The God of Hope(KJV verse shuffle-up)

If only it were worded this way.  But here are three King James Version verses stringed together from different books.

"Now the God hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may bound to every good work."

This was:

Romans 15:13

Ephesians 3:20

2 Corinthians 9:8

Shuffling the verses often makes a great message, but may or may not damage the context of the passage.

 

Why do the heathen rage? On the fatalism of the non-believer.

Imagine how it could be without faith in God, or love the brethren.  No wonder some of the unbelievers are so angry and "fatalistic".

Thankfully, we have the promise, and we know every good thing comes from God.

I cannot know Jesus through another person's acquaintance with him. No, I must know him myself; I must know him on my own account. It will be an intelligent knowledge--I must know him, not as the visionary dreams of him, but as the Word reveals him.

 

-Charles Haddon #spurgeon

 

Pray for our brethren, of course, but also include those out of belief, that they may come to faith and know the mercy of our Lord.

Spurgeon on the rigors of the walk of faith.

Ah, LORD, Thou wast in Thy lowest state when before Thy persecutors Thou wast made to stand like a criminal! Yet the eyes of Thy faith could see beyond Thy present humiliation into Thy future glory. What words are these, "Nevertheless - hereafter!" I would imitate Thy holy foresight, and in the midst of poverty, or sickness, or slander, I also would say, "Nevertheless - hereafter." Instead of weakness, Thou hast all power; instead of shame, all glory; instead of derision, all worship, Thy cross has not dimmed the splendor of Thy crown, neither has the spittle marred the beauty of Thy face. Say, rather, Thou are the more exalted and honored because of Thy sufferings.

Jan 31, 2023

 

By now, many of us have already given-up on half-hearted "New Year's Resolutions", promises made that we had no plan for, things that we could not sustain.

Thankfully God is so much better than that; His promises do not return void.

Also, we're coming up on the 7th anniversary of this iteration of the Internet Missionary, basically which was only a Facebook page at the time.  That page continues to grow gradually.

The old conservative Baptist leader took a look at it, back in the day, 2016, and said, "that's a great idea!".  He was of the old stripe, and a glutton for conversation when out in public.  He had a knack for shifting the conversation to the Gospel, and he worked on strangers all the time, inviting them to church and also sharing with them his own testimony.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for....."

"The substance of things hoped for..."

How often do we squander our hopes on fleeting, unimportant things.  But this is the truth of man's sin nature, that we fail in that way, among others.  However, through prayer, fellowship and the word of God, we may be renewed again and again.

An old prayer goes, "I thank You for rest and home and everything good."  We do not take stock that way in the modern world; maybe we take too much for granted, and only when we see some catastrophe in a third world nation do we nearly have a moment of clarity, getting a sense of how blessed we are.

Let us not forget.  Let us take heed and be thankful for how truly blessed we are.