ODJ: the holy riddler
I will speak to you in parables. I will explain things hidden since the creation of the world (v.35). READ: Matthew 13:24-52 Mighty, majestic, awesome. Gracious, loving, kind. Such descriptors for God are common, and rightly so. But how many of us would add “playful” to the list? How many of us think of God [...]
ODB: hope
July 19, 2010
READ: Psalm 23
You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth. —Psalm 71:5
The ancient road from Jerusalem to Jericho is a narrow, treacherous path along a deep gorge in the Judean wilderness. Its name is Wadi Kelt, but it’s known as the valley of the shadow, for this is the location that inspired David’s 23rd Psalm. The place itself offers little reason to compose such a hopeful poem. The landscape is bleak, barren, and perilously steep. It’s a good place for thieves, but not for anyone else.
When David wrote, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” (v.4), he was in a place where evil was an ever-present reality. Yet he refused to give in to fear. He wasn’t expressing hope that God would abolish evil so that he could pass through safely; he was saying that the presence of God gave him the confidence to pass through difficult places without fear of being deserted by Him. In another psalm, David said that the Lord was his hope (71:5).
Many claim to have hope, but only those whose hope is Christ can claim it with certainty. Hope comes not from strength, intelligence, or favorable circumstances, but from the Lord. As Maker of heaven and earth, He alone has the right to promise hope and the power to keep the promise. —Julie Ackerman Link
Hope for the Christian is a certainty— because its basis is Christ.
Source: Our Daily Bread
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By Eugene Seah, 22, Singapore “C’mon, you’ve got to give him some space to breathe.” “I need to have some alone-time please.” “Perhaps we should both take some time off, give ourselves space to think things over.” Do these phrases sound familiar? We often have to worry about intruding the invisible personal bubble surrounding loved [...]
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