Hope Shows

08/30/2018

"What does this intersection of 'God,' 'humanity,' and 'hope' tell us about hope? Perhaps that it is an ever-present companion in our journey through life, it is there independent of our own efforts or beliefs, and that there is something divine or spiritual in hope: it is beyond us, bigger than us, and it goes beyond the 'realities' of what we see and touch." – Jaklin A. Eliott, PhD

(PDF) Hope-Lore and the Compassionate Clinician. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235647239_Hope-Lore_and_the_Compassionate_Clinician [accessed Aug 29 2018].

09/07/2017

"The experience of despair is the initial movement in the rhythm of hope. ... [God] is moving with rhythmic purpose through our agony and pain to unimaginable joy.

Hope has its own rhythm. We cannot rush it."

– "Shattered Dreams" | Larry Crabb

07/16/2017

“Hoping does not mean doing nothing. It is not fatalistic resignation. It means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusions. It is not compelled to work away at keeping up appearances with a bogus spirituality. It is the opposite of desperate and panicky manipulations, of scurrying and worrying.

And hoping is not dreaming. It is not spinning an illusion or fantasy to protect us from our boredom or our pain. It means a confident, alert expectation that God will do what he said he will do. It is imagination put in the harness of faith. It is a willingness to let God do it his way and in his time.”

― Eugene H. Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society

03/28/2017

"What is the way out of shame? Knowledge [and experiences] that leads to belief. Belief that leads to trust: trust in Jesus, trust in His words, and trust in his promises."

– "Shame Interrupted" | Ed Welch, (words in [] based on neuroplasticity's left-brained and right-brained requirements for renewal)

HOPE seeks an intentional change of mind about who God is and who we are in Him.

03/13/2017

Wholeness Begins and Ends with HOPE

"The spiritual reality is this: 'wholeness is not based on our own subjective feelings; rather, it begins and ends with our hope in Christ and who we are in Him.' ... It is tempting to think of wholeness as 'the absence of brokenness,' but brokenness is part of the human condition."

- The Transformed Soul: Brokenness vs. Wholeness"by Dr. D. W. Ekstrand

02/22/2016

"Healing is not the absence of [emotional] pain; rather it is the presence of God and His continuing involvement in our lives."

- Anna Kang | "Joyful Journey: Listening to Immanuel"

02/22/2016

"If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified. Every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God. But one of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting for God. He brings fulfillment, “because you have kept My command to persevere…” (Revelation 3:10).

Continue to persevere spiritually."

- "My Utmost for His Highest," 02.21.16

02/18/2016

"I held onto Jesus with white knuckles as I prayed during panic attacks. I desperately felt my need for prayer every single day. Words like those of Psalm 23 weren’t just nice words to casually read or embroider on a throw blanket. They were my life."

- Aaron Loy | "7 Ways Christians Should Deal With Stress and Anxiety," Relevant Magazine

To those who are in that place right now.

01/29/2016

"God doesn’t call us to avoid or squash our emotions (as Christians often suppose). Neither does he call us to embrace them unconditionally (as our culture often urges). Rather, he calls us to engage them by bringing our emotions to him and to his people. ... our emotions (good and bad) are meant to reveal the countless ways we need God."

"Our emotions invite us to see the world as God sees it—both broken and beautiful—rejoicing where he is redeeming it and yearning for the full redemption that is yet to come. Only in the safety of his strength and patience can we face our visceral reactions, name them honestly, and talk about them with God and others."

- Alasdair Groves () | CCEF - Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation

Emotions are tricky. Everyone has them. Everyone struggles with them. Many struggle with how they feel more than anything else in their lives. Then there is the sea of other people’s emotions in

01/29/2016

Hope is the pathway from life-breaking pain to love-restoring joy. It's *our job* in the healing process ... to trust; to believe; to anchor to truth and promise; to hold fast to who He *absolutely* is, who we *uniquely* are in Him and what He will *purposefully* do in the midst of pain and uncertainty.

"You were called to one hope." - Ephesians 4:4

01/29/2016

"Hope in God does not come naturally ... We must preach it to ourselves, and preach it diligently and forcefully." - John Piper

"Let us hold fast [anchor to] the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." - Hebrews 10:23