Tuesday Offering from Fr Marcus 16th March 2021
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope”
Romans 15.13
My Dear Friends,
I hope that you are having a good day, and that you are finding something of the love of God dwelling in your soul.
As we continue on walk our path towards Inner Peace I want to walk along side those who are still finding it far off.
With the best will in the world, my letters are not going to fix your feelings if you are not yet ready to receive the Peace of God which passes all understanding. And not everyone is ready for that yet. Some issues are very raw, and some hurts are very deep, and some pain is unbearable. I do understand, and please believe me when I say I am not in the business of judging where you are, but I, and the church, are in the ministry of healing and wholeness. I want you to be whole.
Let me set the scene for today’s thoughts.
I would like us to try and make some definite progress on our path towards Inner Peace, and perhaps things are a lot better than they were. If that is the case then Praise the Lord.
But if we are still finding it difficult, this may be a good time to revisit the things that are in your mind that are causing you not to be at peace. There may be just one issue, or there may be loads. Either way, the process is the same.
Ones we have named our ‘demons’ then we can start to reduce their power over us, and replace it with something that we really want in our life.
I love the quote above I have chosen for today “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
It begins with a reference to the God of hope! It is God who always takes the initiative. It is he who approaches us. It is he who offers us Peace. It is he who freely gives us what we need to be in a state of grace.
So, here is the real question. How much do you hope for an Inner Peace. Because if you are still subconsciously holding on to that which is preventing it, then you will never find it.
I believe it is our faith in God which allows us to see that God can give us that sense of hope which in fact is a celebration of a future reality. Our Christian hope is the knowledge that it will come to pass. A statement of future fact.
I know this may not be easy for those going through tough times, but the circle is clear. If we allow The God of hope to offer his gift of hope, and we open our hearts and souls to receive it, then we can look forward with Joy in our hearts to the peace which comes through faith. It is that faith which begins, continues and grows the process.
This teaches us something special. When we struggle with trying to do these things on our own, ie seek peace, forgive, love unconditionally, let go of revenge or when we desire justification, when can get downhearted. But when we allow our faith to discern that God is at work in us, then all things are possible.
Our quote is not only about the God of hope, it is also about the joy of believing and the Power of the Holy Spirit, and it is that power that we can lean on. The Holy Spirit will lead us to an Inner Peace if we let it.
On our own we can do nothing, but all things are possible with God.
So my Dear Friends, what do you hope for?
Would you like to receive that Bliss, That Joy, That Peace, because it can be yours and as we receive the power of the Spirit we pray that we too may abound in hope.
I want to finish with two more quotes which I find helpful.
The first from the book of Jude 1.2
“May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.”
The second from Ephesians 2.14
“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.”
Once again they are worth reading out loud, and asking yourself ‘What shall I do with these Holy Scriptures that have been gifted to me from God.
We will continue this series on Thursday as we look towards reconciliation
Bless you, Bless you, Bless you,
As ever,
Fr Marcus