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HOPE REFORMED CHURCH

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April 28, 2017 admin Scott Henry

MAINTAINING GOOD WORKS By Pastor Scott Henry

“Let him that stole steal no longer: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that

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April 16, 2017 admin GEORGE SYMS

THE TRUE GOSPEL By Rev. George Syms

“The Apostle Paul makes clear the primacy of the Gospel in 1 Cor. 15:1-4: “Now I make known to you, brethren, the

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April 14, 2017 admin RC Sproul

What Do Expiation and Propitiation Mean? By Dr. R.C. Sproul

When we talk about the vicarious aspect of the atonement, two rather technical words come up again and again: expiation and propitiation.

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April 14, 2017 admin Paul Tripp

“6 Reasons Why I Love Easter” By Paul David Tripp

I love Easter. I love the celebratory music we sing at church. I love the passages of Scripture we read during worship.

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April 14, 2017 admin Scott Henry

THE MEANING OF GOOD FRIDAY By Pastor Scott Henry

  “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” —Matthew 27:46   GOOD FRIDAY is the day when believers specifically remember

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April 11, 2017 admin Scott Henry

“I SHOULD LOSE NOTHING” by Pastor Scott Henry

“This is the will of the Father who sent Me that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but

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April 4, 2017 admin Scott Henry

RECONCILIATION by Pastor Scott Henry

“God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Paul says in our text that God was performing a

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December 21, 2016 admin Paul Tripp

LIFE FROM THE VANTAGE POINT OF ETERNITY By Paul David Tripp

“Grace works to free you from your eternity amnesia so that you will be willing and able to live with the purifying

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December 21, 2016 admin JC RYLE

TONGUE-TIED AND DUMB ON THINGS OF CHRIST? By JC Ryle

“What do we know ourselves of spiritual conversation with other Christians? Perhaps we read our Bibles, and pray in private, and use

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December 21, 2016 admin Paul Tripp

“SIN DOESN’T ALWAYS LOOK SINFUL TO US” By Dr. Paul David Tripp

“I wish I could say that sin always appears horribly ugly and destructive to me, but it doesn’t. I wish I could

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Hope Reformed Church
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Hope Reformed Church
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Hope Reformed Church
7 hours ago

OUR BRIEF LIFE

“For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
—James 4:14

On the morning of August 24, 2010, the newspaper headlines read, “A woman is dead and at least two others are injured after a house explosion in Menno late Monday evening. The explosion, which was caused by a natural gas leak, completely destroyed the home and caused significant damage to neighboring homes. The victim, Gail Guthmiller, was the only person inside the home at the time of the explosion. At least two other people who were in neighboring homes were taken to the hospital.”

Do you realize how fragile life truly is –how a person can be struck down in a moment? Do you ever reflect upon the brevity of your life? How your beating heart, breathing lungs, or blood pressure all can change in an instant? Scripture tells us that we are fragile people who live moment by moment by the providential hand and power of God. Nothing else keeps our hearts pumping and our lungs breathing but the power of Jesus Christ who “upholds all things with the Word of His power” (Heb. 1:3). And our text tells us that our lives are only a vapor; here today and gone tomorrow. In our text, James clearly teaches us who we are before the true and living God, and how we ought to live our lives in response to this truth.

James uses the metaphor of a vapor to teach us the brevity of our lives. That is what temporal life is like on this earth. A man is here only for a few short years and then he vanishes away like a vapor and people soon forget all about him. Do you realize that your life is like a blade of grass before a lawnmower or a flower of the field before the scorching sun? Do you realize your life on this earth is just a vapor and you are always a moment away from eternity? Did you hear that? One moment from eternity! This ought to cause us to pray like Moses in Psalm 90, “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. So, teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

At every moment, we are totally dependent upon God for our existence “for in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). It is God who sends the rain and sunshine, and it is God who gives life and takes it away. “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). Knowing we are but a vapor should cause each of us to fall on our faces before the Lord and pray for the forgiveness of our sins, and for the Lord’s blessing on everything we do. We should be like the tax collector in the temple who was found beating upon his chest and crying out, “God be merciful to me, the sinner!” or as James admonishes us, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10).

Knowing the brevity of life should teach us how we should think, speak, and live before the true and living God, who holds our breath in His hands (Dan. 5:23). A life of faith, humility, and thanksgiving ought to permeate the soul of every believer as we walk in God’s world, breathing God’s air, and using God’s resources. For this reason, our prayer ought to be, Lord, “teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom” because our life is but “a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

Friday Devotional: June 26, 2026
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
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Hope Reformed Church
3 days ago

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

“But he who does the will of God abides forever.”
—1 John 2:17

The difficulty in the Christian life is living consistently what we confess to believe. Every Sunday morning, believers pray these words to the Lord, “Thy Will Be Done.” Yet so often we want our own will to be done, and we lose sight of the truth that God’s will for us is holy, righteous, perfect, good, and acceptable (Romans 12:2). We easily forget that “we are not our own but belong to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ” and therefore we are called to live according to the will of our Master –both His revealed will in Scripture and His secret will, which is manifested through His wondrous providence.

However, it takes a lifetime of submission to God’s will to learn to live this truth, and even then we fall woefully short of submitting to God’s will as we ought. Praise God our salvation is secured for us by the perfect law-keeping life and perfect sin-atoning death of Jesus Christ who said, “Behold, I have come; in the volume of the book it is written of Me; To do Your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:7). Jesus also said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34). And how comforting to hear Jesus say, “I always do all those things that please my Father” (John 8:29). And it’s this perfect righteousness of Christ that is imputed to all who by true faith trust in the Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, we are not condemned for disobeying God’s will because we are covered in the righteous perfection of King Jesus. Hallelujah! What a Savior! As the hymn writer declared:

“Let us love and sing and wonder,
Let us praise the Savior’s name
He has hushed the law’s loud thunder,
He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame
He has washed us with His blood,
He has brought us nigh to God!”

“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10). Rejoice, beloved, rejoice that Jesus has lived and died in your place –“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

“I am not what I ought to be!
I am not what I want to be!
But, praise God, I am not what I used to be!
And because of Christ I am headed for a glorious eternity!”

Tuesday Encouragement: June 23, 2026
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
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THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
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