Holding On

"And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who though faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself."

Hebrews 6:11-13

Sluggish is just not an attractive word. It brings to mind many not-so-beautiful mental pictures; anything from pale, slimy slugs to stopped up plumbing pipes and many nasty things in between. And it doesn't even look nice when you write it. It's just not a nice word. And one I would definitely not like to have used to describe my spiritual life. 

What would make a person sluggish? There are as many answers for that as there are people in this big, old world. We all have weak spots, vulnerabilities. We all have an affinity for certain temptations. We all have character deficiencies that we never bother to address because it will be painful. Any or all of those could cause us to be sluggish. They steal our energy for life. They make us doubtful. They make us sad and tired. 

{But perhaps the worst thing is that they steal our hope. }

Hope is one of the most potent forces in the human experience.  A lack of hope kills our creativity, kills our joy, kills our curiosity, kills our desire to live. Without hope, we wither and die. We die emotionally, spiritually  and sometimes physically. Hope is entwined with our very life force. 

Yet hope seems elusive, that thing that is always just beyond reach. One look at the world around us will show that. The gray masses drift from here to there, little caring one way or the other because they have no hope. No future. No reason to care. Nothing left to hope for.

Except for one thing: Jesus. And that's all the reason I need. 

"Because of Jesus, we have hope." How many times have we who have grown up in the Church heard that? Thousands of times? Millions?? Maybe. But pretend that you have never heard that statement before. 

"Because of Jesus, we have hope." 

Because of the God who became a baby... 

Because of that baby who became a carpenter...

Because of that carpenter who willingly became a sacrifice and  spilled out His lifeblood...

Because of that sacrifice who became a warrior and single-handedly charged the gates of Hell... 

Because of that warrior who became the champion of Life as proof of His triumph over Death...

Because of that champion who returned to Heaven as an eternally scarred prince...

Because of that prince who is using His carpenter hands to build a glorious dwelling place for His bride...

He is why we have hope. Not just for right now. Not just for Sunday mornings. For the rest of your life. For the rest of eternity. 

So be diligent in your seeking of the Source of hope. Pursue Him with all your might. Imitate in faith and perseverance those who have obtained the promises already, because they sought out hope. 

And when the motivation runs out, remember Who promised hope. Remember that He swore by Himself. So take heart. 

Grasp that promise and hold on for dear life.  

We met around a kitchen table, myself and 2 other ladies. We talked about being relentless in our pursuit of God. We talked about the battlefield of our minds and hearts, about victories we've had and also of defeats.  

We talked about grace. 

We talked about the Blood. 

We talked about what it means to never give up.

We talked about those heavy, theological topics around a white kitchen table, with dishes drying in the rack on the counter and a broom  standing in the corner. Because that's real. That's where life happens: In the kitchen of a home belonging to ordinary people who live and love The Name. 

Wrestling with theology isn't only for philosophers in their secluded towers or preachers in their pulpits. It is for everyone. For the foot soldiers in the trenches of everyday, not-so-extraordinary lives. For you. For me. Because God gave us minds. Beautiful, strong, complex minds. Minds with which we think and reason and wrestle with the biggest, most difficult questions in the universe. 

Today I was part of that discussion. What a sobering, exciting privilege it was to share real life with my fellow soldiers around that kitchen table! 

A new year is time for new beginnings. And a good reason to look to the Beginning of all things, to Him Who holds all beginnings and endings in the palm of His hand. To remember who we are, where we come from and where we are going. 

1 John 1:1-18

In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was present originally with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being. In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it]. 

There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came to witness, that he might testify of the Light, that all men might believe in it [adhere to it, trust it, and rely upon it] through him. He was not the Light himself, but came that he might bear witness regarding the Light. There it was--the true Light [was then] coming into the world [the genuine, perfect, steadfast Light] that illumines every person. 

He came into the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him [did not know Him]. He came to that which belonged to Him [to His own--His domain, creation, things, world], and they who were His own did not receive Him and did not welcome Him. 

But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name-- Who owe their birth neither to bloods nor to the will of the flesh [that of physical impulse] nor to the will of man [that of a natural father], but to God. [They are born of God!]  

And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth. 

John testified about Him and cried out, This was He of Whom I said, He Who comes after me has priority over me, for He was before me. [He takes rank above me, for He existed before I did. He has advanced before me, because He is my Chief.] For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift. 

For while the Law was given through Moses, grace (unearned, undeserved favor and spiritual blessing) and truth came through Jesus Christ. No man has ever seen God at any time; the only unique Son, or the only begotten God, Who is in the bosom [in the intimate presence] of the Father, He has declared Him [He has revealed Him and brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him and He has made Him known].