For the past several weeks, I have been carefully evaluating all of the areas around my house where I planted hostas last year, waiting to see if the hardy perennials made it through the winter. Most of them weren’t looking all that good by the end of their first growing season last fall, but I was hoping the root structure was more vibrant than the leaves appeared to be.
In the last few days, each time I go outside, I have been pleasantly surprised to see the new leaves of another plant poking through the mulch and stretching out toward the sun. Today, I found the last one. They all made it!
I’ve been thinking about these scrappy little plants a lot lately as I consider what it means to have hope. Last year, I did all I could to give these plants a good shot at a long life — I chose the right location that receives the right amount of light. I fertilized the soil and kept them watered and weeded. But once the winter came, the whole process was totally out of my control. All I could do was hope that I had done enough.
In many ways, my hope to be healed from cancer has felt like the same sort of process. I have done everything possible to get rid of the disease: from choosing a good doctor to enduring chemotherapy to eating right and exercising. Now, I just have to wait and see what happens. Seeing hope in this way, however, has left me feeling a little hopeless. If my healing is ultimately up to me, will I be able to do all that I need to? And what happens when the next trial comes, the one that will make having cancer seem small? Where is my hope then?
Thankfully, the Bible speaks of hope much differently. Hope is not doing everything we can and waiting to see what happens. In God’s economy, hope is much more certain than this.
For one thing, hope is a gift from God, not something we muster up in ourselves. Psalm 62:5 says, “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.” Hope also is developed in our lives through the difficulties we encounter. Romans 5:3-5 says, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
But mostly, the kind of hope that Jesus gives us and massages into our souls through trials is a hope of certainty. Paul says in Colossians 1 that our hope is stored up in heaven and is the result of faith in Christ. Peter says in 1 Peter 1:3-5 that our hope is living and will not fade or spoil. And the writer of Hebrews exhorts us to “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23). Ultimately our hope is a sure thing because God is a sure thing.
This is the kind of hope I need in the uncertainty of life.
—
I will be getting my next round of blood work next week. In the meantime, my hair is starting to grow back ,and I am getting stronger and more energetic!
Thank you for this encouraging (and hopeful) reminder.
just stopping by to see how you’re doing – I’m glad that you’re enjoying spring and a new season of life.
Grace and blessings to you.
Hi Charity. Hope you’re blessed today,and enjoyed good weather like we had up here.
Praying for you.
Just stopping in to tap and wave. I see you in there, shaking those little new silken blondish-brown threads. How beautiful you look!
Charity,
Always wise words–even through pain and suffering, whether physical or emotional.
One day we will all die in the winter of our lives and be resurrected in the most glorious rebirth that will ever be–and it won’t be no hosta baby!!
It was great seeing you and Shel the other day.
Love ya,
Dave, Dana, Lydia, Claudia, Naomi, Judah
Charity,
Thanks for stopping by and encouraging me with your words and sweet spirit. I have gained much strength from you and your journey, knowing that no matter what, God is faithful…no matter the size of our concern, desire, provisions.
Blessings to you and I pray for healing and growth. You are a cherished Child of Christ.
Jennifer
back and more feisty and full of more zeal then ever…
go get em…
Certainly (nyuk, nyuk, nyuk)
so glad to hear that you are getting your energy back, charity. thank you for sharing this update.
The Hope Of Heaven!
“For the Hope which is laid up for you in Heaven,
which you first heard in the Word of Truth that is
the Good News”! (Colossians 1:5)
The Hope Of Heaven!
There is a “biblical” translation that has been called
“The Good News”, yet what of The Good News(The
Gospel)? What was the promise of The Good News
that The Messiah preached?
The promise of The Good News for the Jews and “the
lost sheep of Israel”, which The Messiah preached,
was recorded in Matthew 3:12,4:17,10:7, Mark 1:15,
and Luke 10:9, 21:31.
“The Kingdom Of GOD(Heaven) Is At Hand”
And what was the promise of “The Good News” which
Paul preached unto the heathen(gentiles) after The
Messiah “was raised from among the dead”?
“Through the Good News those who are not Jews(heathens)
will share with the Jews in GOD’s blessing. They belong to
the same body, and they share together in the promise that
GOD made in The Messiah. By GOD’s special gift of grace
given to me through his power, I became a servant to tell
that Good News.” (Ephesians 3:6-7)
And The Good News of The Promise!
“The Kingdom Of Heaven(GOD) Is At Hand”!
A Lively, Living Hope Of Heaven!
When Paul began his ministry, after GOD had “raised up
The Messiah from among the dead”, he testified that
“believers were translated into The KINGDOM OF GOD’s
BELOVED SON”. (Colossians 1:13)
“THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN” HAD COME!
And “The Good News” after the destruction of the earthly
“kingdom” of Jerusalem was:
“THE KINGDOM OF GOD” HAS COME!
All Thanks And Praise Be To Our Father!
Believers have a Living Hope of Heaven!
So why is it so many still believe that “The Kingdom of
Heaven(GOD)” is yet to come?
“What is Truth”?
“Pilate” asked The Messiah that question after The Messiah
testified, “You say that I am a king. To this end was I born,
and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear
witness to The Truth. Everyone that is of The Truth hears
My voice”! (John 18:38)
Do you hear The Messiah’s voice?
The Messiah previously had testified, “The Words that I
speak are not My Words”. “For I have not spoken of Myself;
but The Father which sent Me, HE gave me a commandment,
what I should say, and what I should speak.” (John 3:34,
12:49) Later The Messiah testified to His disciples, “As
GOD sent Me, so send I you”! (John 14:10)
“What is Truth”?
The Messiah bore witness unto The Truth, as He revealed
The Way to The Truth of The Life, both in His Teachings
and His Life example.
And The Truth of “The Good News” promise?
“The Kingdom Of GOD(Heaven) Is At Hand”!
The Hope Of Heaven
Now when The Messiah was raised from among the dead
and ascended into Heaven He was given His rightful place
at the right hand of Our Father and GOD, and “all power
was given Him(by His Father and GOD) in Heaven and in
earth?” “The Kingdom” HAD “Come”! And The Faithful
“were translated into The Kingdom of GOD’s Beloved Son”!
“Giving thanks unto The Father, WHO has made us able
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in Light:
WHO has delivered us from the power of darkness, and
HAS translated us into The Kingdom of HIS Beloved Son:”
(Col 1:12-13)
All Thanks And Praise Be To Our Father!
And Paul testified of the time when The Messiah would
deliver up The Kingdom unto Our Father and GOD and
The Messiah would be submitted unto Our Father and
GOD once again. (1 Cor 15:22-28)
“Then the END comes, when The Messiah shall have
delivered up The Kingdom to GOD, even The Father;
when The Messiah shall have put down all rule and all
authority and power. For The Messiah must reign(after
He was resurrected), till He has put all enemies under
His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is
death. For GOD has put all things under The Messiah’s
feet. But when GOD said, all things are put under The
Messiah, it is manifest that HE(GOD) is excepted,
WHO did put all things under The Messiah.
And when all things shall be subdued unto The Messiah,
then shall The Son also, Himself be subject unto GOD,
HE WHO put all things under Him, so that GOD may
be all in all.” (1 Cor 15:22-28)
“Then the END comes, when The Messiah shall have
delivered up The Kingdom to GOD, even The Father.”!
(1 Cor 15:22)
Question is, “The END of what?”
Paul testified, “In that GOD said, A New Covenant,
HE has made the first covenant old. Now that which
is decaying and waxing old is ready to vanish away”.
(Heb 8:13)
That which was decaying and waxing old was the old,
earthly “covenant of laws”, and “The END” was the
destruction of the earthly, natural “kingdom” of Jerusalem!
The earthly “kingdom” would be no more!
All Praise And Thanks Be Unto Our Father!
So believers were, and are, exhorted to,
“Set their affections on things above(Heaven), not things
of the earth”! (Col 3:2)
Believers are exhorted to, “Be not of those whose god is
their belly, and whose glory is in their shame because
they mind earthly things.” (Phlp 3:19)
Now why such exhortations?
“Spiritually Reborn!” A believers “citizenship (Life) was,
and is, in Heaven”! (Phlp 3:20)
And believers “had been translated into The Kingdom of
GOD’s Beloved Son”. (Col 1:13)
They Had A Living, Lively Hope of Heaven!
So “We do not look at the things which are seen, but at
the things which are not seen, for things seen are
temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
We know that our body, the tent we live in here on earth,
will be destroyed. But when that happens, GOD will have
a house for us. It will not be a house made by human
hands; instead, it will be a home in Heaven that will last
forever. But for now we groan in this tent. We want GOD
to give us our Heavenly home, because it will clothe us
so we will not be naked. While we live in this body, we
have burdens, and we groan. We do not want to be
naked, but we want to be clothed with our Heavenly home.
Then this body that dies will be fully covered with Life.
This is what GOD made us for, and he has given us The
Spirit to be a guarantee for this New Life. So we always
have courage. We know that while we live in this body,
we are away from GOD. We live by what we believe, not
by what we can see. So I say that we have courage. We
really want to be away from this body and be at home
with Our Father for our only goal is to please HIM whether
we live here or there.” (2 Cor 4:18, 5:1-9)
The Kingdom of GOD’s Beloved Son HAD Come and
believers were translated into The Kingdom! (Col 1:13)
The END” of the old, earthly covenant was At Hand, for
it was “decaying, waxing old”, and would soon “vanish
away”!
And it did! Thanks Be To Our Father!
When Old Jerusalem was destroyed The END came. It
was then that The Messiah delivered up The Kingdom
unto Our Father and GOD! The Heavenly, Spiritual
Kingdom of GOD WAS, and always WILL BE!
“THY Kingdom” HAD “Come”!
“And as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned
with goodly stones and gifts, The Messiah said, As for
these things which you behold, the days will come, in
which there shall not be left one stone upon another,
that shall not be thrown down. And they asked Him,
saying, Master, but when shall these things be? And
what sign will there be when these things shall come
to pass?
And He said, Take heed that you are not deceived: for
many shall come in My name, saying, I am messiah;
and the time draws near: do not go after them. But
when you shall hear of wars and commotions, be not
terrified: for these things must first come to pass, but
The End is not by and by. Then said He unto them,
Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers
places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights
and great signs shall there be from heaven. But before
all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute
you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons,
being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake.
And they shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it there-
fore in your hearts, not to meditate before what you will
answer: for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all
your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
And you shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren,
and kinsfolk’s, and friends; and some of you shall they
cause to be put to death. And you shall be hated of all
men for my name’s sake. But there SHALL NOT A HAIR
OF YOUR HEAD PERISH. In your patience possess your
souls.
And when you shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies,
then know that the desolation thereof is at hand. Then let
them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them
which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that
are in the countries enter there. For these be the days of
vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give
suck, in those days! For there shall be great distress in the
land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the
edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all
nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the heathen,
until the times of the heathens are fulfilled. And there shall be
signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon
the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the
waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking
after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers
of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of
man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when
these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up
YOUR heads, for YOUR redemption draws near.
And He spoke a parable to them; Behold the fig tree, and all
the trees; when they now shoot forth, you see and know of
your own selves that summer is now close at hand. So like-
wise YOU, when YOU see these things come to pass, YOU
know that The Kingdom of GOD(Heaven) is close at hand.
Truly I say unto YOU, THIS GENERATION SHALL NOT PASS
AWAY, TILL ALL BE FULFILLED.”(Luke 21:5-33)
And The Messiah testified, “Truly I say unto YOU, that this
generation shall not pass, till ALL these things be done.”
(Mark 13:30) “Truly I say unto YOU, This generation shall
not pass, till ALL these things be fulfilled.”(Matt 24:34)
(The word “YOU” in the above testimonies referred to those
whom The Messiah was speaking to at that time, not two
thousand, or more, years after!)
Simply, with the destruction of the earthly, natural Jerusalem,
that “which waxed old” DID “vanish away”! (Heb 8:13)
The Kingdom no longer had a physical presence, in a precise
location on the earth, The Kingdom of GOD was now fully of
The Spirit, Heavenly. The END of the Old, earthly kingdom
WAS! “THY Kingdom” HAD “Come” indeed and Truth, and
believers were, and are, translated into The Kingdom of Our
GOD and Father! A Living Hope of Heaven!
And so it is believers were and are exhorted to “love not the
world, neither things that are in the world, for all that is in
the world, the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the
pride of life is not of Our Father, but is of the world”!
Believers knew that their “citizenship” was now in Heaven,
and that “whosoever would be a friend of this world was the
enemy of The Only True GOD”! (Phlp 3:20, James 4:4) And
The Messiah testified that “the works of the world were evil”
(John 7:7) And John testified, “the WHOLE world is under
the control of the evil one”! (1John 5:19) And Paul?
Paul testified, “WE WHICH ARE ALIVE and remain SHALL
BE CAUGHT UP together with them in the clouds to meet
The Messiah in the air: and so shall WE ever be with The
Messiah.”(1Thes 4:17:18) and Paul testified, “I was
delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And GOD WILL
DELIVER ME FROM EVERY EVIL WORK, AND WILL
PRESERVE ME UNTO HIS Heavenly Kingdom: to WHOM
be Glory for ever and ever. Amen(Let it be so)”(2Tim4:17-18)
I believe that Paul was alive and taken up “in the clouds to
meet The Messiah in the air” when the physical, earthly
Jerusalem was destroyed. At that time “The Messiah came
in the clouds”. And at that time of “the END” of that old age,
The Messiah delivered up The Kingdom unto Our Father and
subjected Himself unto HIM once again.
All Thanks And Praise Be To “Our Father”!
The Messiah had testified, “Behold, I COME QUICKLY: hold
that fast which YOU have, that no man take YOUR crown.”
(Rev 3:11) “Behold, I COME QUICKLY: blessed is he that
keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book.”(Rev 22:7)
Behold, I COME QUICKLY, and My reward is with Me, to give
every man according as his work shall be.”(Rev 22:12)
And the apostle John testified, “He Who testifies concerning
these things said to me, “Surely I COME QUICKLY”. Amen
(So be it). Even so, come Yahshua Messiah!”(Rev 22:20)
And The Messiah DID Come Quickly!
The Messiah came at “The END” of the old covenant when
the natural, earthly kingdom of Jerusalem was destroyed!
And so it is today that The Faithful desire to be taken Home,
for their “place has been prepared for them”! Home! Home
at last! The Faithful await their final transformation, “caterpillar
to butterfly” indeed and Truth.
The Faithful Have A Living Hope Of Heaven, and such a Hope
gives them the strength and courage to heed The Call of The
Only True GOD and “Come Out Of Her(this world and it’s
religions), MY People”!
Peace, in spite of the dis-eases(lies) that are of this wicked
world and it’s systems of religion, for “the WHOLE world is
under the control of the evil one” indeed and Truth……..
francisco
Oh, my sweet Hosta friend… green and splashed with the creamy color of hope. Love you.
I was just thinking about you and praying for you today. And here you are, writing! 🙂
So good to read of all the “new life” in your life! Praise God.
thanks for writing these encouraging words…they are wonderful to read.
Charity,
So good to hear from you.
Yes, your words and sharing here are so good and powerful and encouraging to me. I love the thought: “Ultimately our hope is a sure thing because God is a sure thing.
This is the kind of hope I need in the uncertainty of life.”
So true. We need this hope as an anchor for our souls as Hebrews tells us. And it comes through the storms of life, even stronger.
Hope you’re feeling better and that this blood work goes well.
I’m praying for you, sister. And thanks for the post. Glad the plants came up.