My friend of fifteen years and now my co-laborer on the Philadelphia District Church of the Nazarene is Kevin Griffin. He recently wrote these inspiring words on "Hope." May they bless you as they’ve blessed me.
"This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil." Hebrews 6:19
I spent some time thinking this week about what it means to HOPE in God, to place our HOPE in Christ. I was also in my mind wondering how much Faith and Hope are linked with each other. (I’m not sure you can have one without the other) At the end of 1 Corinthians 13, it states "now these three remain: faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love. That indicates there must be some difference in the two words even though they are closely related.
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is about a man who had no hope, he was left paralyzed on the side of a road on a mat until "some men" decided to play a part in restoring hope. (Mark 2 and Luke 5:17-26) These men tried to get the paralyzed man to Jesus, but they couldn’t get him in the door, so they took him in through the roof (talk about persistence and a hunger to get others to Jesus) Jesus forgives his sins, then heals the man and scripture says that when he saw their faith, Jesus responded. Jesus does what only Jesus can do, he heals and forgives sins, but the men played a part in this story, they brought the man to the Savior.
My Pop-Pop, my dad’s dad, was a waterman on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. He spent most of his time on the water in a boat, the water was second nature for him, it was like walking on dry ground for me. His boat was well equipped for work, but also for survival. Every once in a while, when things all around him got rough, when the wind gusted and waves crested and storms blew in out of nowhere, he had to use his anchor. The Anchor was to steady his boat, to sit tight and wait as close as possible to the harbor, until it was safe to move on.
The anchor is a visible sign for us, it grabs hold when all around is breaking free. Jesus is many things, he has many names, but Jesus is our Hope. We can put our full hope and faith in him, he is our LIVING hope, not just a historical figure of the past.
My HOPE is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. I like the reassuring words of a similar song that says "Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free, Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me, You have broken every chain, There’s salvation in your name, Jesus Christ our LIVING hope. Our hope comes from him and our hope can be fully placed in him.
Listen as my friend, Jim Cole sings “The Solid Rock”:
HERE! Presence Matters Most!
No Invisible People! UNITY!
Pastor Kerry Willis
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