Hope

Scripture: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19–20) “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1) “…what you have heard from me… entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2)

I recently spoke at a few high schools about Loving Like Jesus. This devotional is a moderately condensed version of the talk I gave, but wanted to share with you all!

For the last several weeks I have been in Galatians and Romans. I’ve been considering the life of the apostle Paul. Two primary components have surfaced for me and have been filling my quiet spaces with questions and conviction. Paul not only had a reputation, but he seemed to have a platform in every city. This platform seemed to be a result of his teaching as well as his redeemed demeanor. Every single day that Paul lived, after coming face to face with Jesus, was approached with expectation and urgency. Paul did not have a transactional experience with Jesus on the road to Damascus, he had a transformation that utterly and completely altered the trajectory of his life. Lives that are changed by transaction look more like moral reformation. Paul’s life was absolutely transformed by the love of Jesus Christ. A life that is transformed transcends our own ability to reform our behavior. Our lives transformed by the love of Jesus results in a response that alters our behavior. Paul was so keenly aware that his redemption had absolutely nothing to do with his abilities, and his life’s pursuit to be righteous. Jesus paid the debt not even Paul could pay, and the response was a captivated heart with the beauty of his savior. Paul also had significant clarity around “his sermon”. An old friend of mine wants told me that pastors sometimes take a bit to “find their sermon”. That one quintessential conviction that finds its way into every sermon they preach. For Paul, it was an amazing clarity around the gospel and the urgency to abstain, absolve and flea from false gospels. Paul was a dog with a bone regarding the gospel and how he traveled from location to location and nothing else in his life mattered much outside the gospel and the proclamation of the gospel every chance he got. The platforms that Paul had were ordained and prepared by the Holy Spirit. The gospel of Jesus Christ is what was amplified and proclaimed by Paul. I am compelled and filled with affection for the gospel, and the older I get it is quickly becoming the single thing in my life that addresses every aspect of a life long sanctification process.

In our first sermon at church this year, our Pastor mentioned the word “recalibration” and ever since, I haven’t stopped pondering upon the word. It means resetting or adjusting settings to help stay on course. Many may understand recalibration when flying a plane since pilots are consistently gauging the course to ensure they are not veering off trajectory. At home, many of us may readjust or recalibrate settings on the thermostat in our home… especially those in Colorado as we experienced a magnificent cold front across the Front Range. How does this apply to faith? That's where it stuck out to me. Our pastor shared about recalibrating to stay on course with the Lord’s plan and using references to Jeremiah 29. The Israelites were held in captivity, yet the Lord speaks in verse 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons & daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too many have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek peace and prosperity in the city which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper (Jeremiah 29:5-7).” Amid exile, the Lord is speaking of building houses & settling down, getting married & multiplying. Can you imagine? In the thick of surviving exile, the encouragement is to dig into it & thrive in exile. And our pastor brought up the fact that we may not be in similar exile in Jeremiah 29, however, Peter reminds us that we are “aliens and strangers [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges [those dishonorable desires] that wage war against the soul (1 Peter 2:11). In this world, we are captives, heaven is our home. Our world is not. So how does that reconnect to recalibration? Sometimes our situations, scenarios, and circumstances can veer us off track. And we may even be doing all the right things in the church, ministry, home, and all our relationships. But being 1-degree off course can eventually lead to miles off course. To pilots, being 1 degree off course is detrimental enough to completely change coordinate points. Similarly in walking with the Lord, being 1 degree off course is detrimental enough to cause a mission drift. A mission drift is where we get off course of what the Lord has called us to do. Recalibration is a key to helping us realign with what God has for our lives. Even if our current condition feels like exile where we can’t get out or it is harder than we called for, we must trust in the Lord because he knows the plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11). When we recalibrate to reset our settings to the Lord’s direction, we can continue to build & thrive & plant and multiply no matter what climate we are facing.

I’ve been wrestling probably for a good portion of my life without really even knowing it. What do I love? Seems pretty easy right? Even where I spend my time and energy, does not really reflect what I love? Some of you will read this and others will not, but I would love to interact with you in this short writing if you would.

Romans 2:4 says, “it’s His kindness that leads us to repentance”. Lately, the Lord has given me a phrase to be that I have found myself asking often (and over and over), “What am I a slave to?”

My church recently went through a series on the Holy Spirit and a key point that was made during one of the sermons was “ What God forms, He fills . ” I’ve been spending a lot of my quiet time meditating and reflecting on my relationship with each part of the Trinity and on the aforementioned point.

“I hope we get to go swimming today.” “I hope the Avalanche win the Stanley cup.” I have said phrases like this all my life. I began to wonder about where does this hope come from? Hope is not an accident. Hope is an indicator, it is a bi-product of something going on within. When we refer to hope based on a circumstance or a specific context it reveals our affection, our hearts attention. It is normal and good to look forward and to anticipate things in our life that we enjoy. However most of those things are temporary. Hope that is robust, sturdy and eternal is something a bit different. Developing a hope that you can build a framework to live by is a process that takes time and begins with suffering.

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Philippians 3: 7-8