A Dash of Hope {Focus on Jesus}

Who needs a dash of hope heading into the weekend?

All week, I've come back to these verses. They've inspired me and lifted up my heart when I felt overwhelmed by the negativity of being in pain more often than not recently. These verses have helped me hold on to hope. I pray they do the same for you.

If you're like me, you'll want to read these beauties out loud and pray they soak into the walls of your heart as you do.

2 Corinthians 4:7-18

(HCSB)

7. "Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.

8. We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair;

9. we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed.

10. We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

11. For we who live are always given over to death because of Jesus, so that Jesus' life may also be revealed in our mortal flesh.

12. So death works in us, but life in you.

13. And since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, 'I believed, therefore I spoke,' we also believe, and therefore speak.

14. We know that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and present us with you.

15. Indeed, everything is for your benefit, so that grace, extended through more and more people, may cause thanksgiving to increase to God's glory.

16. Therefore, we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.

17. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.

18. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

What Bible verses have given you hope lately?

Timely Encouragement {Dust Treasure Hunt Results}

Hey, friends. So I went on a virtual treasure hunt last month in support of Kara Swanson's sophomore book, Dust, which is a Peter Pan retelling of sorts. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, and there were lots of interviews and fun blog articles along the way. The neat thing about this treasure hunt was that everyone who participated would win something. That's completely rare in anything other than peewee sports.

There was also a grand prize pack for the person who was first to put in the quote from Dust that was pieced together along the way with each blog article's clue.

Here's the announcement as delivered by Kara Swanson on her Instagram page:

Rainy Day Blues {a short story}

Clouds painted the upper part of the window in front of Carly, who stood staring out at the driveway that had been empty all week. When would Daddy come home? He’d been gone a long time, but he’d promised he’d be home before church day. That was coming soon, she was sure, but she couldn’t remember which day was today.

Rain streaked down the other side of the glass and pattered against the roof. Did that mean God was as sad as she was right now? It sure looked like He was crying with her, but maybe He was just watering the ground so the flowers would come up real pretty when it was springtime again. How long would that be? Probably a lot longer than Daddy would be gone, but Carly couldn’t be sure since she couldn’t tell time yet.

“Do you want a snack, Carly?”

She shook her head but didn’t look back at Mommy. Instead, she pressed her palms and nose up against the glass, leaning up on her tiptoes to see even more of the outside world.

All of it was wet.

Lessons Learned from... the Garden

Scripture reference: Matthew 26:36-46

Further reading: Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46

Easter, or Resurrection Day, as I like to call it, was yesterday, and that put me in mind of the Garden of Gethsemane. There is so much to learn from the time Jesus spent there just prior to his betrayal and arrest (which came just before his crucifixion, burial, and rising from the tomb). Our focus today will be specifically on the prayers of Jesus in the Garden, though there are a couple of other things I’ll be pointing out.

Once Jesus and his eleven disciples (by this time, Judas had already separated himself from the group in order to betray Jesus) came to Gethsemane, He left most of them there but pulled aside Peter, James, and John to go deeper with Him into the Garden.

“Then He said to them, ‘My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.

Stay here and watch with Me.’”

Matthew 26:38 NKJ

Mark says Jesus “began to be troubled and deeply distressed” (Mark 14:33 NKJ).

Exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Troubled and deeply distressed.

Complex Grace

Hello, everyone. Today (Sunday) is one of those days where I'm not exactly sure what I want to write about. Nothing is really jumping to mind other than a One Word update. Now, I'm still contemplating what I'm learning, so I am unable to fully express everything. Please bear with me as I share with you as much as I can.

It's been a fascinating journey so far. I just hope my failing words shine at least a little light on the beauty of God's work in my life. Perhaps His Light will shine through this article to someone.

If it's one thing I've learned about grace this year it's that it's complex. Grace is complex in and of itself, but there are even more complexities about how many things it is connected with.

So far, I've found out it's connected to trust in God, faithfulness (of God to us and us to God), and it's forgiving others (especially when they don't deserve it, which reflects what Jesus did for us on the cross) and ourselves. That last one--the forgiving of oneself--is sometimes the trickiest one to learn, but I'm certainly trying hard. I figure it will be greatly freeing once I get the hang of it, thanks be solely to God.

#PrayingForTexas and #Harvey2017

by Andrea Renee Cox

Right now it's Sunday evening, and I'm watching The Weather Channel's coverage of now-Tropical Storm Harvey. There is severe flooding throughout southeastern Texas, my home state. Thankfully, I live in north Texas so am safe from the storm's path of severe wind and rainfall. But that doesn't mean I've been uninvolved in the storm.

While I have not been able to physically take part in any rescue efforts, I have done what I can do: pray.

Courtesy of Google Images

All over social media (Facebook and Twitter are the sites I use a lot), I saw Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey updates with the hashtags #PrayingForTexas and #Harvey2017. These were encouraging to me, and I started using them too, hopeful that they would encourage those most affected by the storm.

I don't use these hashtags lightly either. My mind and heart have been in a constant state of prayer for everyone in the path of Harvey. I've prayed for safety, comfort, encouragement, and aid. I've prayed for spirits to be uplifted, for souls to discover God's love, and for the storm to dissipate and flooding to recede swiftly.

Prayer Requests

by Andrea Renee Cox

It's late, late, late Sunday night (or way too early Monday morning!)... and I am not yet happy with the article I've been working on for you. So I'm scrapping it for now and will come back to that particular one for another week. For now, though, I leave you with a beautiful verse which has often been a comfort to me.

My Soul Sings by Kim Vogel Sawyer

by Andrea Renee Cox

Do you believe in jinxes?

I don’t.

But there’s a fictional town that completely does, and a young woman is suffering because of their superstition.

Kim Vogel Sawyer’s My Soul Sings contains an incredible sweetness that I have come to expect and admire in her writing. I especially liked how she wove that in amongst trials such as disability, outcasts, superstitions, hermits, and prejudices. Not only that, but she laces the entire tale with a thread of humor that perfectly balances out the weighty topics. One thing more that I enjoyed was how she’s got such a wonderful ear for nuances of speech. That really comes through well on each page.

Drawing Prayer Circles

by Andrea Renee Cox

Recently, I read a book called The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. I’d heard great things about it on Facebook, so I thought I’d give it a look. Goodness, I’m glad I did! If you want to see revival in your relationship with God, I highly recommend you check out this book. One person’s prayers really do make a difference.

Prayer Works

by Andrea Renee Cox

The movie War Room speaks to the power of prayer. After seeing the movie on opening weekend, I was inspired to pray more boldly yet with more humility.

Over the week or two prior to viewing the film, I had been in a sort of panic. The research for one of my old writing projects that I’d set aside had seemed to vanish. I couldn’t find it anywhere. So I prayed every day, several times each day, that it would show up if that’s the next project God wanted me to work on. I also asked my family and a friend to pray for me in this matter.

But the research remained lost.