Faith, hope, and love. According to the Bible these are three indispensable and eternally enduring commodities, ones we ultimately can’t live without.
Love, said Jesus, is the driving principle behind God’s greatest commands. We must love God first, with everything we’ve got. And we must love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:34-40). It’s no surprise that these are God’s central values: the Bible tells us this over and over “God is love”!
Faith, biblically defined, is trust in God and in the payment He made for our sins when Jesus died on the cross. The apostle Paul said, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith. — Ephesians 2:8
Grace is a blessing we have not earned — in this case the gift of salvation that Jesus purchased for us — but FAITH is the means of receiving that gift.
And HOPE is the sense of expectancy and optimism that God wants to instill in all of us who love Him and have faith in Him. It’s an overriding confidence He gives, reminding us that, even in the midst of our greatest problems, God is still with us — and He is greater than any challenge we might face. Hope is that inextinguishable light that God ignites in our hearts to keep us believing in the awesome power of His light even when we are surrounded by darkness.
It’s the unswerving belief that better days are ahead, probably in this world and most certainly in the next. It’s the quietness he hardwires into our spirit that clings to the seemingly impossible truth that “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him” and that, in the grand scheme of things, “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:28, Romans 8:37).
That, my son, is a great reason for our Hope, a truth that we need to let soak into our very being, because we live in a culture that seems bent on spreading a relentless message of complete hopelessness.
I don't want to hear you use words like "I don't deserve" and I want you to quit apologizing for the past. I know your future feels uncertain, and a sense of guilt from your past weighs you down. Problems never seem far away.
In this world you will have trouble, Jesus warned. But take heart! I have overcome the world. — John 16:33
Remember
for a moment the despair you felt as you hung yourself in that jail
cell! Then also remember, except remember this for a decade, JESUS
CHRIST'S presence with you that day. God gave you GRACE in that
moment!
Quit taking on the burden of "others" choices. They are responsible for their decisions and their happiness and you my son are responsible for yours!
You can't do the job GOD has called you to do until you understand and
let go of the idea that it's up to you to make others happy! You are
destined to help others! You are destined to reach into the lives of
others and pull them out of their despair.
You
are destined to spread the GRACE OF GOD! Embrace it! Answer your
calling and Quit letting others pull you back into the guilt. GOD has
forgiven you, so FIGHT those demons and those people who continue to
weigh you done! Get up and STEP OUT INTO FAITH, and make the difference
you've been called to do!
You must, with God’s help, learn to cling to that rare and
wonderful thing called HOPE. Otherwise, your destined again to feel despair.
Pause today and renew your
hope in Him! Give Him your difficulties and battles again and rest in
the promise that He is bigger than any of our earthly troubles.
STEP OUT INTO FAITH AND DO IT TODAY!
No comments:
Post a Comment