On Sept. 17, at the University of Texas at Austin, General (Ret.) Kenneth F. “Frank” McKenzie Jr. spoke about his book, “The Melting Point: High Command and War in the 21st Century.” This discussion,…

Foreign Affairs The U.S. Should Promote Taiwan as the Authentic China The U.S. should wield its soft power to galvanize Taiwan and raise its standing in the world. Credit: image via Shutterstock Following a week-long visit to Taiwan, I have reassessed my perspective on U.S. foreign policy toward Taiwan. My initial belief was that the U.S. should prioritize strengthening Taiwan’s defensive capabilities, primarily by transforming it into a “porcupine” through increased arms sales and constructing an anti-hegemonic coalition in the region. While I continue to support these objectives, my visit has revealed that military support alone is insufficient. A comprehensive strategy must also include a robust soft power component aimed at fostering political unity, morale, and military readiness in Taiwan. From the outset of my trip, it became clear that Taiwanese society and politics are more nuanced than I expected, and these complexities limit the effectiveness of purely military assistance. The ongoing rivalry between Taiwan’s two main political parties, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Kuomintang (KMT), has led to political disunity that hampers the full use of defense capabilities. This political fragmentation contributes to a weakened sense of national morale and readiness. Although there is widespread agreement that avoiding war is desirable, there is no consensus on whether deterrence through militarization is the best path forward. Even if militarization were universally supported, Taiwan’s aging population and relatively comfortable lifestyle pose challenges. Conscription, currently set at a year, is far from adequate in preparing Taiwan’s youth for the type of civic and military readiness found in nations like Israel or South Korea. Compounding this is the belief that Taiwan’s geographic defenses, particularly the formidable Taiwan Strait, provide a sufficient buffer against invasion, giving many Taiwanese a false sense of security. Further, there is a prevalent assumption, encouraged by both the DPP and certain parts of the U.S. foreign policy establishment, that America will unquestionably intervene in the event of an invasion. This belief diminishes the perceived need for Taiwan to harden its defenses and mobilize its population. While expanding Taiwan’s defensive capabilities remains essential, the most immediate and impactful steps the U.S. can take involve developing a sophisticated soft power strategy aimed at boosting Taiwanese unity, morale, and identity. Military aid is vital, but without a cohesive society that is willing to defend itself, its effectiveness is limited. This soft power strategy should focus on two key themes: strengthening Taiwan’s claim to authentic Chinese identity, and positioning Taiwan as the model of “modern Chinese” society. A critical but underused asset in Taiwan’s soft power arsenal is its claim to authentic Chinese identity. The Taiwanese use traditional Chinese characters, which were the norm for thousands of years of Chinese history. In contrast, Mainland China, under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), adopted simplified characters to promote literacy among its population. While this move was practical for the CCP’s goals, it altered the depth and meaning of the written language. For example, the traditional character for “love” contains the symbol for “heart,” whereas the simplified version removes this symbol, literally stripping the heart from love. This linguistic distinction gives Taiwan a cultural edge over the CCP, especially in terms of preserving China’s rich literary and cultural heritage. Additionally, Taiwan houses the National Palace Museum, which holds many of China’s most treasured art and antiquities—further reinforcing Taiwan’s connection to the authentic Chinese identity. America can use these facts to emphasize Taiwan’s position as the custodian of true Chinese heritage. By promoting Taiwan’s cultural legitimacy, we can undermine the CCP’s narrative that it represents the definitive Chinese identity. This approach avoids stoking Taiwanese nationalism to the point of independence, which would undoubtedly provoke Beijing, while still reinforcing Taiwan’s position as an integral part of Chinese civilization. In addition to its historical legitimacy, Taiwan represents a compelling alternative to the CCP’s vision of modern Chinese society. While the CCP’s social contract promises material prosperity in exchange for political control and the curtailing of civil liberties, Taiwan offers a different model—one where democracy, freedom of speech, and economic growth coexist. Positioning Taiwan as the example of modern Chinese success allows the U.S. to present a powerful counter-narrative to the CCP’s authoritarianism. By highlighting Taiwan’s technological advancements, democratic governance, and robust civil society, we can promote Taiwan as the model for the Chinese-speaking world. While Taiwan has made efforts to promote its culture and identity through institutions like the Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices (TECO), these efforts have proven insufficient. The limitations of TECO are not only due to its budget constraints but also because of a strategic flaw in its messaging.  TECO often promotes a sense of “Taiwanness,” emphasizing a distinct Taiwanese identity separate from Chinese heritage. While this may appeal to domestic political interests, particularly those of the DPP, it ultimately undermines Taiwan’s strongest cultural asset: its claim to authentic and modern Chinese identity. By diluting the focus on Taiwan’s inheritance of Chinese culture, TECO misses a key opportunity to present Taiwan as the true custodian of Chinese heritage, a narrative that could strengthen its position globally without provoking Beijing unnecessarily.  Rather than focusing on creating a distinct “Taiwanness,” Taiwan’s cultural diplomacy should double down on its authentic Chinese identity—preserving the historical and cultural traditions that have been eroded under CCP rule—while showcasing its modern democratic model as the future of Chinese society. This would allow Taiwan to challenge the CCP’s claims to represent Chinese civilization and culture, while still maintaining an identity rooted in historical continuity.  Therefore, the U.S. must step in to help amplify Taiwan’s message. TECO alone does not have the resources, reach, or the appropriate strategic focus to counter the CCP’s Confucius Institutes and other cultural efforts. Western involvement is crucial in reinforcing Taiwan’s cultural outreach and in correcting the course of TECO’s current strategy, which undercuts the core inheritance that could unite the Taiwanese population and bolster its global standing. The former President Donald Trump has demonstrated a talent for delivering statements that provoke geopolitical tensions while drawing attention to key strategic issues. A statement endorsing Taiwan’s cultural legitimacy and modernity would likely irritate Beijing and bolster Taiwanese standing. Trump would know better than anyone how to use such a statement. He should be aware that this is a form of leverage and one that could be very useful as he seeks to shape our relations with China.   To enhance this strategy outlined above, U.S. policymakers should consider the following initiatives: • Public Messaging: Aside from a statement by the president, U.S. leadership should emphasize in speeches and international forums that Taiwan embodies both the authentic and modern Chinese identity. This would irk Beijing without providing new provocations for military aggression. • Cultural Institutions: The U.S. could support or help establish alternatives to Confucius Institutes, promoting Taiwanese culture and history as the true inheritor of Chinese heritage. Taiwan has already laid some groundwork through TECO, but American investment and collaboration could significantly broaden the reach of these efforts. • Youth Engagement: American soft power efforts should focus on Taiwanese youth, fostering a sense of pride in their heritage and their role as defenders of Chinese democracy. Initiatives could include exchange programs, leadership training, and media campaigns that highlight Taiwan’s democratic success. The U.S. should continue its commitment to strengthening Taiwan’s military defenses and building an anti-hegemonic coalition. Nevertheless, the key to fostering long-term resilience on the island lies in soft power. Taiwan’s existing soft power initiatives are insufficient on their own to combat the CCP’s expansive influence. By partnering with Taiwan to promote its claim to both authentic Chinese culture and its status as the true modern Chinese society, we can enhance political unity, boost morale, and ultimately improve Taiwan’s military readiness. This soft power approach will create a cohesive national identity that encourages political unity while avoiding direct provocation of the CCP. Through these efforts, the U.S. can support Taiwan in defending not only its sovereignty but also the broader question of what it means to be Chinese in the 21st century. The post The U.S. Should Promote Taiwan as the Authentic China appeared first on The American Conservative.

Foreign Affairs Why Is Harris Obsessed With Iran? The pariah nation does not threaten any core American interests. Credit: Jim Vondruska/Getty Images The U.S. Vice President and the Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, showed a worryingly shallow grasp of the nation’s national security challenges by calling Iran America’s “greatest adversary” in a Tuesday interview with CBS News’s 60 Minutes. She elaborated that “Iran has American blood on its hands” and referred to the “200 ballistic missiles” it fired on Israel. In a world of a great-power rivalry with the nuclear-armed peer competitors China and Russia, to present a remote Middle Eastern country—hobbled by a plethora of U.S. sanctions, highly vulnerable to alleged acts of sabotage by Israel, with literally no allies besides militias in a handful of failed states—as the main threat to the United States is entirely absurd. Even with its arsenal of ballistic missiles and drones, Iran is no threat to the U.S., which it has no capability and no interest to attack. Rather, the only conceivable threat from Iran to the U.S. comes from the Iranian proxy groups in Syria and Iraq—it is in those countries where Iran, presumably, got its hands soaked in that American blood. The question that she ought to be asking is, Why are American troops still in those lands? With the boiling tensions between Israel and Iran, and the nearly unconditional support that the Biden administration is offering Israel, those U.S. soldiers have merely become targets for attacks by an array of pro-Iranian Shiite groups in Iraq and Syria, with no discernible upside for Washington.  Harris’s second argument of why Iran represents a particularly acute threat didn’t have anything to do with the U.S. interests at all, but rather with a country with which the U.S. doesn’t even have a formal security alliance: Israel. Iran’s attack on Israel is certainly a concerning development from the point of view of regional security.  It has to be viewed in an overall context of mounting tensions, the escalation of which Israel contributed to by lethally attacking the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, assassinating Hamas’s political leader in Tehran on the day of the inauguration of the Iranian president Massoud Pezeshkian, and moving the goalposts in Lebanon from ensuring that the Israeli residents of the regions adjacent to the Lebanese border could return to their homes to seeking a destruction of Hezbollah, a key ally for Tehran. Whatever the rationale behind the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bellicosity, Harris never explained how supporting it all the way, while risking being drawn in a war with Iran, serves an American interest.  As the Institute for Peace & Diplomacy’s Arta Moeini quipped, such “nonsensical statements are good for the Iranian ego, but they are fantasy at best and fear-mongering at worst….They show Harris’s lack of elementary knowledge of international politics, not to mention a basic sense of proportion and common sense”.   Some observers, like the Stimson Center’s Emma Ashford, see a possible electoral motivation behind Harris’s fresh hawkishness. Nevertheless, Ashford is also skeptical that swinging so hard in that direction—including boasting endorsements from such war hawks as the former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, the former Rep. Liz Cheney—will attract many voters.  That would be a good occasion for Harris’s Republican opponent Donald Trump to chart a course in an opposite direction. As the conservative restrainer William Ruger, Trump’s nominee for the post of the ambassador in Afghanistan during his presidency, advised, Trump should talk about how “he isn’t going to send our children, our brothers, our sisters, our fathers, and our mothers into more wars disconnected from our core national interests”.  Trump himself occasionally displayed a restrained streak. Nevertheless, the Republican party still, by and large, views Iran as a bogeyman. Trump, while in theory opposed to “forever wars,” just carelessly advised Israel to bomb Iran’s nuclear infrastructure as a response to Iran’s firing of missiles on Israel, and “worry about the rest later”. That is highly irresponsible advice, as Iran promised to retaliate further for any Israeli strike. This could lead to an all-out regional war in the Middle East which Trump would have to deal with should he be elected in November.  In fact, during his presidency Trump already tried a “strike first and think later” approach: when he ordered the assassination of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani in 2020. By sheer luck, Iranian retaliation did not claim any American lives then, and Trump, much to his obvious relief, did not have to commit the U.S. to a war with Iran. Such luck may not accompany U.S. presidents forever. It is therefore incumbent on them, whether Democratic or Republican, to avoid needless belligerence towards Iran, particularly on behalf of third countries. Washington and Tehran are unlikely to be friends in the foreseeable future—political obstacles for that are just too high on both sides—but there is no challenge Iran currently presents that would require the U.S. to go to war. The first step to recognizing that reality would be to challenge Harris’s mindless threat-inflation. The post Why Is Harris Obsessed With Iran? appeared first on The American Conservative.

Politics The Doctrine of ‘Kamalism’ Rep. Jim Banks: Harris won’t tell us her core commitments, but they are clear from her record. Kamala Harris became a presidential nominee without winning a single vote. Because she was handpicked by the Democrat Party establishment, not its voters, we now know her core beliefs are the Democrat Party’s core beliefs: Kamalism.   Just two months away from the general election, Kamala Harris won’t define Kamalism, but her long record of radicalism already does.  Kamalism is an attempt to destroy America by obliterating the Constitution, tearing down the border, and tossing out basic American principles like legal equality.  Kamalism is the reason FEMA has spent over $1 billion on illegal migrants in two years, and it’s why DHS Secretary Mayorkas is now telling Americans that FEMA“does not have enough funds to make it through the [hurricane] season.” It’s why roughly 15 million illegal aliens have crossed our border, and why the administration hopes to send left-wing groups nearly $10 billion a year to facilitate the border crisis.  Kamalism has destroyed American innovation and set American tax dollars on fire. It’s worth examining the reasoning behind it and how it operates in detail.  In 2020 while running alongside Joe Biden, the Harris campaign released a video titled, “There’s a big difference between equality and equity.”  According to the narrator, Kamala Harris, “The problem with that [equality], not everyone is starting out at the same place.” Equity is superior because it ensures everyone winds up, “at the same place.” Equal outcomes, the false ideal promoted by Karl Marx and Joseph Stalin, is the goal of Kamalism.  In 2021, the Biden-Harris administration set aside $42.5 billion for a program to increase high-speed internet access in rural areas. To receive these grants, applicants must meet guidelines issued per, E.O. 13985, which was issued in January 2021 to advance “equity” across the entire government. Grant applicants must agree to climate change mandates, pledge to hire union workers and check several other Kamalist requirements. After three years, not a single home or business has gained access to high-speed broadband. That is Kamalism in action. Likewise, the Biden-Harris administration aims to finish building half a million electric vehicle charging stations by 2030. But program applicants can’t start building until after they’ve submitted lengthy reports about equity and “underserved community involvement.” After almost three years of work, the administration has built a grand total of seven stations. One Department of Transportation staffer said Kamalism is “screwing everything up,” and “it’s all a mess.”   Biden and Harris earmarked $6 billion this year for climate funding and conditioned it on an array of inclusivity requirements. Climate grant applicants must submit a “Community Benefits Plan” explaining how they will advance diversity, equity, and accessibility and implement the Justice 40 initiative, which requires 40% of federal investment to aid disadvantaged communities. Yes, even efforts to stop climate change must prove they are aligned with Kamalism.  Kamalism is the idea that the government should be at war with regular Americans. According to Kamalism, they don’t deserve to be helped. They must pledge fealty and be reshaped, or destroyed.  One of our two major party nominees is in an undeclared war with everyday Americans and the American way of life. Every four years, commentators describe the current election as “the most important of your lifetime.” This one really is. The post The Doctrine of ‘Kamalism’ appeared first on The American Conservative.

SHOCKING! Electric Weather Modification Companies in 2019 ClimateViewer. Steering Atmospheric Rivers - STEERING ATMOSPHERIC RIVERS WITH ANTENNAS * (((PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE. GROUND BASED ANTENNAS ARE USED TO DIRECT STORMS AND WEATHER. N O T NEXRAD. These Antennas Look Like the Ones That Were Used By H.A.A.R.P.))) - (((Dane Wiggington's Nexrad Story is TOTAL BS))) ***Dane Wiggington's Nexrad Misinformation is Extremely Damaging to the Credibility of our Entire Movement*** * ClimateViewer From 2019 Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/climateviewer * TheWarAgainstYou: (Please Note: I understand that it is not possible for most people to watch all of these videos by Jim Lee/ClimateViewer ALL AT ONCE. But this Research is Extremely Vital. Everyone Needs to Understand THE ACTUAL, PROVABLE, VERIFIABLE TRUTH, Not Second Hand Hearsay or Misinformation. Please Bookmark these videos and SHARE THEM WITH EVERYONE) * FAIR USE FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES Mirrored From: https://youtu.be/FXiD2GA-ORs - Cloud ionizers are rapidly popping up around the globe as the replacement for the most widely used weather modification technique: dumping chemicals into clouds with cloud seeding. - Cloud ionization and electric methods promise greater control of the weather without any toxic chemicals and according the CEO of Earthwise Technologies (now closed) they can actually make the air cleaner. - Cloud ionizers use pollution already in the sky as a “cloud seed” or scientifically referred to as a cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). The idea is simple: create static electricity that attracts water to aerosols (dust, metals, pollution) in the sky to create clouds or make it rain. - Finally, cloud ionizers are being used to protect critical infrastruction like nuclear waste from lightning strikes! - Another new technique being discussed by three prominent companies and the Chinese governement is the ability to use electromagnetic signals sent from ground based antennas to steer atmospheric rivers, or rivers in the sky. - This article and video is to update my original post on the topic of cloud ionization from 2014: - Cloud Ionization, Electric Rainmaking, and Laser-guided Weather Modification - STEERING ATMOSPHERIC RIVERS WITH ANTENNAS - Miles Research and aquiess global rain project - http://milesresearch.co/ - David Miles on Steering Sky Rivers, Weather Moderation, and Military Implications - https://climateviewer.com/2019/01/20/david-miles-on-steering-sky-rivers-weather-moderation-and-military-implications/ - https://climateviewer.com/2018/06/07/aquiess-sciblue-steering-rivers-in-the-sky/ - https://climateviewer.com/2015/05/28/how-texas-stole-californias-rain/ * CBD - (Carbon Black Dust) The Chemtrail Secret for Weather Warfare, Geoengineering, and Ozone Destruction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXNxUdy54QA https://t.me/climateviewerchat/11408 * Ionospheric Heaters - Space Weather Control and Geophysical Warfare https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCexJx2t9Ic https://t.me/climateviewercha

"I don't have many memories of it." The post The Fleetwood Mac album Christine McVie had no memory of recording first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

by Martin Armstrong, Armstrong Economics: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has warned that it has run out of funding at the beginning of America’s hurricane season. Last month, the agency testified before Congress that it still has $4 billion in its Disaster Relief Fund, then claimed that Hurricane Helene wiped through the budget. The agency […]

from SGT Report: While FEMA turns its back on Americans in need in Florida and all over the east coast, the maniacs in Japan have allowed the release of the self-replicating mRNA bioweapon known as REPLICON and more than a dozen Japanese folks have already taken this new deadly experimental “vaccine”. Dr. James Thorp joins […]

A Prayer to Discover Childlike FaithBy Lynette Kittle Bible Reading"And He said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" – Matthew 18:3 Listen or Read Below: What does it mean to have childlike faith to become like little children in the kingdom of God? How do we achieve it? What steps do we need to take to walk in it? As adults, how do we move past all the voices that have been telling us throughout our lives that we need to "grow up" and "stop behaving like a child"? Believing What Our Father SaysAs a child, I believed my Dad could do anything. With my childlike knowledge, doubts, limitations, and skepticism didn't have a place in my mind or lead my thoughts astray. Like most of us, as children, if our dad told us something, we believed it, with no questioning, second guessing, or resistance. In the 2000 movie "The Kid," Bruce Willis and Spencer Breslin play the same character, with Willis as the adult him and Breslin as his childhood self. Tragically, around the age of 8 years old, his mother dies, and his father tells him, "You gotta grow up, now. Do you understand?" Sadly, his character didn't receive the help or support to grieve the loss of his mother or to understand what his dad was telling him to do or how he was supposed to know how to do that at age 8. All of a sudden, he was supposed to stop behaving like the child he was and act like an adult, rejecting the joy and wonder of childhood to face the loss and responsibility of losing his mom. Like "The Kid" character, childhood losses and hurts can keep us from knowing how to be like a child, especially when it comes to having faith in God. It can stunt our faith growth. Still, we need to take heed of what Mark 10:15 urges: "Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Even If Others Laugh: Only BelieveJairus, a father who asked Jesus to heal his daughter, was faced with disbelief from his friends and family. "While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. ‘Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher anymore?' Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, ‘Don't be afraid; just believe'" (Mark 5:35-36). Jesus didn't let their unbelief hinder Him. "He went in and said to them,‘ Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at Him' (Mark 5:39-40). It's hard to believe that people laughed at Jesus, yet it happened. But their unbelief didn't keep Him from healing her based on the father's faith. "Then Jesus took Jairus daughter by the hand and told her to get up, and she did (Mark 5:41-42).  Why Does the Kingdom of Heaven Belong to Those Like Little Children?Children are known for their ability to believe what may seem impossible to adults. They are more open to believing what Ephesians 3:20 tells us God can do. "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us." During Jesus' teaching, Mark 10:13 describes how "People were bringing little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them." Mark 10:14 describes, "When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.'" What did Jesus mean? Childlike faith doesn't put limits on God and what He can do. Sadly, adults often focus on why things are impossible, whereas children find it easier to believe in the impossible. "Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible'" (Matthew 19:26). Often, we forget all that God has for us, but 1 Corinthians 2:9 describes how no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, and no human mind has conceived, the things God has prepared for those who love Him.  Let's Pray: Dear Father,Restore to us the joy and wonder of childlike faith. Free us from the hindrances of childhood hurts and losses that may be keeping us from believing You and what You tell us is possible with You. Like Jairus in the Bible, strengthen and encourage us in our faith to only believe as Jesus instructed, especially when others around us doubt, disbelieve, and even laugh at Your words. Help us to trust You in ways that lead us to become like little children in our faith in You.In Jesus' name, amen. Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/benwhitephotography Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today's Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and more. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as associate producer for Soul Check TV. Related Resource: Jesus Calling – Stories of Faith Kerry Washington. Andrea Bocelli. Reba McEntire. Mark Wahlberg. Tony Dungy. Matthew McConaughey, What do all of these people have in common? They are all people of faith who have leaned on God in both the good and challenging times-and they've shown up to tell their story of faith on The Jesus Calling Podcast. The Jesus Calling Podcast provides a place for people from all walks of life to share the heartaches, joys, and divine moments that keep them going.  Inspired by Sarah Young’s classic devotional book, the Jesus Calling podcast has brought encouragement and peace to millions. New episodes drop every Thursday! Listen today on LifeAudio.com or wherever you find your podcasts. Now that you’ve prayed, are you in need of someone to pray for YOU? Click the button below! The post A Prayer to Discover Childlike Faith – Your Daily Prayer – October 11 appeared first on GodUpdates.

October 11, 2024 Moving From "I Had Hoped" to "I Have Hope"SARAH FREYMUTH Lee en español "but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel." Luke 24:21a (NIV) I had hoped ... It's a familiar phrase I've gotten used to repeating in this season of my life. I had hoped my intrusive thoughts would disappear completely by now. I had hoped my energy would be fully back to normal. I had hoped my faith would not be threatened by panic attacks. Can you relate? Perhaps for you it sounds more like: I had hoped I'd get better from this long-lasting illness. I had hoped I'd be married by now.I had hoped the family conflict would resolve.  I know a few disciples of Jesus who understood this too. Days after Jesus' crucifixion, sandaled feet kicked up dust on the road to Emmaus as two disciples walked there from Jerusalem, hearts heavy with disappointment. They were mourning the man they had hoped was the promised Messiah. They talked to each other in disbelief about the latest news: Some women went to the tomb but didn't find His body. When the resurrected Jesus Himself joined them, they did not recognize Him! He listened to them recall the last few days' happenings, then unfolded the Scriptures before them, but still they could not see Him for who He was. What was confounding them so? What was holding their hearts back from understanding? Their hope was in the past tense. They "had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel" (Luke 24:21a, emphasis added). But then the risen Jesus revealed Himself to them through conversation and breaking bread, and the men were amazed, revived by hope fanning their faith back into flame: "They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?'" (Luke 24:32, ESV). Jesus showed He is the One who redeems, just not how everyone thought He would. Thankfully, when Jesus adjusts our eyes and hearts to see the purpose He brings and who He really is, things change. What might we be missing, even as we walk with Jesus, if we don't adjust our ears to hear or our eyes to see Him fully? What might be holding us back from understanding? Jesus came to give us an eternal perspective. We cannot see all the ways God is at work, but even this invites deeper intimacy with Him. Jesus will handle what we cannot see in the ways He knows are best for us. Let's shift our perspective to present-tense hope in our Savior. We can be certain His heart toward us is good. The fleeting hopes of this world are nothing in comparison to the sure and eternal hope we have in Jesus. Father, thank You that You are my hope. Situations can shake my heart and mind, but You are the One who makes me secure. Help me to look to the reminders You give me in Your Word so I can stand on Your promises to give me the peace and hope my heart longs for. In Jesus' Name, Amen. OUR FAVORITE THINGS Should I rebuild trust with the person who hurt me? Is it possible to still trust God when I'm afraid of what He will allow next? Lysa TerKeurst, Dr. Joel Muddamalle and counselor Jim Cress deeply understand these questions and all the complexities around the topic of trust. But they also want to invite you into the scriptural and therapeutic wisdom they’ve gained. Season 7 of the Therapy & Theology podcast, Trust: The Oxygen of All Relationships, is happening now ... Listen to Episode 1 here! ENGAGE You can find more biblical encouragement from Sarah Freymuth at her website and catch up with her on Instagram or Facebook. 2024 marks 20 years of publishing Encouragement for Today Devotions! One of our devotion writers, Meredith Houston Carr, has created a special video message for you as we celebrate this milestone! Check it out here in our Encouragement for Today Facebook group! FOR DEEPER STUDY Luke 24:5-7, "... Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise" (ESV). Have you put your hope in a dream that hasn't happened yet? How can you lean into the promises of Jesus to take you into a deeper and lasting hope in Him? To take a different look at a situation that is making you worry, invite God into it, and place your hope in God to be at work for your good and His glory. We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments. © 2024 by Sarah Freymuth. All rights reserved. Proverbs 31 MinistriesP.O. Box 3189 Matthews, NC 28106 www.Proverbs31.org The post Moving From “I Had Hoped” to “I Have Hope” – Encouragement for Today – October 11, 2024 appeared first on GodUpdates.