The Dane Bus got a makeover this past week. It took some serious scrubbing but the twelve passenger van I drove through pandemic is back in action and it’s finally fulfilling its intended purpose. I remember when I first saw the NV3500. I told my husband that car manufacturers waste too much space and if they ever made a passenger van that looked like a truck and used all the available space, deep and wide, high and low, it would be mine. I got the 2017 at the end of 2016.
My first grand adventure in the bus was round trip with my youngest for a week in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit in the Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas. We picked up our Danes in the bus in 2018 and made many trips to the coast with them in tow. I’ve moved two children in and out of apartments, moved two houses, and set up for my daughter’s wedding from the cavernous cargo space. Thinking back over its life, I’m surprised by how many memories are packed inside, but the very best part is how it’s getting a new life this week- the one I dreamed of when I chose my grandmother wheels long before I was a Lolly.
”Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.“
Hebrews 11:1 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.11.1.NLT
Back in 2016, I didn’t know my daughter in law and neither did my son. One son was married that year and our daughter was engaged to be married the next. Of course I hoped for grandchildren, but Thomas, Amelia, Timothy, and soon to be born Ezra were all yet unknown. I didn’t know many things that life would bring my way, but knowing God’s presence with me and His faithfulness every step still gives me hope.
”Noah had faith. So he built an ark to save his family. He built it because of his great respect for God.
God had warned him about things that could not yet be seen.
Because of his faith Noah showed the world that it was guilty.
Because of his faith he was considered right with God.“
Hebrews 11:7 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/heb.11.7.NIRV
”Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for.
It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen.
This testimony of faith is what previous generations were commended for.“
Hebrews 11:1-2 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/heb.11.1-2.TPT
”By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told.
The result? His family was saved.
His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world.
As a result, Noah became intimate with God.“
Hebrews 11:7 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/heb.11.7.MSG
Noah walked with God. He acted in faith and with great hope. He had no guarantees from God, only a warning and a very specific set of instructions. He is described as righteous- in right relationship with God, with whom he walked in habitual fellowship in the middle of his evil generation. (Genesis 6:9) His acts of faith, completing everything exactly as God commanded, earned him a place in the Hebrews 11 Hall of Faith. (Genesis 6:22) His righteous acts also received honorable mention from Jesus.
”Jesus was once asked by the Jewish religious leaders, “When will God’s kingdom come?”
Jesus responded, “God’s kingdom does not come simply by obeying principles or waiting for signs. The kingdom is not discovered in one place or another, for God’s kingdom realm is already expanding within some of you.”
Later, Jesus addressed this again with his apostles, saying, “The time is coming when a great passion will be awakened within you to see me again.
Yes, you will long to see the beginning of the days of the Son of Man, but you won’t be able to find me.
You will hear reports from some who will say, ‘Look, he has returned,’ ‘He’s over here,’ or, ‘He’s over there!’
Don’t believe it or run after them, for their claims will be false.
The day of the Son of Man will burst forth with the brightness of a lightning strike that shines from one end of the sky to the other, illuminating the earth.
But before this takes place, the Son of Man must pass through great suffering and rejection from this generation.
The same things that happened in the days of Noah will take place in the days of the Son of Man.
They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, and they were given in marriage until the day Noah boarded the ark and the devastating flood came and swept them all away.“
Luke 17:20-27 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/luk.17.27.TPT
You may be asking yourself a similar question in light of current events. When will Jesus return? When will God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven? Peter anticipated our day through the Spirit’s revelation when he wrote of scoffers who would taunt believers, saying, “Where is this return He promised?” (II Peter 3:4) Peter even references Noah’s day, saying, “He used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood.“ (II Peter 3:6)
”But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.”
”We hope for what we don’t have yet. So we are patient as we wait for it.“ (Romans 8:25 NIRV https://bible.com/bible/110/rom.8.25.NIRV)
And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved.“
2 Peter 3:13-15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2pe.3.13-15.NLT
What does hope look like? This week for me, it’s a road trip in the big black bus. It’s out with the new and in with the old. It’s reminiscing and being surprised by what I find. It’s being continually amazed by the faithfulness of God.
What does hope look like to you today?
”The kingdom is not discovered in one place or another, for God’s kingdom realm is already expanding within some of you.”“
Luke 17:21 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/luk.17.21.TPT
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