HOPELESS

Have you ever been to a funeral where there seemed to be many people who didn’t have any relationship with Jesus Christ, people who did not know the hope of salvation?

There is a look of grief in all those present but in those eyes without the hope of Christ, there seems to be fear, emptiness and even terror.

For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off,

When God requires his life? Job 27:8 (NASB)

I think that should be a sober reminder to those of us who do know Christ that we too were once like that, having no hope.

Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Ephesians 2:12 (NASB)

That should cause us, not to look down on those frightened, hopeless people but instead to look on them with compassion and a desire to introduce them to the One that we call Lord, the One in Whom we have placed all of our hope and trust.

He saved us—

not by works of righteousness that we had done,

but according to His mercy,

through the washing of regeneration

and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

⁶ This Spirit He poured out on us abundantly

through Jesus Christ our Savior,

⁷ so that having been justified by His grace,

we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:5-7 (HCSB)

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

HUMILITY

In Chris Tomlin’s book, The Way I Was Made, © 2005, Multnomah Publishers, Inc., he talks about leading a life of humility and uses the term “an unnoticed life.” He describes the unnoticed life with stories of people he has known and uses some rather interesting phrases that I would like to share with you.

Here’s the first one:

“The power of dying to my own importance and reputation and taking the way of Jesus.” (p. 76)

I like that, dying to my own importance! It reminds me of Galatians 2:20 (NASB) where Paul says,

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

The second phrase about the unnoticed life that really struck me is this:

“It’s death—death to every molecule of you that rises for attention and notice. But it’s also birth into God’s amazing upside-down kingdom.” (p. 84)

Jesus said in John 18:36, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” Elsewhere the Bible tells us that Gods ways are higher than our ways. The world says grab all you can for yourself and God says give yourselves to the service of others. We’re even warned in 1 John 2:15 not to love the things in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life. That section finishes with the reason:

The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:17 (NASB)

Jesus summed it up best for us in Luke 9:23 - 24 (NLT),

²³Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. ²⁴If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

So, don’t worry about making a “name” for yourself and being famous. Make your life about showing others how famous God is!

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

CHILDREN

Working with children can be very rewarding in many ways. We can learn from the smallest of them what it is like to trust, have faith in others or look to their elders for guidance.

Jesus used the humility and simple faith of children as an illustration of how we are to be with our Heavenly Father.

WE CAN LEARN FROM CHILDREN

¹About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” ²Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. ³Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. ⁴So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 18:1 - 4 (NLT)

We all know that there are times on earth when things are not as God planned. While we can see the simple trust and humility in a small child, we can also see the disappointments in their eyes and ultimately in their lives when they are let down by those in whom they placed their trust.

WE HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES TOWARD CHILDREN

⁵“And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf (lit. in my name) is welcoming me. ⁶But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea. ⁷“What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting. Matthew 18:5 - 7 (NLT)

We know that our Heavenly Father cannot let us down. He does not tempt us or cause us to fall into sin. He delivers us from its deadly consequences. He has promised us life eternal when we believe in and follow His Son, Jesus. He has promised us an abundant life (not necessarily materially!) when we adopt His ways rather than the ways of the world.

While salvation for ourselves is a wonderful gift, we also must remember the responsibility that we have toward the children. As Jesus said in Matthew 19:14,
“Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.”

Pray for the children and youth of your city, state, country and all over the world. They are the future of the Body of Christ on this earth. Don’t stop them by insisting they sing the same songs that you’ve always sung. Don’t hinder them with the legalism of the Pharisees that Jesus condemned. Love them with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD