The faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. Colossians 1:5-6A
Three watchwords at St Cuthbert’s Oratory, a home of prayer are hospitality, hope and healing – three gospel gifts we receive. God’s hospitality welcomes us to our salvation banquet. What’s more, He promised to feed us with bread for both stomach and spirit.
Hope sustains us through all eventualities. We do well to nurture it when things are stable for when storms sweep in, we have hope alone even as our lives are threatened.
Healing is always the work of a lifetime as we seek to find our rest in God. I must learn to take the long view when all I really want is a quick fix.
Incredibly, all three are always available to us for they’ve been wrestled from the devil’s grasp by the cross. (Ephesians 4:7-13) We learn to draw upon the treasury of heaven, opened to us through Jesus’ sacrificial death.
It’s why we pray, your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. It has taken me years to realise I’m not to plead for God’s intervention.
To do so is to miss the grace that is already mine in Christ. There are only three divine interventions; the crafting of order from chaos at the Creation, the redemption of humanity through Christ, and finally the return of Jesus at the end of time. So now I explore how to draw from heaven’s treasure trove and discover how to live within its total provision for my daily necessities.
This is how I strengthen my understanding and exercise faith. This challenges how I’ve learnt to manage my expectations and experience. I must also nurture the love I have in my heart not simply for myself, but for everyone that Jesus came to serve.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
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