Hope Again!

Starting in mid-February I kept hearing these two words “Hope Again” when I sat down to read God’s word, during prayer, meditation, and worship. They were needed words as many things going on in my life, let alone the nation, and world, have been anything but hope inspiring. Whenever I felt that  nudge from Holy Spirit to renew my hope, my response wasn’t stellar. It was more a question: Why can’t I hope in You like I used to, Lord? The cares of life had certainly bogged me down.

Praise God a friend told me about what was happening with the young people at Asbury College. Oh My! It was like a lightning bolt out of heaven of pure unadulterated hope hit my heart and the oppression dampening my spirit broke. It brought tears and great joy. It was Romans 15:13 fullfilled in my soul: Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Since that day in February the elevated hope has not waned. Circumstances of my life haven’t changed, and in fact I am now dealing with more pain from the RA than ever, but it doesn’t matter. Refreshing, renewing, reformation of the way we experience “church” and worship our God is underway in our nation! To me that means souls will be saved, and that is what I have been longing for and waiting for. 

Then I had the vision… it’s permeating my mind even as I type. It’s of green fields, rolling hills, flowers electric with color, trees of all varieties swaying in a refreshing breeze. Birds are soaring overhead. Puffy white clouds against a clear blue sky. And then I saw Jesus, yes, then I saw Jesus smiling and hundreds of young ones running into His arms. How His arms could hold them all I don’t know, but they did. And He, Jesus, said to me, “Here is your reason to hope again!” The children and young people of our nation have been lied to, deceived, misled, violated and our God is in the process of changing all that! His loving kindness is drawing them!

It’s Jesus’ working in the hearts of the young ones that is the central reason I keep writing, praying, and believing. For I know the kind of revival I have been asking God for all these many years is happening right now. My hope was anemic but never gone, now it is Jesus strong ! Nothing, no one, can stop what Holy Spirit is doing and will do to save this generation. It is indeed seedtime, it is Spring in the heavenlies, salvation, deliverance, healing are all blooming! No matter what the headlines say, or politicians do, new life has come to the USA.

If you have been battling hopelessness, feel oppressed, or discouraged like I had been before this experience, ask Holy Spirit to guide you to the reports about the college revivals and youth group revivals going on right now. The passion for God is spreading! We have to shake off the doldrums with His help and when we do, we become part of this completely new, not like it used to be or was in the past, revival too! We become new wine skins ready to hold the new wine He is pouring out.

Romans 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

With Joy in our amazing God!

Cheryl

Copyright 2023 Cheryl S Birch. May be shared in whole with author and copyright included. Photos require a Shutterstock license.

Inspirations, Rest, and other good news

Inspirations! Did you know that I post a daily inspiration on my author page on Facebook? Head on over to my page at https://www.facebook.com/RevCherylBirch/ to check out the postings. Here’s a couple of the recent ones to bless you. I you want to receive notice of when the posts appear, simply click like and follow while you are on the page. It would be great to connect with you!

From February 1st: Rejoicing over the goodness, mercies and loving kindnesses of God. He has such tenderness toward us! He has only the very very best in His heart for us. There is no condemnation in Him, no NONE for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is only compassion, a longing to have us with Him. Toward all of His kids, He is patient beyond our concepts of patience. He is just and makes perfect decisions for our good. When correction is needed to protect us and train us to rule and reign with Him, He does so with great care and love. Though we may hurt for the moment as we walk through great change or trial, the results are always above and beyond what we could ask. He works it out to benefit us and others. He is indeed a wonderful FATHER.#rememberwhatgodhasdone #AwesomeGod #goodnews #trust #encouragement #thanksgiving #godsgrace

From January 30th:The power of the grace and blessings of God to propel you into your destiny & calling in Him is so much greater than the curses and strategies the enemy is using, or trying to use, to stop you! Submit yourself to God, resist the devil, and he will flee! #PraiseTheLord #godsgrace #blessings #nevergiveup

From January 28th: There is such a strong supernatural call to all of us who love Jesus (and to the whole of humankind) to step out of the “doom and gloom” paradigm of the world into His “inexpressible joy”… Gloominess is NOT what God has for us! The Bible holds the truth of our future: A glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ to make this world into something perfect and beautiful once again, a reflection of its Creator. We have an amazing promise for our future of eternal life! So, our goal is to “get happy” in the Lord about that truth and learn how to start spreading the JOY! #itsallaboutsouls #rejoicealways #passionforgod #refreshing #revival #goodnews

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Enter His Rest

The first weeks of this new year have passed so quickly! A blink and January was gone. For me the entire month was a challenge that was about trust and learning what resting in the Lord really means. Both trust and rest are summed up nicely in the phrase “Trust the process, enjoy the journey.”

Having a bout with eye inflammation, followed by ear ache, and then laying about coughing and feeling awful for over two weeks with a nasty flu taught me an invaluable lesson. It was so frustrating in the beginning that I was not thinking at all about any good that may come from the experience. I am working on my second book and during that time, from Christmas through most of January, I could barely think. In fact, I couldn’t do much of anything. One small task like washing a few dishes and I was done in. My mind was in a fog. Creativity evaded me. After eight days of it, I looked up toward heaven and told the Lord, “I need healing! I can’t accomplish anything and feel absolutely useless.” Despite my demanding tone, Holy Spirit immediately answered with this impression: Trust me. What you need is Rest. My response to that wasn’t the best. “That’s what I’ve been doing for days, Lord. Haven’t I rested enough?” Silence.

It took me a couple of more days of seeking answers in prayer and reading the bible, between coughing fits and nose blowing, to finally come to the conclusion I could not be resting or I most certainly would be well. Hebrews 3:18 says: And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? Disobedience. That was the key. I said I was resting. and in fact my body and whole being was demanding the rest, but I wasn’t really resting. I wanted to accomplish something, anything, because I didn’t feel whole unless I was being productive in the natural realms. The rest the Lord wants for us is to be content in our journey with Him. To enjoy Him as our only accomplishment is what He desires. We don’t always need to be working and doing. True rest is putting everything aside and leaning fully on God. That may mean we do a task for Him and for His glory, but usually it means we are still, quiet, relaxed, and at peace knowing it’s okay that we are doing nothing. Our sense of wholeness, or identity, is not what we do but who we belong to! By the world’s standards that is foolish. By God’s standards that is wisdom. Out of choosing to enter His rest comes great reward and immeasurable blessings. Treasure of His presence and blessings of His love are really all we need.

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Good News!

Partner with me in writing book 2 of the Thatcher trilogy and you could win a signed copy of “Thatcher…and so it Begins” for yourself or a friend!

Put on your creative thinking caps! You can help me write the second book in the trilogy. The novels the Lord inspires me to write are technically allegories. In an allegory names of characters are important. They convey messages and set moods. To participate in this contest you become a partner with me! Send me a clever allegoric suggestion for the name of a Guardian (an angelic holy warrior) or the name of a Familiar (an evil dastardly being). All the names will be reviewed and two winning entries will be chosen to both receive a free copy of the book one and their character name will be used in my new book “The Thatcher Five…Out of Darkness.” To enter go to www.revcherylbirch.org/contact and sign up for my monthly e-letter. In the message box write your suggested name for either an angel or demonic creature and tap submit. Hurry! Deadline for the contest is February 8th.

May joy and peace pour out to you and yours!

Until next time, Cheryl