Shirlee Abbott

Encouraging Hope

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Shirlee Abbott

Posted in other | Tagged hope, Jeremiah 29:11 | 2 Comments

“What hope do I have?”

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Shirlee Abbott

I really like how the Easy-to-Read Bible words Psalm 39 (verses 6-8):

Our life is like an image in a mirror.
We rush through life collecting things,
but we don’t know who will get them after we die.

So, Lord, what hope do I have?
You are my hope!
Save me from the bad things I did.
Don’t let me be treated like a fool.

No fooling. God is our hope!

Posted in other | Tagged Easy-to-Read Bible, hope, Psalm 39:6-8 | Comments Off

Hope at Its Source

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Shirlee Abbott

“Do not look to your hope,
but to Christ,
the source of your hope.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Posted in other | Tagged Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Christ, hope | Comments Off

True Hope

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Shirlee Abbott

What hope rests close to your heart?

I hope for comfortable summer weather
I hope that my children do well in life
I hope for God’s direction in my life
I hope for eternity in heaven

We hope for good weather, enough money, a safe trip, the cure for what ails us, well-behaved children, a better job. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

But God exists outside of time. For him, the end is as the beginning, and a thousand years as a single day. From his point of view, good weather and more money don’t mean much.

Posted in other | Tagged hope | Comments Off

Fear or Faith?

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Shirlee Abbott

Joshua 3:15-16 (NIV)
Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away.

Must have been scary, with the river at flood stage. Did the priests look at each other in fear, thinking “We’re all gonna drown.”

If the water piled up before they walked into the river, it wouldn’t be a step of faith.

What about you? Do you walk in fear or in faith?

Posted in other | Tagged fear, Jordan River, Joshua 3:15-16, step of faith | Comments Off

Grasshopper Fear

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Shirlee Abbott

Numbers 13:33 (NIV)
We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.

The spies were afraid of the people they saw in the Promised Land. That fear kept the Israelites in the desert for 40 years.

Fear can keep us in a desert of our own making, away from God’s best. Feeling like grasshoppers.

Posted in other | Tagged fear, Numbers 13:33 | Comments Off

Unbalanced Fear

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Shirlee Abbott

“We fear men so much,
because we fear God so little.”
William Gurnall (1617-1679)
A Puritan Golden Treasury

Posted in other | Tagged A Puritan Golden Treasury, fear, fear of the Lord, William Gurnall | Comments Off

Fear Not

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Shirlee Abbott

Last week, at the request of a reader, we looked at pain. This week’s topic was raised by another reader: FEAR. What do you fear?

Bullies
Pain (we’re not finished with this)
Losing my home
Being alone

Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I have a big burly friend. With him beside me, I wouldn’t be afraid in a dark alley.

Picture this: the Lord of the universe is always at your side–no one stronger, no one wiser.

Feeling safe?

Posted in other | Tagged fear, fear not, Isaiah 41:10 | 2 Comments

Valiant Warriors

Posted on May 30, 2016 by Shirlee Abbott

The Bible tells of valiant warriors.

Joshua 8:3
So Joshua rose with all the people of war to go up to Ai; and Joshua chose 30,000 men, valiant warriors, and sent them out at night.

The Hebrew word meaning valiant is chayil. It also means excellent, noble, as in the “wife of noble character.”

Proverbs 31:10
An excellent wife, who can find?

Let us remember all our valiant warriors—those who left to fight and those left behind to carry on.

Posted in other | Tagged chayil, Joshua 8:3, Memorial Day, Proverbs 31:10, Valiant Warriors | 2 Comments

Pain and Godwinks

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Shirlee Abbott

This week’s topic started with Dale’s problem: how to pray for someone with chronic pain, “when you’ve prayed for a long time and healing doesn’t come.”

My final answer? You keep praying. Pray for healing, yes, but not just healing:

Pray for a good night’s sleep
Pray for smiles and giggles and chuckles
Pray for unexpected delights: a new bird at the feeder, a bouquet of field flowers, a call from an old friend
Pray for Godwinks — aka “coincidences.” God’s way of saying, “I have my eye on you!”

Posted in other | Tagged Godwinks, pain, prayer | Comments Off