HOPELESS

The other day I was talking with a teen who had given up all hope. By that, I mean he believed that life as he envisioned it was just not going to happen. He wasn’t going to be happy at home. He wasn’t going to have a normal job, make money and live a productive life. He had given up those hopes. His hope now was to be arrested and thrown into prison so that he would have some “normalcy” in his life. In his mind, he would have three meals a day, people to talk with and somebody to care about him, even though they were correctional officers!

All of us, even the Apostle Paul, give up hope at one time or another. When Paul was on a ship sailing for Rome, a storm came up that endangered the ship and all those aboard…

When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. Acts 27:20 NIV

Notice it says “we.” Paul had given up hope as well just as the teen I was talking to the other day had. None of us is immune to that type of thinking. However, when you know Jesus as your Savior He will make some provision for your hope to be restored.

We only need to look to the Word of God for those reminders, those promises:

• It tells us in Deuteronomy 31:6 (also Hebrews 13:5) that He will never leave us nor forsake us.
• In Jeremiah 29:11, the Lord tells us that he has plans to prosper us and not to harm us. He has plans for your life that will give you hope and a future.

We simply need to listen to Him, to God, as He attempts to communicate with us. The main way He communicates with us is His Word (the Bible), but He has other methods too! Through our coming to Him in prayer, He may speak in a voice that only we can hear. He may send the answer through a friend. Paul’s answer came in the form of a message from an angel and he shared the message of that angel with the men on his ship…

²²But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. ²³Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me ²⁴and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ ²⁵So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Acts 27:22-25 NIV

Giving up may be the easy thing to do. It doesn’t require faith in God to lose all hope. I guarantee, no GOD guarantees, that if you look to Him for your hope, to save you from your circumstance, He WILL save you.

The first step is a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Admit you need help, that you have fallen short of God’s perfection for your life (sinned – Romans 3:23, 6:23) and ask Jesus to help you turn that around. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead and you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

Things are not hopeless. Life is not hopeless. Place your hope in the God of all Creation, the LORD who made heaven and earth and all that is contained therein.

He is worthy of your trust…

⁹Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. ¹⁰He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 NIV

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

INSTEAD

You may have heard the story about the judge whose son appeared before him on a murder charge. The trial went proceeded and the son was found guilty. When sentencing time came, the judge looked at his son and read the guilty verdict again with the sentencing recommendation of the death penalty. Then, to everyone’s surprise, the judge stood up and took off his robe. He walked around to the front and declared that he was stepping down as judge and his last act would be to transfer the punishment to himself. He would die instead of his child.

That’s a wonderful earthly illustration of what God for us. He gave His only Son Jesus to accept the punishment for our sin. He died instead of us even though He was without guilt.

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)

No one on earth can match the perfection of God in Heaven.

Romans 3:23 (NKJV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

The punishment for sin is death

Romans 6:23 (NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, Blood had to be shed for the forgiveness of sin

God loved us so much; He wanted to provide a way out for us

John 3:16 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

He made it so simple

Romans 10:9 - 10 (NKJV) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

We can’t earn it or buy it. It is a gift of God. Rom 6:23b

⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8 – 10; Romans 6:23b (NKJV)

Share this with someone on your email list or someone that you know needs Christ in their lives.

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD