There is hope should oceans rise and mountains fall

For the four years that I’ve had this blog, I’ve really tried to stay away from turning it into yet another blog about the Bible with daily devotionals and all of that. There are already a billion of those out there and most are better than mine would ever be. I think I’ve used Scripture on here maybe three times. It’s just not what I wanted this blog to be.

Over the past couple of weeks there has been this thought in my head that I’ve wanted to delve into and explore. It started out last spring as a teaching series that I would love to see done in a church. I started thinking about writing through it last month and haven’t really been able to get it out of my head. Then, while praying for someone this past weekend at a prayer/worship event at our church called Quiet Waters, the whole concept popped up again in the middle of the prayer.

I think it’s time that I write all of this out.

Over the next five Tuesdays, starting next week, we are going to take a look at my second favorite phrase in the Bible: take heart. Because I like to think I’m clever, we’re going to call these posts Take Heart Tuesday.

The Greek word for this phrase “take heart” is tharseo. It literally means “to be of good courage, be of good cheer.” As we go through like, we put our courage and our faith in so many things. We put it in people, in jobs, in pastors, and in a whole variety of things. In the New Testament, Jesus gives us five things that we can take heart in. He gives us five different examples of where we can place our faith or where we can get our courage from.

That’s what we’re going to look at. As most things in my life, this whole “series” was inspired by a song. This one was inspired by the song “Take Heart” by Hillsong United. The lyrics for it are:

There is a light that burns brighter than the sun. He steals the night and casts no shadow. There is hope should oceans rise and mountains fall. He never fails. So take heart. Let his love lead us through the night. Hold onto hope and take courage again.

In death by love, the fallen world was overcome. He wears the scars of our freedom. In his name, all our fears are swept away. He never fails.

All our troubles, and all our tears, God our hope – he has overcome. All our failure, and all our fear, God our love – he has overcome. All our heartache, and all our pain, God our freedom – He has overcome.

Such a simple song with a truth that can change your life. Hopefully you’ll come along for the ride over the next five weeks. I’m looking forward to it. I’ve posted the video of the song Take Heart below if you want to listen to it.

Say your prayers and take your vitamins.

Have a nice day.

-Jonathan