Today’s word is HOPE and I don’t know if we’ve ever needed this word more than we need it now.
[Proverbs 13:12]
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick…”
- JESUS IS THE HOPE YOU NEED
[Galatians 4:4-5]
“4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.”
[Psalms 62:5-6]
“5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.”
[Ephesians 2:12-13]
“12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood of Christ.”
[Romans 15:13]
“May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
2. JESUS IS THE HOPE EVERYONE NEEDS
[Ecclesiastes 3:11]
“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”
Blaise Pascal, famous philosopher/scientist/mathematician , “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.”
[1 Timothy 4:10]
“This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.”
[2 Peter 3:9]
“The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants EVERYONE to repent.”
3. JESUS IS THE HOPE THAT GOD MAKES ALL THINGS RIGHT
Jesus is proof that God hasn’t abandoned mankind to their self-destructive ways.
Jesus is proof that God keeps his promises.
Jesus is proof that God actually cares about us
Jesus is proof that God brings good things out of hard things…
To anyone who wonders what God is doing, where God is hiding, why He isn’t doing something NOW… remember that “at the right time” Jesus was born
- At the right time, he’ll show up
- At the right time, he makes things new
- At the right time, God keeps his promises
[Romans 15:4]
“Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.”
[Romans 8:18-23]
18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.”
If you’re feeling hopeless because of your circumstances and feel that you are stuck, shift your attention to Jesus.
- He’s proof that God hasn’t lost sight of you
- He’s proof that God cares about you, personally
If you feel distant from God and disconnected from faith, ask God to somehow show you he’s there. It doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else. You just have to know one way or the other.
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Application Questions
- What stood out to you from this message and why?
- What is one thing God is telling you to START doing because of this message?
- What is one thing God is telling you to STOP doing because of this message?
- How will this message change how you act at home, at work, and in your relationships?