"Hope Endures"

"Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law." (Psalms 119:53)

  Yes, it's true: there is one, only One to whom we must answer to, and He is greatly on our side! You must believe me when I say this, but I did not actually know the word, "Comforted," in the last verse was the very same word that was used for, "Repented," in Genesis 6:6. I knew that it meant to repent, but I did not actually know it was the exact same word. Let me tell you something about what the Lord has put upon my heart; because if you wish to analyze what hope and love have in common, the word "horror" comes to mind when you consider the result. Pastor Nathan shared about love, by saying, that real love was to lay down your life for others. It is that exact love that completes the circle, the circle of hope, peace, joy, and love. There are a couple of verses that come to mind in all of this, both of which are of Jesus sharing how that He came to turn one against the other, to divide brother and sister, son against his father, daughter against her mother. If you want to talk about horror, then here is the synopsis of what Jesus was speaking to: Yes, brother will turn against brother, son against father, and daughter against mother; but the horror in that situation, is that the one who knows the truth must be willing to lay their life down for the other! In other words: If you are going to get rocks thrown at you, pray that those rocks are soft! Actually, I took that from an 80's movie called "Peter and Paul". In the movie, Paul, played by Anthony Hopkins, gets stoned and dragged out of the city dead; then all of the sudden he jumps up from the ground and says, "Okay, off to the next city!" After that, Barnabas says, "Well, let's hope the rocks are softer!" If I could put a finger on the vision God has given me, it would be a lot like the three Jewish boys that were getting ready to be thrown into that Fiery Furnace; that it really did not matter if God were to save them from the fire or not, even still, they had a higher hope...

"With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed -cut off from Christ! -if that would save them. They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God's adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen." (Romans 9:1-5) NLT