S9E03 - Finding Hope Podcasts
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
A number of years ago we were thinking through Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 13:13 "Now these three powerful things: faith, hope, and love exist among us; but the greatest of these is love." This makes sense in that God IS love and we are made in His image. It would be great if we always loved the way He does - but we do not. We are surrounded by turbulence - from the inside-out. Even evil itself. Yet love is the most robust capital available to humanity, and those who live in true love draw close to our Creator. This "greater" means the most abundant. Deep inside we are motivated to...
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S9E02 - What Is The Kingdom To You
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
The levels of turbulence around us are massive. In every corner of our American and world culture we see division and twisted wisdom. There are three great gifts from God: Faith, Hope, and Love (1 Corinthians 13). Each of these may be found by those who choose to enter through the Door of the sheep (John 10). In faith we find a different and substantive present and future. Through love we make our lives count for ourselves and others. And in hope we find the fuel to live each day for something more. Once you have found a compass for your life the ability to reset your trajectory is open to...
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S9E01 - First King - Then Kingdom - Then Church
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
There is a basic understanding Jesus tried to communicate to humanity when He came to the earth. When we get this right there is fruitfulness in our lives - when we don't varying degrees of misinformation prevail. Both John the Baptist (Jesus' cousin) and Jesus proclaimed the same thing: "Turn away and turn toward, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17; Matthew 10:7) The world had been languishing for centuries since the Garden episode. Genesis 1-11, the Law and prophets, and the Psalms are the story of the Jews - and all the nations. Not only is our condition...
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S8E13 - Jesus and Turbulence
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
I just finished Jordan Peterson's latest book "We Who Wrestle With God." I like how he reasons, and even though I am not ready to place him in the upper echelon of my spiritual teachers, he is a genuine, thoughtful soul. One premise of his book relates to the relationship between chaos and order, something many philosophers, scientists, and faith reflectors see as key for arriving at a satisfied mind. How do we align with incredible design and order while at the same time dealing with the often hurtful fruits of chaos? If you are like me this can be a quagmire of sorting through the...
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S8E12 - Jesus As Healer
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
Jesus is our Savior, Healer, and Friend. He alone can restore the access of honor we need to reconnect with Creator God. Let's follow part of this thread! “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you,...
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S8E11 - Jesus As Healer
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
Healing is a curious concept with many opinions on the what, how, and why. A survey of known history makes it quite clear that no one healed like Jesus did. Even within all of the other religions of antiquity there is no one like Him, and some religious healer's miracles were pretty lame. Jesus, however, did nothing in a corner. He was transparent and prolific. And those who witnessed what He did were not all His fans. In fact, the most zealous religionists of history do not measure up to the scribes and pharisees who were capable and willing to go to great lengths to discredit or stop Jesus....
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S8E10 - God's Home Base is our homebase
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
Everyone operates from a home base. Our upbringing. Our experiences. Our choices. Even factors made on our behalf by others. Through all of this we build our home base. Scientifically we apply what we see and learn. Philosophical we land on what we have wrestled with in our lives - positively and negatively. And to the degree we have encountered and contemplated faith we solidify our beliefs. Or not. We have pondered this through the years, and often with each turning of a new year we have reset ourselves to sift through what has unfolded and what we hope - and the things we are committed...
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S8E09 - Shelter of Connection
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
One deep question for life seekers: "what does connection with God look like?" For years authors have pondered this, scientifically, philosophically, and through the optics of faith. For Moses it was all about shelter. Check out Psalm 90. A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. "Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. You turn man back into dust and say, “Return, O children of men.” For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it passes...
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S8E08 - Shelter of The Spirit
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
As mentioned before, the trinity is in many ways a mystery to us. It is not to our Creator. In Genesis 1 "the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters." The Father created and the Spirit moved. From His mind to His hands. And where was the Son while this unfolded? Apparently creating right along with Him. "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for...
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S8E07 - Shelter of the Father
Fourthstream - Finding Hope
God is a sheltering being. He provides shelter. But even more than this - He IS shelter. In fact, He is building the ultimate shelter family through the work of His Son. Jesus is the connector to our Creator. God wants to mentor us. We know this because He mentored Jesus. The Son’s best friend while He was on the earth was His Dad. He learned from Him. He was dedicated to His will. He gave up all things God and all things human for His friendship with His Father. You can find Mentored by God under books in the Fourthstream navbar. It investigates the ins and outs of how Jesus connected with...
info_outlineDo you think about heaven very often? Do you believe it is a real place? What do you imagine when you construct your image? How do you respond to the idea of living forever?
King David had a unique clarity concerning forever. He believed he was going to experience forever life after this life. He understood his earthly life in conjunction with his heavenly life. They were connected. One followed the other. Here is one of the many realizations/declarations of the "sweet psalmist of Israel."
Psalm 16:5-11
First, David connects the dots of his life:
The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.
David is then grateful for his connectivity with his God:
I will bless the Lord who has counseled me;
Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.
I have set the Lord continually before my face;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
He then sets his future view on life beyond this life:
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will dwell securely. For You will not abandon my soul to the grave;
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever."
Forever here means never-ending. Pleasures gives the word pictures of overlapping delight. Our pleasures mesh completely with the pleasure of God. Wow.
We have just enough information about heaven for us to use in our calculus about where we are going. We love this from Revelation 22:
"Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever."
This is the context of the forever pleasures offered through Jesus. Selah.
Heaven will revolve around the One who is, and was, and will be forever!
"...and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father — to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” - from Revelation 1
Peace upon your heart!
Dave and Burnadette