But I still write.  Everyone in pursuit of a good a story keeps writing, for money or for themselves, because it is their passion.  It's not who they are, but because of who they are--creative--that they must continually search for a story that will satisfy their creative drive.  At least, that is how I see it.

So, I keep writing . . .

 

Posted via web from Taylor Scott

Yup, I sure did.  I kinda needed one for when I drive places by myself or with siblings who also do not have cell phones.    I got a second line added to my dad's Verizon account.  It's a bit more per month, but it comes with an extra 250 minutes, so it works out well.

Now I am done acquiring new things.  Except for possibly a new camera around the time of my birthday . . . I'll be 20 in a month an a half.  o.O

So, what else have I been up to . . . *ponders*  Lots of fun getting together with my friends on various occasions.  And Christmas shopping for them was an absolute riot!  I can't wait till they all come over this Sunday for our Christmas get together.  Hehe.  (Yes, our family delights in gag gifts.)

Work is going very well.  My dad's been giving me more and more to do, though there's not a whole lot to do around Christmas.  I might even get next week off.  No complaints there! 

As for my writing, it's been rather slow lately.  I am working with someone on that screen play idea I mentioned in my last post.  We got our heads together, came up with some awesome ideas, and now I'm waiting on him to get back to me with the first episode.  *twiddles thumbs*  I'm sure it will be amazing. 

Also, I think (maybe . . . hopefully . . .) I've finally come up with a halfway writable novel idea of my own.  Short novel, I'm thinking.  I'm kinda stealing the basic--and I mean very basic--storyline behind the first book I ever wrote (Journey of Faith) and making it into a sci-fi adventure story.  I'll just start writing and see what happens.  Oh yes, and it's in the first person because I just don't think my writing comes out right any other way. 

Well, that's about it.  We're doing what we always do for Christmas, which is fun.  Lots of good food.  You don't know what good food is until you've been to an Italian family gathering.  XD

If God is a crutch and people are broken . . . do we need God?

Just a thought I had the other day.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying there isn't anything decent in secular society and that all media should be shunned.  I'm simply pointing out that "Christians" take part in much beyond the questionable.

Is there a difference between inconsistency, contradiction, and hypocrisy?

I'm not going to write a drawn out and boring essay; I'm just tired of the gross inconsistencies--dare I say hypocrisy?--among "Christians" today.  Has it always been this way?  I'm not saying a person isn't saved if they watch an R rated movie or listen to rock music, but . . . why?  Why would any Christian desire such a thing unless their minds have not been transformed by God's word and they desire fleshly things instead?  Why play Halo?  Why watch primetime?  Why listen to AC DC or Apocalyptica?  Why consume alcohol or swear or have relationships before marriage?  Why?

Have we not died with Christ to such desires and been given the power through the Holy Spirit to overcome the lusts of the flesh?  Why then do those who claim to be in Christ desire worldly pleasures?  Why?  Why do they refused to wield the power given to them and put on the new man?  Are they afraid they'll miss something the world has to offer?  Are they afraid God's will for their lives won't be enjoyable?  Or have they never even tried it to know?  Do they not even know or understand the nature of the One they claim to serve?  How long will they refuse to learn?

I wrote this for a friend, and I thought I'd post it here for a few others to read as well.    Note that this is quite long.  Four Word pages and 1,500 words.  I hope you get something out of it if you have time to read.

Because hope is something that fills the heart, that seems the logical place to start a study on hope.

Proverbs 4:23 admonishes to "watch over your heart with all diligence" because "out of it flow the issues of life."  I understand this to mean that our heart attitude determines how we react to issues that come up in life--not to mention determining the things we love and spend our time doing.

Matthew 6:21 makes it clear that "where your treasure is, there you heart will be also."  Funny how it's not the other way around.  I take that to mean that we have some control over where heart is.

Proverbs 13:12 rings very true: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life."  When you hope for something and don't get it, you feel as if the world's caved in on you.  On the other hand, if you hope for something and do get it . . . well, you feel pretty awesome.

All that to say, where is your heart?  Quite simply, it belongs to the thing or person who offers the most hope, doesn't it?  Whatever thing or person offers the heart hope of fullness.  Everyone desires a full heart.

Colossians chapter one shows how hope brings faith, love, and joy:

3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints;
5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel

11 . . . strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

Cool, huh?  Promises are based on hope, too.  If someone promises to do something for you, you have hope that they will keep their word and you will receive the result of their promise.  Jesus promises eternal life, and because of that promise you hope in heaven.

Just for fun, here are some more really neat verses that talk about hope (the key phrases are underlined and italicized):

1 Peter 1:3-5

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to {obtain} an inheritance {which is} imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Ephesians 2:12

{remember} that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Ephesians 1:18

{I pray that} the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints . . .

Ephesians 4:4

{There is} one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;

1 Timothy 4:10

For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

Colossians 1:21-23

21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, {engaged} in evil deeds,
22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--
23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

(Wow, those three verses are really amazing!)

Back to the heart again.  Did you start to feel filled up inside as you read those verses?  It's a neat parallel that we are sealed in Christ by the Holy Spirit of promise.  Ephesians 1:13 and 14 says this:

13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,

Why?

14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of {God's own} possession, to the praise of His glory.

There's a lot of hope in that, isn't there?  See how hope fills?  Here are some more amazing passages that fill the heart with hope.

Colossians 1:26 and 27

26 {that is,} the mystery which has been hidden from the {past} ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,
27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 2:2 and 3

2 . . . that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and {attaining} to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, {resulting} in a true knowledge of God's mystery, {that is,} Christ {Himself,}
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

1 John 3:2 and 3

2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
3 And everyone who has this hope {fixed} on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

John 6:37-40 (Jesus speaking.)

37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.
38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
39 "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.
40 "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."

1 Corinthians 15:51-58 (Long, but filled to the brim with amazing hope.)

51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.
55 "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?"
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not {in} vain in the Lord.

All that is what God's salvation through Christ has to offer.  But the world?  Colossians 2:8 says the world's ideas are empty and cannot fill our hearts with hope.  "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ."

What should we do with this hope?  Hold fast to it, of course!  Hebrews 10:23 says "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."

Finally, here are a few main points.

1) The heart is made to hope.
2) Christ's promises and salvation fill you with hope.
3) When faith, love, or joy are lacking, apply hope!
 
Here's the bottom line:
 
When you understand the promises of God’s ways, you have hope for the future.  This hope seals you and fills you, giving you faith that protects you.

Pretty amazing when you think about it, huh?

*Written with help (and a lot of it XD) from an outline by Norm Wakefield available on www.SpiritOfElijah.com.