The Fullness of Love

God shows his love for us in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us...if while we were enemies
we were reconciled to God by the death of his son,
much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be
saved by his life. Rom 5:8, 10

Christmas break of 1967, eighteen thousand college
students gathered together at Urbana IL to look at
mission opportunities; to be challenged "to go." I was
one of those students. The highlight for me was the
singing of the old hymns in harmony as the music
echoed off walls and ceilings. The theme hymn was
"Oh, The Deep Deep Love of Jesus." This morning I
woke up singing it and I want to share it with you.

O the deep deep love of Jesus,
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free;
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me.
Underneath me, all around me,
Is the current of Thy love;
Leading onward, leading homeward,
To my glorious rest above.

O the dee, deep love of Jesus,
Spread His praise from shore to shore;
How He loveth, ever loveth,
Changeth never, never more;
How He watches o'er His loved ones,
Died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth,
Watcheth o'er them from the throne.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Love of every love the best;
'Tis a haven sweet of rest,
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
'Tis a Heav'n of Heav'ns to me;
And it lifts me up to glory,
For it lifts me up to Thee.

I could not find the 18,000 voices but I did find
the hymn!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPXapfFfesA

Falling Forward

For the past five days we have looked at the writings
of a prophet named Habakkuk. This man of God goes
to God because of what is happening in his country:
'iniquity, violence, injustice.' 
The Lord's answer terrifies him and Habakkuk says
this to his God:

'why do you remain silent while the wicked swallows
up the man more righteous than he?' 

God then allows Habakkuk to see just how far his
nation has fallen. The prophet pleads with God:

'In wrath remember mercy.'

It is at this point that God shows His power against
the nations who will invade Israel. WOW!

The book ends with a broken man who falls forward--
and worships.

"Though the fig tree should not blossom,
     nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
     and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
     and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
     I will take joy in the God of my
        salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
     he makes my feet like the deer's;
     he makes me tread on my high places."

Reader, only God can settle us and bring us to peace
when all around is chaos, for it is coming to our
land. The one thing that we can do to prepare is to
set our hearts on the things above and not on this
earth.

'The Son of Man is coming at an hour 
you least expect, 
therefore, you must be ready.'

'The Lord is in his holy temple
let all the earth keep silent before him.'

God's Power Brings Silence

God finishes speaking to Habakkuk by comparing
an idol with Himself:

"...there is no breath in it.

But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before Him."

I have to stop here and camp on the last two
phrases.The world is in chaos, everything is
upside-down and God makes a breathtaking
statement. Then the Lord ends the discussion
with Habakkuk in one astounding declaration:

He is God, 
all else are idols. 
Be silent before Him.

Habakuk falls on his face and worships:

"O Lord, I have heard of the power of you,
     and your work, O Lord do I fear.
In the midst of years revive it;
     in the midst of years make it known;
     in wrath remember mercy..."

Oh, God, please remember mercy!!!!

The prophet then covers God's
doings in the land and how He
will rescue; take back his people.

"...splendor covered the heavens
earth full of praise
rays flashed from his hand, 
power was veiled.
He stood and measured the earth
He looked and shook the nations...

You marched through the earth in fury;
You threshed the nations in anger.
You went out for the salvation of your people,
   for the salvation of your anointed...

I hear, and my body trembles;
my lips quiver at the sound;
rottenness enters my bones;
my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us."

Notice how the prophet goes from the third
person to the first person singular?
His emotions are all over the map. He speaks
truth but his body does not behave: Trembling
lips, quivering, legs tremble, rottenness enters
his bones.
Then there is the point where he sighs and says,
'yet I will wait quietly.'
No more questions!

Reader, I hope I am not boring you! I hope you
are able to feel with Habakkuk and that you
take the time to read this small, but powerful
book. The Lord is truly for you!

(See the previous three blogs)

The Answer

We don't know how long Habakuk waited until
God showed up. It might have been some time!
God then spoke out:

"Write the vision;
     make it plain on tablets,
     so he may run who reads it.
For still the vision awaits its appointed
     time;
it hastens to the end--it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.
Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not
     upright within him,
but the righteous shall live by his faith."

A theme so familiar,
the reminder so essential.

God then goes through a series of woes against
those who practice wickedness, but right in the
midst of this God shines through the darkness:

"For the earth will be filled  
     with the knowledge of the glory of the
          Lord
as the waters cover the sea."

Think about it! One day the weapons,
the wickedness will be gone and
the glory of the Lord will fill the earth!!!!!

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen."

Hallelujah!
Now go in the faithfulness of your God!

(This is the third blog in a series of five blogs on
the book of Habakuk, a minor prophet in the
Old Testament,)

Worse and Worse

How many of you have read the book of Habakkuk?
It is full of hidden treasures and could have been
written today. In yesterday's blog the prophet came
to God with a complaint. The Lord's answer is NOT
what he wanted to hear!
In a nutshell...

"Be astounded
I am raising up a dreaded and fearful nation
They all come for violence.
They gather captives like sand
They are guilty men whose own might is 
     their God."

Habakkuk is stunned! He is blunt!
"Are you not from everlasting
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die...
You who are of purer eyes than to see evil
     and cannot look at wrong,
why do you idly look at traitors
     and remain silent when the wicked
        swallows up
the man more righteous than he?"

Habakuk considers the character of God and what
He knows of Him and it does not add up. Then the
prophet says:

"I will take my stand
and station myself on the tower, and look out
to see what he will say to me, and what I will 
answer concerning my complaint."

I love this man! When things don't go his way, the
way of his expectations, he lets God know what is
on his mind and then remains to see what God will
say. He does not pull the covers over his head,
drop out of life and then moan, 'woe is me.' At least
not yet!

A Cry for Help

Hidden among the minor prophetic books is a gem
of only three chapters. The Southern Kingdom is
suffering and and a prophet named Habakkuk is
very afraid. God is silent.
                                                                   
"Oh, Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
     and you will not hear?
Or cry to you 'violence!'
     and you will not save?
Why do you make me see iniquity,
     and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
     strife and contention arise.
So the law is paralyzed,
     and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
     so justice goes forth perverted."
Habakuk 1:1-4

Do these words resonate with you? Does this
express your thoughts and maybe even your
words to God? Habakkuk is not afraid to
complain to God about what he sees. In these
short chapters, God reveals His glory and the
heart of the prophet moves from despair to faith!

Tomorrow's blog contains God's answer!

Murky Clarity

(This must be an important blog. I lost everything
with the last word written!)

Todays blog is on a difficult and under preached
subject and, thus, is not understood by many
Christians resulting in unbelief and insecurity.
The topic is 'God's Sovereignty.'

Ephesians 1:3,4 KJV
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual 
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world..."

Paul says we were chosen in Him before the
foundation of the world. Don't move on too quickly.
This speaks of a sovereign God who purposed you
in Christ before creating the world. Notice the words,
IN CHRIST.

Revelation 13:8
"...the lamb slain from the foundation of the world." 
These few words are so extreme, that I went to other
translations, two of which, say:
"...everyone whose name has not been written 
before the foundation of the world in the Lamb's 
book of life."

So which is it? They do not say the same thing. I
then went to the Greek and found that the Lamb,
our Jesus was slain from, or before, the foundation
of the world.

Every Believer was chosen in Christ and then slain
in Christ before the foundation of the world. I believe
it was before the angels were created because the
enemy "would not have killed the Prince of Glory,"
had he known. Talk about security!!!!

Reader, think out of the box; think out of time.
Realize that God finished everything before He
created anything. You can cry, "It's all rigged and
I have no choice at all," or you can fall down
before Him in awe and wonder.

I am in Him; He is in me--for time and eternity!

If you want to explore this subject in greater depth,
I recommend you spend time in "Daily Crow" by
MP. It is not an easy read but well worth the time!

http://www.dailycrow.com

She Sings

The Robin sits in the place of loss and destruction,
tufts of straw at her feet-- singing. The choices made
caused the great fall, but there she is, pouring out a
joyful song to her creator.
What a picture!

Reader, when I fail, I mope. It becomes so me...

'Give thanks to the Lord of hosts
for the Lord is good
for his steadfast love endures forever.'
Jeremiah 32:11

10,000 Reasons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

A Pair of Robins

The birds were busy building a nest for their young.
They worked hard to bring in the material needed
and to place it where it belonged. They had great
intentions, were persistent, faithful and determined!
The trouble was, they picked the wrong place.
They picked a slanted 2x4 whose end was helping
to hold up the roof of our porch. There was about
a two to three inch opening on one end that rapidly
diminished--not even enough room for one Robin to
sleep in that spot! Over the next two weeks the nest
got thicker and longer, but only on the long slant,
nothing stayed put on the top where they kept
working. Two hours before the big storm, I got a
picture. (See Face Book) Needless to say, the whole
nest blew down even as I watched. THE NEXT
DAY, the Robins were at it again. They 'threw in the
towel' when a fresh breeze undid all their labor.

What a picture of the average Christian trying to live
the Christian life out of their own ideas, their own
strength, their own resources. The thing has to be
taken care of NOW! And so we plunge into the
project without asking God if the idea is a good one
or how He wants us to build. With energy and
determination, we push through to the end--
spending many hours re-arranging the straw!

In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul talks about how to lay the
foundation in Christ and then how to build on that
foundation:

'Each one's work will become manifest, for the 
Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by 
fire, and fire will test what sort of work each one 
has done. If the work built on the foundation 
survives, 
he will receive a reward. 
If anyones work is burned up, 
he will suffer loss 
though he himself will be saved, 
but only as through fire.' 
(Start back at 1Cor 3:5-15)

Reader, be careful how you build!

A Cloud of Witnesses

I have been pondering Hebrews 12:1. It is a difficult
verse with different opinions. I now throw my hat
into the ring!

'...seeing we also are compassed about with so great 
a cloud of witnesses...let us run with patience the 
race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus...'
KJV

'...since we are surrounded by so great a 
cloud of witnesses...let us run with endurance, 
the race set before us, looking unto Jesus...'
ESV

'Since we have such a huge crowd of 
men of faith watching from the grandstand...let us 
run with patience, the particular race that God has 
set before us.' Living Bible.

Compassed about, surrounded in the Greek implies
those who are:
'about, above, 
on our behalf to see how it will go with us.'
It is positive.
They are rooting for our success!

The word in the Greek for 'witness' was a huge
surprise to me. It means, 'martyr.'

It would appear that those who have gone before and
suffered loss in their faith--David, Samuel, Barak--
and those whose blood was shed--Jeremiah, Peter, Paul,
are part of a group, that grows daily larger. They are
shouting to us:

'Wake up! Run! Don't give up! Courage, mate. 
No, get up! You can do it! Keep your eyes fixed 
on Jesus! There is a prize at the end. We made it, 
we are here, it is real, it is eternal. 
GO! GO! GO!'

Reader, I believe that those who have gone before are
aware of the believers who are running the race that
they have won. They are to us,
a great cloud of witnesses, 
who, strong in faith, have made it to the finish line.
The seen and the unseen must not be far apart, but
we in this dimension are the ones who can't see.

Those who are in prison are not alone;
those who are facing great loss, are not alone;
those who have died as martyrs, were not alone.

You are not alone.

Take courage, keep going, don't stop...

Jesus is our prize!

A hymn that my husband loves:
For All The Saints
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OaBgaMcOvM

Carnally Minded?

Now that's a word we don't hear everyday!
The definition:
Pertaining to the flesh; fleshly, sensual.

'The carnal mind is enmity against God...
so they that are in the flesh cannot please 
God.'
Romans 8

'Where there is envy, strife, divisions 
among you, are you not carnal?'
(1Cor 3:3)

Oswald Chambers puts it this way:
'If the Spirit of God detects anything in you
that is wrong, He doesn't ask you to make 
it right; He only asks you to accept the 
light of the truth, and then He makes it 
right. A child of the light will confess sin 
instantly and stand completely open before 
God.' 

Reader, the brief scripture and paragraph
above caught me off guard today. God
never lets us get away from the heart of
the thing, does He?

God's Silence

'When he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more 
days in that place where he was. (Jn 11:6)

'If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding
that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, then He
will give you the first sign of intimacy--silence.' (OC)

CS Lewis once penned that his anguished prayer was
met by the slamming of a door and the dropping in of
the bolt--then silence. The characters in
The Narnia Tales understand that Aslan is not a tame
lion.

Our Lord shows up on His terms, but, oh, the love
that's revealed in the secret place.

Reader, is intimacy what you truly desire?

Does Your Heart Sing?

Our pastor has been preaching on faith out of Hebrews 11,
that great chapter of faith. From verse 32 on the author
does a wide sweep:
Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel--
through faith they conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, 
obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched 
the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, 
were made strong out of weakness. 
(Others were destitute, afflicted, mistreated.) Of particular
note, all those who are in the hall of faith failed in some
way--some fell into really big sin! What set them apart in
God's eyes? They believed God!

Hebrews 12 opens with a 'therefore.'
'Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a 
cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, 
and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with 
endurance, the race that is set before us, looking to 
Jesus the founder and the perfecter of our faith...

Oh, reader, do not allow the enemy to tell you that you
have failed God and He now has cast you aside. Your
position in Christ is secure. Return to the Lover of your
soul, be restored. Your heart will sing again!

My Heart Sings!

I went to sleep and woke this morning thinking about the
word, 'conquer.' Recently I wrote out all the rewards listed
in the Revelation letters to the Seven Churches. So much
is at stake and yet how do we come a conqueror?  I am
sure I have heard a sermon or two on this; I am equally
sure that the content couldn't possibly apply to me! I did
not view myself as a conqueror. If I was stuck, you may
be also!

To conquer: To overcome; to gain the victory

We know that Jesus conquered death when He rose
from the grave. In Romans 6 Paul talks about our being
crucified, buried and risen with Christ.

In Romans 8 Paul ends in a peel of trumpets to
encourage the believers in Rome--and us:

'What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, 
who can be against us? He who did not spare his own 
Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also 
with him graciously give us all things...? Who shall 
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, 
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, 
or danger or sword?'

'NO, IN ALL THESE THINGS WE ARE MORE 
THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM WHO 
LOVED US.'

Dear reader, we are conquerors, not out of our own
strength, but through the One who loves us. The
weakest among us is fully able to conquer in all things.
Does this not make your heart sing?

The Burning Heart

'Did not our heart burn within us...?'
Luke 24:32

'We must learn to maintain the secret of the
burning heart--a heart that can go through
anything. It is the simple, dreary day, with
its commonplace duties and people, that
smothers the burning heart--unless we
have learned the secret of abiding in Jesus.'
(OC)

Reader, our biggest challenge is not in the
excitement of life but in the normality of life.

Wake Up!

'Wake up' was the theme of the National Day of Prayer. Overt
persecution against Christians is in full swing in many
countries. It is a clear and present danger. But, here in the
west the battle is both subtle and deadly. The church is
almost asleep. In The Silver Chair, by CS Lewis for
children of all ages, the witch used music and magic to put
the prisoners to sleep, which almost worked. The cords of
seduction grew very strong indeed and that is exactly what
is happening to the church in the west. We see freedom of
speech and action disappearing, but, most of us are not
affected--yet. Our Enemy is using every means to put us
into a stupor so that we will not realize the lateness of the
hour. I saw an ad recently that sent a very clear message:

A man was reading a book about lucid dreams in a coffee
shop and he was in that dreaming state when he left in
his car. Two men with bullhorns were yelling at him to
'wake up.' Police joined them as they kept up with the car
screaming the message. When he arrived at his house, more
men in uniform who were standing before a clock and
using bull horns kept yelling, 'wake up.' The man went into
his house still in that dreamy state.
The ad was selling a car!!!!

'The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
While people are saying, 'there is peace and safety,'
then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor
pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not
escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that 
day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children
of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or
of darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but
let us keep awake...'  1Thes 5:2-8

Dear reader, the night is far spent. The day is at hand.
The rabbit from Alice says,
'You are late for a very important date.'

Our greatest need is to have a far greater revelation of
the Lord Jesus!

Immeasurable Greatness

We now move into the last request of Paul's prayer in Eph 1:

...and to KNOW "what is the immeasurable greatness of 
his power toward us who believe--
resurrection power!

Immeasurable power obviously cannot be measured! That
power dwells within every Christian. I have been pondering
on what this power is for, and why we need this. The
consensus of the women who met yesterday was that we
cannot live the Christian life without it. It takes power, His
power, to forgive; let go of bitterness; to believe in God's
goodness when life dishes up pain and loss. It takes great
power to surrender to Him when everything in you wants to
fight.

A question for me for many years was, when do I resist and
when do I surrender? It is very simple--we resist the lies of
Satan regarding our position in Christ which does not depend
on our behavior. We may fail, but we are not failures. We
surrender to our lovely Jesus in the difficult situations of life.
Are you with me, reader? Surrender is not for the faint-
hearted. It takes power to endure, to be faithful, to love the
unloved.

Well, reader, as usual, God uses my blogs to give me His
perspective and to avail myself of His power. May you pray
this prayer over yourself and your loved ones and see how
God will enlarge your heart.

Clueless

Reader, do you remember that we are going through
Paul's prayer in Ephesians? I had no intention of
spending three blogs on the subject of hope, but
still, there is so much more to be learned and I trust
that the Lord will continue to open up new aspects
on this wonderful word, 'hope.'

I continue to the next line of this passage:

That I may know '...what are the riches of his 
glorious inheritance in the saints...'

It does not say,
'my glorious inheritance in Him;
or His glorious inheritance in those who live well;
or His glorious inheritance in me!'

Hebrews 12 gives us a hint of these saints:
'...therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a
cloud of witnesses... lay aside every weight...looking 
to Jesus who for the joy set before him, endured the 
cross...'

We, collectively, are the saints who gave joy to Jesus
so He was able to endure the cross.

It is you, dear reader, along with Abraham, Moses,
Job, David, Deborah, Ruth, Esther, Mary, John, Paul,
Peter, the ordinary people and all the martyrs through
the ages, who make up 'his glorious inheritance!' But,
we are clueless unless given,
'a Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the 
knowledge of him, 
having the eyes of our hearts enlightened...'

Hilarious Hope!

Rumor has it that we will play harps and float on clouds
when we get to heaven. Nothing could be further from
the truth!!!!!!

"No eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart imagined,
what God has prepared for those
      who love him." I Cor 2:9

Wow! What a verse! If I ended the blog here, it would
suffice. But, God, gives hints of what He has prepared
for us after we arrive in heaven and then through the
ages.

He says that we:
Are co-heirs with Christ
Will reign with Christ
Have new bodies (Out with the old; in with the new!)
We will get crowns (a crown is promised to those who
          long for His appearing.)
A city has been prepared for us--the New Jerusalem
He has prepared "our very own place"
We will live in a new heaven and a new earth

In the Revelation of John, letters are written to be read
by all the churches. Each contains rewards:

1 'To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the
Tree of Life, which is in the paradise of God.'

2 'Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the 
crown of life. The one who conquers will not be 
hurt by the second death.'

3 'To the one who conquers will be given the hidden
manna, and a white stone, with a new name written
on the stone that no one knows except the one who
received it.'

4 'The one who conquers and who keeps my works 
until the end, to him I will give authority over the 
nations and he will rule them...even as I myself 
have received authority from my Father. And, I will 
give him the morning star.'

5 'The one who conquers will be clothed in white
garments, and I will never blot his name out of  the 
book of life. I will confess his name before my Father 
and before his angels.'

6 'The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in 
the temple of my God. Never will he go out of it, and I 
will write on him the name of my God, and the name 
of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which comes 
down from heaven, and my own new name.'

7 'The one who conquers I will grant him to sit on my 
throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my 
Father on his throne.' 

Reader, what you believe and how you live now will
affect all of eternity. Think of a ball of twine; blacken
the tip and then pull out the string until it lies at your
feet. That tiny black spot influences how you will live,
whether in heaven or hell. Don't wait another second to
make Jesus your Savior and Lord. Once you belong to
Him, forgive, surrender to His will, love, be faithful,
endure, because Forgiveness, Surrender, Love, Faith-
fulness, Endurance live within you. He is your identity,
not what you have done or been. All is made new!

'Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we 
will yet be has not yet appeared; but we know that 
when He appears we shall be like him, because we 
shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes 
in him purifies himself as he is pure.' 1John 3:2,3

Father of glory, send to us a spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, having the
eyes of our hearts enlightened that we may know
what is the hope to which we have been called...
Eph 1:17,18

A Blessed Hope

Paul says to Titus: 'It is an eternal hope; a blessed
hope." We are waiting for His appearing. Titus 2:13

Paul keeps reminding his disciples to watch and to
anticipate the return of their Lord. Paul's goal was
to preach the gospel to the whole known world.

In Luke 21:25, Jesus says,  "And there will be signs
in sun and moon and stars. On earth distress of 
nations in perplexity...people fainting with fear and
foreboding of what is coming on the world...And,
they would see the Son of Man coming in a cloud
with power and glory..."
"Now when these things begin to take place 
straighten up and raise your heads because your
redemption is drawing near."

In this passage Jesus uses the budding of the fig tree
to represent the nation of Israel being re-established.
Those that see this will be the generation that sees
everything come to pass. That generation is now in
their 70's!

Jesus is very clear: "Therefore you must be ready, 
for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do 
not expect...stay awake at al times, praying that 
\you may have strength to escape all these things 
that are going to take place, and to stand before 
the Son of Man." 
Watch. Be alert."

Reader, I did not intend to go in this direction when
I sat down to write, but I began to feel a great
urgency as I began to write.

The next blog will cover scripture that should bring
a smile to your face!

I Hope to See You

Continuing to unpack Paul's prayer in Ephesians 1:17:

The revelation of the knowledge of Jesus leads to,
"having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you 
may know what is the hope to which he has called you."

Hope. We bat that word around. "I hope to see you soon,"
but that may or may not happen. We use it as desire.
Scripture gives a far different picture of hope.

How is this word depicted in scripture?
'in what do I wait? My hope is in you.' Ps 39:7
'now hope that is seen is not hope' Rom 8:24
'Christ in you, the hope of glory.' Col 1:27
'hold fast the confession of our hope' Heb 10:33
'to be born again to a living hope' 1Pt 1:3

Hope is tied into promise:
'Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without
wavering, for he who promised is faithful.' Heb 10:23

To whom or to what does hope lead?
'...waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the
glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who
gave himself for us to redeem us from all 
lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for 
his own possession who are zealous for good works.'

Hope purifies
...but we know that when he appears we shall be like 
him because we shall see him as he is. And everyone 
who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 
1Jn 3:3.

Over the years, I have put my hope in the tangible,
the seen, rather than the unseen--and disappointment
follows. Reader, in what or in whom is your hope? I
encourage you to pray Eph 1:17-22 over yourself and
your loved ones. How desperately we need--

A FAR GREATER REVELATION OF OUR LORD.