Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Jesus – Anointed for his burial!

“She [poured this perfume] in preparation for my burial.”’ – John 12v7

In our lead up to Easter, let’s reflect on Jesus’ movement towards the cross. The first is his anointing by Mary at Bethany in John 12.

Jesus was at dinner with Mary, Martha and the newly-raised-from-the-dead Lazarus, when Mary takes some perfume worth a year’s wages and pours it on Jesus’ feet. Judas criticises the terrible waste, but Jesus responds, “She did this in preparation for my burial.” (NLT)

We see here that Jesus had a very clear set of objectives in his mind and it centred around his own death and burial. His purpose was to take my sin on his shoulders and die, condemned, in my place. He was not going to be distracted. Hallelujah, what a Saviour!

Here is a thought … For Mary, Jesus was worth a year’s wages. What is Jesus worth to me?

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Loved and Always Together!

“Because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”’ – Hebrews 13v5

Earlier today, I was reading about God’s unfailing love for his people in Deuteronomy. God recognised that the people of Israel were very fickle. They were so ready to complain, so ready to fall into temptation and there was nothing particularly amazing about them. But God loved them – Why? – simply because he had decided to love them. God says, “I set my heart on you.” When the people did wrong, God looked to bring them back into his love and blessing.

This is so pertinent for you and I today. Maybe you are complaining about the way things are, maybe you have fallen into temptation. But God has said “never will I forsake you.” God has chosen you and he has set his heart on you. You may fail, but He will not. There is only one thing to do today – it is to put our trust in Him. You may feel down, but he will never let you down. As far as he is concerned, you and He are a team!

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Loved and You have a place!

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms;” – John 14v1

So we have now entered the period called “Lent” as we lead up to Easter. Many use Lent as a time to lay aside the things of this world in order reflect more on God’s love for us shown in Jesus. We are continuing our series about the Love of God towards us and today is this familiar verse in John 14.

Do you like to get to somewhere early so that you can make sure you have a good seat? Jesus tells us not to worry with regards to space in the Father’s house. You are guaranteed a place if you belong to Jesus: that is if you have been born again. The verse above continues, “I am going to prepare a place for you.” That is Jesus, who loved you and even died for you, is the one sorting this out for you.

And so, whatever you encounter in this life, do not let your heart be troubled. Is that possible? Jesus says the alternative to a troubled heart is trust in God. So we might ask, how can I gain a deeper trust in God? The secret lies in filling our hearts and minds with his love and faithfulness. Fill them with his faithfulness by reflecting on what impossible things God has done  when people stepped out in faith – listen to people’s testimonies, both in the Bible and outside it. Then fill them with his love by meditating on how much God loves you – yes, if Jesus died for you, he is not now going to let you go!

May God increase your faith and trust in Him!

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Loved and Filled with Love!

“God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” – Romans 5v5

Do you want to be filled with Love? Then the Bible is clear, we are filled with love by the Holy Spirit. And the love he fills us with is the perfect kind of love – it is God’s love.

This love poured out in us, transforms us from within. It transforms our character into the likeness of Christ who was also filled with God’s love.

So let’s ask God today to pour out his love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. My prayer for you today is exactly the same. May God pour out His love in your heart today!

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Loved and Filled with Love!

“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” – Romans 5v5

What does the Holy Spirit do? One thing He does is to pour out love in our hearts. This gives a deep sense of God’s love for you. A deep knowledge that he accepts you. A sense that he has his arms around you and is working in your best interests.

This love poured out in our hearts is also a capacity to love others. Do you find some people difficult to love? By the power of the Holy Spirit within you, he enables you to love them just as Jesus does.

Do you know God’s love in you? Do you see that taking effect in your love for others? If so, then this verse states that you can have absolutely certain hope because the God who is working in you now will continue to work in you right through into eternity.

May God pour out his love in your heart today.

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Loved and Given a Fresh Start!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God.”  – 2 Corinthians 5v17 

Maybe, like me, you have taken a wrong turn when driving. And maybe you have found the road is a cul-de-sac: there is nothing else you can do except turn around and go back to that junction again.

Sometimes we find ourselves in similar situations in life. Only a return to the start will do.

Jesus offers us a completely new start in life. The old is all forgiven and gone. He has put a new Spirit in us. He has set us on a new road – the road to being with God for ever. We are now a road of hope and peace in Christ. He has even changed our hearts so that we desire to follow Jesus rather than our old ways.

This is something both to celebrate and to live out day by day. It is like a homeless person being given somewhere to stay. They no longer live in their old ways on the street, but in the warm, in a home.

May God fill you with joy because of what he has done in you. May He enable you, by his Holy Spirit to live out your new life in Christ.

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Loved and Paid for!

Romans 5v8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

We tend to think of substitution in a team game such as football. In that context, a player may often not want to be substituted. But in a Nazi concentration camp, the guards were about to shoot ten men. A catholic priest, Maximilian Kolbe stepped forward out of concern for a man who had a wife and children. He said to the guards, “I wish to die for that man.” His offer was accepted and he became a substitute for Francisek. Francisek and his family were forever grateful.

In God’s justice, our inclination to sin means we deserve eternal punishment and separation from God. But God wanted to rescue us, so he chose to exercise justice on our sin by sending Jesus. He took our sin on himself and so was given the punishment due on us.

This is an amazing exchange. The price for our sin is paid. We are set free from guilt. All this is because God so loves us!

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Christmas – Immanuel!

Matthew 1v23 “and they will call him Immanuel – which means ‘God with us’”

Let’s celebrate this wonderful gift of God who has come among us!

Let’s take the time to absorb all that God has done for us in Christ Jesus!

With love, blessing and best wishes for a Christmas full of hope,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week                                                                        

Christmas – God’s Promise fulfilled!

Micah 5v2-4 “But you Bethlehem … out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times … she who is in labour bears a son … He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD … his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.”

I find it faith-building to read prophecies we know were written so long before Christ and which were so clearly fulfilled – despite the in probabilities! Let’s just consider the elements of this prophecy from Micah around 700BC and their fulfilment around 6BC:

-Out of Bethlehem will come a ruler – God arranged for Caesar to call a census around 6BC so that Mary would journey to Bethlehem and have her baby while there.

–              This child’s birth would not be their beginning – God sent his Son, who had existed forever, in the form of a baby to live here on earth.

–              His rule would reach to the whole earth and he would take good care of his people – God arranged for the birth to be in the Roman period so that the news could reach far and wide quickly.

Reading Micah without knowing about Jesus is confusing, but reading it with the knowledge of Jesus makes complete sense. We may find God’s promises for the future confusing sometimes, but we can rest assured that God is working for our good. When God has accomplished his purpose, we will see exactly how he fitted it all together and every word is fulfilled.

May God enable you to hold onto His promises this Advent season.

With love and blessing,

Roland

Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Samuel – Anointing God’s Choice!

1Samuel 16v7 “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

God had rejected Saul as king, even though Saul would continue to reign for a few more years. But God was already working on his grand plan, and so he sent Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint the next king. Samuel met each of Jesse’s sons, but even though they seemed impressive, God had not chosen any of them. This is when we hear the famous words: “God looks at the heart.”

The youngest son, David, wasn’t even invited to the parade. Aged 15, he was despised by his brothers and was out caring for the sheep. But God told Samuel to anoint David,  and when Samuel did this, “the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power from that day on.”

This moment in history is very important. David—this humble, overlooked shepherd—was the ancestor of Jesus. From this point forward, the Scriptures repeatedly point ahead to the coming Messiah (or “Christ”), both words meaning “Anointed One.” As we approach Advent, we could look back to God’s promises to Adam or Abraham, but here we begin around 1020BC with David: chosen and anointed by God.

It would take another 15 years before David would actually become king. During those years, he lived completely by faith—trusting God for protection, provision, and the fulfilment of His promise. He spent years running for his life, yet he kept choosing to live God’s way. Jesus also lived as God’s anointed, walking fully in God’s way long before he was revealed as King.

Right now, you and I have also been anointed by God. He has chosen us as His children and appointed us as His ambassadors. He has given us His Holy Spirit and His power. When David was anointed, the Spirit came on him in power—not just for a moment, but continually. After Jesus was baptized and the Spirit descended on him, Scripture says, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.”

If you have received the Holy Spirit, then it is time to live in His power. Paul reminded Timothy of this when he wrote: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.”

May God strengthen you to live each day in the power of His Spirit—whatever you may be facing.

With love and blessing,

Roland