Romans 15:13 So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Two thoughts today: 1. Redemption – what?! More fancy Christian-ese? Redemption just means the act of purchasing back something previously sold. And, no, I’m not talking about salvation. I’m talking about hope. John and I had the privilege to speak at a youth event at a school this week. We were the “what not to do” and “consequences” portion of the event. We were also the visible proof that even when we make mistakes there is hope. Our messages were one that, while we reminded them that there are consequences to their actions, there is redemption for a life gone astray. Both John and I have had things happen in our lives that caused us to go off the path that God originally intended for us to be on. My prayer has always been that God would use those events to reach others (heaven knows, if I had to go through them they’d better be good for something!). And God redeems the past – He takes the years that were lost wandering and restores us to the place He has for us and the plan He has for us. 2. Hope – Interestingly, my life has been filled with various types of hope lately. I spoke about hope in the section above – hope that God can bring light out of a dark time in my life and hope that He will redeem my past and create a beautiful future. The other hope I’ve been spending a lot of time with lately is actually HOPE Inspirational School (http://www.his.edu – still under construction). It’s a school that I’m actually getting to help found! It’s based around experiential and project-based learning. It’s environmentally friendly. It’s community outreaching. It focuses on addressing not only the intellectual growth of its students, but also the emotional, physical, and spiritual growth. It’s incredible! I’m totally not doing it justice in my meager description. Give it a week or two and check out the website for a much more eloquently put description.
Phillipians 3:12No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven. One things I’ve been reminded of recently is that I can’t move forward if I’m always looking back because I’m facing the wrong direction. Whatever direction your head is facing is the direction your body will go. So, logically, if my face is always looking backwards then I’ll be moving that direction. That’s a scary thought. There have been a lot of times recently when I’ve caught myself looking back and wishing I’d done something or other differently. The problem is that if I keep looking back at that time, I’ll never move forward or learn from it because I’m fixating on the issue. It’s so easy to stay chained to mistakes we’ve made and refuse to step out of the chains, even though they’re not locked on us because we’ve been forgiven by Jesus. He has set us free. He doesn’t look back (He’s forgotten it, remember), and neither should we. Look forward so we can move forward. What can I do today, what can I do tomorrow. Or better, rejoice in today and rejoice in the promise of tomorrow, resting on God’s strength and promises to see you through today and tomorrow.