Hope and Grace

1. "Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."  ~1 Peter 1:13
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Hope:  "Fix your hope completely" on God's grace -- the grace that guarantees our total restoration and the restoration of all creation when Jesus finally returns (may it be soon)!  My hope is not "fixed" there.  I do genuinely hope for that and have a great deal of hope through that promise, but in day-to-day life, my hope is often placed in other relationships with people who are flawed and as likely to disappoint me as I am to disappoint them.  It's an exhausting way to live.  So I need this reminder often - my hope should be fixed in God and in His grace that WILL restore all Christians and their friendships and family relationships to what God created them to be.  The love, delight, compassion, strength, joy, goodness, kindness, and connection that our hearts so long for -- it is coming -- our relationships with God and those we love will be fully restored!!  Creation will also be renewed and restored, full of beauty and vibrant color and life without any fear of pain or death. And the coming Kingdom of Christ is worth celebrating and hoping in - all day, every day!!!  May God's Kingdom come, and may His will be done here on earth as it is in heaven!!

Grace:  I've been thinking about this a lot lately.  God's grace is ever-present.  His love and His grace are always NOW!   He weeps with us when we weep and celebrates with us when we're happy; He does not minimize or dismiss our suffering!  His grace is sufficient for my present needs and abundant in my present reality.  Yes, His grace covers my past failures and will cover all that lies ahead, but "today's trouble is enough for today."  When I dwell on the past or worry over the future, His grace is not felt in that because it is not the current reality.  But when something major changes, in that exact moment and the days when I truly need help and comfort, His grace is always enough.

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2. "He gives us more grace as our burdens grow greater,
   He sends us more strength as our labors increase;
   To added afflictions, He adds to His mercy.
   To multiplied trials, He multiplies peace.
3. When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
   When our strength has failed but the day is half done,
   When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
   Our Father’s full giving has only begun.
4. Fear not that your need will exceed His provision;
   Our God ever yearns His resources to share.
   Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
   The Father both you and your load will upbear.
5. His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
   His power no boundary known unto men;
   For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
   He gives, and He gives, and He gives once again."
6. ~Hymn by Annie Flint