You are already new: Letting go of negative labels
Maybe you’ve collected some negative labels of your own over the years? All of us have fallen short in various ways, and some of us have experienced trauma not of our own choosing. It can be tempting to allow these things to tell us who we are, but names that keep us stuck and discouraged are not from God.
Chosen by God: Letting go of rejection
The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Ephesians explaining that even before the world was created, God had set His eyes on–and chosen–us. Imagine standing in a crowd and having the God of the universe point His finger at you and declare, “I choose you.” This is what He does every day of our lives.
Accepted: Resting in the love and grace of God
So, my response was to work harder, read more, pray longer. And soon my relationship with God became a legalistic ritual that no longer brought me joy. And that is not God’s intention for the spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible study. The good news of the gospel is that God’s love doesn’t depend on us.
The Secret to Having Hope is Not Seeking It
And suddenly, something happened–all this stress began to melt away. Like ice against the sun, his presence thawed away all the feelings of hopelessness. I started singing with joy as I declared God’s praises. Instead of dread, I was filled with hope.
Hope for our mistakes as parents
The hope for new beginnings in parenting mistakes lies in self-reflection. It’s taking those moments apart piece by piece, examining the portions in God’s presence. Once the pieces are all out on the table, we can learn from them.
The Impossible Will Have Become True: Trading Fear for Hope in God’s Faithfulness
Our God, an artist and a poet, is always making new things. What if we believed this was true about the daily work happening inside of us? What if we believed there was a canyon being formed by the river of our hearts as well? That in those small subtle moments when we believe we’ll never grow out of the fears that plague us, it is precisely then that God is faithful to come alongside and cultivate the soil of our heart, creating a place that can hold growth, that can sustain change. It is then that God watches as tiny seeds planted in the soil of our hearts begin to grow, seeds we didn’t even know were there.
Hope for New Beginnings
Hope doesn’t look flashy or beautiful. It’s not something you can simply post about on Instagram, with a filter to make it shiny, especially when it is a hope for something that hasn’t happened yet. Sometimes hope looks like tears, praying that God will make something new. Trusting in His promises, regardless of your current circumstances.
Beacon of Light
Wandering in the darkness without believing in the light, the light of Christ, can leave us burdened. We might even throw fits ending in meltdowns. But while we have the light of Christ leading us to believe and become sons and daughters of that light, darkness fades. We know where we are going.
Through the Darkness
Isaiah 42:16 tells us that although we may face the unfamiliar, the dark, and the rocky, God never leaves us. His guidance, presence, and light will always be with us. He promises that we will experience Him in the challenging paths of life.
No Longer in Darkness
It can become easy for the Christ-follower to become overwhelmed by an evil agenda or the sin struggles that plague our generation. What if, this advent season, we become overwhelmed by the Light instead? What if we carry our light with such confidence that those in darkness begin to long to experience it, too?
Carrying Your Small Light for God's Glory
Our world is desperate for light and life. Can you hear it in the political conflicts, relational fallouts, and quest for status? People have an unquenchable desire to be lit up with something that will endure beyond their years, to be fulfilled, to know that they matter. You are carrying what may feel like a measly flame, but it is backed with all of the power and love of the Savior.
Holding onto a Promised Hope
God has promised strength and power to those who put their hope in Him. We all grow weary and stumble, but we can be renewed. We all experience times of weakness, but Jesus sympathizes with our weakness. As we choose to place our hope in God and not in ourselves, other people, or particular circumstances and outcomes, we will experience His strength.
Wildly Insistent: God’s Abundant Presence in our Lives
In the same way that the Spirit filled a young girl all those thousands of years ago, in the same way that the Spirit hovered over the waters of an unformed sea, in the same way that the Spirit came into the body of a dead man and brought him to life again, so our bodies–through the tremendous mercy of God–have the same capacity to hold that Spirit. God answers the plague of lies by God’s own abundant presence pouring inside us.
Living in the Tension: How to Choose Daily Hope
We look at the hurt and pain of this world, and we hope for something different, for love to win, for people to be cared for and protected. We look at the promise of heaven and want to see it come to pass. We hope for our days, for ourselves. We hope that we will find patience towards the people around us. That we are living up to our potential. That we will be a light in the world.
But what does that actually look like? What does it mean to have hope when life doesn’t match up to what we are hoping for?
The Stillness of Breath Prayer: Three Ways Breath Prayers Anchor our Prayer Time
The beauty of breath prayer is not that it only make us present to ourselves, but that we are made aware of the presence of God. We are meant to be in communion with God, and prayer is the conduit to experience the fulness of his presence.
Renewed Hope after a Messy Divorce
Reminding myself again and again, sometimes several times per day, of God’s unchanging character gave me hope in my messy divorce. My faith has grown tremendously in my divorce recovery, and God has truly been my secure anchor in the days, weeks, and months that followed the original trauma.
How to Wait with Vulnerability and Hope
As hard as it is, vulnerability is a good thing. It keeps our hearts feeling, open to the emotions and experiences that keep life full of color and beauty. If we close ourselves off to hope, we close ourselves off to the possibility of thriving in life.
Making Space to Heal through Hard Seasons
There’s a tension we hold between the hurt and the healing, between the sorrow and the joy, which leads to a longing for restoration, for life to be good again, and for the assurance that joy is possible.
What God Has Promised: Finding Hope Amidst Disappointment
As I grew in my relationship with the Lord, I had to learn how to balance my expectations from my earthly father with my hope in my heavenly Father. The distinction is sometimes indiscernible to us, yet it is so significant. It lies in understanding what God has actually promised as opposed to what He hasn’t.
Find Hope in Your Desert: 4 Tips for Keeping Hope Alive
These desert experiences are common to us all. They don’t mean we have erred or that God has forgotten us. But if they are unavoidable, what in the world are we supposed to do in the middle of the desert? How can we bloom in such harsh conditions?