Our Hope is Christ

1 Peter 1:3-9
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:13
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Titus 2:11-14
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

1 Timothy 1:1-2
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Colossians 1:27-28
To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:19-20
If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead…

"Occasionally, weep deeply over the life that you hoped would be. Grieve the losses. Feel the pain. Then wash your face, trust God, and embrace the life that he’s given you."
https://www.desiringgod.org/embrace-the-life-god-has-given-you
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/we-cant-grieve-however-we-want

Yes - weep deeply your sorrows and grieve them. Then look up, fix your eyes on Christ your hope, and pour yourself into serving your Master, the One who will soon return to reward His people and to make all things new.

The way it has always been

Peter continues with his chemo treatments, thankfully still with his blood counts having been good every time.  He has two more weekly chemos and then it drops to once every three weeks.  He has had recurring vomiting, but I think it is improving as we try different things; lately it has coincided with when he coughs vigorously, rather than resulting from nausea.  God's grace is new every day.

A common question we hear is, "How are you holding up?" or "How are the other kids handling things?"

When Peter was in the hospital, it did make life more difficult, and the family felt our absence. It was harder for me to manage life in two places at once.

But other than that, and the adjustment period to the cancer diagnosis and the treatment regimen - the truth is that this is just an extension of the way life has always been with Peter.

He has always had multiple appointments to go to, often with therapy once a week and random doctors' appointments regularly throughout the year.  He has always had issues to figure out and troubleshoot.  There has often been the weariness, the lack of free time, the hours spent researching some new thing in hopes of something else helping him.

So yes, it is God's grace that sustains us.  It is God's grace that has always sustained us.

But this is also normal life for many families whose kids have special needs: weekly appointments for therapy (which take hours out of your day), extra work to do during the day and evening, regular doctors' appointments for this or that, weariness, lack of free time, and struggles to make it to church.  If the kids have medical needs, they may end up with recurring hospital stays (we thank God that that has not been our normal).  Especially if the kids have mental or emotional needs, the parents often just don't go to church at all, or not as a family, because the church has no accommodations for them.

Our church has been so supportive during the last few months.  We are thankful for everyone's concern and prayers, and (for local folks) for the meals you brought when we were in the hospital in December, and for the many who have taken turns staying home with Peter so that the rest of us could be in church on Sundays.

That is the kind of support that parents with special needs could use on a regular basis - as they are often pushed to their limits (mentally, emotionally, physically, financially) more than those who have normal kids. And I am thankful that our church does seek to meet the needs of those who are in the church.

But there are plenty in our community who never get that support.

This is why I so wish we had a ministry to families with special needs. A program where they could show up with their child who is 10 but acts like he is 3, or who has autism that results in loud and disruptive behavior, and someone at church would be assigned to be their buddy during church, or sit with them in another room, or teach a special SS class for them, or whatever it takes to enable the parents to sit in the worship service.

These are parents who are regularly under a lot of stress and have a lot of needs - and who need the gospel.  Their marriages are often under more stress also.  But they are not just going to walk into a church without some provision for their child who is currently unable to sit in church.  Maybe they do need better parenting habits; maybe their children are just undisciplined; but maybe the problem is bigger than that, due to the child's brain damage from injury or a genetic problem or autism.  Maybe if they had the support of godly people, they could improve their parenting. Maybe at least they would find the grace of God if they had a way to come to church and hear the Word and find fellowship and refreshment.  These needy families are all around us in the community and often have little opportunity to hear the gospel.

The road of cancer treatment is long and uncertain. After treatment there is follow-up for however many months or years, and sometimes long-term effects from it all, along with the possibility of recurrence.

The road of raising a child with special needs can feel longer and more uncertain than cancer. It lasts a lifetime. It is full of hopes and dreams that often have to be denied and changed. It forever changes your expectations of family and parenting.

For God's children, any difficult road is a tool used by His Fatherly hand to prune us, to make us more like Jesus, to weed out our sin and to increase our love for Him.  Whether that road ends in healing or death or a lifelong sorrow - "It is the LORD. Let him do what seems good to him." (1Samuel 3:18).

Strive to enter

Hebrews 3:12-13
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

"an evil, unbelieving heart" makes you depart from God.

What would a "believing" heart look like?

It would look like Jesus' mindset toward the Father: total trust in the Father's care and character and wisdom; total submission to His will; total faith in His Word being true and trustworthy and faithful.
It would mean never doubting the Word to be true, or the promises to fail, or the threats to be empty.
Never questioning the Father's clear will, nor rebelling against it, nor fighting His providence.
Never seeking to rule myself, but being yielded up to the Father unreservedly.
It would mean complete submission to the Father, devotedly, unquestioningly.

Real faith believes, submits, obeys.
Satan would deceive us, making sin and self-rule look attractive and making submission to the Father a repulsive choice.  The deceitfulness of sin can harden your heart toward God, such that you mock His rule, ignore His Word, and run toward destruction as though that were life.

How can we exhort one another against the deceitfulness of sin?
We must be willing to bring God's Word to bear on one another's lives. Which means WE must know the Word enough to do that. We must be willing to be salt and light to one another, not just smiling and nodding and having happy social times. We must be willing to call out one another's attitudes as being incongruent with imitators of Christ.

Hebrews 3:18 - 4:1
And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.

Hebrews 3:12-13
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Hebrews 4:11-13
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-word-of-god-living-active-sharp

Those three passages are tied together in this way:
It is unbelief that causes us to fail to reach Heaven.
It is the deceitfulness of sin that hardens us.
It is the Word of God that can pierce the heart and expose the unbelief lodging there, and show sin's deceit for what it is.

So to help one another make it safely Home, we must wield the Word of God with one another - exhorting daily! - applying it to each other's lives and hearts and attitudes and words, that we might be a prod to get others back on the right Path when sin lures them to wander off it.

This is why studying the Word itself is so important.  It is not devotionals that will pierce our hearts and expose our sin - it is the Word itself.
This is why memorizing and meditating on the Word is so important.  It is a tool the Spirit can use to keep US from being deceived by sin, and it is a tool that we need to help others get safely to Heaven.

Strive to make your calling and election sure - because Christ has cleansed you from your former sins

2 Peter 1:5-11
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Do you want to know if you are a true believer?
Do you want a way to evaluate whether someone else is truly a believer?
Do you fear being an ineffective and unfruitful Christian?

According to these verses, those who have certain qualities, and are striving to increase them, are the ones who will make it to Heaven.  By diligently seeking to have and increase these things, they manifest a confirmation that they are truly in the Way; and so doing will also keep them from falling, and it will make them effective and fruitful in their Christian walk.

Those who lack these qualities have forgotten that they were cleansed from former sins.  They have drifted away from the truth; they have not paid all the closer attention to the gospel. They have neglected their salvation.

Hebrews 2:1,3
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. … how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

Here are the qualities Peter mentions, in the order of the chain of connection:
Faith
Virtue / excellence
Knowledge
Self-control
Steadfastness / perseverance
Godliness
Brotherly kindness / brotherly affection
Love

Each one should result in the next one; to each one we are to add the one that follows.
Faith is the essential beginning of salvation.
To faith, add excellence; don't just believe and stay there - feed your faith, deepen it, have a robust faith.
Growing your faith will require saturating yourself with God's Word. So to your excellence of faith, add an increasing and deepening knowledge of God and His Word.
Knowing the Word gives us more insight into God's character and holiness, and more view of our own sin. This must lead to self-control, a striving to rule one's self by the Scriptures.
Self-control will enable perseverance and keep us from giving up when we wish, for we are ruling ourselves by Scripture and by the Spirit's help, rather than letting our flesh rule us.
Perseverance in the Way will bring us closer to God and make us more like Him (godliness).
When we become more like God, we will grow more out of ourselves and more focused on others, with brotherly kindness, especially for the brethren.
And brotherly kindness should lead to a God-like, self-sacrificing love for others.

If you are striving for these things, they will be evidence that you are Real; they will keep you from falling; they will cause you to be effective and to bear fruit for Christ; and they will bring you safely into Heaven at last.  These things will be used by God to keep your soul and to make you persevere true to Him all the way to the end.

So if you fear being fruitless, or you wonder if you will stay on the Narrow Way, throw your energy into this chain. Begin somewhere. Feed your faith, that it might grow strong. Soak in the Scriptures, that you might know God, for it is this that will lead to more hatred of sin and more progress in virtue. Know God, and apply that knowledge to your spiritual walk; where do you have sins to deal seriously with, or areas of the flesh to gain self-control over?

Strive, to make your calling and election sure.

Evidence of salvation is found in those who are constantly striving to know more of God, to fight sin more strongly, to love more sacrificially. All for God's glory. All because Christ has cleansed me from my former sins.

Lest we drift away

Hebrews 2:1-3a
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

Why is there a danger of drifting away?

Because we live in a constant current that flows away from Christ: our sinful nature plus the schemes of the devil, who desires only destruction for us. Since he is the prince of this world, everything he does is designed to draw us away from Christ and to hinder our holiness. He is happy to accomplish this by subtle means - pleasures, favor, possessions. Anything to distract us from Jesus.

Hebrews 12:1-2a
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to [fixing our eyes upon] Jesus…

This is not a gentle stroll through life; it is a race that must be run with the whole soul thrown in, for your life depends on it. It is as if you were running from a raging wildfire, knowing that if you let down your guard, if you relax, you may be lost. Or you may arrive at safety, but "only as through fire."

1 Corinthians 3:15
If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

The temptation to sin is something that pulls your eyes away from Jesus, distracting you from That which holds your course steady. If you follow that sin - even that "little" sin that seems so harmless - you may end up drifting off course and slamming into rocks and boulders in the river.  Yes, Christ can bring you back on course and restore your relationship with Himself, but you may be injured by the rocks and carry the scars of that for the rest of your life.

There is no standing still. Those who are not actively fighting the undercurrent will drift downstream. There is no plateau we reach in this life, no place where we can let our guard down and relax spiritually. There is no place where the War does not exist between Christ and the devil. The Church is indeed our oasis, the place where hands join together to make it easier to fight the current; yet even there our flesh and the devil hinder us, and those who relax from their vigilance will begin to drift from course.

Who is sufficient for these things?
The Lord!

Ephesians 6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

The Lord does not throw us into the fray and say "sink or swim!"
He provides HIS strength in which we are to run the race, fight the battle, withstand the current.

Ephesians 6:11-13
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

This is how we are to hold our ground and avoid drifting away: the armor of God.
This is how we are to withstand powerful spiritual enemies: God's armor, not our strength.

Ephesians 6:14-18
Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints…

Here is God's armor, which He commands us to put on that we might withstand the devil:
• Truth. God's truth holds everything else together.
• The righteousness of Christ that is put upon us
• Readiness to take the gospel wherever we walk
• Faith in God and His Word, to shield us from the devil's flaming arrows
• Salvation, accomplished by Christ, which we can rely on to guard our souls
• God's Word wielded as our sword for the fight, like Christ used it
• Prayer to gain all the wartime help that we need; we must stay alert and persevere, that we might pray at all times, for ourselves and for all the saints

Put on this armor. It does no good to have it sitting on display in your house.

Put it on, every day.
Knowledge of and love for God's truth.
Faith in Christ and the gospel and our salvation.
Prayer at all times, knowing our inability to stand without the Lord's strength.
Readiness to take the gospel - the power of God for salvation - to any person or situation to which God brings us.

So read the Bible, love the Bible, study it, memorize it, meditate on it. Fill your thoughts with it. It is your life, your defensive safety, your offensive weapon.

The offense of the Cross

Galatians 5:11
But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.

1 Corinthians 2:14
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 1:18
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 Corinthians 1:22-25
For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Romans 1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”


The gospel offends.
Man does not want to hear that his righteousness is insufficient; pride runs deep.
The normal and expected response to the gospel is that the unbeliever will not understand it, will mock it, or will take offense at it.
The only way this will not happen is if the Spirit of God opens their heart to see and desire Jesus.

We have tried to take the offense out of the gospel, in hopes that people will like it, agree with it, and accept it that way. As though an offense-less gospel will have more power to save than the Spirit Himself.


1 Corinthians 2:1-5
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

1 Corinthians 1:17
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.


God's way is that we preach "Jesus Christ and him crucified," that we rely not on eloquent words to attract men's minds, but on the Holy Spirit to use the power of the offending message of the cross.

Why should we be "not ashamed of the gospel," when it is likely to be met with a negative response? Because it is the power of God to save everyone who believes!

"Fun" is not the main criteria - JESUS is

How do we determine what activities we require or permit of ourselves or our family?

The main criteria is NOT, "Will this be fun?" nor "Will my kids be willing?" nor "Is this the cheapest option?"

The main criteria is,
Does this activity help me to serve God and serve others?

Will this activity increase my love for God, or distract me from God?
Will it increase my love of myself?

Should we not ask this - in regard to entertainment? And education? And work/chores?
The main question is not, "Would this be fun?" but rather, "Would this help us to serve God and others?"

Should not our starting point be, "I love my Savior, and therefore, I will do ________ out of love for Him and for His Name on the earth." ?


Does this activity help make my brain more or less equipped to serve God?
(I.e. internet browsing for no purpose, and input of too much unnecessary information, makes your brain "a mile wide and an inch deep" - not taking time to think deeply about anything; taking in information for the sake of information, rather than in order to benefit your life; filling your mind with useless books.)

Can the Holy Spirit live well in the mind I am cultivating by this input?

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Can I do this activity as an act of worship?

1 Corinthians 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Peter 4:11
…in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

What biblical principles can be referenced to determine whether or not this is a good activity for me (mentally, spiritually, physically)?

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Philippians 1:20-21
…it is my eager expectation and hope that … now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Philippians 1:27
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ…

Would Christ do this activity?
Would someone see me doing this, and say, "That is Christ living in her"?

Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.


If you love your Savior - your Master - then it will not be a hard thing to strive to point to Him in all that you do.
It will not be a sacrifice to give up "pleasures" for the sake of service and worship - for the sake of making Jesus known! He loved His Father and was all consumed by that; His one love was the Father; His one goal was to do the Father's will. And He did it gladly out of love, not grudgingly, wishing He could live "for fun" instead.  He knew that real joy came from obedience, and He wanted that for His disciples also.

John 15:10-11
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

We live by faith, not by sight.
We must believe that real, lasting joy is found in obeying - rather than living by sight, by senses, that tell me to pursue my own temporary pleasures.

If we let our kids drown themselves in temporal pleasures, we are inoculating them against finding their real joy - in Jesus.  Who will want to do the hard work of self-denying service if they have lived indulging themselves as children?  Do we not want to train them that self-denial is the normal part of life? - and that earthly pleasures, though they are gifts from God to be enjoyed as part of serving Him, cannot hold a candle to the joys found in Christ?

None can follow Christ without denying himself:

Matthew 16:24-25
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life [for himself] will lose it…"