How do we experience hope in this moment?
Today's guest, Pastor Mike Ashcraft, shares how to shift our view of hope to focus on the present instead of the future. Ashcraft is the senior pastor of Port City Community Church and author of To Be Concluded: How to Prevent Your Past from Piling Up and Find Hope for Your Future.
We explore the common tendencies of focusing on the past with "rose-colored glasses" or shame or on the future with striving or anxiety. Centering our attention on the present feels counter-intuitive. Pastor Ashcraft emphasizes the purpose of redemption to address our current needs, not just the past or future. He notes how we can benefit from living with awareness of hope in each moment.
Mike illuminates the opportunity for living exists only in the present moment. He shares his journey of discovering the need to shift our attention to today. Ashcraft also shares the current reorientation occurring among believers.
We discuss the kingdom of God as a "now" concept instead of a "someday" idea. Mike and I talk about the way scripture defines faith journeys and the purposefulness of the space between a promise and its fulfillment. He describes Exodus as a story of God's people learning to steward freedom.
Pastor Ashcraft notes that most people like the idea of growth, but only to a certain point. We don't often embrace the extent of stretching required for profound faith. We discuss the pitfalls of Western culture in which we struggle with trusting in God instead of our own understanding and effort.
Mike shares the importance of taking time to experience God in the moment. He defines grace as the force by which we remain faithful, sufficient for the moment in the moment, like the air we breathe. Grace in the moment gives us hope for the future, because it is available in each future moment.
Ashcraft debunks the myth of things getting easier once we get more skilled or experienced in our calling. We discuss the danger of hoping in the fulfillment of a request and missing the blessing God offers with his presence. Pastor Ashcraft shares how we often struggle with destination thinking. He describes the issues with plotting out "if this, then that" in our faith walk instead of trusting God step by step.
Mike explains that we don't need to diminish or minimize our pain. We can bring the full weight of our pain to the Lord and experience the fullness of his grace. He also shares the increased joy available when we experience God in each moment. He states the nature of this shift as being about rhythm, not pace. Mike encourages listeners to take time to pause and reflect on the conclusion of seasons as well as believing in God for now and the future.
Connect with Mike on social media at @mikeashcraft or on the church website, https://www.portcity.church/. His book, To Be Concluded, is available on Amazon.
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