where do you put your hope?

Where you put your hope really reveals where you put your trust.

Hope reveals your thoughts for the future. What you trust in is the foundation of your hope. Are your thoughts based in the reality of your situation. I mean a clear understanding. Or are they based in wishful thinking?

If the foundation of your hope is sinking sand and not the "Solid Rock", then your hope is based on lies and delusions of who you "think" you are.

Free Will

"Free Will" is made possible by choice. This not that... 

The ability to make a choice is "FREEDOM."

The choice to stay "FREE" is to accept responsibility for the consequence of your choices. You can say "No, thank you" to those who would limit your potential because of their expectation for you.

"FREEDOM, RESPONSIBILITY, CONSEQUENCE?"

Be free. And don't blame anyone else for the choices you've made in the past and the consequences that resulted. Seek the one who knows exactly who He created you to be. His plan for you, it's like no one else's. You can't imagine His hope for your future. Get to know Him. Trust His guidance and follow it.

THE LORD, A COVENANT GOD

Deuteronomy 7:9 
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 

Hebrews 11:6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who diligently search for him.

Hebrews 3:1. Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see. 2. This is why the ancients were commended. 3. By faith we understand that the universe was formed by God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

By Faith we understand...

Matthew 9:20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” 22. Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

Matthew 8:5. When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” 7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” 8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. "But just say the word, and my servant will be healed." 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith... 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

By the Holy Spirit we hear the promise. In hope we believe it's truth. In obedience we trust His Guidance. And in joy we proclaim His faithfulness.

BIBLICAL FAITH in its basic form...

God Initiates - We Respond

You are Becoming?

There's no getting around it. Change happens. Mostly deterministic. Everything is becoming something other than what it was. What it is, is not what it will be.

You are swept along by the interaction of mass and energy. But choice affords an alternative to determinism.  The truth for you and me, Christ died for us.

Now will you choose the Lover of your Soul? Because of what He did, you have a choice.

Have a Hope

God says he has a plan for you. Are you paying attention?

Jeremiah 29:11 RSV  "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Who did Jesus say had the greatest faith? What did the Centurion understand? (Authority)

What did it motivate him to do?  He asked Jesus to "give the command". What was Jesus' answer?

A promise!

Abraham's faith was based on a promise. He believed God and it was accounted to him righteousness.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God, must believe that he is, and is a rewarder to them that seek him.
What is the reward?

2 Corinthians 1:20.  For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

Hebrews 6:13  For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

Swept Along!

How can I describe the current that sweeps us along? The key word is current. Is it a warm breeze that makes us sleepy? Do we see the storm clouds? Swept along? A force that takes me where I don't want to go.

We think that the choices we make determine our destiny. NOT! Your choices are not disconnected from all the other choices everywhere around you that others make. Choices that can have significant impact into your life.. This is the current that sweeps us along.

The operative word is "choice". The current that sweeps us along is powered by the choices everyone makes. Choice is also the word that gives us the power to overcome the current that sweeps us along.

How?    

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

What is "dogma"?

Dogma is a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true.^[1] It serves as part of the primary basis of an ideology or belief system, and it cannot be changed or discarded without affecting the very system's paradigm, or the ideology itself. They can refer to acceptable opinions of philosophers or philosophical schools, public decrees, religion, or issued decisions of political authorities.^[2]
The term derives from Greek δόγμα "that which seems to one, opinion or belief"^[3] and that from δοκέω (dokeo), "to think, to suppose, to imagine".^[4] Dogma came to signify laws or ordinances adjudged and imposed upon others by the First Century. The plural is either dogmas or dogmata, from Greek δόγματα. The term "dogmatics" is used as a synonym for systematic theology, as in Karl Barth's defining textbook of neo-orthodoxy, the 14-volume Church Dogmatics.

Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

Cycles.

The cool thing about "cycles" is that they bring you around again. They are closely related to "ruts".

It is God's Grace, manifest in His long-suffering.

His hope is that you'll finally get it.

Ruts and cycles, the trick is to know "He died for you". No matter how deep the rut or how many times you've been around. He has a way for you to be an overcomer.

Not desperate enough to admit you don't have it within yourself? The Lover of your soul has one last recourse.

There comes a time when in God's "Judgement" He realizes you won't get it where you are at. It is then He withdraws His sustaining Hand, like holding a ball so it doesn't fall to the ground, our sin pulls us down. Reaping the consequences of our sin will hopefully wake us up to our inability to overcome in our own understanding.  Are you awake? Then there is "Hope". May your Soul long after Him and the Grace He offers freely.

While we were yet sinners, He died for us!

Swept Along?

The interaction of mass and energy has an "inertia". Events beyond your control that sweep you along. Even when in the moment you make a wise choice, events transpire that seem to be detrimental to your situation. Your mistake is thinking you understand your situation.

Yes, we are swept along by the inertia of the interaction of mass and energy. And even though we make wise decisions, we can still find ourselves in a less than comfortable situation. Rejoice, if you find yourself there. It is there that the Lover of your Soul can reveal just how much He loves you, just how much He has "Got your back". Maybe then you will get serious about the pride that gets in the way of hearing His voice, understanding His heart, and committing yourself to His desire to bring everyone into the Kingdom.

Light the fire Again?

Swept along? Sure I am swept along by circumstance, events beyond my control. Everyone is. The issue is our position in the flow. The flow sweeps us along the line of circumstance, but do we see a different perspective? Does our "position" rise us above the circumstance to see the bigger picture. Christ died for us while we were yet sinners!

Swept along.

Circumstance, it is a sea of turmoil. We all swim in it. We are swept along and most perceive not the flow. Flow? It is the current that inhabits the sum of every decision that those with choice make. Descisions break the bonds of determinism. But freedom to choose does not guarantee justice. Only the one who is everywhere, and sees all as it happens, can be the arbitrator of justice, who has already declared from the beginning, follow me!

Cause and Effect (As in "Swept along in the Now")

Cause and effect creates a flow within an inertial frame. Have you ever felt like you were in a rut? This flow tends to take the same path if free will does not exert a choice. The choice is hidden by a lie that presents unworthiness and concludes condemnation. And rightly so if we accept the flow.

Hope presents a promise and says, “you choose” 1 Corinthians 10:13 The choice is simple but most difficult. We can stay in the flow and trust in our own understanding or we can choose to trust the Lover of our soul and begin to see who He created us to be. The truth sets us free as we trust in the Lord with all our hearts.

Cause and effect appeals to self-interest. There the tension is manifest. The enemy clouds the truth that self-interest is ultimately fulfilled in giving.

Cause and effect if left alone ultimately will result in degradation, the second law. Life can overcome that degradation by accepting the truth that Hope offers. Choose the author of life and be an overcomer.

Have you ever thought, I just wish someone would tell me what to do? Have you ever wished someone would show you the way you should go?

“I am the way, the truth, and the light”
Jesus Christ

Most likely you’ve believed, as I did, that you have it within you to succeed. The problem is what you define as success.

Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. 

~ George Santayana ~ 

Remember the past? Each of us has a history. We reminisce with those we shared the past with. Remember when we say. Progress is not found there.

Our history viewed with clarity reveals the struggle. A struggle that gives us insight. The insight brings us to the realization that it is not within us to progress.

Come to an end of yourself. Humility is the fertile ground of a teachable heart. Allow the Lover of your soul to blast the light of truth into the darkness of your history to reveal the plan He has had for you from the beginning. He has one goal, to share himself with you.

Swept Along 2

There is no stopping it. The cause and effect interaction of mass and energy, that changes and transforms our now, against our will. It seems choice cannot stop it. Change has two results for the observer. Good or bad, build up or destroy. Choice does not stop the change but it can determine a result. Somethings are predetermined by mass and energy's interaction. Somethings are open to choice and the result the choice brings. The creative ability of choice to destroy or build up is what presents each of us with our GIST.

Swept Along.

Determinism sweeps us along. This quality of existence that permeates reality and is only overcome by choice. Determinism is an overwhelming flux in the continuum of what exists. All around cause and effect spits out the facts that are created, and our choices add to the "Sum" of our "Now". Every choice is an unalterable fact that we are doomed to reap the results of (I mean that we are not able to escape). The tide never wanes, it sweeps us along in a synchronicity of complexity only God understands. Thus we are swept along by change.

The interaction of mass and energy results in a cause and effect, that creates an inertial flow that exerts a tendency to bring about a similar outcome. Commonly called a "rut" or habit.

But choice can trump determinism. True choice is made evident in the light of truth. It is the power to overcome the inertial flow of your history and to become all that God created you to be. No need to be blown along with every wind of doctrine. Ephesians 4:14

Hmm... Have you ever noticed advertising?

Choice.

The interaction of mass and energy results in a cause and effect, that creates an inertial flow that tends to create a tendency to repeat the interaction. Commonly called a "Rut" that we cycle around in.

Choice frees us from the interaction of mass and energy that results in a cause and effect determinism. The "Rut" is overcome by the truth that we have the ability to choose a different path.