Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12, (ESV) italics mine. Sometimes unfulfilled desires, the ones we’ve prayed for over a long period of time, can diminish our faith and cause us to lose hope. Or worse, we may...
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 (NIV), bold and italics mine Forgiving others doesn’t come naturally. If anything, I have to shift my mind away from the hurt so I can focus on what I...
“When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same...
“For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope.” Romans 15:4, (NET), bold and italics mine. We know spiritual battles—especially long...
“Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we...
