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_outlineThere is a spirituality which finds roots in God's Son Jesus Himself. While there are many religions, there is only one proven to be the Son of God, and He is the King over His Kingdom. This is the Story of the God Story.
What this means is massive, and today we will cover several of the core amazing things about experiencing Kingdom spirituality. It is authentic, connective, and filled with promise for the life to come.
√ How does this result in finding true meaning in my life? The expansiveness of God is beyond our imagination. We are quite limited in grasping this, and yet God has withheld nothing from us in understanding His ways. As we will all take our last breath eventually, what is it that will make my life count? A big deal.
√ How does it differ from other religious pursuits? A consideration of all religion in history reveals many shortcomings, including historic christianity. Kingdom spirituality is very personal and powerful. It is the ultimate gift from our heavenly King.
√ How can I find shelter within His Kingdom? What IS shelter? How do I find it? Why does it matter to my existence, and more importantly, to my soul.
Let's dive in.
Both John the Baptist and Jesus began their "public ministries" with the words: "Turn away and turn towards, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew) They did not say that the church was at hand - but the Kingdom. This is because the God-order is this: King first, then Kingdom, then church. Each has unique things to bring to a person who is looking for authentic faith. All three can be deeply relational, but it is the King and His Spirit who animate authentic spirituality. Make sense?
Today we talk about five aspects of authentic Kingdom Spirituality.
Friendship
“You are My friends if you do what I command you." John 15:14 "And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as being made righteous," and he was called the friend of God." James 2:23 Easy, right? What does His friendship require by way of His commands? How is a person "made righteous?" Where have you come so far in your friendship with God? What does it look like? Where do you hope it will go?
Identity
It is hard to imagine being God's special treasure, and yet this is exactly who we are. Not based upon our personal merit, but because God has set His affections upon us and paid a huge price to buy us back from spiritual death. We have simply become the apple (pupil) of His eye. When we understand there will only ever be one of us, that we were bought with a huge price, and that His plans for us are beyond our wildest dreams - then we are beginning to understand our identity.
"For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)
The King is Lord over all. The Kingdom will endure forever. The Church will become the bride of Christ.
Purpose
There is nothing random about what God is doing, or why He selected you to be a part of His Kingdom! When we see ourselves as friends of God we are made free to grow in intimacy with Him. Experiencing His friendship IS hearing His voice. When we grasp our uniqueness in the plan of God our identity expands.
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
Our destiny is to learn and bend to His purpose. This is how we "find ourselves."
“He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it." (Matthew 10:39)
Satisfaction
As all of this unfolds over days, months, years, and decades we move more deeply into the waters of the Living God. We learn what being sheltered "under His wings" looks like. It is not a taking away of difficulty or pain - only smooth sailing. It is satisfaction of heart as we become acclimated to the things that are important to God - and those which are becoming important to us.
"He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and protection." (Psalm 90 and 91 - shelter Psalms of Moses?)
Hope
All of these things result in hope. Not the kind of hope where I "hope something happens" but the hope which grows as we place ourselves in the hands of our King. We learn to "...but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." And as Paul also mentions: "...and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
These are some of things which help us to live in the shelter of Kingdom spirituality!
Dave and Burnadette