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Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Concerning the Crucial Matter of Hope

I have the habit of using the word 'hopefully', quite often!
Without dissecting hope fully!

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, 
putting on the breastplate of faith and love, 
and the helmet of our hope of salvation.

Flowers bring such a glorious splash of cheer and beauty
to life but are powerless in matters of hope!



Sometimes I write a poem like today's poem
to remind myself of what can be easy to forget, 
seduced by the seen rather than secured by the Unseen

Our small group through our church, was discussing the topic of surrender last night,
reminding me, without full surrender to Christ,
through the new birth, by His mercy, into living hope,
hope is dead!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 
In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope 
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

My family thinks I listen to this song more than anyone else in the world
If so, there is a good reason for this.
I am forgetful!





Hope is no helium balloon
On which we fix our eyes
No fling of flowers to festoon
The portent of its prize
No wild rush of adrenaline
No showy evidence
Hope is the heart’s cry anchored in
Unfailing Providence

Hope is no quick and easy fix
No genie in a flask
Wielding a big bag full of tricks
For anything we ask
Hope is a hand we cannot see
To hold us in the gale
The crux of immortality
Through love that will not fail

Hope is a hallelujah hymn
Defeating dread and doubt
A Beacon, no matter how dim
That nothing can put out
Hope is a banner billowing
In the thick of the fight
It is the staff to which we cling
Until faith becomes sight

It is a whisper none can hear
Save in God’s faithful word
It is the archrival of fear
Endurance undeterred
Hope is salvation’s Certainty
The faith that makes us whole
Hope is the cross of Calvary
The anchor of the Soul

Hope is not found in lucky charms
Like rabbit’s feet and such
Hope is God’s everlasting arms
We feel but cannot touch
Hope is intangible yet sure
Through what the cross has won
 Faith's unseen foothold kept secure
In Jesus Christ, God's Son

© Janet Martin

Heb.6:13-20


God’s Unchangeable Promise

13When God made His promise to Abraham, 
since He had no one greater to swear by, 
He swore by Himself, 14saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply your descendants.”c
15And so Abraham, after waiting patiently, obtained the promise.

16Men swear by someone greater than themselves, 
and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument. 
17So when God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear 
to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath. 
18Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, 
we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.

19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. 
20where Jesus our forerunner has entered on our behalf.



Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth 
and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” 
(which is done in the body by human hands)— 
12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, 
excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, 
without hope and without God in the world. 
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away 
have been brought near by the blood of Christ...

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