Letters of Hope

We have had occasion to prove the truth of Romans 8:28 again last week, and we are so thankful for Father’s intervention in the daily problems of life. 

We live on a rural property next door to our daughter and her family.  We share the water from a single well which we understand is about 34 years old and, as far as we are aware, still operates with the original pump.  We have wondered how much longer we could depend on it.  

Well, on Wednesday last week, we suddenly found ourselves without water.  Had the old pump worn out? Or had the water supply run out?!  We didn’t know.  But we did know that “all things work together for good to them who love God…” – even failed wells!  We began to pray for the right solution.  And our prayers were generously answered, leaving us overflowing with thanksgiving. 

Thanksgiving #1:  The man we called came the same afternoon, and we were amazed to discover that he was the same one who had actually drilled the well and knew its history.  He determined that the pump had indeed failed and needed replacing.

Thanksgiving #2:  We were so thankful that, if it had to happen, it happened while the weather was good and not -20°C with a foot of snow on the ground.

Thanksgiving #3:  The crew could not return to continue the work until Friday, and the prospect of eight people and five horses without water for at least three days was a little disconcerting.  However, when Thursday turned out to be an extremely windy and cold day, we were glad they did not have to work in it.

Thanksgiving #4:  The neighbors planned to be away for several days, and they very generously offered to supply us with whatever was needed from their outside tap.

Thanksgiving #5:  In trying to pull the old piping out of the well, it broke, causing a very serious and challenging situation.  The wire connecting the pump also broke, and they thought they might have to leave it there and install the new pump above it.  However, they miraculously succeeded in getting everything out, and even expressed the awareness that Someone Above was helping them..

Thanksgiving #6:  There had been concern that the well casing was in poor shape and disintegrating, in which case a whole new well would likely have to be drilled!  But it was found to be still satisfactory due to the softness of the water.

Thanksgiving #7:  By mid-afternoon Friday the work was completed satisfactorily, with assurance of an excellent supply of good water and a high quality dependable pump. 

The whole ordeal caused my thoughts to turn to Scripture references about wells and water.  We rejoiced with Isaiah in his declaration, “Behold, God is my Salvation;  I will trust, and not be afraid, for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song;  He also is become my salvation.  Therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation.  And in that day shall you say, Praise the LORD…”  (Isaiah 12:2-6) 

Isaiah was no doubt foretelling the coming of Jesus Who, at one point, stood in the Temple and cried, saying, “‘If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.  He that believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’  This He spoke of the Spirit which they who believe on Him should receive”  when the Holy Spirit would be poured out on the Day of Pentecost after Jesus was glorified.         (John 7:37-39)  

This was the water to which Jesus was referring when he offered it to the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar.  Of course, anyone drinking from that well would be thirsty again, but Jesus assured her that“whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”  (John 4:14) 

Jesus extends the invitation again at the end of the Revelation given to John on Patmos:  “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.  I will give unto him that is thirsty of the Fountain of the Water of Life freely.  He that overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son…”  “…And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’  And let him that hears say, ‘Come’  And let him that is thirsty come.  And whoever will, let him take the Water of Life freely.”  (Rev. 21:6,7;  22:17) 

As essential as natural water is for our physical well-being, so the “Water of Life” is absolutely essential for our spiritual well-being.  Jeremiah lamented the fact that God’s people had forsaken Him, the Fountain of Living Waters, and had dug out cisterns, broken cisterns, that could hold no water.  (Jer. 2:13) 

We are so blest to have the privilege of knowing and experiencing that Fountain of Living Waters, and the Divine Eternal Life which He imparts. 

I thirsted in the barren land of sin and shame,
   And nothing satisfying there I found;
But to the blessed cross of Christ one day I came,
   Where springs of living water did abound.

 How sweet the living water from the hills of God,
   It makes me glad and happy all the way;
Now glory, grace and blessing mark the path I’ve trod; 
   I’m shouting “Hallelujah” ev’ry day.

O, sinner, won’t you come today to Calvary?
   A fountain there is flowing deep and wide;
The Savior now invites you to the water free,
   Where thirsting spirits can be satisfied.

Refrain:
Drinking at the springs of living water,
   Happy now am I, my soul they satisfy;
Drinking at the springs of living water,
   O, wonderful and bountiful supply.

John W. Peterson
(c) 1950 by Singspiration Inc.   All rights reserved. 

“Now the God of all HOPE fill you with all JOY and PEACE in the believing,
that you may abound in HOPE
through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 15:13)

 In Agape, Eulene

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There is a wonder-full Psalm that has been on my mind and heart all this week.  It is one that I had to memorize when I was in 3^rd or 4^th Grade back on the Saskatchewan Prairie during the Great Depression years.  Believe it or not, back in those days selected portions of Scripture were included in our public school readers, and we were required to memorize them!  Now, seven decades later, I can still remember those inspired words. 

In today’s troubled and insecure world, the heartening words of a Psalm of this nature are wonderfully reassuring at whatever level of experience they are applied.  The Apostle Paul reminds us that “whatever things were written in previous times were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have HOPE.” (Rom. 15:4) 

This quotation of the 121^st Psalm is from the Hebrew Interlinear:- 

“I will lift up my eyes to the hills.  Where shall my help come from?  My help comes from Jehovah, the Maker of the heavens and earth.  He will not give your foot to slip.  He who keeps you will not slumber.  Behold, he who keeps Israel will not slumber nor sleep.  Jehovah is your keeper;  Jehovah is your shade on your right hand.  The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.  Jehovah shall keep you from all evil;  He shall keep your soul.  Jehovah shall keep your going out and your coming in, from now on and until forever.” 

What wondrous promises are these!  Indeed, when all else fails, where shall our help come from?  Where can we turn for help – whether it be for a political, material, physical, emotional or spiritual need?   We are kept by the Lord’s mighty power, and He never slumbers nor sleeps.  He does not sleep, nor is he ever caught dozing in a period of inactivity or stagnation.  His eyes, we are told, are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.  Indeed, “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.”             (1 Peter 1:5;  Psalm 34:15;  2 Chron. 16:9) 

Jehovah’s role as “keeper” is repeated six times in this passage.  It is also a New Covenant promise for “the Lord is faithful, Who shall establish you, and keep you from evil.”  Therefore, we are admonished to “be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (2 Thess. 3:3; Phil. 4:6,7) 

This Psalm has been the subject of many poems.  This one is taken from The Psalter:  

Unto the hills around do I lift up 
     My longing eyes;
O, whence for me shall my salvation come,
     From whence arise?
From God the Lord doth come my certain aid,
From God the Lord Who heaven and earth has made.

He will not suffer that your foot be moved,
     Safe shall you be;
No careless slumber shall His eyelids close
     Who keepeth thee;
Behold, He sleepeth not, He slumbers ne’er,
Who keepeth Israel in His holy care.

Jehovah is Himself your Keeper true;
     Your changeless shade.
Jehovah, evermore on your right hand,
     Himself has made;
And you no sun by day shall ever smite,
No moon shall harm you in the silent night.

From every evil shall He keep your soul,
     From every sin;
Jehovah shall preserve your going out,
     Your coming in;
Above you watching, He whom we adore
Shall keep you henceforth, yes, forevermore. 

“Now unto Him Who is able to keep you from falling,
and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
to the only wise God our Savior,
be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and ever.  Amen.”
(Jude 1:25)

 In Agape, Eulene

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Dear Friends, 

“(The Lord) gives power to the faint, and to those who have no might He increases strength…But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;  they shall mount up with wings as eagles…”  (Isa. 40:31) 

We journey along through life as mere pedestrians, and we are woefully overcome, for the hostility of our circumstances causes us to faint.  Or we may be engaged in some demanding occupation which imprisons us in our particular place.  We may be laid up with sickness or disability, or serving one who is.  In any number of different ways we can be “cribbed, cabined and confined,” until we become discouraged and faint-hearted, bereft of all joy and hope. 

All the time our wings are waiting!  If we would, we could soar into higher regions in an ampler air.  We have held too much the conception of the pilgrims and have kept too close to the road, when we really are endowed from Above with power to “mount up with wings as eagles,” to respond to the Upward calling, and to breathe the lofty air of the Heavenlies. 

The crusaders who wage the noblest conflicts along the road, are those who spread their wings and soar for a change of air. 

When we “wait upon the Lord” we gain power of flight, enabling us to rise from our confining prisons, or from our wearisome road into the high heaven of spiritual rest and vision.  In the Christian life, rising is resting!  Such wings are waiting for us!    

I once heard a story about a baby eaglet that, for some reason I can’t recall, was hatched with a flock of farmyard turkeys.  Of course, it grew up doing all the things that turkeys do, scratching around in the yard for their daily food.  But one day, it heard the cry of an eagle soaring high in the air above.  Something within that little bird was stirred, and he felt the call to a ‘higher realm.’  He began to feel his wings, and discovered that he could rise above the ground and even reach the fence post;  he discovered that he was no longer imprisoned within the confines of the fence.  From there, he dared to fly higher, and landed in a nearby tree.  

Once again, the call came from above and, finding his wings, he began to soar, up, up and away, into the azure sky, above the clouds and into the sunshine.  Now he could associate with others of his kind, nest safely high in the mountains, and soar on the air currents.  Just try to imagine the exhilaration he felt as he explored those air streams and viewed his former limited habitation from such a height?
                                          
We used to sing a bright little chorus to the tune of ‘Count Your Blessings’ :-

Rise and soar into the sunlight rays,
Using both the wings of PRAYER and PRAISE;
Rise like eagles higher in the sky -
And you’ll find things look so different when you fly! 

I like the latter part of our theme verse in the Amplified version:  “they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun].”  Your wings are waiting to take you soaring into the Heavenlies! 

And why not?  Our bodies may be confined in whatever circumstance to which we are brought, but our spirits are “raised with Christ” and “seated with Him in the Heavenlies.”  This is the believer’s position in Christ.  Why should we ever resign ourselves to life in the barnyard when we can enjoy all the blessings of the Heavenly realm?!  For “…God, being rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us…made us alive together with Christ…and raised us up with Him, and made us to sit with Him in the Heavenlies in Christ Jesus…”  (Eph. 1:3; 1:5-6) 

The hills of difficulty are no longer,
   The mountains of despair are ironed smooth;
When high and looking down upon your problems,
   The deep and darker valley seems a groove.
“It’s safer flying high,” says the apostle,
   The world beneath, and God’s own blue above;
Remember Christ is seated in the Heavenlies,
   And YOU are WITH HIM THERE – CLIMAX OF LOVE!
                  Author unknown 

“I pray that God, who gives HOPE,
will bless you with complete HAPPINESS and PEACE
because of your faith.
and may the power of the Holy Spirit fill you with HOPE.”
(Romans 15:13 Contemporary English Version)

In Agape, Eulene

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Dear Ones, 

“My voice shall You hear in the morning, O Lord;  in the morning will I direct my prayer unto You, and WILL LOOK UP.”   (Ps. 5:3) 

My sweet niece, Ruthie, sent me a message one time and, being upbeat as usual, she closed with the familiar admonition to “Keep looking up!”   That stayed with me as I meditated:- 

LOOKING UP!

There truly is an aspect in which we may keep ‘LOOKING UP!’  — to Him Who is exalted above and beyond all He has created. 

We are admonished to “LOOK UNTO JESUS, the Author (Initiator) and Finisher (Perfecter) of our faith…”  And where is He?  He is “…set down at the right hand of the throne of God!”   In that position, “angels and authorities and powers (are) made subject unto Him.”  He has been exalted “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come.”  (Heb. 12:2; 1 Pet. 3:22; Eph. 1:20-22)   

In this highly exalted position, He has been appointed to be our “High Priest, Who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.”  “He is even at the right hand of God MAKING INTERCESSION FOR US.”  (Heb. 8:1; Rom. 8:34) 

Now, when “the accuser” of the believers appears before the Father with his accusations, our MEDIATOR immediately steps forth to plead our cause.  Having “offered one sacrifice for sins for ever,” He rightly claims our acquittal!   We truly can “shake off our guilty fears!” (Heb. 10:9-17) 

We are also admonished to “Seek those things which are ABOVE, where Christ sits on the right hand of God;  to set our affection on things ABOVE, not on things on the earth.”   We are told to “look NOT at the things which are SEEN, but at the things which are NOT SEEN, for the things which are SEEN are TEMPORARY, but the things which are NOT SEEN are ETERNAL.” (Col. 3:1,2; 2 Cor. 4:18) 

There is another situation in which we are enjoined to LOOK UP.  Jesus talked about the signs of the end of the age.  Some of these signs are becoming increasingly evident in our day.  “And when these things begin to come to pass,” Jesus said, “then LOOK UP, and lift up your heads, for your redemption is drawing near.”  (Luke 21:25-28) 

LOOKING DOWN:-

There is also an aspect in which we may LOOK DOWN – down on the circumstances, problems, fears, anxieties, discouragements, etc. from the same high position, for “God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ…and has raised US UP TOGETHER, and made US SIT TOGETHER – IN THE HEAVENLIES –  IN CHRIST JESUS.”  (Eph. 2:4-6) 

We have actually been “blessed with every spiritual blessing – IN THE HEAVENLIES – IN CHRIST…”    (Eph. 1:3)   

A living, vital faith in the saving work of the Cross places us IN CHRIST.  That is the position of continuous triumph over all the negatives of life.  We like to quote an interesting reminder:  “Those things which seem to be over our heads are already under His feet!”  Since they are indeed under His feet, and we are IN HIM,  they may be considered as under our feet also.

Looking up – or looking down – we have every reason to live victoriously, joyously, peacefully, and filled with HOPE (confident expectation) of all our loving Heavenly Father has prepared for us.  Kind of inspires a spirit of rejoicing, doesn’t it?  

“Now the God of all HOPE fill you with all JOY and PEACE in the believing,
that you may abound in HOPE
through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 15:13)

In Agape, Eulene

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