Hope for Life

Yesterday, we talked about Biblical hope and how it is defined not as wishful thinking, but confident knowledge of guaranteed future events. I want to talk more about this hope because I want you to see that this very hope that we are talking about is hope that lasts.

In the Bible, hope is something that comes only when the Lord is at work. Hope came to Israel when they were in the wilderness when the cloud by day and the fire by night (both physical representations of the presence of the Lord with them) continued to lead them. Hope came to Israel again when their Messiah, Jesus Christ, came. Our hope is found in the fact that the grave is empty…Christ rose from the dead, and because of this, we no longer need to fear the grave, or death, or hell, or Satan, or anything else that seeks to dismay us.

God’s purposes for us include hope…guaranteed future blessings…that will help us to face even the most of uncertain times.

I remember when I had lost my job. The circumstances surrounding it were sketchy, but one of the things that I always knew is that God would honor my decision to do the right thing. And He did. I never lost hope, even when it seemed as if no one would give me a call back or another look. I was struggling at times when God made me wait, but the beautiful thing about it was that the waiting actually helped me to remember my hope.

So what are you dealing with today that is causing you to lose your hope? Remember that God has given you all the hope you need today because of what Jesus did on the cross, and in the power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead!

Think about that today, and God bless you!

Comment below about a time that you found hope in the midst of horrible circumstances!

The Fear of Failing—Part 2

Yesterday, we talked about the fear of failure. Today I want to talk about it again, but in light of our purpose as Christians…namely, to reconcile the world to God.

In 2 Corinthians 5, we are told about the ministry of reconciliation, and what that entails. Basically what Paul is getting at is that people are spiritual beings, not just the flesh and blood that we see walking around. Every person is to be viewed from this spiritual standpoint. When we do that, we stop seeing people as flesh and blood that is here today and gone tomorrow, but as living souls that will live forever in one of two places…heaven or hell.

When we have this perspective, we begin to realize the truth of 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says that anyone who is in Christ has become something new. We long to see this renewal in the life of everyone we come into contact with. Now here’s the interesting part of all of this: as Christ’s ambassadors (vs. 20), we have been given the message and the ministry of reconciliation (vs. 18) to share with those who are dying without Christ.

That’s a pretty huge responsibility when you get right down to it. It’s enough to make anyone fear the prospect of failing at it. But here’s the wonderful thing about this message: all we are called to do is share it. We are not called to reconcile anyone, we are called to share the message and ministry of reconciliation. We are called to show people that they can be reconciled to God…not reconcile them ourselves. The fact of the matter is that God has already done the prerequisite work of reconciliation when He sent Christ to die on the cross. That’s why when people are now “in Christ” they are a “new creation.” God does it through the work Christ already did.

So what does that mean for us? It means that we don’t have to fear failure. Let me put that another way…we should fear failing our task of sharing this message, but we shouldn’t fear that people will reject it, because some of them will. But their receptiveness is not the issue. The issue is our obedience in sharing the message of the Gospel.

So, when you think about it those terms, there really is nothing to fear!

Think about that today! And God bless you!

Share in the comments below how you seek to share this message of reconciliation with the world around you, and maybe even some of the results!

Are You Paying Attention?

The challenge that I gave my congregation yesterday went something like this: “If you fail to pay attention to your choices, your obedience and your gospel, then you are failing to be a Christian.” The fact of the matter is this: when God calls a man or woman to be the person He wants them to be, there is responsibility on the part of that person whom God has called to pay attention to the “product” of the life that is lived.

Let me try and explain it this way: Let’s say I own a business that makes widgets of some kind. Now I want to build this business to become something great so I hire people into my company who do all sorts of things. Some people actually build the widgets, some test the widgets, some prepare the widgets to be shipped, others manage all of the people who do all of this stuff. But each individual, while called to the greater purpose of building widgets, is responsible to produce the product of a widget. If even one of the people in the production line fails to do their job properly, the widget will no longer be the widget that I wanted to be produced.

Now, let’s take this analogy and put it in terms of the church. God is the one who owns the business, and this business is called the church. He is the one building the business and He is the one responsible for the hiring of those who will work in the business. Therefore, He has a reasonable right to expect that those who work with and for Him to hold a certain standard of excellence when doing their work. If we fail to pay attention to the work we are doing, it will not be long until the work fails and becomes less than what it was intended to be.

So, Christian, let me ask you the question: Are you paying attention to the life that you are living? Are you paying attention the gospel that you are proclaiming by your word and your deeds? Are you paying attention to be obedient to the Word of God as it is defined in your life? If not, allow this post to be your wake up call. Because there is no better time than now to get up and to PAY ATTENTION!

Think about that today! And God bless you!

Who I Am

The Bible tells us that we are created for the purposes of God. We have been saved in order that the balance of our lives might be spent being used by Him to reach a lost world with the Gospel of Christ. That purpose is never suspended or retracted. As long as we draw breath, God wants us to lead people to His Son.

The Bible also has some things to tell us about the fact that when we are saved, there some things that happen to us. First, we receive the Holy Spirit and are “born again” not of natural processes, or the will of someone else, but born of God! In this we are given the right to be called “children of God.” (John 1:10-13)

It also says that we have been given an opportunity to be an ambassador for the Kingdom of God. The ambassador is the representative of a certain country to a foreign entity. That is what God has called us to be…ambassadors for Christ. We share that which our king wants the country in which we live to know about.

And finally, God calls us to be His ministers…ministers of reconciliation. We are to tell people that God desires a relationship with them. And we are examples of that relationship in action. We are the illustration. We are the object lesson. We are the tool that God will use to show an unbelieving and unholy world just Who He is! (2 Corinthians 5:11-21)

And so live as you are, and don’t take a second place job. God’s calling on you is sure, and so is your ability to fulfill the call when you keep your eyes on Jesus! He will never leave you or forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)

Feel free to comment below and we'll see you on Sunday!