From Barb's Spiritual Journals

Entry from November 23, 2000

GOD CREATED HOPE
God created our eyes-
and we looked for alternatives.
He formed our ears-
and we listened to the wrong voices.
He gave us feet-
and we walked away from Him unto
loss, loneliness, and despair.
So God created
A Light through the darkness-
and He is the Way.
A Promise amid lies-
and He is the Truth.
A Hope at the graveside-
and He is our Life.
                      
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive
with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus...For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
                                                                                                  -Ephesians 2:4-7, 10


To study carefully all of the above is to discover how greatly our Creator loves us. It bothered me to realize how negligent I was for awhile with my Bible lessons; how I put of doing them sometimes, took no time to truly search for the hidden wealth within the pages of Scripture. But now that the Lord has enabled me to get back on track, I realize the value of what I'd almost thrown away.
   We sometimes look at things without really seeing them. Our vision is often clouded by hostility, anger, resentment, sadness, frustration, confusion, and ignorance. We forget that the choices we make keep us close to the LORD,  or cause us to get lost. God is Life. It is HE who provides our daily breath, HE who enables us to walk and talk, love and laugh. To choose to remove ourselves from his presence places us again into the dark valleys of despair, loneliness, fear and loss.
   We have the precious gift of Christ to fill us with warmth, joy, peace and HOPE. He, through the Holy Spirit, guides and directs our lives. If we will but trust him with everything, we'll be amazed at all that he will do for us.

  To those of you going through hard times I wish to remind you that you're never alone, not even midst your darkest of moments. And if you ever feel as if you're alone, remind yourself that you're alone with God, and there is not a safer, or more wonderful place to be.
  
If you are having a wonderful day, remember that all good things come from above, from HE who created us-created all that exists.

May the warmth of God's love be with you throughout your days and may your sleep be peaceful

                                                                              Barb