If you THINK all Hope is gone

Maybe you've lost a job, feel a dream is gone,maybe your struggle with addiction has gotten the best of you recently, maybe you have been going through great suffering. Maybe something or someone dear to you has been lost, I have great news my friends your Hope is not Gone. As John Bencheck spoke a few sermons back your HOPE lies in an all powerful God who was resurrected. Why is that so powerful because what is more painful and seems so much out of control than death. When Jesus died and ROSE again he overcame death. Death the very thing that the enemy thought would take the hope of many generations out. Maybe you haven't recently faced death in the face but to God your pain and concern is just as important.

Suffering, loneliness, physical pain, despair. Yes those are painful things that make us want to loose hope. That is why Jesus went through all of that on the cross and he did that so he would know your pain temptation and suffering. But what if he had stayed on the cross then my friend we would not have hope. But he did not He arose from the grave.

How to we begin to loose hope? When we start looking away from the cross and the work that was done there. When we start to look at the things that we think may be Gods plan for our lives. When we start to believe that our timetable is better than Gods? When we believe that our sin is greater than his grace and mercy? When we start to drift away from him and start to get busy with other things? When we start to drift back in our shame?

Not sure this may be you? Have you lost your joy? Have your lost your ability to praise? Well I have good news my friend Hope is not lost? Because not matter what on that third day Jesus rose again.

So where can we turn when our pain is so great that we feel that no one understands. When we feel isolated beyond the point of return. When we feel God is so far away.
We must run to each other, we must run to the cross, we must run to Jesus. We must pray even when we feel no one is listening, because I assure you God is listening. We must also run to his word. We often forget that the written word of God has power.

I want to tell you recently I have been guilty of all of the above. A few days ago God impressed upon me to write this blog I was disobedient. Maybe its just for me to remind me but when I look around and see all that has been happening in our church family I cant help believe God maybe wants this for you.

I had recently lost hope in a dream that I have always had since a teenager. I began to doubt God, to doubt my sobriety, doubt Gods plan for my life. As I began to watch folks around me from past and present give up. I began to think whats back there for me. As I began to ponder these thoughts old ways of filling my voids of loneliness and pain started to look enticing. Like Lots wife in the bible I started to look back to what i have been delivered from.
Yet Gods mercy and grace kept pulling me home. My friend it may not feel like it but he is there. He is praying for you. In John 17:20 Jesus says "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.
Before Jesus was arrested he was praying for you.

So I ask you my friend what is it today that has you thinking there is no hope?

Do you feel your temptations are so great that you cannot go forward. Let me remind
you what Hebrews 4: 15 says "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are yet was without sin. let us then approach that throne of grace with CONFIDENCE so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Do you feel your shame has cause you to loose all hope?
Remember David, he struggled with sexual sin, murdered, lied and the bible tells us he was a man after Gods heart. So in the midst of your pain and struggle remember your course if fixed. The bible tells us that Psalms 25:3 says that "No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame."

Is it your fear that has caused you to loose Hope?
Psalms 46:1
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.
Psalms 46:7 The LORD almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Is it your loneliness or being alone in this struggle that has you feeling hopeless?
Isaiah 43 I have summoned you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the rivers, they will NOT sweep over you. When you walk through fire you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord; your God.
Isaiah 43:4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight and because I love you.

Maybe the way you have planned life has not turned out the way you thought. Take heart Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. So take heart he has a purpose which is better than a plan.

Are you afraid Psalms: 56 vs 3 When I am afraid I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise; I will not be afraid.

Maybe your strength is gone
Revelation 3:8 See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut, I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

Maybe your just not sure what your hope was where its gone and how to get it back, maybe you feel your standing still or just sliding backwards. Take heart.
Romans 8:25-26
But if we hope for what we do not have we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. we do not know what we ought to pray for but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." So groan and weep on my friend you are being heard.

So my friends do not loose hope. Because God is near.
1 Peter 5:8-10
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, WILL HIMSELF RESTORE YOU AND MAKE YOU STRONG, FIRM AND STEADFAST.

Fear not my friends. Hope is never gone, lost, or forsaken. his peace and plans will prevail.

Jeremiah 29:11-14
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a FUTURE. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you.' declares the Lord.

Run to him, Run to his people, Run to his house, and Run to his WORD?

In Christ Alone
I place my trust
And find my Glory in the power of the Cross
In every victory, let it be said me
My source of strength, My source of Hope
Is CHRIST ALONE!!!!!

Rich
Pastoral Apprentice
Restoration

Home

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go home. I was excited to see all my friends, hear the choir sing at my old church it was an awesome choir. I was able to attend a bible study that I was involved with starting for men on 1 saturday morning a month. We started with 3 people and now they have 5 or 6 sometimes more. God is doing some wonderful things in that group.

I thought I would be really homesick and want to stay. But I realized very strongly that I am where God wants me doing what he wants me to do. I realized that I have a place to stand on the wall here at Hope. I am very grateful for the opportunity to serve and to learn. God is continuing to open doors for me here. My pastor back in West Virginia ask me when I was coming back home. I replied if the Lord would call me back here then I would go. Right now Home is where the call is and that is at HOPE!!!!.

God has a Plan

Today Easter Sunday the message was on God has a plan. As I sat in church I was kinda feeling angry and sorry for myself. I was watching couples in the church and became angry that I was alone. I was feeling lonely. I didnt have any plans for Easter and was just angry and sad. If I would be honest I was coveting the relationships that I saw in front of me. Every place I would look it was a man and woman in a Godly relationship the wife patting or rubbing the husbands back. I was discounting the healing in my life simply because God hasnt supplied my want of a wife and family.

Then Ken started to preach about how lonliness and suffering was part of the cross something that I had preached over and over again to other folks. I was complaining because of the cross of lonliness that I am bearing now, totally fogeting that Jesus himself was alone on the cross and know exactly how I felt his pain of lonliness was much great than mine. I then began to realize as Ken began to preach more that I was not alone in my suffering and that God had a plan for my suffering and that he will meet my every need that his plan is perfect. Lord forgive me for discounting the healing that you have done in my life, forgive me for having anger in my heart on the day that you rose so that I might have freedom. Lord forgive me for coveting the things that other folks have beacuse I only block what you have for me. Let me never forget that you have a plan and nothing can stop that plan .

Victory around the corner

A few weeks ago I was talking to my mom on the phone and she was encouraging me and stated that the Lord had given her a word for me. She stated that Victory was just around the corner for me. At the time I believed what she said but was just unsure about what Gods timing would be. At the time I was trying to decide what the Lord had in store for me what his plan would be for me would I be staying in Virginia or returning home to west virginia. Well I have finally turned the corner and I see some victory. Sometimes I think that God just wants us to be willing. This week I resigned from a ministry that I thought I would never be leaving. I know I am in the Lords providence and will and believe that he has opened the door to a larger group of broken people. Because no matter what our brokenness the Cross is the answer for us all.

Tonight I started a job teaching nursing students. It has always been a desire of mine but I never knew that it would happen. I felt like I was home. Yes the Lord truly knows the desires of our hearts and gives us what is best for us in his time. No matter what we are facing as we walk down the road of life. God loves us and knows what is best and Victory is Just Around the Corner.

Mercy

Mercy

If you could just imagine
a bird without a song
Fallen to the barren earth
Wounded left alone
And then with a just a motion of a kind and loving hand
A broken wing is mended
The song restored again.

The word is Mercy
The word is Mercy
Nothing else describes
What he did for me
On a hill called calvary
He cast in the sea
All I used to be
The word is Mercy

No poets pen could ever write
The pain one heart can feel
Of trying to be worthy
Knowing you never will
No dreamers word could quite describe
The beauty in that Tree
Where Jesus showed that God is Great
So I dont have to be.

Dear Lord,
Let me never forget it is nothing that I can do or could have done.
I thank you so much for you mercy and grace.
Let me always remember the brokeness and the song that I lost.
The brokeness that you fix and the song that you give back.
All because of what you did at Calvary.

FAITH

Right now in my Christian walk I find that my faith is sometimes weak. In June I will have completed my pastoral care internship with Sought Out and Hope Community Church. I love what I am doing here but I miss my church and the choir very badly. I know that God will reveal to me his plan in his time but I find that I am getting anxious. Its funny I tell people weekly in my internship be anxious for nothing. I am excited about what God has but have a longing to go back home and yet I am not sure that is what God wants me to do.

My devotion for March 12 was Hosea 11:9
"I am God and not a human; I am the Holy one, and I am among you."
The following devotional from Max Lucado said this

"Before you read any further, reflect on those last four words, "I am among you." Do you believe that? do you believe God is near? He wants you to. he wants you to know he is in the midst of your world. Wherever you are as you read these words, he is present. In your car. On the plane, In your office, your bedroom, your den. he's near.
"God is in the thick of things in your world. He has not taken up residence in a distant galaxy. He has not removed himself from history. he has not chosen to seclude himself on a throne in an incandescent castle.

He has drawn near. He has involved himself in the carpools, heartbreaks, and funeral homes of our day. He is as near to us on Monday as on Sunday. In the schoolroom as in the sanctuary. At the coffee break as much as the communion table.

Lord help me to remember in these upcoming months that you are present!!!!!


"Have faith in God." --Mark 11:22
Faith is the foot of the soul by which it can march along the road of the commandments. Love can make the feet move more swiftly; but faith is the foot which carries the soul. Faith is the oil enabling the wheels of holy devotion and of earnest piety to move well; and without faith the wheels are taken from the chariot, and we drag heavily. With faith I can do all things; without faith I shall neither have the inclination nor the power to do anything in the service of God. If you would find the men who serve God the best, you must look for the men of the most faith. Little faith will save a man, but little faith cannot do great things for God. Poor Little-faith could not have fought "Apollyon;" it needed "Christian" to do that. Poor Little-faith could not have slain "Giant Despair;" it required "Great-heart's" arm to knock that monster down. Little faith will go to heaven most certainly, but it often has to hide itself in a nut-shell, and it frequently loses all but its jewels. Little-faith says, "It is a rough road, beset with sharp thorns, and full of dangers; I am afraid to go;" but Great-faith remembers the promise, "Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; as thy days, so shall thy strength be:" and so she boldly ventures. Little-faith stands desponding, mingling her tears with the flood; but Great-faith sings, "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:" and she fords the stream at once. Would you be comfortable and happy? Would you enjoy religion? Would you have the religion of cheerfulness and not that of gloom? Then "have faith in God." If you love darkness, and are satisfied to dwell in gloom and misery, then be content with little faith; but if you love the sunshine, and would sing songs of rejoicing, covet earnestly this best gift, "great faith."

Coming out of the Furnace

God is always faithful. Why do we sometimes forget what God has brought us from. Why do we look back just like the Israelites did to Egypt. What is it that Egypt offers us. It gaves a pleasure for a season but only brought us pain in the End. Lord may never forget the grief and pain that we were in when you reached down and found us. Lord forgive us for even looking back at Egypt as a place that we would even consider going back to. May we never forget the price that you paid on Calvary for our sins. Lord you always show up on time and in our relationships if we honor you in each of those you bless and honor us. Lord draw me close to your side.

Thank you Lord for being so Good to me.

So Good , So Good,
Gods been so Good
I just cant tell it all!!!!!!

FURNACE OF AFFLICTION

I am very tired and very lonely. I feel as though God has left me alone to struggle. I literally cried out to God the other night while driving home from work. I am so lonely I feel as if I am dying at times. I feel as if I am pouring out all I can and my tank is empty. I come home to an empty house. When I arrived home the other night this was the devotion that I had. It really kinda stopped me in my tracks. I know that my pain my not be as difficult as some others and that I do have alot of great things but the pain of lonliness is wearing me down. I dont want to do the things I used to do but I felt at times that I wasnt alone. Lord I cry out to you in my furnace f affliction of lonliness.

"I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." --Isaiah 48:10 Comfort thyself, tried believer, with this thought: God saith, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." Does not the word come like a soft shower, assuaging the fury of the flame? Yea, is it not an asbestos armour, against which the heat hath no power? Let affliction come--God has chosen me. Poverty, thou mayst stride in at my door, but God is in the house already, and He has chosen me. Sickness, thou mayst intrude, but I have a balsam ready--God has chosen me. Whatever befalls me in this vale of tears, I know that He has "chosen" me. If, believer, thou requirest still greater comfort, remember that you have the Son of Man with you in the furnace. In that silent chamber of yours, there sitteth by your side One whom thou hast not seen, but whom thou lovest; and ofttimes when thou knowest it not, He makes all thy bed in thy affliction, and smooths thy pillow for thee. Thou art in poverty; but in that lovely house of thine the Lord of life and glory is a frequent visitor. He loves to come into these desolate places, that He may visit thee. Thy friend sticks closely to thee. Thou canst not see Him, but thou mayst feel the pressure of His hands. Dost thou not hear His voice? Even in the valley of the shadow of death He says, "Fear not, I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God." Remember that noble speech of Caesar: "Fear not, thou carriest Caesar and all his fortune." Fear not, Christian; Jesus is with thee. In all thy fiery trials, His presence is both thy comfort and safety. He will never leave one whom He has chosen for His own. "Fear not, for I am with thee," is His sure word of promise to His chosen ones in the "furnace of affliction." Wilt thou not, then, take fast hold of Christ, and say--
"Through floods and flames, if Jesus lead, I'll follow where He goes."

My friends have determined that I should blog. I am going to do this as a trial basis. I don't even know how this works. I am 42 years old, single white male looking for a good christian woman. I am presently in a pastoral care internship for pastoral counseling which I love. I am working a regular 24 hour week job as well. So i am not sure who will look at this blog or who I even want to look at it. As for the name In Christ Alone, it is from an old hymn that I heard a southern gospel group called the Martins sing that spoke very deeply to my heart in a tough time. It has helped me through so many rough times to know that it is in Christ Alone that I can trust. Although I must admit that my trust in God is kinda weak right now. I know he loves and I know that he is faithful. I am just going through what my friend MJ calls a spiritual funk.