9/30/2021 As we come to the end of September we look ahead to All Saints Day, Thanksgiving and the Christmas season. Some may wonder why halloween was not included but it is not a day of hope (except for candy) but began as a day to leave treats so those pesky demons wouldn’t ‘trick’ you.

All Saints Day is a celebration of those who in Jesus who have gone through the “shadow of death” and are alive evermore!

Thanksgiving in America was scheduled by President Abraham Lincoln as a day to give thanks to God. It is interesting the first Thanksgiving was when the North was losing.

Christmas season is appropriate because it is too important to be held to just one day. It is a celebration of God’s gift of grace as the sacrificial offering for all came into the world. This birth weakened the wall and heaven and earth rejoiced!

Prepare yourself for these days and the time they are within. The current year can come to a great completion no matter what is happening-to us or the world.

This is a combination of my Hope and Grace Journals.

 

9/29/2021 My wife and daughter bought me a wood craft painted white that says hope. It sits where I can see it and in the background is a cross made by a friend and a crown of thorns given to me by a congregation we served. Hope is from God but often people around you pass on hope. Cherish them!

This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me have hope, beyond hope.

 

Grace is not hard to see but at times we just do not look, or even worse see it as ‘good luck’. God says the just and the unjust receive the grace of rain. Have you ever thought that while rain is often a blessing it can also be torrential rain leading to flooding. Grace is for all and at times comes in unexpected ways.

From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships.

 

9/28/2021

HOPE

H ow can I believe

O nce again I fall

P erhaps I should give up

E verlasting failure is mine

H ow can I surrender

O nly God can see me through

P ause and wait for Him

E verlasting strength to help

H ow could I not believe

O nce again Jesus saves me

P raising Him for grace

E verlasting praise to Jesus

September 2006

This is a combination of my Hope and Grace Journals.

 

9/27/2021 Why do bad things happen to good people? Jesus once stated that the only one who was good is God. Bad things happen to people because of sin. It is that simple. The warning was that if we chose to be god rather than accept God we would die which means dying we will die. All sickness, storms, abuse, addiction and all the other ways we are dying comes from our decision to be god. Without God even our living is really just existing with the perpetual fear all we have and are will be taken away. In truth, our only hope is in hope and grace! We must seek hope and grace not just because we do not have it but because we cannot exist without it!!!

This is a combination of my Hope and Grace Journals.

 

9/26/2021 not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere, 2 Corinthians 10:15

Hope must come from a greater source than the power or abilities of ourselves and others. Our source of hope must come from something bigger than humanity and for the Christians it is the Creator and for others the stability of creation.

This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me have hope, beyond hope.

 

Why should I offer grace? Because I NEED grace. Why should I extend grace to those undeserving? Because this is the meaning of grace and we want grace though we do not deserve it either.

From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships.

 

9/25/2021 As we head into fall we see the leaves change and then slowly fall to the ground forming food for the coming years. The flowers begin to fade and wither but many await the sun and warmth of spring to come forth again. Many trees hibernate but the pines and their friends stay green as a promise life will spring forth again and death is not the final act as we think.

Here we see hope and grace in Creation as it looks to the Creator to not just renew life but is Life! God’s grace is a second chance and even as fall turns into winter spring and the hope of Easter reminds us as God spoke through the writer of Ecclesiastes “there is a time to every purpose under heaven”!!!

This is an entry from my Hope Journal which helps me have hope, beyond hope.

From my Grace Journal. It was suggested to start a Grace Journal as a reminder of our need not for agreement but grace to guide our relationships.