Thinking This Week
THINK ON THIS: HOPE
Have you read Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus lately? In the first chapter he encouraged the early followers of Jesus to really have the eyes of their hearts opened to a number of things.
One of them was the HOPE of the Christians calling. Think on the hope that you have in Jesus.
Christian hope is not like, “I hope it won’t rain.” Such a statement is not based on any certainty. That kind of hope is more like a wish than anything else. We would be better to say, “I wish it would not to rain.”
Christian hope is like, “I hope for summer.” We have no doubt that summer will come again. It is certain. It just is not here yet. This kind of hope gets us through the doldrums of cool, rainy spring days.
Think on HOPE. Our HOPE is heaven. It is certain through the blood of Jesus. It just is not here yet. This kind of HOPE gets us through the doldrums of all sorts.
THINK ON THIS: RICHES
A second thing Paul wanted them (and us) to think on is the RICHES of our glorious inheritance.
Think on how you’ve got it made! You are an heir to an estate larger than the Kennedys’ or the Rockefellers’ or the Gates’ fortunes. Yours is the Kingdom.
Oh, for a little while you will have it tight in the here and now until the estate kicks in. But someday… wow.
So maybe gas or a new car or the latest TV or a fancy wardrobe or a dinner out is too expensive for you. Be patient. You have the RICHES of a glorious inheritance.
THINK ON THIS: POWER
For those without green thumbs: have you ever almost killed a plant? It looks dry, flowerless, lifeless. And then you water it. Water. The power of water to restore life. What power there is in water!
We have a greater power. Paul calls it the surpassing greatness of the power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly realms.
Think on the power that it takes to raise the dead. Imagine not just a dying plant but a dead person. Think on this. A dead person. And God raised him. Really. What power!
That is the power that is at work in you and in your life. The power of God to raise the dead, a surpassingly great power, is at work in you.
Makes things not seem so hopeless! Think on POWER.