(January 9, 2017) Peggy Kannaday reflects on a great biblical truth… 

Hebrews is a very informative New Testament book. For example Hebrews 11:6 makes it clear that it is impossible to please God if we do not have ‘faith.’

What is faith? The writer of Hebrews tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen (Heb. 11:1). In short, without hope; there could be no faith. Why? Because faith is based on the content of what the person is hoping to experience or attain.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick (Proverbs 13:12), and a hopeless person is very sad, depressed and ill. We must keep our hope strong at all costs because hope is a key to a healthy mind and life! It is a required prerequisite to activate God’s power in your life.

Bible believing Christians are so blessed!
Why? Because they all have the hope of their salvation. They know that this life is just a vapour, and then we move onward and upward to a glorious life with the Lord Jesus Christ.

A Christian should never feel hopeless on a continual basis because we have the word of God! We gain hope from reading God’s wonderful promises every day.

• Faith is dependent on having hope
• Hearing God’s word produces hope in our hearts and minds
• We need the word of God as our daily spiritual food
• When we focus on God’s words, we can be set free from heaviness, sadness and depression.
• Christ’s life in the word of God and
• The Holy Spirit’s power manifests as we read, study and live by God’s word.

Many people are losing hope in the world system, the church and the leaders in every area of society. Actually this is all right because when we lose hope in the world system and in everything around us; it can be the start of our putting out total hope and trust in Jesus. Our hope is secure when we put it in Lord and in the word of God.

Complete salvation – despite life’s challenges
When our hope is in salvation; our hope will never be deferred! Our salvation has already been paid for by Jesus on the cross, and it is fully complete.

This salvation includes –

• Eternal life with God
• Healings
• Blessings
• Deliverance and
• A blessed life.

But life has its challenges! Our family and friends, even careers may at times fail us. And, sadly, this – and other matters – can cause some Christians to fall away from their faith before the Lord Jesus returns.

In reality many times in the Bible tells that of prophets left all alone without a friend, yet their hope was in God. Jesus himself was abandoned by many of his disciples – but Hebrews 12:2 declares that he endured all this and the cross itself for the joy that was set before him. In short, what kept Jesus from turning away from Calvary’s cross was the hope that he held on to concerning the future he would have with his beloved Father and his redeemed.

It is the same with all of us! Many Christians are being persecuted for Christ’s sake on a daily basis some are even slain. But no matter what happens in our lives; we know that our Lord has been through much worse. He has prepared the way for us to go through many afflictions, and will deliver us out of them all – or bring us through them.

So many people, even Christians are under attack these days and feel hopeless. They are being bombarded with bad news 24/7. We must counteract these very bad news reports with the word of God.

If all we hear daily is negative and very hopeless, we can easily become lethargic and fall down mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We must balance all of the bad disinformation and news with the truth of what the word of God declares about us!

We must fight to live the victorious Christian life. When we fight the negative with Bible reading, prayer and praise; we will not go too low into states of heaviness. We must pray to have the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Isaiah 61:3).

Hope-filled future
Having a hope-filled heart and speaking out words of thankfulness and praise fight off all hopeless feelings. God himself inhabits the praises of his people (Psalm 22:3). When we are grateful to him for our very breath and our salvation; it will strengthen a wonderful hope in our hearts for the future. No matter how difficult our present condition is; we can always have our hope for the future when we walk faithfully with Jesus Christ daily.

The closer we stay with the Lord; the most blessed we will be, and the more we can bless others. Paul and Silas were praising God after they were beaten and put in a filthy prison in chains. God gave them an earthquake and a supernatural way of escape out of their bondage. He will do the same – arrange miraculous releases – for his people today.

If you can have hope when your situation seems hopeless; you will always be a winner. You will overcome the current situation by focusing on the future hope that is in Jesus Christ and his glorious salvation. Our salvation includes a wonderful hope that will keep us safely. The protection of our minds is the helmet entitled ‘The Hope of Salvation’ (1 Thes. 5:8). It provides a guard against all negative thoughts and hopelessness.

Reach out with this good news!
When the movie, The Passion was shown all over the world masses of people went to see it because they knew it was about Jesus. However, the movie was not complete because it left out the resurrection of Christ!

Without the resurrection of Jesus, the story has a very sad ending. However, all who know Jesus have the knowledge and promise of the resurrection. Our lives have been renewed, revived, and we will be resurrected in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

Christians have the greatest future and hope now too because of Jesus’ victory over the grave and over death. Our hope is in the truth that ‘He is Risen.’ He is no longer in the tomb because he is risen indeed, and sits at the right hand of God, the Father. He is there interceding for his people night and day. When we pray his resurrection power can flow through our mortal bodies to bring new life, new love and new hope for each one of us.

But – it’s important to remember that other Christians who haven’t discovered these great truths and are so depressed today. And especially the many who don’t know Jesus as Saviour and friend. Many are insecure, on drugs, alcohol, hooked on gambling and other vices. So many ‘out there’ without the hope he gives and the salvation he offers.

May we all reach out to those in need today and share the good news message of the powerful hope available in Jesus.

Peggy Kannaday, a former Church Growth , Korea managing editor is a freelance writer in Fort Mill, SC who loves the Lord with all her heart and delights to pray for believers – especially for ‘Ancient Christians.’ Links: lkannaday@gmail.com / https://happy707.wordpress.com/