force for us, especially as we navigate a world that is full of discouragement. Romans 15 says:
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
14 Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.
This passage addresses not only the existence of hope, which enables us to evaluate the possibilities that God has in store, but also that amount of hope we can have - we are called to abound in it. We can have a significant level of hope because we serve a big God, who wants us to grow and enjoy the relationship we have with Him and who desires for us to possess a sense of great anticipation about what He will do, so that we may experience joy and satisfaction and that the world may know that He is Lord of all.
+++++
In Christ, we can find hope that motivates and empowers us to pursue what God intends for us; it is
He who enables us to overcome the barriers to experiencing His will. We can read in Hebrews 12:
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Naomi Scott is an Ambassador for Compassion International, which is a ministry with which you may be familiar, reaching out to children around the world through their extensive child sponsorship program. A recent CBN story on Naomi said:
During an interview with Compassion, for which she serves as a U.K. ambassador, Scott said her faith has given her a “peace” that keeps her “incredibly grounded, incredibly focused.”
“Quite honestly, I don’t see it as this separate thing, this add on thing,” she said, noting she was recently talking with her husband, English soccer player Jordan Spence, about their shared beliefs. “My faith is just a part of who I am and what I do.”This young lady has a sense of her identity in the Lord. And, that can be extremely important when you work in an industry that is shaping the beliefs of our culture, and not necessarily in a good way.
Naomi Scott is an actress, and within the past few weeks, millions have seen her on the big screen, playing the role of the princess, Jasmine, in Disney's new live-action remake of the classic film, Aladdin.
The CBN story says that she told Compassion that "she was excited to have the opportunity to play such a 'strong' female character in the much-anticipated remake." She related that she was "on the same page" with the producers, and stated: "I love that what we envisioned for Jasmine was, yes, all of those things we loved about her in the iconic animated version of the film,” adding, “but also, that we wanted to portray she’s actually fighting for choice and the liberty and freedom of her kingdom.”
In an interesting side note, there has been some attention given to the modesty reflected in Jasmine's attire in the film. A USA Today article stated:
"The (animated) movie was done in 1992. We wanted to modernize the movie, and some things are inappropriate these days for families," says "Aladdin" producer Dan Lin.
So there was a rule on the "Aladdin" set to make sure the movie achieved that goal: "No midriff," Lin says.Naomi Scott is quoted in the article, which stated that she said: "the costume decision 'was about what makes the most sense for this movie and this time, and that’s what we landed on. I think it was the right decision.'"
In the CBN article, there is an embedded Instagram post, in which Naomi relates: "For me, it's about instilling value and hope...It's so important to get young girls to understand that they have a voice, they have something to offer..." That is her motivation for being involved with Compassion, and her hopeful attitude in Christ that carries her through even when she faces criticism; she says:
“No matter what somebody says about me on Twitter, whatever the future holds, to know that that doesn’t define me is incredible, to know that doesn’t inform my identity in any way shape or form (although it’s easier said than done sometimes),” she explained. “That’s going to be the thing keeping me going. Keeping the main thing, the main thing throughout.”There is tremendous lesson that is readily apparent here - because we know Christ and belong to Him, we can have an incredible sense of hope in our lives; so we can take this to heart: Be rooted in hope. Our hope in the Lord and Biblical optimism can sustain us, especially during the potentially discouraging seasons of our lives.
We can also be secure in knowing who we are in Christ. Discouragement can set in because we believe the lies of the enemy that he whispers into our consciousness. We can be hopeful because of the presence of the Lord in us.
Knowing we have value in Him can propel us to add value to others. That describes the approach that Naomi takes to the work of Compassion International. We can speak words that build up the people around us and be used of the Holy Spirit to bring encouragement.
Finally, we can allow God to set you free to pursue His dreams for you. There are numerous barriers that hold us back in becoming who God intends for us to be and accomplishing great things for Him. We can develop the perseverance to continue to trust Him, to lay aside "the weight" that suppresses us, according to Hebrews 12, and look to Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment