Our Musicalhouse: hope

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Hope

This Christmas was a rough one, but there were some shining moments that really stood out & reminded me of God's presence, His work in our lives, & the hope we have in Christ.

As I listened to Dori sing O Holy Night on Christmas Eve, the words of the first verse hit me anew:

Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

A thrill of hope.
The weary world rejoices.
For yonder breaks a new & glorious morn.

I am in need of hope. I am in need of rest. I am I need of joy. I am in need of new beginnings. I am in need of Christ.

I praise God for his promises of all of these things and more. He provides more than I could ever ask for or imagine, & He carries me through the valleys of life when I've no strength left.

Thank you, Lord, for your mercies being new every morning & for the hope of a new day everyday. May I live a life of expectancy as I wait for you.

Verses from Philippians

1:21: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
2:1-11: If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
2:14-15: Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.
3:7-8: But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
3:12-14:Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.