4 Reasons to Have Hope Today
The Here and Now
Life on this earth can sometimes feel like a hamster wheel.
Exercise at least three times a week, meal prep for the upcoming week, make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be when, set a budget for the year to track spending, etc. Lather, rinse, repeat.
We do all this and so much more because we live in a temporal world. One that is continually de-evolving.
We battle dirt, grime, aging bodies, and the endless needs of ourselves and others.
We get up, shower, brush our teeth, throw in a load of laundry, get dressed, read our Bible, feed the kids the dog, and hopefully ourselves, water the plants, go to work, wrestle through a miscommunication with our spouse, etc.
Only to get up and do it all over again the next day because it did not “take”. We battle against lack, wanting, and decay.
Another shower will be taken (hopefully), our teeth will need to be brushed – again, our kids will get hungry again, and we will forget what we read in our Bibles yesterday, and again, we will need to talk through yet another misunderstanding with a loved one or coworker.
If we didn’t run through our lists, our families, homes, and lives would become a disheveled mess or worse.
But God did not create us for such an existence. He created us to live in His perfect heaven.
In heaven there will be no such battle. No to-do lists, no strife, misunderstandings, no daily grappling for existence.
There will be peace beyond understanding.
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him— (1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV)
Despite all this, God in His lovingkindness has given reasons to have hope in the here and now:
He’s Here
When our original parents messed up their perfect world, God should have abandoned His freewill creation and walked away. But our human thinking is not God’s way of thinking.
Mankind continues to mess up, yet God in His mercy and grace has never abandoned us.
While there are times in life we may feel alone, we never are. He promised to never to leave us or forsake us.
The Creator of the universe, King of Kings, and Lord of lords is with each of us no matter where we are.
In Him we live and move and have our being, because without Him we “aren’t”. He is even holding all things together for us (Colossians 1:17).
In Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28 ESV)
The Holy Spirit
Jesus promised He would not leave us alone when He departed earth. He sent us a Helper, the Holy Spirit. He said the Holy Spirit would teach and guide us in truth and remind us of all things Jesus taught us (John 14:26).
I cannot count the number of times I have cried out for help in situations I did not know what to do or say and the Holy Spirit always came through!
He also guides others to the Lord by convicting them of their sin and need for a Savior, while at the same time helping us live a pure life by convicting us when we stray.
Our blessing is twofold. We are helped when we are reminded to share the beauty and Truth of the gospel with others and then get to stand back and watch the Holy Spirit change hearts (John 16:8).
Blessings!
We do not have to look very far to count our blessings. God lavishes us with love and blessings and none of us deserve a single thing from our pure and holy God.
The beauty of a newborn babe, a family reunited, a sunset, a delicious meal - not to mention the indescribable gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
The list is endless because we have a generous and infinitely creative God.
There is no reason for His continued love and blessings, yet He never stops giving.
When we connect with our awesome Creator God through worship and thanksgiving, it not only glorifies Him, but fills up our souls to overflowing with peace and joy.
This Hope
Even amidst the darkness of this world, we have hope. Jesus told us in John 16:33 we will have trials in this world, but to take heart, He has overcome the world.
Before we accepted Christ as Savior, we all lived in darkness and despair.
In John 14:6 Jesus tells us He is the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
His free gift of salvation is available to all (John 3:16-17) and for those of us who have already accepted this free gift, our eternal life has already begun.
We are forgiven, accepted, and free!
Hopeful expectation now springs forth from our hearts as we await the day we will see Jesus face to face.
So even amid the mundane tasks of everyday life, we can treasure a heavenly peace and contentment knowing we are not home yet.
Want to learn more about salvation? Click here.
What gives you hope in the midst the everyday?
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