Month: December 2024

How to Find Hope

On By vickleaIn Christmas, prayer request, Scripture, testimony, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

From the YouVersion Bible App Devotional, “Advent, Day 5”

3 Practical Ways to Find Hope

In the Bible, hope is the wholehearted, evidence-based conviction that God is making the future better than the past or present.

Hope isn’t a vague positivity or a naive optimism. Instead, true hope acknowledges the pain, problems, and dysfunctions of our world. Hope knows the worst life has to offer yet still believes God can and will create a better future.

Hope is like a lighthouse on a dark, stormy night. It doesn’t make the waves go away, but it does offer you direction and a reason to keep going.

The Bible has quite a few stories about light and darkness. Early in the Bible, God leads His people through the wilderness using a pillar of fire at night and a pillar of smoke during the day. These people had been slaves, and now they were walking across a barren desert. Yet they could have hope because they knew God was leading them to a new and better future.

But what about today? We don’t have divine pillars of smoke or fire to follow when we’re low on hope. So where do we look to find hope?

1. We find hope in friends.

When we’re feeling hopeless, we can turn to trusted people who can lend us their hope. So if you’re searching for hope, include others. Their words, stories, and guidance could be exactly what you need to renew your confidence in God’s plan.

2. We find hope in our stories.

Look back to who you were before you knew Jesus. What’s different about you? How do you live, think, and act differently? Avoid letting exceptionally bad days define your journey with Jesus. Instead, try to see the big picture. Reflecting on God’s work in your past can give you hope for your future.

3. We find hope in God’s story.

The Christmas story is one of the main events in God’s big story. In the story, we see Jesus, who is God, choose vulnerability and humility to show us His love. So when you feel hopeless about the direction of the world or the direction of your life, remember that God will do whatever it takes to make all things new.

Of course, none of these three ways to find hope are quite as dramatic as a divine pillar of fire, but they can serve the same purpose. They remind us God is present, even when life is hard. And they help us keep moving forward with confidence, no matter what storms we’re facing.

When we cling to others, reflect on our stories, and explore Scripture, we can expect to find hope. But hope can also come from unexpected places. So keep your eyes open for hopeful moments all around you.

Pause and Pray:

Lord, please be a light to me as You were to Your people in the wilderness. Thank You for dying for me while I was still a sinner so I could be united with You. Help me to set my hope on You. In Your name, amen.

My Thoughts

I cannot imagine what it would have been like to have God going before me in a pillar of cloud or fire. I suspect that I may have been so awestruck that I would not have been able to move at all unless someone else prodded me to do so.

Since we don’t have God visibly present in this way, we need to tune our spirits to see Him in other ways. We can see Him in others, in our own testimony about the past and in His Word. I think that I mostly depend on God’s Word for assurance and hope for the future. I do have friends, but most don’t know me intimately and I am not in frequent contact with anyone except our daughter. I do know that contact is important because God created us to be social beings. Thus, when I need that personal contact, I reach out to others with a phone call or a text. I have members of our small group from church who check on me and my husband often, just to make sure that we are okay and don’t need anything. And we do the same for them. It’s all about connections, isn’t it?

That’s why it’s important to connect to God and to stay that way. We shouldn’t be wandering off into the wilderness of life without Him right there with us.

Now, another prayer request. My daughter’s friend Desiree is in the hospital in Pittsburgh. She discovered this week that she has a large mass in her brain. She had brain surgery yesterday and the doctors think that there are other “specks” that they weren’t able to remove. She is having tests today. Please pray for Desiree, her husband Joel and their four children. The youngest is only eight and the oldest is fourteen. If you follow me on Facebook, I posted a GoFundMe photo of them all together. The youngest child is the most distraught and Hope, my daughter, says she is crying a lot or screaming in frustration because she wants her mommy. Joel is with Desiree, and his mom is taking care of the kids. I know that this situation didn’t surprise God, but it certainly surprised this young family, and they need as many prayers as they can get. Thank you in advance for remembering them. Please pray that God will be close to them all and give them hope.

An Infusion of Hope

On By vickleaIn Christmas, promises, Scripture, YouVersion App2 Comments

From the YouVersion Bible App Devotional, “Advent, a 25-Day Countdown to Christmas, Day 4”

God Is With You Always

Yesterday, we left off in the exile, when God’s people were trapped in a faraway nation. Yet, many had hope. Why? Because they knew God wasn’t done writing their story. In exile, they looked to past evidence of God’s care.

One of those stories was the story of Elijah. Elijah was a prophet who lived a few generations before the exile. A prophet is someone who speaks truth from God to people in power.

Elijah’s greatest threats were the king and queen of Israel, Ahab and Jezebel. Throughout Elijah’s story, he constantly let them know that their words and actions weren’t honoring God. But they didn’t listen. Instead, they doubled-down and even attempted to have Elijah killed.

Despite immense pressure in a hostile environment, Elijah remained faithful to God. And through his work, God led many people to know Him.

But Elijah still had moments where his hope ran out. On one occasion, right after a dramatic showdown with rival prophets, he felt intense despair.

Despair is the opposite of hope. It’s the feeling that the world is against you, and you’re doomed to fail. Have you ever felt despair?

Elijah hid in the wilderness and wished for death. But God met him in his despair and brought him food and water. Then, He invited Elijah to go to a mountain. There, Elijah had a powerful encounter with God that reaffirmed God’s care. This experience renewed Elijah’s hope and gave him the strength he needed to continue his mission.

Despair can overwhelm us, as it did for Elijah. Despair lies to us, telling us we’re alone and doomed to fail. But God offers hope. Hope is the wholehearted, evidence-based conviction that God is making the future better than the past or present.

When we look at how God provided for people in the past, it can give us hope for a better future today. For anyone dealing with despair, remembering stories like Elijah’s can be a source of strength. They remind us to have courage, no matter what opposition might come our way.

So, do you feel despair today? Maybe it’s about a relationship you’re about to give up on or a dream that feels like it’s dead. No matter what it is, God wants to infuse you with hope.

Sometimes life doesn’t go our way and we end up facing intense opposition. But God is still with us. We can face today with confidence, believing the best is yet to come.

Pause and Pray:

Lord, thank You for being patient with me. Thank You that when I feel hopeless, You are always there to renew my hope. Help me to fix my eyes on You and trust in You with my whole heart. In Jesus’ name, amen.

My Thoughts

For years, I went to an infusion center monthly to receive a biological medication to help with my asthma. The infusion actually consisted of an injection in my lower arm and then I had to wait a minimum of half an hour to make sure that I did not have a bad reaction. So, with that in mind, I was interested in the use of the word infusion with hope in this devotional. The infusion I had replaced some allergen cells with cells that would fight against allergies, or at least that’s the way I understood it. And the hope that God infuses us with replaces the despair we feel over what we consider a hopeless situation. Nothing is hopeless to God because nothing is impossible for Him to do.

The story of Elijah in I Kings 19 is a testimony to God’s provision even when our faith is low or non-existent. Elijah had just defeated the prophets of Baal and then Queen Jezebel says she plans to kill him. Instead of leaning into God, he got afraid (let’s face it, we probably would get scared, too) and ran away and hid in the wilderness. There God fed him and God personally assured him that he was not the only prophet left. If Elijah can get discouraged so completely and still hear from God, then we can, too. We just have to be listening. Sometimes, I think we listen to the circumstances and fear the consequences, running away from God instead of toward Him.

I needed this reminder today and every day. I have a tendency to withdraw when I am feeling upset. I am trying to train myself to reach out to God and tell Him exactly how I am feeling, whether it’s frustration, anger or grief. After all, He already knows; I am the one who needs to get it out of my system by talking it over with God.

I like the scripture illustrated above that reminds us that our suffering is not just so that we can suffer and move on. We learn a lesson each time we go through something hard, if we just allow God to teach us. At the very least, we learn to persevere through it, to pray and keep on praying, to trust and keep on trusting, to be faithful to God because He is always faithful to us. He will infuse us with hope if we let Him.

God Is Still Working in His Plan

On By vickleaIn Christmas, Scripture, Song, YouVersion App1 Comment

From the YouVersion Bible App, “Advent, A 25 Day Countdown to Christmas, Day 3”

Hope When Things Go Wrong in the World

Yesterday, we said hope is the wholehearted, evidence-based conviction that God is making the future better than the past or present.

But what about when all the evidence this Christmas tells you the future might only bring more pain? When forces outside of your control, like war, the economy, and sickness, cause chaos all over the world.

If you’re asking this question, you’re not alone. Around 500 years before Jesus, the people of God were invaded, captured, and forcibly deported to a faraway nation. They were separated from their families, homes, and, for many, their hope.

Their forced migration is called the exile, and its trauma influenced countless Scriptures.

Today, you’ll read a lament (a pain-filled song of praise) by a few of these people. These exiles were musicians, but after their capture, they were taken as servants or slaves to work at a farm in a nation called Babylon. Their captors asked them to play the music of their people, and they responded with despair, saying something like, “How could we sing songs of hope and praise to God when we’ve experienced so much pain?”

Global events outside their control made hope feel impossible. Can you relate?

When things go wrong in the world, it feels like evidence that God is against us, ignoring us, or He’s left us behind. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Throughout their time in Babylon, the people of God not only survived, but learned to thrive. They discovered God was present in their pain, and God still had a plan for their future.

In fact, one of the most famous Bible verses (Jeremiah 29:11) is about God’s plan for His people in exile. In that verse, He promises to give them hope and a future. And God delivered on His promise.

Your pain isn’t evidence God doesn’t care or is far off. It’s evidence that God is still working on His plan to make all things new.

True hope doesn’t ignore the pain of life. Instead, it trusts God’s plan despite the worst life has to offer.

Yes, it’s a slow process. And it’s normal to get frustrated with God’s timing. But when we look at the experience of the exile, we see the evidence of God’s faithfulness in the middle of pain and in the fulfillment of His promises.

Pause and Pray:

Lord, thank You that even in the darkest of times, You are working for good. Help me to have hope even when things are hard in my life. Help me to share the hope I have in You with those around me. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus. Amen.

My Thoughts

My heart is not heavy today, but it has been in the past. I want to know what God is doing to bring the suffering in the world to an end. I want things to get better, but they seem to get worse instead. I know the Bible says that these are signs of the times, but sometimes I am just ready to stop being a foreigner in a strange land and be home with the Lord where I belong.

God’s Word to me is to be patient and wait. He is working out His plan for me, just as He did for the Israelites who were exiled in Babylon for decades. He didn’t say to them, “Well, you sinned, so I am just going to leave you to suffer through your consequences.” He never stepped away from watching over them and keeping His promises to them, and He hasn’t left us either. God is the One who is working on His plan, not my plan or your plan, but His plan. He sees the big picture, and He continues to methodically work with fallen man to work out His plan for the end of the age.

So, while I may be impatient with things as they are, I can be thankful that God is patient. How many would be lost already if He were not patient with all of us? I just read a Christian book about human trafficking that absolutely broke my heart. It’s fiction but it could have been ripped from headlines. The story of a group of girls stolen from their village in Peru and sold to men to be used, abused and discarded was hard to read but it also had a message of hope and faith. It is undergirded with the message of the Prodigal and the Lost Sheep. We have all been prodigals at one time, and we have all be a lost sheep. God sees and He cares about all of the cruelty and injustice in the world. There is no one who loves more deeply than our Heavenly Father.

This is the book that I am referring to and I highly recommend it. It is hope for the hopeless and a light in the darkness. The author is new to me, but I can recommend this book because I just finished it and cried through many of the gut-wrenching scenes. It isn’t too graphic but it does deal with difficult topics, so I would rate it five stars and a PG-17.

This is one of the songs that I have requested be played at my funeral. Yes, I am one of those controlling people who plans in advance, but not for control but rather for the comfort of my family so that they don’t have to worry about details. When I heard this on the radio years ago, it spoke to my heart because of all of our military moves and the fact that I have never really felt settled into a home or community. When I arrive to my eternal home, then I will truly know what home is like and I am looking forward to that day. Until then, I will wait, just as God is waiting, patiently working out His plan and hoping that I am helping in some small way to help Him fulfill it.

Where I Belong-Building 429

A Better Future with Hope

On By vickleaIn promises, Scripture, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

From the YouVersion Bible App, “Advent: 25 Day Countdown to Christmas,” Day 2

How Can We Have Hope?

Is your life going to get better, or will it get worse?

How about the world? Will it get better, or will things spiral further out of control?

Or what about a person in your life who keeps making hurtful choices? Will they change? Or are they doomed to keep causing pain?

Delightful questions to start day two of a Christmas Bible Plan, right?

So why did we ask these questions? Because how you answer reveals your hope.

It’s easy for life to steal your hope, even if you’re naturally a “glass-half-full” kind of person. Tragedies, unrest, division, aging, and natural disasters can make it easy to feel like our best days are behind us or impossible to reach.

But is that true? Or could it be possible that by reflecting on the story of Scripture, we can find real, resilient, and realistic hope? The kind of hope that can keep you afloat, no matter your circumstances.

First, what is hope?

Hope is the wholehearted, evidence-based conviction that God is making the future better than the past or present.

Sounds great, but what evidence? Well, let’s go back in time to over 2,000 years ago.

In those days, in a province of the Roman empire called Judea, people were low on hope. Most of the evidence from the past told them to give up. A handful of powerful empires had steamrolled their people, and it seemed like their story was almost finished.

But God was still writing their story. And through both prophets and ordinary people, His message of hope spread throughout Judea: a promise He wouldn’t leave them alone in the darkness, but would come to save His people when the time was right.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s only day two, after all. For today, ask yourself, “How’s my hope?” Ask God to help you renew your hope in Him.

Pause and Pray:

Thank You, God, for making me new in You. When things feel out of control or painful, please help me to remember that You’re working. Help me to build my hope step by step until I have complete faith in You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

My Thoughts

I have always been a “glass half empty” kind of person, thinking that if things are going well now, all I have to do is wait and something bad will happen. Generally, I have not been disappointed in my low expectations. God has been working on me to help me overcome this negativity. I am better, but I am not there yet and I know it, so I have to continue to press into the promises in the Scriptures in order to keep myself focused on God and not on what might possibly happen. The middle scripture above is just right for me!

I like that the devotional points out that God is making the future better. I look back on my younger years and remember having energy, a fulfilling job and children at home. I miss those years. Presently, I am aging and right now I am sore from wrestling with a toddler who wanted constant attention and for me to pick him up and hold him, even when he was very wiggly. Do I like feeling sore? No, but I know that the soreness will pass but the memories I made with my grandchildren will last. I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know Who holds my future and I am confident that He will bring me closer to Him even as I move away from life on earth. That is a future to look forward to!

Because of Jesus, when I find myself discouraged, I can go right before God, into His holy presence and tell Him exactly how I am feeling. He already knows anyway, so being honest with Him is the only way to go. Once I do that, I usually feel encouraged. Why? Because I am not carrying the burden alone; Jesus has taken the burden away from me and that helps me to see things more realistically and with a hope that comes from His steadfast love and faithfulness.

I trust that you are enjoying the days leading up to the greatest holiday of the year. Christmas is a time to renew our hope in the Lord and to show others how hopeful we are. It’s not about who is President or the wars going on in the world. It’s all about Jesus! He’s where our hope lies!

Advent: Day 1

On By vickleaIn Christmas, Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

From the You Version Bible App devotional, “Advent: 25 Days”

Find Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love This Season

How are you feeling this holiday season? Is life like a Christmas movie, full of wonder, happiness, and endless cups of hot cocoa? Or are you feeling stressed out, anxious, or maybe even grieving? The classic Christmas song says it’s the most wonderful time of the year, but for many of us, it can be the most overwhelming time of the year.

We can’t guarantee that reading this Bible Plan will make it snow on Christmas or magically make all your holiday worries disappear, but it is designed to help you find hope, peace, joy, and love this season.

What Is Advent?

Advent is a Christian tradition of anticipating Jesus’ birth on Christmas. Each week of Advent focuses on one word that reveals how Jesus’ birth changes us. The four words which you’ve seen already are hope, peace, joy, and love.

Now, let’s pause because if you’ve been to church, read the Bible, or spent any time around Christians, then you’ve probably heard these words a lot. And maybe these words feel a bit vague. That’s why we’ve defined these words below.

  • Hope: A wholehearted, evidence-based conviction that God is making the future better than the past or present
  • Peace: A state of wholeness, calm, and renewal between us, God, and others
  • Joy: A resilient cheerfulness anchored in the goodness of God
  • Love: Following Jesus’ example by treating everyone as valuable and worthy of sacrificial care

Over the next few weeks, we will explore the Bible and see how God’s gift to us provides hope, peace, joy, and love. We’ll also see how these gifts impact how we live every day.

So whether you’ve practiced Advent for years or you’re just learning about this tradition, we can all find hope, peace, joy, and love this season. Tomorrow, we’ll begin our first week by taking a closer look at God’s plan for hope.

Pause and Pray:

Lord, thank You for the great gift of Your Son. Please help me focus on You this Christmas season. Free my life from distractions and give me Your hope, peace, joy, and love. In Jesus’ name, amen.

My Thoughts

I researched a little bit and found out that Advent comes from that Latin word “adventus” which means arrival. Arrival of what? At Christmas, we celebrate the arrival of Jesus on the earth, the only One who can reconcile us to the Father and who teaches us about what true hope, peace, joy and love are.

I just returned from a trip to Maryland and got to witness just a little. I shared with my young grandchildren about our tradition of baking a birthday cake for Jesus. We have been doing that since our children were very young. I told them that Christmas isn’t about the tree and presents but it’s all about Jesus. One of the kids was amazed while the toddler was bored and the oldest wandered away. But I least I got to share about the real meaning of Christmas and hope that it stays with them in some way for a long time. It breaks my heart that the only meaning some people have for Christmas is a wish list and a visit to Santa. The real meaning is lost in the commercialism of the season that the retailers have hyped so much that Jesus seems lost in the commercials for the newest gadgets, toys and must-haves before anyone else has things. I don’t think Jesus minds our enjoying giving, but I am fairly sure that He does not appreciate the greed associated with the “this is what I want for Christmas.” If we have Jesus, we actually have all that we need.

I hope that the first day of Advent is one that you can take time to reflect on the arrival of the One who changed your life forever. That’s my goal for today.

The New Covenant

On By vickleaIn promises, Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

From the YouVersion Bible App Devotional, “A God Who Is Faithful”, Day 7

Old Testament Connection

People broke the relationship with God that he had established. The creation and the Creator were once tethered together by a life-giving relationship, and humanity broke the bond by sinning against their Creator. Since that moment, life has been filled with pain and frustration because it has not had the life-giving power of God flowing through it. But God loves people too much to leave them in this condition, so he made a series of promises to bring his people out of it.

The Bible speaks of a “new covenant” that God makes with his people. This covenant does not depend on people’s ability to fulfill it by loving and being faithful to God. Instead, this covenant depends on God. In this covenant, God promises to help his people obey his law (Jer 31:31 – 34). God also promises to bring his people from death to life and to care for them forever (Eze 37:24 – 26). The author of Hebrews declared that God has fulfilled and accomplished that covenant through Jesus. The sacrifice of the great high priest Jesus supersedes all Old Testament rituals. Jesus, therefore, fulfilled the Old Testament laws. He fulfilled the terms of the covenant by being the priest who presides over the covenant. He is the priest who brings his people into the presence of God (Heb 10:19).

Today’s Prayer:

Jesus, thank you for the new covenant. Thank you for bringing me out of death and into life. Amen.

My Thoughts

It never gets old for me to be reminded of the new covenant that God has established through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus. God set the terms of the agreement and God works to make sure that it is fulfilled. What we have to do is accept the sacrifice and then dedicate our lives to living for the Creator who gave us life and then renewed that life through Jesus. That is the good news of the new covenant and the reason we can share our joy this season!