FAITH...HOPE...and LOVE endure...

“Through Jesus Christ we have also obtained access by FAITH into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in HOPE of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces HOPE, and HOPE does not put us to shame, because God’s LOVE has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us”

Romans 5:2-5.

I know I have shared this text with you on a few occasions, but it is so instructive about the connections between the three great gifts God has given to us in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior: FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE.

You and I have FAITH only through Jesus Christ, and our Faith in Jesus Christ is what leads us to HOPE in the glory of God! And no matter what struggles we have in life, especially the struggles induced by our sin, we learn to endure our sinful selves through the grace of Jesus Christ, to repent and to return to the path to Jesus Christ. And this graced endurance, given to us through the graced mercy and forgiveness of the Lord, produces Christian character in us. In other words, we can once again return to being the person we were created to be. And this leads us to the grace, the gift from the Lord, of HOPE in Almighty God! And when we HOPE in the Lord we are empowered to step away from the shame we feel because of our sin.

And all of this — all of our FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE — comes to us in our life from the LOVE of God who is Jesus Christ and the pouring out of His Holy Spirit into our hearts and minds. And FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE come to us to be shared and given away to others. Our FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE are never gifts given to us — for us alone.

So today take time in your prayer today to give thanks to God for the gifts of FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE. Thank God for His Son, Jesus Christ, whose death on the Cross and His resurrection gives us all the forgiveness of sin and the promise of salvation. Give thanks — and pray for — the continued outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me and sinner.

PS. I just returned from an emotional visit to the people and land I love, Alma, NE. These are amazing corn and cattle people whose crops and cattle are in the midst of a severe drought. Please join me in praying for rain so that grass may fill the pastures where the cattle graze, and crops of wheat and corn, milo and soy beans, may thrive so that they can continue to "feed the world." And keep praying, please!