Vol. 3, No. 50
Now may the God who gives [inspires] perseverance and the encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus. –Romans 15:5
Question: How does one live securely in an unstable world? Where can one find security in a hostile and volatile world? Would you feel secure knowing that there is a God Who planned our destiny from the beginning to the end, and then revealed that plan, if one should choose Him? There is Good News – that is precisely what the God of Scriptures did for humankind.
Paul says in verse 5 that, He (God) is the God of Patience. The Amplified Bible poses, “may the God Who gives you the power of patient endurance and steadfastness” as a way of understanding God’s heart. The Greek language offers a great word, hupomone. It is more than patience; it is the triumphant adequacy, that can cope with life; it is the strength that does not only accept things; in accepting them, patience transfers them into triumph.
He is the God of Hope (verse 13).
He is never a pessimist . . . always the realist. A pessimist is aptly described as a person with two bad choices and chooses both. I once read that there are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about their situations.
The Greek word is, elpizo, hope – the kind of hope that is sure, as one waits for the promise of One capable of making the promise, leading to be inspired because of the promisor. Nothing is hopeless as long as God is alive! No situation is hopeless as long as there is the power of the living God. Hope is captured in the Blessed Hope; the appearing of our great God and Savior.
He is the God of Peace (verse 33). We often see Peace as a title of God; and often in connections with God’s instructions for our facing life’s anxieties and even fears of trouble. We live in an unstable world; everything seems subject to change – contingency creeps into the language of even believers. Ready for another Greek word? Eireneuo means living in quietness and at rest. In philosophy of humankind, this kind of peace is elusive, nowhere to be found.
Nowhere? Well, no. Nowhere except in God! In the Old Testament, under the Law, God is the Lord of Hosts. In the New Testament, under grace, God is the God of Peace.
God is the giver of these hard-to-evaluate human desirables: (1) patience – the ability to wait and endure without complaint; (2) hope – the feeling of what is wanted will absolutely happen; and (3) peace – the absence of mental conflict tied in with a sense of tranquility.
Doctors send patients to the pharmacy in an attempt to induce chemicals to adjust these traits in people’s minds and emotions – when what they need is a good dose of Almighty God. These three traits reveal what God will do for us and what we may find in Him.
He is in this capacity, the source of our endurance as we look at the past . . . the God of patience. As we look at the future, He is the security of our hope. For the present, He is the secret of our peace. How intimate this makes God! –Dr. Roy Laurin
What is your book of choice to gain these traits . . . is it the Bible, or is your book of choice one penned by Dr. Phil or Ophra?
A thought from Paul Tripp . . . Come Let Us Adore Him
Jesus left His lofty place to rescue glory thieves who insert themselves into His place and make it all about them.
In 2 Corinthians 5:15, Paul is quite clear about the reason for the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He says, “And He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.”
Sin causes each of us to place ourselves in the center of our worlds and make life all about us. We always feel the need to be in control. Our problem is not just that we live in a broken world and that its brokenness enters our doors; beneath that reality is a much deeper problem. We have a glory problem. We have preferred living for ourselves over living for something and someone bigger than ourselves.
May you always be blown away by the stunning catalog of glories that have been showered down on you because of the amazing goodness of God and the humble willingness of Jesus.
How are you living your life today?
