Hope: 1 Peter: Prayers and Poetry

                Hope

                Hope given

                ongoing grace 

                living within

                ongoing gentleness.

                His grace

                sharing as a gift

                living outward

                sharing gently.

                Holy

Psalm 89:19: "Once Thou didst speak in vision to Thy godly ones, And didst say, 'I have given help to one who is might; I have exalted one chosen from the people.'"

Hope: Lamentations: Prayers and Poetry

                 Hope

                Homelessness a continual

                reminder plays like a

                movie reel mocking

                

                her previous splendor

                rancid bitterness coats

                mouth, seeps into soul

                hears wind's lament

                reaching every corner

                mourning her sword, yet

                hope a brief flicker when

                realizes she still breathes.

Psalm 37:16: "Better is a little that the righteous person has than the abundance of many wicked."

Hope: Purpose: Prayers and Poetry

                                                Hope

                                                Hold fast

                                                regardless of circumstance

                                                hope always

                                                both in grief and joy.

                                               

                                                Hold fast

                                                remember words of life

                                                hope always

                                                breathe each new day.

                                                Hold fast

                                                run remaining days

                                                hope always

                                                bold in faith.

                                                Hold fast

                                                rest in His redemption

                                                hope always

                                                blameless in His cross.

Psalm 18:23, “I was also blameless with Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity.”

Hope: By Faith: Prayers and Poetry

Hope

A dream is just a

fleeting glimpse, ideas

of delight or challenge

awakening senses to

possibilities.

Becomes hope when

acted on; building

invisible steps towards

visible reality beyond

present.

An anchor in

cold waters, chain

links rise ever

sun-ward keeping the

promise.

Hebrews 12:5, “And you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;’”

Patience: Listen: Prayers and Poetry

Reading: Romans 8:25

“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

Too often I cannot wait with patience. Too often I have not grown past the demands of a toddler when I wait with an attitude of fretfulness, or an insistence of now.

To hope is to trust completely.

The Lord has promised us that we will be made in His image. Often we have a long way to go. Sometimes it is good that we don’t see the road ahead, especially if we have a tendency to turn our version of disappointments into complaint. Or an attempt to manipulate our perceived outcome.

To hope is to trust that the Lord’s dreams and imagination He begins in us will become a reality—in His time and not ours. Will be authentic by the Spirit’s counsel and not a cardboard copy of our false imitations.

Thank you, Lord, for the seeds You sow in us to prepare us for the journey. Show us how to wait in Your peace with trusting patience.

To still hope regardless.

Psalm of Worship: Proverbs 8:24

“When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.”

Illumine: Listen: Prayers and Poetry

                       

                       Illumine

                        Light and darkness

                        illumine our days

                        yet we cannot touch them,

                        no hands can grasp

                        a rainbow

                        perhaps a star if

                        it fell at our feet.

                        Northern lights dance

                        waves billow

                        none can be held

                        like hope tangible and

                        illusive—yet

                        very present

                        though unseen.

Reflection: Hope: Listen: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     Make a list of all the things you hope for in your life.

2.     Where do you ‘see’ God’s hope in each of them?

3.     How easily do you think we replace God’s hope for our man-made version?

4.     What makes a sense of proof so important to us in today’s culture?

Share: When has the Lord revealed a hope to you that you had not seen?

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Hope: Listen: Prayers and Poetry

Reading: Romans 8:24

“For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen?”

How often do we get that mixed up? We dream big, we set up goals, we work hard, we measure and reset, we reach concrete markers, and we cross the finish line. All good.

Except when we fail. Then dreams are crushed and disappointment grips our hearts. We quit. Because we have put all our hope in our human efforts and when we can’t produce we give up. We get caught up in tangible measure only and forget the unseen promises.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

Towards the unexpected—in trust—with courage—towards the hope that never quits holding on to each of us. His creation in His time by His hand and for His purpose.

Lord, thank you for Your ever present reminders of hope in love and prayers and rainbows. Please give us sight to see You and keep living towards Your grace.

Psalm of Worship: Proverbs 8:23

“Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.”

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Subjection: Listen: Prayers and Poetry

Reading: Romans 8:20

“For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope.”

Subjected and hope are not two words we normally put together.

Subjection usually walks alongside despair, shame, failure, blame, and fear. Or, if we fight back then our words are retaliation and refuse and resist.

Both towards ourselves and towards others. With strong emotions and attitude.

Boundaries we do not choose we instinctively resist.

These may all be good responses to an immediate danger we can identify and a protection against one we cannot yet see. We pause, evaluate, pray, and seek guidance.

Then sometimes we become stunned to realize that we are to actively relinquish our will and accept the consequences in trust. Possibly with no idea of when or how the situation will end, or if we will ever know the reason.

“And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’” Revelation 21:5 NAS

Lord, give us courage when our wills are curtailed, first to seek Your guidance and then to accept Your strength when we need to obey. Enable us to bear the consequences in faith and trust and hope.

Psalm of Worship: Proverbs 8:19

“My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver.”

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Lampstand: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

                       Lampstand

                        Lampstand can shine

                        dim or bright

                        sending message of weariness

                        or stalwart hope.

                        Love enables decision

                        desires full heart

                        saturated with Spirit’s

                        open hands.

Reflection: Corruption: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     What hope does this ongoing offer give you for your own family?

2.     How might you share your own journey as an example of God’s grace?

3.     How can we be diligent against false lures in this generation?

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Share: What truth helped you to choose life?

Reflection Hope: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     Why do you think Peter used this quote of David’s to his audience?

2.     What circumstances, either personal or global, shake your hope?

3.     How can we bridge our emotional fears with words of truth as David did?

4.     In what ways can we step out in faith even when our fears grip us?

Share: What scripture has the Lord given you to cling to in times of struggle?

Hope: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reading: Acts 2:25-26

“For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will live in hope.’”

Peter shifts his audience’s knowledge once again to remember history—to remember prophecy fulfilled in David, by God’s hand.

Despite the battles—the betrayal—the barriers David faced throughout his life he never doubted God’s word.

“I will not be shaken,” he said. Despite his own sin, his family torn apart, political power struggles, lies, jealousies and much more, David chose life and faith and hope.

“To live in hope,” he had continued. How under the grueling wars he waged did he claim gladness of heart?

I wish I could say that even when I’m holding tightly to my beliefs I maintain gladness of heart and am not shaken, but I cannot. Even when I cling to hope my emotions still ricochet all over the place at times. I think because I keep looking at the darkness resignation enters and courage weakens.

But David looked at the Lord at his right hand. His sight kept focus on God’s promises and power. A power that overcame Jesus’ death.

Lord, help us to see Your light and live in it—regardless of our sin and our circumstances. Let us see the gladness of Your timeless Presence in the midst of our own history and respond with a thanksgiving that cannot be ignored or silenced.

Psalm of Worship: Genesis 1:24

“And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.’ And it was so.”

Portents: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

                        Portents

           

Portents in the heavens

speak His words

                        earth’s ground

           

                        nature rises in obedience

                        watch, listen, discern,

                        time does not arrive

                        un-announced.

Reflections: Signs: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     Think of a personal situation that caught you completely off guard but when you began to process you began to see a pattern. What would have helped you to prepare ahead of time had you the ability to perceive or receive warnings.

2.     Even in situations when a warning could not have been given ahead, how did the Lord’s words carry you through because of previous challenges you had faced with Him?

Share: What word of hope would you give to someone who has been given a difficult “sign”?

Ordinary: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

           

           Ordinary

            Not scholars or statesmen

            merchants or interpreters

            instead working class Galileans

            speaking complex languages

            fluently with purpose

            message in the miracle

            delivered by ordinary

            ambassadors chosen

            for that day—that place—that time

            crying out good news

            mysteries.

Astonished: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reading: Acts 2:7

“Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?’”

How many times do we tend to put up boundaries against God’s spoken word whether knowingly or not?

Can only hear it spoken here.

Only by this or that person with these credentials.

Cannot at this time—maybe later.

How often do we lock others out, or keep ourselves from giving the unexpected words of hope, because of busyness, or hardness of heart, or fear of ridicule?

Yet God speaks anytime and anywhere through any persons. Through joy and sadness, birth and death, riches and poverty, ready hearts and stone hearts, through creation, and at least once through a donkey. No limits on His words going out or coming in, except from our very ordinary selves.

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4: 12

Lord, please give us hearts and souls ready and willing to listen—to notice—to receive—to obey—to share as You direct. And when we are astonished, may we remember to give thanks to You alone.

Psalm of Worship: Genesis 1:7

“So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so.”

Complete: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reading: Joshua 11

“As the Lord had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.” Joshua 11:15

Entering new territory sometimes means accepting new responsibilities.

Joshua now faced several angry kings determined to keep their lands as well as multiple cities to overthrow. Most likely he never expected this role in his previous position as Moses’ assistant—and definitely knew it was not humanly possible on his leadership skills alone. Yet he obeyed. And he fully completed his task.

“So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allocations. And the land had rest from war.”

Jesus also gave His own disciples, and those to follow, seemingly impossible commands.

Repent—do the will of His Father in heaven—beseech the Lord to send out workers into His harvest—the last shall be first—abide in Me—forgive—love one another. All so humanly out of reach. At least where our hearts are concerned. How often do we do even desired assignments without some kind of hesitation, or grumbling, or perhaps skipping over some parts when fatigue and confusion creep in?

Like the apostle Paul, though, we really want to be able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;” 2 Tim 4:7

Lord, thank you for staying with us and giving us Your Spirit, Your truth, and Your courage to keep going in all conditions until our tasks and our lives are completed in You. Thank you for Your promises of rest within our boundaries today as well as a rest into eternity. Give us courage to stand and not waver when faced with overwhelming situations.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 131: 3

“O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore.”