Partners in Hope

God created us to live for Him and has a specific plan for each of us. When our conscience is shaped by a wounded spirit, we will find we are constantly looking for affirmation and mechanically acting out of people pleasing motives, rather than behaving out of love that pleases God.

Only God has the power to help us sort out the issues underneath our anger.

Whatever the goal, the way to success is to plan how we will work to achieve it.

What a contrast - living in the disaster of covering up and living with hidden sin and shame as compared to the freedom and joy of clearing the slate with God. How do we get on the right side?

I love spending time by the water. Fortunately I can see the river from my apartment and it’s easy to get to the side of the river either to sit and relax or to walk on the boardwalk downtown. There is another river I live with that gives me even more joy. You can live there too.

When faced with difficult memories or emotions, how many of us have chosen to repress our thoughts and try to deny the impact of these experiences on us. We make excuses for behaviour – our own and others – and try to convince ourselves things were not as bad as others made out. We even try to make excuses with God about what’s gone on and try to convince Him to go along with our view of things even though He’s God and knows absolutely every little detail, even better than we remember it, of what actually happened and the impact events had on us and others. Is there a better way?