I recently watched the funeral of the Reverend Billy Graham, as did many millions of others around the world. As a Christian it did my heart good to see how the family reacted to his death. Yes, they were sad that he was gone but there was an attitude of celebration, a spirit of hope. Most funerals and most lives today are perpetuating a spirit of hopelessness. Many non-Christian people are sensing for the first time a genuine hopelessness. Anxiety is all around us as we see terrorist attacks, political fanaticism, social unrest, hate and evil in front of our faces.
What hope can there possibly be for a better world for our children, grandchildren and even our great grandchildren? Where can we find new hope for the present, let alone our future? Where can our friends, family, and neighbors turn for hope? The Bible fully understands that hope is vital to all living people. Proverbs 13:12 (KJV) says: Hope deferred makes the heart sick; but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. Hope outside of Christ is never realized. Yes, there are so many ways that hope is shattered: sickness, disaster, divorce, violence, debt, addictions, crime, bereavement, defeat, disappointments. These all seem to be symptoms of our modern society and are affecting millions of people, depriving them of peace, happiness and ultimately hope.
In the New Testament the Greek word for hope means the happy anticipation of good. As a Christian we not only have a hope by which to live but we also have a hope by which to die. Hope is the absolute certainty we have that God is good and that His promises are true. Hope is actually personalized in Jesus himself, He is our hope!
Colossians 1:27 …….Christ in you, the hope of glory (all made possible by the Cross).
So wake up Christians because this world needs people with a confident hope. Not a misplaced hope but a secure hope. The words of Jesus himself teach us that things are going to get worse before they get better, especially for the Christian. There is no chapter or verse in the entire Bible that says that God’s people are expected to live dictated to by world circumstances, NO, but there are many verses that tell us that we are to live by the principles and promises of God’s kingdom. We have the greatest hope of all in Titus 2:13 (KJV) Looking for that Blessed Hope --the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have a confident expectation that our lives and futures are in the hands of the One greater than the worlds strongest and most awful leaders. Other men see only a hopeless end; but the Christian rejoices in an endless hope.
Listen to the David Crowder song All Our Hope Is In Jesus. It is a good reminder of what the Bible says about Hope.
Christians rejoice in the God of hope, for our hope is a deep, internal certainty rooted in our trust of what God has said.
CHOOSE WISELY!
What hope can there possibly be for a better world for our children, grandchildren and even our great grandchildren? Where can we find new hope for the present, let alone our future? Where can our friends, family, and neighbors turn for hope? The Bible fully understands that hope is vital to all living people. Proverbs 13:12 (KJV) says: Hope deferred makes the heart sick; but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. Hope outside of Christ is never realized. Yes, there are so many ways that hope is shattered: sickness, disaster, divorce, violence, debt, addictions, crime, bereavement, defeat, disappointments. These all seem to be symptoms of our modern society and are affecting millions of people, depriving them of peace, happiness and ultimately hope.
In the New Testament the Greek word for hope means the happy anticipation of good. As a Christian we not only have a hope by which to live but we also have a hope by which to die. Hope is the absolute certainty we have that God is good and that His promises are true. Hope is actually personalized in Jesus himself, He is our hope!
Colossians 1:27 …….Christ in you, the hope of glory (all made possible by the Cross).
So wake up Christians because this world needs people with a confident hope. Not a misplaced hope but a secure hope. The words of Jesus himself teach us that things are going to get worse before they get better, especially for the Christian. There is no chapter or verse in the entire Bible that says that God’s people are expected to live dictated to by world circumstances, NO, but there are many verses that tell us that we are to live by the principles and promises of God’s kingdom. We have the greatest hope of all in Titus 2:13 (KJV) Looking for that Blessed Hope --the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have a confident expectation that our lives and futures are in the hands of the One greater than the worlds strongest and most awful leaders. Other men see only a hopeless end; but the Christian rejoices in an endless hope.
Listen to the David Crowder song All Our Hope Is In Jesus. It is a good reminder of what the Bible says about Hope.
Christians rejoice in the God of hope, for our hope is a deep, internal certainty rooted in our trust of what God has said.
CHOOSE WISELY!
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