Hope For The Helpless

Scripture

We exult in our present suffering, because we know that suffering is a source of endurance, and endurance of approval and approval leads to hope.

~Romans 5:3-4, REB

Quote

It is history that teaches us to HOPE.

~Robert E. Lee

Our subject is HOPE but notice the things that come before hope: The REB says, sufferingenduranceapproval. The NIV reads: Suffering–perseverance–Character. The NASB adds proven character. The AV translates it like this: TribulationPatienceExperience. As to the first antecedent–Suffering or tribulation, there is no problem because we clearly understand both words. The second is Greek compound word that means to bear up under or to stay under. It is in reference to a man bearing up under the weight of a burden and that exercise will produce endurance or stamina. It is the third word that I find interesting; what does experience have to do with proven character or approval? The Greek word literally means to test, to try or to prove by experiment. We know that scientist use this method and so do fabricators. People who make pipes and vessels test them, they put them under extreme pressure to see if their are any weaknesses. History, another word for experience, is merely a record of what we have tried and failed or tried and proven.

History is vitally important. Thomas Macaulay once said, “No man correctly informed of his past will be disposed to a morose or desponding view of the present.” To destroy or pervert a person’s history is like ripping a leaf off of a tree and separating it from its roots. My personal history has everything to do with the present and my view of tomorrow. Why do so many Americans have this crabby {Morose} attitude about our country? Because the liberals have changed history. This generation of unhappy Americans has been government educated: they have been and are being taught that our founding fathers were oppressive and unprincipled men, which is a lie. They teach that Abraham Lincoln was great and the Robert E. Lee was treasonous. The very opposite is true. By distorting history, they have distorted the minds of men.

So the AV is not wrong, our experience gives us HOPE. I have tried a lot of things and I have failed almost as many times as I have tried but I have found one thing to be true: GOD NEVER FAILS. I have bright hopes for tomorrow because of my faith in Jesus Christ. George Frederic Watts has a famous painting called ‘HOPE’. It is the portrait of a woman sitting on top of the world, bent over her harp which she is playing. The woman is in a melancholy state of mind with eyes blindfolds. If you look closely, the harp that she is playing has only one string, all the others are broken. She has lost focus on the world and is focused on that one string. The one string is JESUS. The broken strings are her shattered dreams. She is down to one string but that one string has put her on top of the world.

Don’t you dare give up on the God who always comes through. Way back in the last century, there was a man by the name of Henry P. Crowel. The doctor diagnosed Henry with Tuberculosis and at that time, there was no cure. Henry took what wealth he had and boarded a train for the West. He was told he could live a little longer in Arizona or New Mexico. On the way west, his train stopped in a town where Henry saw a for sale sign on an old mill. Henry got off the train, bought the mill and then went about restoring it. He did that and more; he made a fortune and overcame the tuberculosis. This was the beginning of Quaker Oats. It’s never over until Jesus says, “It’s over.”

This will be no shock: I had a wonderful day in my study enjoying the rain. You got it, no depression here, I love rain and this one was perfect. It fail gently and constantly. Thank You Jesus for the rain and the cooler tempts. Hey, you know it is hot when Big Mama complains and she and Mary Jewel complained about the heat wave. I heard it with my own ears. The day it was 97, I went to see Mrs. Jewel and her back porch chair was empty. When I got in I asks, “You wanted hot weather, why are you on the porch?” She laughed and said, “It’s too hot.” Exactly! Thank you Lord for cooling the planet down.

I am not a Colt fan or an NFL fan but I like Andrew Luck. I don’t watch the NFL but I enjoyed seeing him play for Stanford. Someone told me he is a Christian which may be one of the reasons he wants out. The NFL is Antichrist and they give no encouragement to Christians: Tim Tebow and RG3 are prime examples. The fans booing a man who want to put his family first tells me all I need to know about the NFL and those who support this liberal arm of the democratic party. Their priorities are out of place.

I want to wish Big Mama a happy Anniversary. She is such a lucky woman to be married to a thoughtful, kind, gentle man like me. Yeah, right!

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