Cultivating Hope
Good Morning Friends,
People do not always understand what we do in our work at Leadership Foundations. Perhaps it is because the act of helping people to discover new possibilities that empowers change is a work typically done below the radar screen. Amidst the personal tragedy, injustice and turmoil and angst of the world this work is often rather invisible as it helps people spiritually sense the possibility of a fruitful future by Cultivating Hope.
Scripture: I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
1 Corinthians 3:6-9 (NIV)
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
Selah
Psalms 46:1-3
Message: Ok one does not get to take credit for this but sustaining a sense of hope for tomorrow by tending the garden can be rewarding in a physical, economic and spiritual sense. That is why yesterday we bought containers and materials for 48 home gardens for families to experience how the God of nature works in growing plants as well as how God grows us. It is my hope the work will guide us to an inner peace and a positive outlook that is the power of positive thinking around how we might be good stewards. Maybe that counts for something. The reality is that we can work at cultivation to help create hope in us and others while at the same time knowing that hope is a gift from God. Here we learn to let go of judgment, here we free ourselves of constraints, here learn to express love and healing and here we strive to understand our anger about not being in control. Here the Spirit informs our habits and helps us to grow in the midst of difficulties rejoicing in the fact that we have an ever-present help in our time of troubles…a help we can share with others as a witness to the reality that God has poured out his love into our hearts and we have the hope of sharing it. Friends, the more we focus on the fact that God is the source of hope the more we receive hope. When we stop with thanksgiving there we rest in God’s provision, His plan, and His timing for whatever transition culturally and personally we going through. That’s where we find the strength to take the next step into the unknown; to make the choice to be brave and let go of the status-quo in order to embrace a little more fully the new thing God is doing. That is the risk of love in its battle over fear. Here we recognize that there is light despite all the darkness. Here we realize that God is always doing a new thing with new fruit. Here we co-labor with God and discover a hope that will not disappoint. Here we discover the fruits of our labor in a new creation.
Pray we push past the fear in our lives. Pray we open our hearts and our minds to new possibilities. Pray we are empowered to change. Pray we better understand anger and healing so we might grow. Pray we have a perspective that sustains hope for ourselves and the communities in which we live. Pray we realize that God alone is sufficient. Pray we hitch our wagon to a star. Pray we imagine ourselves succeeding with Christ. Pray we take down the obstacles in our imagination so hope can prevail. Pray we keep our minds free from hate and rejoice in the honest wisdom that we should rejoice that God loves us as we are but also loves us enough not to leave us as we are.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 