When the whirlwinds of life are surrounding us, where is the hope that allows you; dear friend, to cling to joy in Christ.  Financial disasters, chronic illness, failures, death of loved ones, aging, natural disasters, and the news so filled with murders, rape, and thieves continuously attack our sensibilities.  Still, in the darkest moments of our lives as we draw near to Christ; hope arises pushing aside our despair, like a spring of living water, Joy emerges from that hope.  How can that be? In those dark moments of despair, where do you turn?  How can you break these chains of depression and hopelessness?  Some of the greatest theologians battled depression such as Charles Spurgeon, William Cowper, and at times Martin Luther.  Is it not only natural that the more we come to know of Christ, His righteousness, and His Glory the more despair we feel concerning our own failures at loving Him enough.  We weep with our inability to live out this Christian life in the manner that would bring glory to His name.  Even if we have learned to cling tight to Joy in Christ concerning our outward afflictions; how do we do so with our inward turmoil over our own failure?  Have you ever thought, "But how can God answer my petition when I know I am the one who failed Him?"  Still if God is Omnipotent, and He is; there is never been a moment where He said, "Oops, I didn’t know he/she was going to do that!!  I would never have chosen her/him, if I knew what a mess-up they were."  I am not talking to you out there who could care less about your sin and even want to blame it on God (you probably don’t even know Christ). I am talking to those of you who are broken by your failures while at the same time seeking Christ with all your hearts.  Let me share with you 5 scriptures that will help you to hold tight to hope and joy in the Future Grace promised to all who know Christ as their Savior.

Scripture #1: "Hebrews 4: 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."  Because our High Priest (Jesus Christ) took on human flesh that He might be tempted (though without sin) and suffered hunger, poverty, pain and death for us; He is a sympathetic high priest overflowing with love for us despite our frailty.  We need never be afraid to go to Him and lay our all before His throne of grace and knowing that He will give us the grace needed for each and every next moment of our life.

Scripture #2: "Philippians 1: 6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"  My security is held by God’s Power and not mine.  He can take all the bumbling mistakes and turn them into something beautiful, in spite of me; though, He will not leave the chaff in my heart–He will remove it at whatever cost.  He will transform my desires until they are aligned with His.  This is does with patience and steadiness of spirit.

Scripture #3: "Romans 8: 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."  One day, I will look like Christ.  Whatever trial, pain, sorrow, or tribulation is needed to complete that task, I desire.  The hope and Joy that will lift me up in each trial is focusing on the fact that God is in control and He will transform this self-exalting, selfish heart until He has transplanted a new heart that looks like Christ, filled with His Glory and His righteousness.

Scripture #4: "2 Corinthians 3:15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."  Step by step, glory by glory; God has taken charge of transforming of my heart.

Scripture #5: "Hebrews 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

So, dear friend, rise up, shake off those cloaks of despair and sing a song of praise to God for His love, His Grace and His Omnipotent Transforming Work in Your life.   Rejoice because He is in Control.

“A truly humble man is sensible of his natural distance from God; of his dependence on Him; of the insufficiency of his own power and wisdom; and that it is by God’s power that he is upheld and provided for, and that he needs God’s wisdom to lead and guide him, and His might to enable him to do what he ought to do for Him.”   Jonathan Edwards

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=SSDWaMK5qFg

When walking down a path in the dark of the night,  we search for light so that we might see the path before us so as to avoid the pitfalls and the dangers which surround us.  The same is true of the soul.  Without light to guide us, we easily become lost to the point of despair.  We stumble along the path and we may easily fall.  Just as darkness is the absence of light in the world, evil is the absence of righteousness.  Where can we find light for our soul to journey along the path of life?  Just as in the beginning, "3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." Genesis 1; He commands light to shine into the hearts of man, so they might see out of darkness to grasp the truth of the Gospel. 

2 Corinthians 4:

5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.

6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

In the midst of darkness we are drawn toward the light.  Though that light might appear dim at first, we search for it and are drawn toward it.  Christ is the light of the world, the only hope to dispel evil with His own righteousness.  He paid the price for our sins so that we might have a relationship with pure righteousness, found only in God.  Yet, some prefer to remain in darkness where they desire to believe that of their own self they can create their own light.  But, alas, how can darkness produce light without an outward source of light entering in to dispel the darkness?  Can a candle produce light were it not lite?

Carrying around an unlit candle will never produce the light that we need to see in the darkness.  Carrying around all the knowledge which we might gain in this world can never produce the light we need to see in this world, unless we see the "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" as our only means to light the candle of our life.  Believing in Jesus Christ is our only means of salvation and our only means of shedding the light of God which is filled with hope, joy, and love into our empty darkened hearts. We have a choice here.  We can either believe in Jesus Christ or we can reject Him.  Our condemnation is our own choice when we reject the only means of atonement which God at such a great price provided. 

John 3: 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

Through our eyes we read, we watch TV, we see the beauty around us, and we see the evil as well.  Christians and unbelievers both choose what knowledge is entering our hearts by choosing what we look upon and what we seek.  That is why Christ said,

Luke 11:  34 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.35 Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.36 If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

Do you want light to shine upon your path that you might see the world around you clearly?  Are the eyes of your heart focused only upon the Word which is Jesus Christ?  Do you seek and savor Him above all else?  Can you for a moment turn off the TV and the secular books to feed upon the word of God?  Is He your greatest treasure?  Then, choose Him, and every step of your life will become clear.  It is only then that the radiance of His light will reflect around you as you emptied of self become a mirror reflecting that light out into a world of darkness.  Let me share with you this quote from Jonathan Edwards. 

“Men have a great deal of pleasure in human knowledge, in studies of natural things; but this is nothing to that joy which arises from divine light shining into the soul. This spiritual light is the dawning of the light of glory in the heart. There is nothing so powerful as this to support persons in affliction, and to give the mind peace and brightness in this stormy and dark world. This knowledge will wean from the world, and raise the inclination to heavenly things. It will turn the heart to God as the fountain of good, and to choose him for the only portion. This light, and this only, will bring the soul to a saving close with Christ. It conforms the heart to the gospel, mortifies its enmity and opposition against the scheme of salvation therein revealed: it causes the heart to embrace the joyful tidings, and entirely to adhere to, and acquiesce in the revelation of Christ as our Savior.” 
― Jonathan Edwards

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aEhXBEUnZU

Are you broken today?  Lying in a bed of sorrow?  Is it due to the afflictions that surround you?  Or is it from the sin within you? Do you wonder if God really loves you?  Or are you afraid that He has turned His back on you?  My prayer is that these four songs comfort your broken heart and help restore in you God’s Joy, God’s Hope, and the truth of the fact that God’s love for you. 

Psalm 34:

17 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

A Broken and Contrite Heart

By Effie Darlene Barba

My broken heart I bring you Lord

Contrite from my defeat

I long to feel  Your love restored

I fall before your feet

I felt the warmth that mercy brings

Your love my sin did hide

You paid the price, as angels sing

“By faith, you’re justified”

And clothed now in your righteousness

Of which I ne’er deserved

My all I give, how could I less

No part of me reserved

I long to see Your face today

To seek You with my heart

Your Glory lights my darkened way

That I shall ne’er depart.

 

Psalm 51: Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSVqHcdhXQ

So, how do we conclude this series on love with all it’s mysteries?  There is no other emotion that we humans possess or are capable of that can create such splendorous joy.  No other emotion can make you feel so alive, so filled with hope, energized by that love to be and do more than you could ever do on your own.  Being in love makes one feel so invincible and so joyous that the joy overflows on all those around you.  Still, for that same reason; no other emotion can cause greater sorrow or pain as we share the pain and suffering of another because of our love for them.  No other emotion requires us to die to our selfish desires more than love as it demands us to see another as more important than ourselves.  When one has lost the object of that love there is no other emotion that can rip your heart out; leaving you in such utter despair, lost within a whirlwind of pain and sorrow. There is no other emotion that we find ourselves lost without, dark within a sea of loneliness.   What a mysterious emotion.  Still, what an incredible gift of our creator to have given us this as He made us in His image (body, soul, and spirit) because he wanted someone to share the overflowing joy that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit had already enjoyed.  So, what was Paul conclusion to this chapter?

1 Corinthians 13: (AMP) 12 For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as [e]in a riddle or enigma], but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand[f]fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been [g]fully and clearly known and understood [[h]by God].

13 And so faith, hope, love abide [faith—conviction and belief respecting man’s relation to God and divine things; hope—joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love—true affection for God and man, growing out of God’s love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love.

I searched for love most of my life.  How gracious was God that He gave me Pedro Barba, Jr.  Still, the entire marriage I spent striving to gain the love of this man; hoping, working at times–just to hear those words "I Love You."  My own feelings of "not being good enough for anyone to really love me" and Pete’s "fear of being hurt if he were to say he loved me"  clouded the sky so the light of truth could not be seen by either; until the day before he died and for the first time as he told me how much he loved me, I understood and then, he was gone.   Most of my Christian life, I believed God’s Grace had reached down to save me; but there was no way that God could really love me.  I worked very hard to gain God’s love; yet, I seemed to always fail.  The harder I tried, the greater I failed; until one day with a Broken and Contrite heart, I cried, "Why God, must you always break my heart?  His reply, "Oh, child do you not see that it is you breaking mine because you cannot see how much I love you" Only then did I begin to understand all of it.  I had wanted a companion here; yet, I had never realized that my greatest love of all was Jesus Christ.  So, as Paul whatever, I know of love now is dim compared to what I will know one day; and, whatever joys love has brought to me here on earth, they are dim compared to what I will know in the presence of perfect love. My final advice to all of you whatever state of love you are in, you need to learn of Perfect Love (God) in order to truly know how to receive and to give love.  For those who have found your earthly soul mate chosen by God–cherish them and ask God to teach you how to love them as He does.  For those of who are widowed, cherish the good memories and rest in the loving arms of your heavenly Father.  For those of you who are alone and wondering if God has anyone special for you?  Don’t worry, relax in the precious loving arms of God; perhaps, He wants to teach you of His precious love so that you are prepared to really love the one he sends or better yet; perhaps as He looks upon your faith and love of Him, He has chosen not to share you with another.  Understand, that is a very privileged place to be and God will supply all your needs.  His presence will be ever more sweeter and joyous, because He will fill you with His Love, His Joy, and His Hope.  I have awoken at times with a sweet song playing in my head and the sense of arms surrounding me and remembered Zephaniah 3:"17 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing."  So let me ask you a question, When was the last time you looked into the face of Christ through the eyes of your heart and said, "I love you"?  Dennis Jernigan wrote a love song to Jesus that I hope you listen to.  I, daresay, this is my life song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuiaoVyKXnM

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.  The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation.  The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."  C. S. Lewis from "The Four Loves"

This remains a mystery how the very thing that can bring us such great joy can also be the very thing that brings us such great sorrow at times.  By nature we are filled with so much need love, needing to be loved.  From the time we are born we need to feel the love of our mother’s arms to feed, to protect, and to feel secure; that need to feel loved continues throughout our life.  Beyond that we are filled with the desire to give love; yet, so often that gift love requires such sacrifice and pain.  To love someone or something, we become vulnerable to feeling their pain whenever they are hurt, we become vulnerable to the pain of loss when they leave us either in death or because they walk away, and we become vulnerable to feeling our heart rip into a thousand pieces feeling absolute despair.  Our knowledge and our understanding of this seems to be so fragmented and so limited.  How was it that perfect love which is God cried as He looked over Jerusalem, weeping at their loss and rejection of the only means of their receiving His Love?  How was it that perfect love should stand at the grave of Lazarus and weep because no one understood that He (Christ) was standing there with the greatest gift of all; yet, no one had the faith to understand He came to restore life eternal in His presence where no more sorrow would occur?  How was it that Perfect Love would have to suffer torture, death on a cross, and for a moment in time be ripped into pieces as the Father and Holy Spirit turned away unable to look upon the sin of mankind which He willingly took upon Himself to pay their penalty that Justice and Righteousness might be fulfilled?  How finite are our minds that we cannot comprehend the truth, that to truly love means we must die to ourselves  and our desires that we might receive the fullness of God’s Love into our hearts; and only then, be able to overflow that Love to another!! In that death, pain and sorrow; we then can experience the fullness of Joy that comes from the Love of God which fills our hearts and the Joy of truly loving another (though finite and imperfect) until one day we stand before Christ and so deeply in Love with Him, fall before His feet overjoyed by His presence.  Perhaps that is why Paul, in this great letter concerning love continues as follows.

1 Corinthians 13: (amp) 9 For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect).

10 But when the complete and perfect (total) comes, the incomplete and imperfect will vanish away (become antiquated, void, and superseded).

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside.

When it comes to the matter of the mystery of love, I am still that child learning from her Heavenly Father.  One day, I will understand; when I stand before Him.  I do not understand why God would have loved me so much and still loves me so; yet, I am still being taught by Him.  The pains, sorrows, and joys that are mine because of love here on earth are but a training process to help me to understand one day the full depth of His Perfect Love which He so desires to give to me.  I am certain that my inability to fully comprehend His Love and to Love Him as I should may at times cause Him to weep.  My moments of doubt at times cause Him great sorrow; yet, He patiently waits and gently continues to teach me–because He loves me that much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrkJWB1XhbY

 

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation