Is There Any Hope

We truly live in a day of unrest and uncertainty!  Every day seems to bring with it new problems that are huge and unexplainable.  

The weather is so unpredictable leaving most people perplexed and aghast.  People are without jobs and many are losing their homes and many are living in the streets trying to cope with life.  Japan has just lost over 18,000 people.  China and other places have been devastated.  There are terrorists that think nothing about blowing themselves up and killing as many other people as they can in the process.  Our Government seems to be riddled with Progressives that are trying to break our economy and make us a Progressive Nation which means losing most of our freedoms and liberties.  We have gangs in our streets, killings in our schools and also in our cities and towns.  Drugs and alcohol run rampant everywhere.  You name it and it probably is happening some place in our country.  This list could go on and on, it just seems like there is no end.

Many people live without hope waking up in the morning dreading the new day. It seems like the world is spinning out of control and they want to get off wishing it was just a nightmare.  I want to tell you something before you think about ending it all which would be a big mistake ~ don’t do it.

There is One that wants to set you free from your stress and fear and give you His peace and joy that surpasses all understanding.  One who loves you more than you could ever understand.  And His love is an unconditional love that you can’t imagine or deserve.  Nothing that is going on here has taken Him by surprise, He has it all under control.  His purpose for all of us is, “To prosper us and not to harm us but to give us a hope and a future.”  He loves you more than life itself and He proved it.  He laid down His life for all of us when He allowed Himself to be crucified for our sins.  No one could have taken His life without His permission.  He gave it freely to show how much He loved us.

These things are easy for me to say because I have experienced them in my life.  I have been blessed beyond measure.  I have been delivered of many things and I have been healed miraculously.  The Lord has “healed the years the locusts have eaten up.”  Do I still struggle with things, or have I had many hard days?  The answer is yes, many over the years, but the Lord has helped me through all of them and He still is helping me.  Praise the Lord.  I know that I am very special to the Lord but no more than you are.

If you are a Christian, don’t let the circumstances and what is going on around you get you down, take hold of the Lord’s hand and He will walk with you through anything that is going on in your life.  There are many real people in the Word of God that faced impossible situations, but nothing is impossible with God!  He got them through their trials because He loved them.

Let me speak to the non-believer.  The reason I said “real people” is that many think the Bible is not true and not believable.  Why do I know it is true?  Because He changed my life from being a real freak in the world for many years doing almost everything you can think of, into a Jesus freak loving and serving the Lord.  Praise God!  A man so full of hate and bitterness that it seemed that something was missing in my heart to the point that when my wife started having kids I couldn’t go to them, they would have to come to me.  The fact is, I didn’t even love my wife when we got married.  When I committed my life to the Lord about 32 years ago He changed not only my life, but also my way of thinking.  Now I love my wife and kids and my intent and purpose is to love everyone else I come in contact with.  

One day a few years ago I was praying by myself in the morning for healing and in an instant I was healed of asthma that I had for over 50 years so bad that at times I ended up in the hospital plus I don’t know how many times I had to have emergency breathing treatments at different walk-ins over the years.  I don’t say this to brag about me, but to honor the Lord and praise His name and to encourage you to believe in the Lord and in His power to heal and His power to deliver you from anything.  By the way, I have been to many doctors since and I have never had any of them say that I had asthma and I have never taken any asthma medicine since, thank the Lord.  Since I was healed I have been in most every situation and circumstance that would have brought on my asthma plus I have jogged pretty close to fifteen miles with no problem, thank the Lord.  Only the Lord can perform a miracle.

Now I want to speak to you who believe, you are in the best hands with the Lord.  The Word says, “He will never leave us or forsake us.”  Now I want you to think about Noah, his day was somewhat like ours is today but today there are many more believers.  But even with so many believers the stench of sin is almost overwhelming.  In Genesis chapter 6:5–8 it says, “Now the Lord observed the extent of the people’s wickedness and He saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil.  So the Lord was sorry He had ever made them.  It broke His heart.”  (I think it is still breaking His heart and has been for many, many years.)  “And the Lord said, ‘I will completely wipe out this human race that I have created.  Yes, and I will destroy all the birds and animals too. I am sorry I ever made them.’  But Noah found favor with the Lord.”  

Genisis 6:11, “Now the earth had become corrupt in God’s sight and it was filled with violence.  God observed all this corruption in the world, and He saw violence and depravity everywhere.  So God said to Noah, ‘I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Yes, I will wipe them all from the face of the earth.’”

So he told Noah to build a boat - Ark.  God told him the dimensions and how to make it.  Do you know what God said about Noah?  In verse 9 it says, “This is the history of Noah and his family.  Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man that was living on the earth at the time.  He consistently followed God’s will and enjoyed a close relationship with him.”  I’m pretty sure it took 120 years to build the Ark.  In all the time Noah was building the Ark, can you imagine all the people he witnessed to in that period of time and how faithful Noah was to the Lord?  Try to imagine all the wicked people that tried to get in the Ark when the rain started coming down, they had never seen rain like they saw that day.  The earth was watered by a mist that came up out of the ground.  God’s wrath had been poured out and it would not be reversed until every living thing on the earth was destroyed.

But where was Noah?  He and his family were safe in the hands of God in the Ark that Noah had built.  God loved Noah but He didn’t love him anymore than He loves His elect now.  He kept Noah safe in the palm of His hand and He will do the same for us that love Him in our day.  

So don’t allow what is going on in the world today to overwhelm you, look up, your redemption is closer than it has ever been.  There is nothing that can happen to God’s elect unless He allows it, and if He does, it will work out for our good and the Lord will be right there with us.  The Bible says in Romans 8:28, “All things work together for good to those that love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  So if you find yourself stressed and fearful, start praising the Lord and it will change your whole perspective.  Get you mind off the things the evil one uses to frighten you and think on the things of God’s kingdom and let the Lord fill you with His perfect peace.  

The Bible says in Romans 8:6, “If the Spirit controls your mind there is life and peace.”  So put to death your flesh that causes you to fear and stress, and walk in the Spirit where there is freedom and life.

Praise God! Have a great day and God bless.