I had the opportunity to attend the Poets In Autumn Tour here in the D.C. area last week. A great night of poetry with Jackie Hill-Perry, Preston Perry, Ezekiel and Chris Webb. Many of the pieces and lines from those pieces really spoke to me. Chris Webb did a poem called “Thought Life” that really hit home about how we must get a hold of the thoughts in our mind. We control our thoughts. Our thoughts don’t control us. At least they shouldn’t.
The main point of the poem was about how our thoughts, when not put in check, can get us off course with God and we have to refocus our attention back to Him. We get easily distracted by the things around us and forget where our focus should be. I’ve talked the last couple of weeks about unity and how God has given us the ministry of reconciliation. The center of it all is Christ. He is the one who can truly brings us together as one.
We can come together for a multitude of things, but what is it that is not only bringing us together, but keeping us together? We are in some terrible times. We just had the shooting in Las Vegas and then we had multiple places destroyed by hurricanes. We will come together to support the victims of these horrific events, but at some point these stories will die down and we’ll go back to business as usual. By the way, Flint, Michigan still doesn’t have clean water. I point that out to say that we have a lot of issues and people need hope.
When I say hope, I don’t just mean wishing or just being optimistic and maybe there’s a chance something good happens. I’m talking about a sure thing. Not chance or woulda shoulda couldas. I mean biblical hope. My former pastor used to define hope as a happy anticipation of good and that which we fully expect to receive. That is taken from verses like Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” This is not you hoping for a new car, a house or money. This is the hope we have in Christ. He’s a sure thing.
When we put our faith in Christ we are assured that we have a home in Glory with Him. That when we lay this mortal body down, we will put on immortality. We will live forever with Him. Our faith is substance. Not a tangible thing that you can purchase. It is the substance we have from God through Christ. The things hoped for is not a home in this life, but a home in the life to come.
This is what we can give to others that can truly bring us together and keep us together. Christ in us is the hope of glory. When we rest in Him, we can endure the trials of this life. Earthquakes, hurricanes, mass murders or the loss of loved ones. Paul put it like this,
“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.” ) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:35-39 NLT
http://bible.com/116/rom.8.35-39.nlt
This is our hope. Nothing can separate us from an Almighty God in Heaven who loves us and sent His son Jesus to come see about us. He’s there for us when we are in times of trouble. All we have to do seek after Him and He is there to reward us with His glorious presence.
That leads us to our Throwback Song of the Week. It’s from a compilation album that I personally consider to be a CHH classic. The album is a 2003 release called “Urban Compositions.” This was a gathering of some of CHH’s up and coming artists and few veterans. Namely the Cross Movement. This would be the first project from the newly formed Rock Soul Entertainment.
The featured track from the project is by J. Johnson, formerly known as J-Silas, entitled “1-2-3.” It’s just that simple when it comes to knowing Christ. This is a great anthem to ride to declaring our faith in Christ. Check out the track below and hear DJ Jeremaya spin this one on this week’s broadcast of Trackstarz. Check out the song and let us know what you think. Until next time…
Peace and blessings.
