May 18, 2020 by Elaine

Book Tour, COVID style

We’ve all been walloped by the reality that we cannot control, predict, or depend on what we thought we knew of the future.

But there are certain things that God repeatedly and emphatically tells us we can always be certain of—no matter what the next hour, the next day, or the next year might look like.

Those certainties—and the difference this hope makes in our lives right now—are celebrated in the fourth book of the Hope Knows series, Facing the Future. The book can be used as a devotional, for group study, or as a springboard to dig deeper into Scriptures to keep your hope strong.

For the first three books in the Hope Knows series, YOU have taken the time and made the effort to come to ME at book signings or to purchase your books at local stores. Now it’s my turn to come to you.

Since no book signing event is planned, I’d love to do a book “tour.”

If you want to buy a signed copy of the book, I’ll deliver one to your doorstep, your porch, your backyard picnic table, or whatever socially-distanced place works for you. If you prefer, I’ll send your copy in the mail.

The planned “tour” to deliver books is this Saturday, May 23. PM me on Facebook, or contact me through the email on my blog site for more details or to order.

Looking forward to sharing hope with you.
Elaine

P.S. The Hope Knows books are also available at local bookstores and on Amazon. Or you can order directly from the publisher, http://www.jpvpress.com. JPV Press has two special offers right now. When you order Facing the Future, you’ll receive the third book in the series Can God be Trusted? FREE. Or, if you’d like the complete set of all Hope Knows books, a special price saves you $15 on the four. Click on their Bookstore.

April 28, 2020 by Elaine

He’s never shaken

This is what our hope knows: God’s plans will win out.

Even now, although the world seems to be filled with so much that would puncture our hope, we know that God’s plans are still in place. He says He is still the same God who molded dust to make us. He has not changed throughout all of human history. His promises stand. His plans have not changed. They are firmly in place, in progress, and they will all be completed.

On the cover of the fourth Hope Knows book is a flowering almond branch. It recalls the Lord’s words to Jeremiah, who saw an almond branch in a vision. “And the Lord said… it means that I am watching, and I will certainly carry out all my plans” (Jeremiah 1:11, 12).

God’s promises and plans will not be shaken. We can live with great expectation!

April 27, 2020 by Elaine

The time of perfection

Clouds and sky and the light of the heavens fascinate me. I sometimes wonder if that is because, from the time I was a little girl, I was taught the hope of Acts 1:10, 11–that someday Jesus Christ would return to earth in the same way He ascended to heaven, in the clouds.

There comes a time when we all have to make the choice whether or not we’ll believe what we were taught as children. And if we believe this hope that Jesus is again coming back to earth and if we live on this hope, then it changes how we view all of life and death and what is happening around us. It means we know there is more to come beyond the days we’re living now with jobs and bills, sickness and wars, politics and poverty. There is a time of perfection coming, and Christ’s return will usher in that time.

Why would we believe this? Do we have evidence it will happen? Does logic point toward this conclusion? Is there any anecdotal experience on which we can base our expectation?

Our hope rests on one thing: God says it will happen.

April 26, 2020 by Elaine

“Rejoice forever in my creation” *

To my mind, the best time to walk is early morning, just as a new day is born, before the world — and my mind and soul — are cluttered with the day’s traffic and smudged and torn. I like to be early enough to catch those few seconds when the world seems to hold its breath, wondering at the new day. Then, all seems fresh, new, unspoiled, and almost perfect, and there is so much glory that no brush or camera can convey it.

It’s an illusion, of course. This world — and my mind and soul — are quite smudged and torn. Any picture we have of “perfection” in this world is far from accurate. Actually, it’s more serious than smudges and tears. Romans 8 names the real condition: death and decay.

But God’s promise is that perfection is coming! We’ll see an entirely new creation, bursting with glory and free from every hint of death or decay. The renewed earth will be healed and complete. And God’s family will get to enjoy it forever.

Early in the morning, I sometimes feel the earth pause for a millisecond, poised at the edge of a new day. And at those times, I can feel the expectation as creation wonders: Will this be the day?

* See Isaiah 65:17, 18

April 25, 2020 by Elaine

We have more life coming

This is God’s ultimate Romans 8:28 triumph: Out of death, the Creator who loves us will bring life. In the face of Satan’s most powerful weapon against us, God works His most miraculous promises. Throughout the Bible, we see the theme that life will come out of death: Dying to self unites us with God; Jesus’ death gave us life forever; and even though our physical death is wrenching, our heavenly Father uses it to bring us to Himself, making it the most wonderful day of our lives. Even as we experience earthly sadness and loss, we have the joy of knowing that physical death is the doorway through which we step into even more and greater life.

God’s plan from before the beginning of the world was that His created people would have immortal lives in immortal bodies. God’s sticking to His plan. It’s our hope for the future, changing everything about today.

Living with great expectation …

Hope Knows Books