The Seed of Hope

The Word

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5 NIV

Has there been an instance where you’ve read something three or four times, but on the fifth time, you’ve seen it with a “different set of eyes?” That is to say, you’re interpretation of what you’ve read several times changes, and in turn, your perspective changes as well?

Let’s change one word in this passage from John, and see if it causes a slight shift in our perspective…

In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God. Jesus was with God in the beginning. Through Jesus all things were made; without Jesus nothing was made that has been made. In Jesus was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. Jesus’ light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Perhaps you’ve already “seen” this passage from this perspective, and it’s nothing new to you. What’s the big deal? You already knew this, and in fact, you grew up knowing it. No revelations here for you.

Then again, this may be the very first time that you’ve clearly seen what John was trying to tell us, and the realization of it is rocking your world, just as it did to me a couple of weeks ago.

You see, many of us of have either forgotten, or never really realized that Jesus is not only God’s Son, but God. The same may be said for the realization that “The Word” that people are always referring to isn’t just the Bible, but Jesus; God’s spoken word delivered to us, not by an apostle, disciple, or prophet, but by God’s own Son. The Word made flesh.

The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

When you view the world the Jesus’ eyes, when you feel with his heart, and when you seek to walk with his mind, the Word comes alive in you.

Jesus is the Word. He is the way, and the truth, and the life. Death will never claim him, and darkness will never replace his light. Never.

...about patience.

A virtue may be defined as, among other things, a conformity to a standard of right, moral excellence, and a commendable quality or trait. Obviously, a virtue, while not easily attained, is worth having. In other words, it is a good thing to be virtuous!

Patience is a virtue. If you were born with patience, consider yourself to be blessed. If, on the other hand, you’re like the majority of us, you know that patience is indeed a virtue that requires constant attention, self control, re-programming our reactions to situations, and plenty of prayer. Come to think of it, even our attempts and intentions to develop patience require a lot of patience!

Paul tells us in Galatians 5:22 that patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit. If you seek to walk with the Holy Spirit, to be Spirit-filled, patience will grow in you.

What’s that? Why should you be patient?

Remember the time that you lost your patience and jumped to a conclusion before you knew all the facts and really went off on that person, only to find out that you got it all wrong, reacted too quickly, and wound up offering a lame apology for your actions?

Or that time when you just blew up over nothing and acted like a real jerk?

Or the day that you were really mad at God because His timetable didn’t agree with yours, but you wouldn’t say it out loud because you didn’t want Him to know what you were thinking? (Catch the humor in that one?)

Now, be honest. You remember those times, don’t you? And after each instance, didn’t you feel kind of foolish? That’s probably because, truth be told, you acted like a fool!

One who is patient has great understanding,

   But one who is quick-tempered displays folly.  Proverbs 14:29 The Message

Now don’t go jumping to the conclusion that being more patient will make you smarter, because it won’t. Patience will, as the Proverb tells us, give you understanding.

Patience will allow you to think rationally in a potentially volatile situation. Patience will give you more insight into the behavior of other people. Patience will allow you to see the Love of the Father in everyone. Patience will spare you the embarrassment of acting like a jerk. Patience will allow you to be filled with God’s Grace. And patience will ease the frustration of waiting for God’s plans for you to unfold.  

Here’s the thing. As you read earlier, patience is a virtue, and virtues don’t come easily. If you’ll make a commitment to be more patient and ask God to help you, it’ll come. It may take some time, but patience will begin to grow in you. As it does, you’ll find that something else is growing in you as well.

Peace.

Holding on...

“If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God,

          I’ll get you out of any trouble.” Psalm 90:14 The Message

Notice that God doesn’t advise us to turn to Him, or to merely pray to Him in times of trouble, but to hold on to Him for dear life. His promise carries a sense of urgency, doesn’t it?

Think about it for a moment…

Have you experienced days when a problem or circumstance was so overwhelming that you couldn’t imagine it coming to a favorable end? What did you do? Pray a lot? Tremble in fear? Get sick to your stomach? Pretend that it didn’t exist? Wait for it to solve itself? Turn to a friend?

Through it all, did you cling to God, knowing that He would deliver you from whatever it was? Was your faith in Him strong enough to turn only to Him? Did you really believe that He’d get you out of it?

Actually, God promises us much more than simply getting us out of trouble. And to receive it, all that we need do is to know Him and trust in Him.

“I’ll give you the best of care

          if only you’ll get to know and trust me.

Call me and I’ll answer; be at your side in bad times;

          I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party.

I’ll give you a long life,

          give you a long drink of salvation.” Psalm 90:15-16

Okay, could you pick anyone better suited to take care of you than God? Not only does He promise to care for us, but to give us the best of care! What more can we ask for?

But wait. It gets even better!

Not only will He get us out of trouble, give us the best of care, answer when we call, and be with us during bad times, but He’ll also rescue us and throw us a party when He’s done!

What’s that? You say that you’re kinda doubtful about the party? Check this out.

Every time that we hold on to God for dear life, and every time that we call out to Him, and every time that He delivers us from our troubles and rescues us, and every time that He picks us up off the ground so that we may continue on our journey, and every time we stand victorious because with God’s help we’ve overcome any obstacle before us…

Heaven celebrates! Every time.