Day 4 Just A Few Thoughts

Without truth, how do we hope? Hope inherently requires us to trust in the thing we hope in, and you would never trust something that you didn't believe was true. Hope needs truth in order to take root in our souls. That's why in hopeless situations we turn to anything stable, anything we know, things that don't change. When we come to the end of ourselves, we often turn to God and his Word for hope-- and we usually see him work the most clearly here because we have nothing else to distract our gaze on him.

I know that I, albeit selfishly, look to him and wait for him to fix the mess I'm in. Now, God is constant. But that doesn't mean hope in him means an instant clean up. I mentioned yesterday how Jesus is truth. And in his truth, Jesus promises us that we will face hardships (John 16:33). But even in the midst of life at it's rawest state, his words of love and restoration can sing louder if we only look back to see the verses he wrote before:

Trust. My promises are good. I am faithful. I am true. Remember me and how I've worked, because I will work again. Do not be afraid, I am here. And this is hope.

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Satisfied.

I’ve had many discussions in the past month about “satisfaction.” And of course, when it keeps coming up, God must be trying to tell me something, right? What does it mean to be satisfied? Satisfied (adj.) contented; pleased Satisfy (verb) to meet the expectations, needs, or desires of (someone); to fulfill (a desire or need) I feel like this word is so fitting for this time of year. The media consumes our minds with the temptation to buy, buy, buy! You see the holiday sales everywhere, and you want to get everyone the perfect gift. And of course, we all have our own wish lists full of goodies that we would love to love for a few days past the 25 th until they become just another “thing” in the closet, in the drawer, on the shelf, etc. Clearly we are not truly satisfied by things. We know this in our minds, just not always in our souls. But what about being satisfied in Christ? The Samaritan woman learned quickly that even just a sip of Li...

Day 25 What Are You Carrying?

Yesterday I drove up to New Hampshire to visit Ian (my boyfriend). I got there later in the afternoon and I had spent the morning working on things at home. About an hour after I got to NH, we went to the Fall Festival at his church across the border in Vermont. By the time we got there, it was dark already, I was pretty tired and hungry, and this event was HUGE. Much bigger than I expected. It was really cool-- food trucks, pony rides, laser tag, trunk-or-treating, Incredibles 2 playing on the side of the church, the works. But. Of course. My anxiety decided to form a lens over my eyes. The crowds of people around me grew louder and I felt trapped amongst the hundreds of bodies. My heart started to beat faster with every person who walked by. I have anxiety, I've mentioned this before, and many times large crowds will bring it on. I'm sure many of you know the feeling. And it can be the worst. Here I was, looking forward to having a fun time and enjo...

Day 27 You are a Leader

Today Pastor Chris (at Riverbank Church in White River Junction, VT) talked about one of my favorite topics-- Christian leadership. What do you think of when we hear the word "leader?" Maybe you think, "sure, I'm a leader." That's great! But maybe you think, "uh, no way, I don't have the abilities or the gifts to be a leader." And if that's you, I understand where you are coming from. But friend, I'm lovingly telling you, you're dead wrong. As Christians, we are all leaders. Really, I think we're just defining leadership wrong. Leadership, from a biblical standpoint, is serving others (Matthew 20:28), influence (Galatians 5:16-25), responsibility (Galatians 6:4-5), character (2 Peter 1:3), and skill (Luke 1610-12). We all have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, and he is the most powerful influence. So if we have him living inside of us, and working through us, how can we not be leaders? See, God does not call the qualif...

Emma Veronica

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