God Gives Hope
Advisory Board –
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come true, there is life and joy.” (Proverbs 13:12)
In a world filled with uncertainty hope is illusive. Hope requires faith, “… the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.” (Heb11:1) The Bible tells us that, “…faith comes from listening to this message of good news—the Good News about Christ.” (Romans 10:17) Hope is based on faith which is based on hearing the word of Christ. Hope requires faith in something or someone; hope requires knowledge of the truth. Often truth is our perception of reality and not reality itself. A bumper sticker says, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it!” A more “truthful” expression might be, “God said it, that settles it!” whether we believe it or not makes no difference. Jesus said some very provocative things, such as, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Either He was a liar, a religious fanatic or telling the truth.
For
hope to be
justified there
must be a reasonable expectation that it will be realized.
Much of life is dependent upon false expectations.
When these expectations (hopes) are not forthcoming our “heart grows
sick” and
we are filled with despair. Man offers false hopes – “If you believe as
we
believe your finances will increase, your marriage will be healed, you
will
have health, wealth and prosperity, etc.”
The truth is only “God gives hope”. Nothing and no one except
God,
through Christ, can guarantee anything – we do not even know from one
moment to
the next if we will be alive. God has some attributes that He does not
share
with His creation – He knows all things (omniscient), He is everywhere
(omnipresent) and He is all powerful (omnipotent) – what He desires to
do, He
will do. A loving Father, He desires
only good things for His children. (Matthew 7:11) His
Word, “The Bible” is truth. If we chose to
believe this and are willing to
live by His truth than we can have true hope – hope that will be
fulfilled.–
for only, “GOD GIVES HOPE”. The book of
Ecclesiastes starts out with a very depressing and hopeless message, “... Everything is meaningless," says
the Teacher, "utterly meaningless!" What
do people get for all their hard work?
Generations come and go, but nothing really changes.” (Eccles.
1:1-4) and ends
with a resounding truth, “But, my child,
be warned: There is no end of opinions ready to be expressed. Studying
them can
go on forever and become very exhausting! Here is my final conclusion:
Fear God
and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person. God will
judge us
for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or
bad.” (Eccles.
12:12-14)
Hope
ministries is a
Christian
counseling center. If you or someone you
know needs “hope” call 482-5300 or toll free 888-905-HOPE.