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March 17, 2009
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
igbok, by Rubel Shelly
Nope. You won't find it in your dictionary. It's less a word than an
acronym. On the order of NATO or IRA or FAQ, the letters pronounced as
a word are actually the initial letters of more familiar words. You
pronounce this one to rhyme with pig-lock or big-block. Now you've got
it: ig'-bok. And it means ... Okay. We'll get to the meaning directly.
It's not my word. David Arms and Lloyd Shadrach came up with it as
shorthand for something in short supply these days. With so much bad
news coming from so many quarters, they were thinking in terms of
something that could counteract pessimism, something as an alternative
to despair. What they came up with was igbok. And igbok means ... But
I'm getting ahead of myself.
Do you know much about the biblical idea of hope? Unlike our modern-day
use of the term, hope isn't "wishing with little prospect of
fulfillment" or "desire in the face of unlikelihood; wishful thinking."
In the Bible, hope is a secure and confident expectation. It is
trusting God to keep his word.
There are many things in life that God has not promised. Contrary to
the false opinion of some, he has never promised smooth sailing for
believers. He has never promised immunity to illness, freedom from
stress, or exemption from financial reversals. Remember Job? Paul's
"thorn in the flesh"? All the martyrs?
Faith doesn't guarantee an easy life. Sometimes, in fact, it is one's
faith that brings persecution. Why just think of it: If being a
Christian meant bad things could never happen to you, it would be the
cheapest insurance you could get!
It's the promise of God.
So what does the Christian faith offer? It guarantees that no physical
harm can diminish your spiritual value or security. It promises a
secured future in the face of today's harsh realities. It tells every
pilgrim on her way to the Promised Land that none of the obstacles
along the way can deny her an ultimate reward.
In the meanwhile, how do we see ourselves and our situations? If we
have plenty, we will be grateful and share it; if we have nothing, we
will not envy what others have and know how good it will be to be home
at last. If I recover from heart disease or cancer, I am grateful to
God; if I succumb to illness, I am with God sooner. If my business
thrives, I bless kingdom work with the profit; if it goes broke, I
never tied either my identity or God's love to a balance sheet.
In effect, the promise of God to his people is that -- come what may --
he will be with them. He will not let the things they value most be
lost to them. He will rescue them from evil -- even if that rescue can
come only, as it did with his Beloved Son, through his power to raise
the dead!
In the meanwhile, know that it's gonna be o.k. Or, for shorthand, igbok.
And to see how Lloyd and David have developed the igbok theme, go to
igbok.com.
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen;
it gives us assurance about things we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1 NLT).
For God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never abandon
you." So we can say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper, so I
will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6
NLT).
---------
(c) 2009 Used by permission. From Rubel Shelly <rshelly@rc.edu>'s
"FAX of Life" printed each Tuesday. See Faith Matters for
previous issues of the "FAX of Life."
RELATED LINKS:
* Steady, It Could Be God
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200505/20050529_couldbegod.html
* The View from a Troubled Heart
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200807/20080722_view.html
* Dark Night of the Soul
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200512/20051228_darknight.html
* RubelShelly.com
http://www.rubelshelly.com/
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200903/20090317_igbok.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
TO LIVE IS CHRIST: EMBRACING THE PASSION OF PAUL, by Beth Moore
Tracing Paul's life from childhood to martyrdom, the book looks at how
the apostle's life can give readers a renewed sense of purpose in God's
plan.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?260
Find more great books, CDs and videos at the Heartlight store! With
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