, even if it meant rejection, persecution, and suffering. Here’s how he summed up the difficulties faced while sharing the Gospel:

“Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.” 2 Corinthians 11:23-27

If the life of a Christian was supposed to be carried out in a comfort zone, in a bubble that never placed a person in the midst of trouble, then someone forgot to tell Paul. But we can see that obedience to carry out the call of Jesus and like Him, fulfill the will of the Father was more important to Paul than the sufferings He would endure, sufferings he knew his Savior had also endured all the way to Calvary’s cross and the crucifixion that took place there. Those sufferings were all for the good of those God wished to save through His Son and three days after that suffering, Jesus was resurrected from the grave so to ascend to Heaven and sit at the right hand of His Father with authority over all things in Heaven and on earth (Ephesians 1:22-23).

Going back to our text for today, this included the church that led Paul to actually “rejoice in the suffering” he went through for the cause of saving the lost. As the “servant” of the Christian church through “the commission” given to him to present “the Word of God in its fullness”, Paul committed his life to “proclaim” Jesus, “admonishing and teaching” all who were willing to listen “with all wisdom”, wisdom not of his own but provided by the Holy Spirit at work within him. The goal Paul strenuously worked toward using “all the energy” of Jesus, who worked “powerfully” within him, was to “present everyone fully mature in Christ” when the day of God’s judgment would arrive. On that day, they would gain their guaranteed promise of everlasting life through the hope they held onto in and through Jesus and that hope would result in an eternity in glory.

Friends, there could be no better way to end this first week of Advent messages that have been centered on hope with this reminder, the reminder that the hope we gain through believing in Jesus points us to the greatest glory ever, the glory of eternal life with God and His Son forever. The truth is that our best life is yet ahead and it all started in a manger in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago and a baby named Jesus.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

ADVENT SERIES: HOPE LEADS TO FAITH

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.

By faith, we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Hebrews 11:1-3

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

This first week in Advent, we have been focusing on the matter of hope through five messages so far. We have two left before we move onto the theme of peace.

Today, we turn to the eleventh chapter of Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, a chapter famously known as “the faith chapter”. Before it goes into a list of renowned Old Testament figures who stood out because of the faith they displayed in God, we find these three lead in verses. Look again at them now:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.

By faith, we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. Hebrews 11:1-3

We should note here how faith is a by-product of hope, a “confidence in what” someone places their hope in. Running this out logically, we can see then that faith doesn’t happen if hope doesn’t exist for without hope, we have nothing to have “confidence in”.

It’s also important to see how the scriptures make it clear that hope and faith share this in common. They both are associated with things that are unseen and I would also add, unknown.

In other words, it’s easy to have faith and hope in things that are tangible, known quantities.

We work for a company or organization where our pay is guaranteed and so when payday comes, our money ends up in our hands.

We wake up every day to light from the sun, even when the days are cloudy, and go to sleep when it’s dark with the moon and the stars in the sky overhead.

We cycle through seasons every year with most people experiencing all four with their associated temperature changes, hotter in the summer and colder in the winter with spring and fall being more transitional.

We can sit in a chair, drive over a bridge, and stand on the ground with the assurance we will be supported.

There are many examples like this we can turn to and see where it doesn’t take much faith or hope in those instances. In fact, they are so automatic that we rarely even think about them because we’re so sure they will just happen as they always do.

But what about when someone becomes afflicted with a serious disease like cancer where the prognosis was fifty-fifty that they could survive or die?

Or when a person has everything going for them with a good career and then abruptly loses their job with a lot of expenses that still need paid monthly?

Or a husband or wife who suddenly learns that their spouse is having an affair on them and has decided to leave the marriage, even with children still growing up in the household?

These are just a few real life examples of how life can turn upside down on someone in a hurry, times when someone can find themselves hoping in something they can’t see as they seek to develop faith in the midst of difficulties.

It’s not easy, right?

If you’ve ever been there like me, you know it’s not. We don’t have the requisite strength or courage to handle these hardships when they come and believe me, they will come if you live long enough. This is why it’s important to remember what we covered in yesterday’s message, that hope can help us focus on the Lord who is the only perfect certainty that we have.

Going back to our passage from Hebrews, here’s what we find in verse 3:

By faith, we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Here, a believer’s hope in God and His Word leads them to understand how the universe they live in was formed, not from some “big bang” theory or any other crazy scientific theory but rather through the command of the Lord. He and He alone made what we see and know, the visible, from utter nothingness, the unintelligible.

In other words, those who believe in God know that He can make anything happen out of hope in Him and this hope is best expressed through faith and trust that He can handle whatever we’re going through.

He can make the way so cancer can be healed and remission can occur, bringing life out of uncertainty where death was a probability.

He can open a door for someone to find a new job in their career field, a job where the income level helps support the bills and other expenses needed.

He can either mend broken marriages or if one spouse decides to follow their own will and go their own way, then he can provide a new, more Christ-centered partner for the abandoned husband or wife, one that will be obedient to the scriptures and love their mate with fidelity and spiritual integrity as the Bible commands.

Friends, as you read through the rest of chapter 11 in Hebrews, you will see documented, real life examples of people like you and me who faced tough trials, challenges, and/or decisions and made it through because of faith born out of the hope they had in their God.

Abel brought the more appropriate offering than his brother Cain out of His hope, faith, and respect for God, and although he was murdered, his story still inspires others to follow his lead.

Noah built an enormous ark on dry land because God told him to, speaking about a great flood that seemed improbable in that mostly arid region. This flood would wipe out all mankind but Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives, as long as an ark full of pairs of living creatures survived, all because Noah placed his hope and faith in the Lord.

Abraham left his home country with his family and possessions in tow to go to a place that was unknown at the time of his departure. He simply hoped in God with faith, trusting that He would lead them safely to the place He wanted them to be.

You can go on to read more on this as the scriptures move from Isaac to Jacob to Joseph, from Moses and the Israelites to even a prostitute named Rahab and her act of hope and faith in God found in the story of the Israelite conquest of the city of Jericho.

Today, we too can add to this list of those who maintained their hope in the Lord in the midst of hard circumstances and fully experienced His power through faith in His ability to do all things. Unlike the Old Testament saints, we have an additional hope that can only serve to strengthen and fortify our faith. This hope is at the center of this Advent season, the Savior Jesus, whose birth we are preparing to celebrate with excited anticipation. It’s this hope that sets us free from the uncertainties of this worldly existence, a hope that produces faith in a better life yet to come, the eternal life promised by a God who loved us so much that He didn’t wish for us to perish in Hell but rather experience eternal life with Him forever when this life ends, all through just simply believing in His Son (John 3:16).

Today and every day, let us rejoice and give thanks for the hope we have in Jesus, the hope that leads to a faith that is sure that what God has guaranteed will come to be.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

ADVENT SERIES: HOPE ALLOWS US TO FOCUS ON WHAT IS CERTAIN

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:17-19

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today, we come to our fifth message in this series on hope which is the main theme of the first week in the Advent season. To date, we have learned the following from the scriptures:

1. Hope is found in God.

https://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com/2025/11/advent-series-hope-is-found-in-god.html

2. Hope is found in God’s Word.

https://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com/2025/12/advent-series-hope-is-found-in-gods-word.html

3. Hope is found in the Lord who brings strength.

https://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com/2025/12/advent-series-hope-is-found-in-lord-who.html

and

4. Hope develops patience through the waiting.

https://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com/2025/12/advent-series-hope-develops-patience.html

And this brings us to today’s text from Paul’s first letter to Timothy, the young pastor who was his protégé. Look again at these words of exhortation here:

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” 1 Timothy 6:17-19

We can really sum up Paul’s words here with the following:

Don’t trust in the world. Put your hope in God and in Him alone.

Specifically, we find Paul centering on the rich in these three verses. Timothy was carrying out ministry in the Ephesian church at the time so we get a sense of the affluency that existed within the body of believers.

Ephesus itself was a very important center of commercial trade by land and sea during New Testament times and so it should be of little surprise that the Romans made it the provincial capital of Asia. It was also a center of polytheistic worship practices as the great temple of Artemis, also known as Diana, was in the city. The temple, dedicated to this goddess of Greek mythology, was renowned as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. You can read about her and how Paul caused a real uproar within the city when he brought the Gospel there and spoke against false gods in the nineteenth chapter of the Book of Acts.

Back to our scripture passage and Paul’s words to Timothy where we find him telling the young minister to have the rich place their emphasis on the following instead of their wealth:

“Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”  

So how could these rich Ephesians shift their behavior so radically from self-centered riches to selfless sacrifice through helping others by serving or giving?

They would have to first put their hope in God, the God who would help them become the people He wanted them to be, the people they needed to be.

And the same applies to us today.

When it comes to living this thing called life, it’s critical that we keep the main thing, the main thing, and the main thing is our Lord. For in the midst of a world that would convince us we should place our trust in everything except God, we need to resist the temptation to go there. The bottom line is that anything outside of God is totally unreliable and that goes for ourselves. He was, is, and will always be in control, the only One in our lives who can do all things.

Nothing is beyond the work of His almighty hands and if anything needs changing, He is the One to do it if it is in accordance with His will which is the only thing that really matters.

Friends, it’s hope in our God that allows us to focus on what is certain, not just in this life but in the better one to come for all who have placed their belief in Jesus as Savior.

So don’t place your hope in money or possessions or power or position that can be here today and gone tomorrow. Jesus had something to say about this too in His Sermon on the Mount:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:19-21, 24

The call here is to store up treasures in Heaven and we can go a long way toward doing that by following the words from our opening passage from 1 Timothy as we “do good” being “rich in good deeds” as well as “generous and willing to share”. Paul says that “in this way”, Christians “will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life”, the eternal life only found in Christ.

Also, don’t place your hope in political parties who dabble in current and near future events but have no real authority when it comes down to it, especially in things that are eternal. Remember the words of the prophet Isaiah when he said this about the coming Jesus:

For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders.

And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the greatness of His government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. 9:6-7

When it comes to matters of government and politics, put your hope in the Lord who has all government on His shoulders and has been given authority over all things in Heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18).

Finally, don’t place your hope in yourself or anyone else because we humans have definite limits to what we can do while our God is limitless. Going back to Jesus, He proclaimed this in Matthew’s Gospel:

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 19:26

During Advent, we as believers are to spend time preparing our hearts so to celebrate the birth of a certain hope, a hope that is born out of trust in a certain Lord. The season helps us to keep our focus where it should be in life, on the God who made us, the God who sustains us, and the God who will save us from Hell through His Son so we can spend all eternity with Him in His Kingdom.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

ADVENT SERIES: HOPE DEVELOPS PATIENCE THROUGH THE WAITING

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Titus 2:12-13

We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:24-25

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When I was growing up, my parents taught me a saying that I held onto for many years.

“Patience is a virtue.”

I have embraced this in my life and have even used it during times when I have had to wait like in lines waiting to check out at stores I shop in. In those instances, as people might apologize for me having to wait, I will often add:

“...and I try to be a virtuous person.”

In other words, it’s important for us to develop and refine patience in our lives.

This is a point that transcends mere worldly wisdom and sayings for when we look within the fifth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we learn this:

“...the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Vv.22-23 NLT

As Christians, we see where patience is imparted to us, not by our own reckoning or will but rather through the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling within us. It along with the other positive results that come from submitting to the Spirit are when Paul refers to as the “fruit”, the healthy spiritual nourishment that feeds our souls and breeds a greater righteousness from the inside out.

As we enter into a fourth message under this Advent theme of hope, we see where it (hope) is another developer of patience within a believer. Going back to the Apostle Paul, here’s what he wrote in his letter to the Romans:

“For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Romans 8:24-25

We should also note the intersection between the Holy Spirit and hope that leads into these two verses. Look at these words from verse 23:

Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.

Friends, no matter what happens in this life, no matter how hard things get and no matter how long we need to wait with patience for the Lord to carry out His will, the truth of the matter is that our eternal future is secure in Christ Jesus. And it will be far worth the wait, trust me as we “hope for what we do not yet have”, the “redemption of our bodies”.

This guaranteed hope of the best ending ever for any life, one that we don’t fully know will look like but through hope are willing to wait for, serves as spiritual fertilizer for our fruit of patience, helping it grow and grow until we get to the place where we don’t even fret over the waiting anymore. Rather, we simply trust in the Lord who is always working things for our good.

And so the next time you are standing in that long line with not enough registers open to check people out, stop and breathe a little while seeing the moment as an opportunity for the Lord to cultivate and harvest patience in your life, a patience that will one day pay off when you cross from this imperfect, frustrating worldly life into the perfect everlasting one to come. And then, substitute this testimony when anyone apologizes for making you wait:

“I don’t mind waiting. Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit born out of the hope I have in Christ Jesus.”

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

ADVENT SERIES: HOPE IS FOUND IN THE LORD WHO BRINGS STRENGTH

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Life isn’t easy. Spend enough time in it and you’ll know what I mean.

Perhaps the best way to describe the life experience is that it is a test of one’s endurance, must like someone who runs a marathon. The Apostle Paul saw it that was as he wrote these words in the twelfth chapter of his letter to the Hebrews:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Vv.1-3

For thirty-three years, our Savior Jesus ran “with perseverance” the “race” that His Father God “had marked out” for Him. The final three years of that race were especially challenging as He carried out His salvation mission, enduring the cross and scorning its shame as He died in the place of all sinners, the very ones who opposed Him.

Indeed, as we look to the cross, we remember all that Christ went through as He was sacrificed in our place, purchasing our pardon so that we would one day be justified when appearing before God to answer for the way we lived. Jesus suffered through crucifixion so we could be saved by simply believing in Him. His death and resurrection were the gateway to the eternal life that every Christ disciple will gain when this earthly life is over, the prize that Paul talks about in the ninth chapter of his first letter to the believers in Corinth:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?

Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Vv. 24-25

As we run this race called life, we see the importance of keeping our eyes on the cross for it’s there that we’re reminded of all that Jesus went through to fulfill His Father’s will so to make the way for those who believe in Him to “get a crown” that “will last forever”.

The scriptures tell us this and most of us know it but still life is tough and has a way to come upon us with its hardships, difficulties, and challenges in such a way that we can feel completely overwhelmed under the weight of it all, finding hope drifting away as the strength to persist falters and fades.

Maybe you’ve been there a time or two. Maybe you are there right now.

Thankfully, we receive an energy boost from four verses found in the fortieth chapter of the Book of Isaiah as the prophet reminds us where our hope comes from, a hope that is the theme of all the messages in this series during the first week of Advent. Look at what the prophet had to say:

Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.  Isaiah 40:28-31

Every time I read this, I feel as if Isaiah is talking directly to me, not the Old Testament audience this was shared with. The Lord speaking through His faithful prophet is basically asking me and everyone else who reads this passage:

“Hey, don’t you know (or maybe you haven’t heard or remembered) that I am the Everlasting God who can do all things, the Lord God Almighty, the Maker and Master of all created things? Why have you lost hope in what I can do within the midst of your circumstances?”

He then would share these words that we need to hear in the midst of our struggles:

“Trust in this when you place your hope in Me. I will never grow tired or weary and as for my understanding and wisdom, it is unmatched and unrivaled. If you would just place your full hope in Me, you will automatically receive an infusion of strength for your weary souls and find your weakness overcome by My power. You will run instead of walk and soar as if you were riding on the wings of an eagle. All you need to do is surrender your burdens to Me with the faith that I am in control and am more than capable of doing what you can’t.”

Friends, as we enter into this Advent season with Christmas day in our sights, let us run the path to Bethlehem’s manger with an excited anticipation and renewed vigor and energy, vigor and energy that’s grounded in the eternal hope found in Jesus, the greatest gift that God has ever given.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

ADVENT SERIES: HOPE IS FOUND IN GOD'S WORD

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn Your commands.

May those who fear You rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in Your Word.

Psalm 119:73-74

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His Word I put my hope.

I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Psalm 130:5-6

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Yesterday, we entered into the season of Advent, a time for Christians to prepare and anticipate the celebration of Jesus’ birth on Christmas day. ‘

In light of this, I’m providing a series of messages to support this special observance with each week centered on one of the four Advent themes, themes which begin with the matter of hope.

In the first message, we looked to the Psalms and how our main focus when it comes to hope needs to be on the One who is our source of hope, the Lord God Almighty, for without Him, all people would be hopeless.

Today, we’re going to move to a truth that comes from the God who is our Maker and Master. For all believers can find hope in and through His Word. We see this affirmed as we look again to two excerpts from the Book of Psalms:

Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn Your commands. May those who fear You rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in Your Word. Psalm 119:73-74

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His Word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Psalm 130:5-6

In both these instances, we find the psalmists finding their hope through the Word of the One who was their source of hope and as we read through the scriptures today, we too discover this for ourselves.

How do we know that the Bible is from God?

The scriptures tell us so and given that our Lord is perfect in truth, we know that every bit of His Word is true. Here’s what we read in

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

All means all and so every single word we read in the Bible is breathed out by the God from whom all things come. He is the great Originator, the Initiator of every holy and divine genesis that has ever happened.

Note that a Christian has everything they need in the scriptures which thoroughly equips them “for every good work”. In it, the “servant of God” finds teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness” as well as, for the purpose and point of this message, hope.

This hope from God runs like blessed threads through the tapestry of the Bible, and one place you will easily locate it is within the Lord’s promises, promises that He has never broken and will always keep.

Need some examples?

Consider these assurances found in the scriptures:

As Moses addressed the Israelite people before they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, we find him sharing these words before sharing a similar message them again with Joshua who would be their new leader (Vv.8-9):

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

In other words, he was telling them to not lose hope for God was with them.

And just in case we want to think this was just an Old Testament assurance, we find this question posed by the Apostle Paul in His letter to the Romans:

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” v.31

God is greater than anything and so there’s nothing a believer will come up against that He can’t conquer. He is our great Defender and Protector, and all we need to do is place our trust in Him. For with our Lord, we will always have hope, no matter what.

After the great flood when all of mankind was wiped out with the exception of Noah, his wife, their three sons and their spouses, and many pairs of other living creatures, God made a promise to never again send another flood of that sort.

What was the sign of this promise?

We often see it in the sky after a rain for it is none other than the rainbow.

“I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” Genesis 9:13-16

Words from the Lord promising that He would never send “a flood to destroy all life” are words that fill Bible readers with hope, especially because of the truth that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). And given that all are sinners and will face judgment from an almighty, all powerful God who hates sin, I’ll finish with one final promise, the one that is the most significant of them all spoken by our Savior Jesus:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” John 3:16-18

Friends, every single created person is going to live forever after death. No one’s body stops functioning and is simply placed into the ground to finish things.

This is because within each body is a soul and that soul is either going to the eternal damnation and torment of Hell or the everlasting beauty and glory of Heaven. We only have the latter option because of the God who is the source of all hope and extends messages that breed hope through His Word.

Here, we see that He didn’t wish for anyone to perish in Hell and so out of love, He “gave His one and only Son” Jesus so that whoever would simply believe in Him would “not perish” but rather “have eternal life”.

With this, we see where Jesus is the determinant as to whether a person will face God’s condemnation or His salvation. For anyone who believes in Christ “is not condemned” but someone who has refused to believe “in the name of God’s one and only Son” will go unsaved and destined for a life forever in Hell.

The blessed truth here is that God’s Word conveys His most significant action, an action that brought the best hope ever to anyone who believes in His Son Jesus. This Advent season, as we anxiously wait to celebrate our Savior’s birth, let us remember that it was God and His communicated Word that makes this hope possible.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.