August 28, 2008 by admin.

I have been reading in the book of Psalms lately and then I very clearly felt the Lord put the book of Philippians on my heart. I had no problem with that because my favorite verse is in that book and Paul delivers a very rich message to the Philippian church. One of the most exciting things about studying God’s Word, is when you know He wants you to stay in a certain section for some time. Sunday, I read chapter three. I could not finish the chapter before I knew that God wanted me to stay in that chapter and learn. I cannot count all the times I have heard about the wonderful verse fourteen from other Christians. Yet, I could not even reach verse fourteen without filled awe and joy at the previous verses. I read this passage and was just amazed: 

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:8-11 NASB

No matter how many times you may read the Bible, those same passages will become alive and fresh when God’s Spirit teaches us. It makes them seem almost as if they were recent additions. I realized that I have become slack in my memorization of Scripture. It was time for me to memorize this passage and ponder it over and over. Memorization enables us to be ready to give a defense at any time for what we believe and why we believe it (1 Peter 3:15).

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July 24, 2008 by Administrator.

“For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid, that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” ~ 2 Corinthians 11:2-3 

The last phrase of this passage has been ringing in my mind since Sunday. Perhaps it is better to say that the Lord has burdened it on my heart. Every day I have been pondering this verse. Paul is speaking of false teachers who are out to deceive the church. Yet, the last portion of verse two seems to echo something simple, but so profound. I wanted to know how to be devoted to Christ in this simplicity and purity. My thoughts were pointed to Romans 16:19, which says: 

“For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.”

Maybe this was God’s way to simply, but purely, follow Him. Maybe I wasn’t having that childlike faith and trust in my Father. Maybe I wasn’t being content to let Him lead the way. How can I be simple to evil, yet wise to good? I also believe the Lord guided my mind to this final verse:

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” ~ Romans 12:2

I believe that God (through these verses) was saying that it was more than time to be renewing my mind deeply in His Word, will, and grace. Its time to be simple towards evil, and wise to what is good. It’s time to simply, purely, and devotedly follow Christ Jesus. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 

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May 12, 2008 by Administrator.

“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” NASB

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February 6, 2008 by Administrator.

“When I Survey The Wondrous Cross”

Isaac Watts

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all. 

This would have to be my favorite hymn. I wanted to share this with you since it was on my mind a lot today. The verses express deep gratitude, humility, and submission.

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January 28, 2008 by Administrator.

I know there have been times in my life when I have not wanted to ask God’s opinion about something. Most of the time I didn’t ask because I knew how He felt, but I didn’t want to change. All the while, I knew what He would say. Foolishly, I thought that if I didn’t think/pray/ask about it, God wouldn’t notice or voice His disapproval. The things we try to guard from God could be our movies, books, music, friends, hobbies, or aspirations. Though many of these things might not fall into a sinful category, they could fall into a category of defiance. If you fear that God will tell you to change, then change needs to happen. It is essential to our growth that we cut off what we know is not honoring to Jesus. Don’t live as though God doesn’t notice your actions. Don’t live as though God doesn’t care about what you do. God wants to be intimately close with us. How can we be close to Christ if we harbor what He disapproves of? If we know He might disapprove, it’s time we swallow our lump of pride and submit to our Lord and Savior. Ask. Submit. Obey. Honor the Lord of hosts.

Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin. ~ James 4:17 NASB

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December 24, 2007 by Administrator.

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.” ~ Psalm 103 NASB 

A few nights ago I read Psalm 103, but really stopped to ponder the first verse. I think often times we overlook verses like these because they are so familiar. Maybe it’s because we have sung them so many times or recited them. Truly, what does it mean to bless the Lord with all your soul? How can we do this? How can we bless the most holy name of our Lord with our very being?  

No doubt the “bless” in this verse is referring to praising or honoring the name of the Lord. How can we bring Him honor with our soul? Perhaps it is the surrendering of our will to the Lord. Maybe our heart’s desire should be to bring Him all the honor and glory leaving none for ourselves. In what ways can we bring His holy name the most glory?

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December 6, 2007 by Administrator.

Thanks be to God, today is the one year anniversary for The Isle of Hope! Before The Isle of Hope was up and running, I had a blog that was centered around politics. Yet, I felt like the Lord wanted me to plunge into a new site that was about the spiritual walk of Christians. So that is what I did last December 6^th. Now I am bringing to the forefront the very first post that was put on the The Isle of Hope:

“There are many times in your life when all you see is the bad that is happening. Yet, all the time we don’t see what is going on behind the stage curtain of the world’s tempestuous waves. The Lord works primarily out of our simple eyesight doing great and mighty things. The world is not home. I long to be anywhere the Lord resides. Sometimes all I see is sin, wickedness, and total evil. I see the government abusing the rights of Christians; I see the schools shut down any discussion of God; I see the lost fake Christianity as if they knew what it meant; I see the believers conform; I see the fundamentals of the Bible tossed aside; I see my own faith daily challenged. But in all these things, I find my comfort in the Lord. I turn to my strong tower. I flee to the only isle of hope in my despair: the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. ~ 2 Corinthians 9:15

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November 3, 2007 by Administrator.

A week ago I was very distressed. I tossed and turned in my hotel bed, but my mind continued to be troubled. I recited Scripture and prayed, but there was no peace. Quietly as I could, I leaned over and opened the night-stand cabinet next to me. I stuck my hand into the dark hole. I felt around and then my hand landed on a hardback Bible placed in there by the Gideons. I smiled in the darkness and said, “Thank you God for the Gideons.” I slipped away silently and opened His Word. The pages landed in the book of Psalms. I continued to read until my very breath was taken away by what I read. Psalm 143:8 left me speechless:

Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in Thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto Thee.

It was refreshing to think upon the Lord’s lovingkindness rather than my concerns. It was wonderful be reminded that my life and my soul were in His hands. I needed His direction and I needed His mercy. After a peaceful night of rest, I reflected upon the graciousness and sovereignty of our God. He directed someone (perhaps years ago) to place that Bible in that very cabinet. He guided my hand in a time of worry to find that Bible. He guided those pages to open to the very chapters He wanted me to read. How marvelous is our God! His Spirit spoke powerfully to me through one verse. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

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October 25, 2007 by Administrator.

As Christians we should strive to live godly lives. Nearly all Christians would readily declare their willingness to die for Christ. I find this hard to believe since so many Christians struggle with living one day that honors the Lord. My focus turned to that yesterday: “How can I live just one day, TODAY, in a way that honors the Lord?” I tried to narrow my thoughts to the current moment rather than generalities such as “life”. Our lives as a whole should honor Christ, but are we honoring Him right here and now? If we cannot devote this day to Him, how are we going to give Jesus our lives unto death? Critique your lifestyle right now. Live the Christian life day by day. Take it slow and “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” ~ Philippians 2:12

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September 27, 2007 by Administrator.

“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” ~ 1 Timothy 1:17 NASB

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September 24, 2007 by Administrator.

Do we really appreciate how Christ came to earth for us? Is it appreciation when we read the first chapters of Luke or Matthew only around Christmas time, but don’t think about it anytime other time? We sing hymns to the Lord rejoicing His miraculous birth in December, but January through mid-November we put it aside. Why? Is His birth more special in the late autumn, early winter season? Is it just because of the Christmas holiday? Churches and believers won’t sing songs of His birth after this month and definitely won’t sing of it before. Throughout the year we sing of crucifixion and resurrection. Why can’t we sing of all these three events all year long? It was truly an enjoyable time when my family and I sang “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” in the month of August. Without Christ’s birth, we would never have had a Savior. Without his death, Christians would not be redeemed from their sins. Without His resurrection, our faith would be nothing. Let us sing and appreciate all of these events. Forget the seasonal tradition, sing hosanna!

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July 29, 2007 by Administrator.

I stood in a beautiful chapel last week with three hundred other professing Christians. There was a dome ceiling and the floors were made of marble. The chapel was shaped like a cross. These factors made the acoustics of the sanctuary unbelievable. The service began and we were led to sing, “Great Are You Lord”. This song’s musical arrangement has never been very impressive to me, but the lyrics are excellent. We sang and our voices carried throughout the chapel. Upon singing the chorus for a third time, the pianist stopped and we sang a cappella. When we sang, “Great are you Lord, Great are you Lord”, nothing could be heard but our voices. Our praise filled every crevice of the sanctuary and then expanded in decibels. I trembled as we sang. For a brief moment, I could imagine what it would sound like singing before God’s throne as He sits robed in majesty and honor. Multiplying this sound thousand upon thousands of times in my imagination was breathtaking. I imagined seeing hundreds of millions, perfectly sanctified children of God, and millions of angels, all singing in unison to our Lord. In that split second, I had just a faint idea of our praise to God in heaven. Then I longed, pined, yearned to be there… singing, “Great are you Lord”! 

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