1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Welcome to the Crosswalk devotional. We are so 2 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: glad to have you listening with us here today. Today's 3 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: topic covers gratitude. Oh we will return after a brief 4 00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:39,839 Speaker 1: message from our sponsor, Looking Back with gratitude, Looking Ahead 5 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:45,239 Speaker 1: with Hope Brittain by Peyton Garland Bread or Rochelle ALBERTI 6 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:51,159 Speaker 1: Bible reading, for I know the plans I have for you, Claire's. 7 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 1: The Lord plans to prosper you and to not harm you, 8 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 1: plans to give you hope and the future Jeremiah twenty 9 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: nine eleven. And I be Christianity is always easier when 10 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 1: it's comfortable, right, when there's no church drama, your marriage 11 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,679 Speaker 1: isn't bumpy, or the children aren't in a rebellious season, 12 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:14,679 Speaker 1: when everyone's health is clear, the savings account is full, 13 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: and the boss is flexible. But when are all of 14 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: these life avenos simultaneously smooth? When is life ever not life? 15 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: The chaos, the calamity, the confusion. When we read scripture, 16 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: did any of God's people have it easy? Moses didn't, 17 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 1: Esther didn't, David didn't, and Jesus certainly didn't. I believe 18 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: that our pursuit of a comfortable life is the reason 19 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 1: we gravitate for certain Bible verses and willingly cut out 20 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 1: the remaining context. We don't mind discussing when Moses parted 21 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: the waters, when Esther was crowned green, when David defeated Goliath, 22 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: and when Jesus was resurrected. But we're too easily neglect 23 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: when Moses died in the wilderness, when Esther risked her 24 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:11,480 Speaker 1: life for her people, when David sin caught up with him, 25 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: and when Jesus was nailed to a cross to carry 26 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 1: the sins of an ungrateful world. Jeremiah twenty nine to 27 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,919 Speaker 1: eleven a is another perfect example of our desperate pursuit 28 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: to polish the Christian experience. Glancing at this isolated verse, 29 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: you could argue for an easy going, prosperity gospel. But 30 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: Jeremiah twenty nine fourteen reveals that God's people receive the 31 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 1: promise in captivity. They aren't comfortable, but desperate. Their hope 32 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: is wearied, waning. So what did they make of a 33 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: promise that seems impossible? They choose hope. They choose faith. 34 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:00,400 Speaker 1: Hope and faith aren't easy. They certainly aren't comfortable because 35 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: they require us to practice what we don't want to, 36 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 1: and to believe in what we don't feel. Hope and 37 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: faith are rarely instinctual. That's what makes them spiritual disciplines. 38 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: So if your heart is heavy and tumultuous, if your 39 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:18,359 Speaker 1: life has been plagued with the worst twists and turns, 40 00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 1: you are in the perfect position to welcome hope and 41 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: faith into your new year. God promises us a beautiful 42 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: future on the other side of hard times, but we 43 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: will never appreciate, let alone recognize, his blessings if we 44 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: don't choose to pursue God's hope and faith in our 45 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: challenging circumstances. To cultivate hope and faith is to invite 46 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: God to change your perspective. It's a chance to become 47 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: more like Christ in both his suffering and his glory 48 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: Romans eight seventeen. In my book Tired, Hungry and Kind 49 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: of Faithful, I dig into this idea a bit deeper. 50 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: Allow God to root his purpose in your soul, in 51 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,120 Speaker 1: the land where you once believed growth impossible. Perhaps it 52 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: is time to pledge a legiance to a God we 53 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: are still wary of, and in that process, no matter 54 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:18,480 Speaker 1: how wild and scary and challenging, we learn to love 55 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,840 Speaker 1: him in a gentler, surer way. This way grasps the 56 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:25,279 Speaker 1: good kind of love that He designed in the first place. 57 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,159 Speaker 1: Even if love never promises to stop the hard times, 58 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: but invites us to thrive amid them, and from such 59 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: a purifying journey, perhaps we will genuinely love others, and 60 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: deep down we will come to call our desert a 61 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:46,239 Speaker 1: well of hope. It's natural to create barriers to block 62 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 1: God out when it seems that Christian life offers little 63 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:53,599 Speaker 1: reprieve for our minds, bodies, and souls. However, can we 64 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: ever have true hope, faith, and even joy if we 65 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:01,280 Speaker 1: shun the very source of these things? How will we 66 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: appreciate the opportunities that wait for us in the future 67 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 1: if we don't adopt a heart of gratitude for God's providence, 68 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:14,799 Speaker 1: brace mercy and sovereignty in the present, no matter our circumstances. 69 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 1: Embrace a heart of thankfulness for the God who grants 70 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,359 Speaker 1: us hope and faith, and surrender your longing for the shallow, 71 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: smooth sailing life that offers little sustenance for the soul. 72 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:30,160 Speaker 1: Step into this new year, confident in the character of 73 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: a God whose goodness never wavers, and whose promises are 74 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:40,159 Speaker 1: always sure. Intersecting faith in life, make a list of 75 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: the relationships or opportunities where you haven't left room for 76 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,120 Speaker 1: God to work. Have you boxed God out because of 77 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:50,599 Speaker 1: past disappointments? Are because you think you can handle things 78 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,479 Speaker 1: on your own? How does this shape or even manipulate 79 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: your definition of hope and faith. Ask God to rid 80 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: you of the false notions to have regarding hope and 81 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: faith and allow him room to work in your life 82 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: to cultivate the beautiful future He has in store. Further 83 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:15,479 Speaker 1: reading Jeremiah twenty nine, a few modern thoughts on the 84 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: land of Milk and honey. The Crosswalk Devotional is a 85 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:27,040 Speaker 1: production of Life Audio and Salem Media. If you liked 86 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:29,560 Speaker 1: what you heard today, please take a second to rate 87 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: and review this podcast in your favorite podcast app so 88 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,919 Speaker 1: that more listeners like you can find the show. For 89 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:49,839 Speaker 1: more faith filled inspirational podcasts, visit us at lifeaudio dot com.