“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18 ESV)

Grow up in the fullness of Christ so you won’t be tossed to and fro

“Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” (Eph. 4:13-16 ESV)

Immerse yourself in these things and practice them

“Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.” (1 Tim. 4:15 ESV)

You ought to be teachers

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” (Heb. 5:12-14 ESV)

Therefore…

“And though your beginning was small, your latter days will be very great.”(Job 8:7 ESV)

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment…” (Phil. 1:9 ESV)

“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…” (Eph. 6:18 ESV)

Worship in Spirit

“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24 ESV)

Pray in the Spirit

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit…” (Jude 1:20 ESV)

“What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.” (1 Cor. 14:15 ESV)

“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful.” (1 Cor. 14:14 ESV)

The Spirit intercedes for us

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Rom. 8:26-27 ESV)

Not to men but to God

“For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.” (1 Cor. 14:2 ESV)

“No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”” (Isa. 54:17 ESV)

Be strong because God goes with you

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Isa. 41:6 ESV)

God will guard you

“But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.” (2 Thess. 3:3 ESV)

God stretches out His hand

“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.” (Psalm 138:7 ESV)

Therefore…

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Deut. 31:6 ESV)

“But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.” (Psalm 5:11 ESV)

“But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.” (Psalm 71:14 ESV)

 You must have HOPE!

Recently I heard someone say, “ Don’t get your hopes up!” When I asked them, “Why not?” They said, ”Because, if you get your hopes up, you could be disappointed!” I strongly disagreed with them, because we must have hope.  It’s a crucial part of faith. With it we are saved! Without it there is no joy!  Without it, the heart is sick (Prov. 13:12).

Faith is the assurance of things HOPED for

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1 ESV)

In HOPE we are saved

“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (Rom. 8:24-25 ESV

“So that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:7 ESV)

“But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” (1 Thess. 5:8 ESV)

HOPE brings joy

“The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.” (Prov. 10:28 ESV)

HOPE abides with faith and love

“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13:13 ESV)

HOPE in His Word

“You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.” (Psalm 118:114 ESV)

Rejoice in HOPE

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” (Rom. 12:12 ESV)

Therefore…

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (Lam. 3:24 ESV)

“But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…”. (1 Peter 3:15 ESV)

“And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” (Psalm 9:10 ESV)

Trust: firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something.

Trust God with all your heart

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Prov. 3:5 ESV)

Trust in Him and He will act

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.” (Psalm 37:4-6 ESV)

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” (Psalm 28:7 ESV)

Therefore…

“In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Prov. 3:6 ESV)

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28 ESV)

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Isa. 26:3 ESV)

“…for our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb. 12:29)

God appeared in a blazing fire

“The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.” (Exo. 3:2)

God’s Word is like fire

“Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jer. 23:29 ESV)

God will baptize you with fire

“John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Luke 3:16 ESV)

God’s makes His ministers a flaming fire

“He makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire.” (Psalm 104:4 ESV)

Therefore…

“My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue:” (Psalm 39:3 ESV)

“If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.” (Jer. 20:9 ESV)

“And he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze…” (Exo. 35:31-32 ESV)

Skill to do every kind of work

“He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.” (Exo. 35:35 ESV)

Great skill will move you forward

“Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.” (Prov. 22:29 ESV)

Therefore…

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men…”. (Col. 3:23 ESV)

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Heb. 10:24-25 ESV)

Don’t grow wearing of doing good

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Gal. 6:9 ESV)

Be aware and careful…

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matt. 6:1-4 ESV)

Therefore…

“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.” (Col. 3 17 ESV)

“For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:13 ESV)

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” (Prov. 3:5-8)

Disappointment defined: to be discouraged or sad because of an unmet expectation regarding someone or something.

When something goes wrong

It’s never pleasant when something goes wrong and your expectation isn’t met. It can be very disappointing, in fact. But, everyone experiences disappointment from time to time. It’s just a part of normal life. But, how you handle disappointment is important! It never helps you, or anyone else around you, to have an emotional meltdown. When a disappointment happens, It’s best to just stop, take a deep breath, relax, and then get God involved in the situation by turning to Him and asking for help. This is exactly what Susan and I had to do yesterday when a disappointment came our way. The day had started out normally. We were packed and ready to go for a few days journey in our motor home. Our plans were set and included attending a funeral for a relative in Oregon and then meeting up with our daughter and her family to enjoy RV’ing along the beautiful Oregon coast. About two hours into the trip, however, it felt like we were having a blowout in a rear tire. When we pulled over, we could see smoke coming from the tire area, but there was no flat. Something else was very wrong! We called our roadside service and they determined the repair couldn’t be done alongside the road and that we needed to be towed back to a repair facility in our home town. Our wonderful planned trip was now ended. And yes, we were disappointed, of course, but Susan and I did not have a single anxious moment about our situation. That’s because we sincerely believe, “our disappointments are often God’s appointments.” In other words, we knew that God has the ability to sustain and bless us no matter what comes our way. We considered this to be a revised adventure that we hadn’t planned on. In fact, we got to ride in the cab with the tow truck driver for the journey back home and we found him to be very receptive to hearing the gospel. The unplanned time with him was what we followers of Christ often refer to as “having a devine encounter!” This was something we hadn’t planned on but was obviously a God inspired moment. If this ”disappointment” hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t have had this wonderful opportunity to share Christ with the driver who wanted to hear about Jesus.” What a wonderful joy it is to see how God can use these situations for His purpose!

Here’s what to do when something disappointing happens

• Give your worries and cares to God

“So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (1 Pet. 5:6-8)

• Wait for God to renew your strength

“But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” (Isa. 40:31)

• Expect God to sustain you

“Sustain me, my God, according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed. Uphold me, and I will be delivered; I will always have regard for your decrees.” (Psalm 119:116)

• Wait patiently for Him to act

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.”

• Give Him praise no matter what happens!

“I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will constantly speak of his glories and grace. I will boast of all his kindness to me. Let all who are discouraged take heart. Let us praise the Lord together and exalt his name. For I cried to him and he answered me! He freed me from all my fears. Others too were radiant at what he did for them. Theirs was no downcast look of rejection! This poor man cried to the Lord—and the Lord heard him and saved him out of his troubles. For the Angel of the Lord guards and rescues all who reverence him.” (Psalms 34:1-7)