Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Sunday, 7 January 2018 "A Future Hope" by Susie Shellenberger - Proverbs 23:9-25Proverbs 23:9 Don’t speak in the ears of a fool,
for he will only despise the common sense in your words.
10 Don’t move the ancient boundary stone
or encroach on the land of the fatherless;
11 for their Redeemer is strong;
he will take up their fight against you.
12 Apply your mind to discipline
and your ears to words of knowledge.
13 Don’t withhold discipline from a child —
if you beat him with a stick, he won’t die!
14 If you beat him with a stick,
you will save him from Sh’ol.
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
then my own heart too is glad;
16 my inmost being rejoices
when your lips say what is right.
17 Don’t envy sinners, but follow the example
of those who always fear God;
18 for then you will have a future;
what you hope for will not be cut off.
19 You, my son: listen, be wise,
and set your mind on the right way.
20 Don’t be one of those who guzzle wine
or of those who eat meat to excess,
21 for both drunkard and glutton will become poor —
drowsiness will clothe them with rags.
22 Listen to your father, who gave you life;
and don’t despise your mother when she gets old.
23 Buy the truth, don’t sell it,
also wisdom, discipline and discernment.
24 A righteous person’s father will be filled with joy;
yes, he whose son is wise will rejoice in him.
25 So let your father and mother be glad;
let her who gave you birth rejoice.
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Humanity is desperate for hope! People display this desperation by placing their hope in a variety of things–a hefty bank account, a lucrative career, a healthy lifestyle, the stock market, and so on. The danger of seeking hope from the world is the fact that nothing it offers can genuinely satisfy our deepest needs. Today's Scripture reading teaches that if we’ll place our faith in Him, our hope will last forever.
God desires to be our hope, and He rewards our hope with eternal life; hope becomes reality. When we surround ourselves with things of the Lord, it helps us keep our hope in Him. Engaging in ministry, being involved in church, establishing friendships with Christians who will encourage us in our relationship with God are things that will help us focus and maintain our hope where it should be–in our heavenly Father.
By placing our hope in God, we’re trusting in an unshakeable and eternal reality, and we can be unequivocally assured that we'll live forever with Him. In what or in whom have you placed your faith?
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Hymn for Today: "The Solid Rock" by Edward Mote
1. 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.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
2. When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
in ev'ry high and stormy gale
my anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
3. His oath, His covenant, His blood
support me in the 'whelming flood;
when all around my soul gives way
He then is all my hope and stay.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
4. When He shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in Him be found,
dressed in His righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
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Thought for Today: Guide me in your truth, and teach me;
for you are the God who saves me,
my hope is in you all day long.(Psalm 25:5)
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Please pray: For the development of Christian leaders in Kazakhstan.
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