Tag: hope

Are your feet beautiful?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”” (Rom 10:15)

As Christians we have been sent out to make disciple-making disciples. We are to make these disciples “as we are going” about our day. We don’t have to travel half way around the world to be “on mission” for Jesus. We can live “on mission” for Him right here in our own community.

Paul reveals in this section of his letter to Romans that we are sent to preach the good news. It is a beautiful thing. Beautiful can be translated as “the appropriate time; timely” or it can be translated as beautiful in the sense that it is an appropriate action or a lovely action.

If we translate the word timely, which it seems many commentators lean towards, the idea links more to God’s plan being worked out in His time. The preaching of the gospel as the message of hope to both Jews and Gentiles has come at the appropriate time in God’s plan of salvation.

While at the same time, the feet of those who come with the good news of the gospel are beautiful, they are lovely. It is a beautiful action for someone to preach the good news of Jesus to others.

We are to be those beautiful feet who in God’s timing are bringing a message of hope and light to those who live in darkness. Are your feet beautiful?

There is hope after this life has ended

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?” (Acts 26:8)

In Paul’s defense before King Agrippa he asks the question posed in verse 8. Why is it incredible to believe that God raises the dead? God is the all-sovereign, all-powerful, ruler and creator of the universe. Why is it so difficult to believe that He has the power to raise the dead.

Not only does God have the power to raise the dead, but it also fits His purpose. He promised we would experience life in a new heavens and new earth. One free from sickness and death. One where we worship King Jesus for all eternity for His glory and our blessing. For millennia, God has been calling a people to Himself to give to His Son. His Son, God Himself, came to die for these people. He will raise those who have died so that they might join Him in His kingdom one day to worship and serve Him for all eternity.

Why is it so difficult to believe God can raise man from the grave. It is within in His power and it fits His purpose. The resurrection is a reality. It is our only hope. Death is not the end. There is hope after this life has ended. But only for those who believe Jesus was raised from the dead as the first fruits of a new creation.

Do you believe in Jesus’ resurrection?

Do you know the forgiveness of the Lord?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” (Ps 130:3-4)

There is a wonderful truth in this verse. One we couldn’t live without. One that would keep us from hope and lead us into despair if it weren’t true. With the Lord there is forgiveness.

Despite our sin our against him, which is plentiful and heinous, the Lord offers forgiveness. He doesn’t hold sin against those who repent and seek His face, desiring to walk according to His ways.

He forgives because He absorbs the cost. He can absorb the cost and be just because of Jesus. Jesus has always been the Father’s plan to deal with our sin. He is not plan b. He is not an afterthought. Jesus is plan A through and through. Because Jesus was coming and the Father’s plan would come to fruition, the Psalmist can write 1000’s of years earlier about the Father’s forgiveness.

Do you know the forgiveness of the Lord? Is Jesus your Savior? Your hope?

God’s Word Provides Hope

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” (Ps 119:130)

I am struck by the Psalmist continued reference to God’s Word. It is that which gives light in today’s passage. It imparts understanding.

God’s Word illumines the darkness. It guides us as we walk through a world that lives in the domain of darkness. But we have God’s Word which provides safe passage through the darkness. It informs us in how we are to live and act.

As well as God’s Words helps us to understand who God is, who we are, and why the world is so messed up. It, however, doesn’t leave us in hopelessness. God’s Word also points us to the answer to the messed up situation in which we find ourselves. It points to the Messiah. The Savior who was planned before the foundation of the world to rescue a lost and dying world from darkness.

Turn to God’s Word today and every day thereafter. It should be what we pick up when we are seeking answers, guidance, and hope.

The World is Passing Away

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals4 Comments

I don’t mean to be morbid, but we are all going to die one day. It’s inevitable. No one is going to live forever. Sure, some of us may live longer than others, and some of us may live longer than we want. I hear getting older isn’t for wimps! But regardless of what you do, you aren’t going to live forever. That age-defying cream, magic pill, and new and improved workout routine may help you look younger, even help you live longer and improve your quality of life, but the end is eventually going to come. We all are going to pass away. In reality, we are already passing away. Every breath we take brings us closer to the inevitable.

The World is Passing Away

Just like we are passing away, John tells us that the world and its desires are passing away too.

“And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

(1 Jn 2:17)

On one undisclosed day, this world is going to come to end. Jesus will return, judge the world, and restore it to its former glory. We can be sure that will happen because God told us in His Word to us it will. God’s Word can be trusted because God’s promises have consistently and perfectly been fulfilled throughout biblical history. The world and its corrupt and evil system is passing away.

Knowing the trajectory of the world and its declared and promised end should drive us to place our hope and trust in God and not the world.

So if you have been betting on the world, hoping it was going to fulfill your every desire and longing, that if you just held on a little longer everything would be alright, know that it won’t. The world can’t and won’t fulfill you, nor can it provide ultimate salvation because it is passing away.

Question for Reflection

  1. Where have you placed your hope?

Resources

Post developed from my sermon Why shouldn’t we love the world?

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Do You Hope in a Big God?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn QuotesLeave a comment

When our God seems small and our circumstances appear to be overwhelming it’s because we’ve lost touch with reality. The reality is: our circumstances are small, the nations are a drop in a bucket, and our God is massive. And so if our circumstances are horrible but small and our God is good and huge, then there is every reason for hope and there is a mountain of evidence to keep going. And to keep going with hopetimism – in touch with reality, even the brutal facts of reality at its bleakest, and yet confident and positive about the future.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Is your view of God big or small?
  2. How does your view of God affect your outlook on your circumstances?

Resources

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Quote from Wisdom in Leadership, Craig Hamilton, 165