Rejoice in Hope

Romans 12:12-13

This is a truly wonderful passage. I encourage you to go read the full chapter.

⁹ Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; ¹¹ not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;¹² rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,¹³ contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. ¹⁷ Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. ¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

The God of Hope

Romans 15:13

 

Joy for the Righteous

Proverbs 10:28

Solomon talked a lot about righteousness versus wickedness. This whole chapter covers it. One of the many rewards of being righteous is joy, our focus for this month.

Love Challenge – What Remains

1 Corinthians 13

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecyand can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

During the week of my anniversary and my daughter’s birthday, the Perseid meteor shower decorates the night sky. It’s absolutely beautiful. We went for the first time when I was pregnant with Amelia 2 years ago. Last year the full moon happened to fall on the same week, though, so we were unable to see it well. This year, we drove far out from the city. We could see no light from anywhere around aside from the occasional car that drove by. We sat out there for over an hour watching the stars shoot across the sky. It was magnificent.

For me, an hour or two watching the night sky will hold me over for quite some time. I enjoy it thoroughly but it’s not something I long to see. Sunsets are what take my breath away. You could watch the sunset every night and never see the same thing twice. It’s always something new. My husband, however, loves to watch the stars. He likes to find constellations and look at star charts and dream about those other places. I asked him one time why he liked the stars so much and his answer kind of surprised me. I was expecting “They’re pretty to look at.” or “There’s lots of other galaxies and worlds out there.”  Instead, he said “They don’t change. What else in this world can we watch night after night over a millennium and track so exactly? What else is so constant other than who God is than the heavens? There are few other things so certain as where the stars are.” I had no response. The heavens are constant. They remain the same through the ages. God hung them there for the purpose of marking off time. For us to watch and know. That is magnificent.

These three remain: faith, hope, and love. These things remain the same through the ages. Faith, hope, and love are apart of the human experience. No matter the decade, no matter the era. Faith, hope, and love remain. Amen.

1 Corinthians 13:13

1 Corinthians 13:13

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Part 3

I had a really great plan for part 3 of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. I intended to talk about how sovereign God is, how He is Jehovah-rapha, the God Who Heals. I was get all deeply theological on you with passages that talk about how God comforts those who are grieving and how Jesus wept. Ya’ll, it was gonna be good.

But there was a problem. I couldn’t write it. I tried and tried and tried. I forced some stuff out and it was all true and good but it wasn’t what was on my heart. I don’t want to write things for the sake of having something written. That’s not my style. I’ve been trying to write part 3 for several weeks now and although my plan was a good one, I decided to scrap the whole idea and do something different.

But there was a problem. I couldn’t think of anything else to write. Instead I got a tune stuck in my head that I couldn’t get out. I hate it when that happens, especially when I can’t remember the words, just the tune. Google doesn’t know what I mean when I type in “bum bum bum bu duh duh duh bum bum de dah.” So I’ve spent all day humming this song, trying to remember what the words are, trying to think of something else to write, trying to take care of a newborn, trying to pay attention to a toddler, trying to not fall asleep, trying to remember to eat. Finally at bedtime, that’s 10 hours after I intended to publish part 3, I lay down with my daughter to read a bedtime story, sing a song, and pray like we do every night. When we got to the song part, I suddenly knew the words to my “bum bum bum bu duh duh duh bum bum de dah” song! I started singing it and even though my daughter had never heard it before, she was singing along by the second verse.

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart!
Where?
Down in my heart!
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart to stay

And I’m so happy
So very happy
I’ve got the joy of Jesus in my heart
And I’m so happy
So very happy
I’ve got the joy of Jesus in my heart!

Go ahead, sing along! You know you wanna. Get up, dance around, sing about the joy of Jesus!

I’ve got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart!
Where?
Down in my heart!
I’ve got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart to stay

And I’m so happy
So very happy
I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart
And I’m so happy
So very happy
I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart!

Are you still sitting? If you are, you better stop it right now. I write that in my best mom voice so you know I’m for reals. Get up! Sing along!

I’ve got the peace that passes understanding down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart!
Where?
Down in my heart!
I’ve got the peace that passes understanding down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart to stay

And I’m so happy
So very happy
I’ve got the peace of Jesus in my heart
And I’m so happy

So very happy
I’ve got the peace of Jesus in my heart!

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart!
Where?
Down in my heart!
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart to stay

And I’m so happy
So very happy
I’ve got the joy of Jesus in my heart
And I’m so happy
So very happy
I’ve got the joy of Jesus in my heart!

I really really wanted to get all cerebral on you. I wanted to write about grand things and deep things and hard things. Simple things were not on my mind at all. But in times of grief grand, deep, hard things are not what we need. We need peace. We need joy. We need love. We need Jesus.

I know now why I had so much trouble writing this post. Today, looking back at the grief I was feeling this time last year, I can take comfort in the fact that God cares for those who are grieving. I can understand that God is sovereign, today. But last year, that wouldn’t have helped me one bit. It would have been a lot of words that would have gone in one ear and out the other. I just needed some peace that passed understanding. I needed joy in the midst of sorrow. I’m so thankful that my Jesus showed up in that moment because joy, peace, and love are absolutely impossible without Him.

Psalm 28:6-7
⁶ Praise be to the Lord,
    for he has heard my cry for mercy.
⁷ The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
    and with my song I praise him.

Love Challenge Intro

I think it’s time to change it up a bit. We’re going to spend the next couple of months on one particular character trait that comes up time and time again in the Bible: love. The word love occurs over 500 times in the NIV according to this website. Although there are many other words that are used more often in Scripture, love is a common theme in just about every aspect of God’s Word. So I want to dig into my favorite love passage, 1 Corinthians 13. Stop rolling your eyes. I know you’ve heard this passage read at every Christian wedding ever, and I know you’ve seen it on a hundred hand-embroided pillows, and I know it gets preached every time February 14th falls on a Sunday. But bear with me. There’s a reason this passage is crazy over-used: It’s a really good passage. I’m not talking about just verses 4-8a, but the whole passage. Actually, if we want to really grasp it, we need to look at chapter 12 as well. Please, go read it. Paul talks about spiritual gifts and unity and how the body of Christ should act. He talks about how everyone has these gifts, and it’s really neat. But then he says:

And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

All these gifts are cool and everything, but there is a most excellent way. There’s something even better than being an apostle, a prophet, or a teacher. There is something better than performing miracles and healing others. And that something better is love. 

1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I’m going to leave you this week with that. I want you to soak in each word of this passage. Let it wash over you. Understand how deep and vast this love that Paul is talking about is.

The Pregnancy

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! That’s a baby in there! A BABY! That little bubble there, that’s a baby, ya’ll! Baby! Ahhh!

Okay, enough squealing. I’ll pause my extreme excitement long enough to get some thoughts written out to you.
Pregnancy is fun, ya’ll. It’s hard and exhausting and a little bit gross sometimes–whoever named is morning sickness probably didn’t understand the definition of the word “morning”–but oh so much fun. I’m having a blast thinking about names and planning room themes. A thousand questions are running through my mind every time I pause to think about it all! So much to think about and decide!

Psalm 127
1 Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain.
2 In vain you rise early and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.
3 Children are a heritage from the Lord,
offspring a reward from him.
4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their opponents in court.

Oh, this passage. Unless the Lord is building, any labor I put forth is in vain. Unless the Lord is watching, any guarding I do is in vain. So, it’s not all on me? It’s not completely my responsibility to take care of absolutely everything? Well, whew! I can take a breath! It’s not my burden!

Notice the psalmist (Solomon, I believe) doesn’t mention not laboring or not guarding in response. The point is to make sure that we’re laboring toward what the Lord is building. The questions I’m working through are good. It’s good to hope and wonder and be excited. But I need to keep in mind that the Lord is the one setting this baby’s steps. I can make plans but, ultimately, the Lord is the Builder!

I found this passage because I was looking for a verse about children being a blessing. I don’t like to just take a verse out of context, though, so I always look at the whole passage before writing about it. Boy, I’m glad I did that this time. Verses 3-5 are great. Children are a heritage, a reward, a blessing. Children are something to be proud of. I’ve heard these verses many times before, which is why I went looking for them. But the first two verses in Psalm 127. Wow. They were exactly what I needed this afternoon.

Madagascar update: I had my second fundraiser on Saturday and I raised $78 with Jamberry! I am so excited to be able to go to Madagascar next summer. I can see now why the Lord put off my trip for a year. Twenty weeks pregnant would be difficult on a mission trip!

Ends of the earth, here I come!