Word for Today, Tue, 06 Ju1 2004: The Source of All Hope
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>
Dear friends,
Jesus Christ is the source of all hope. He secured our future,
He IS God in the flesh. God is righteous and Holy, which means
He is completely right and true. God loves what is right and
hates what is wrong. God created human beings in His likeness,
and He chose to make them unique living beings by giving them a
choice. As soon as He did this, knowingly He introduced the
certainty of people turning away from Him. So at the very same
time, He created His plan to redeem all people. By His own
sacrifice, God became man Himself. His Name is Jesus, for He
saves people from their sin. Unfortunately for some, not
everyone will accept the provision God has made for us, so they
don't even know the hope that they can have. It's already been
taken care of. God wants an intimate, personal relationship with
each one of us. He is the source of all hope. He is God, and He
is Jesus Christ. Only the true Christian believes this, but the
true Christian is the only one with real hope. Those who really
know Christ love Him, He cares for them and they are drawn to His
great love.
Yours in Christ,
Brian
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http://www.ficm.org/DailyInChrist/0709dic.htm
July 9
THE SOURCE OF ALL HOPE
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, the help of my
countenance, and my God (Psalm 43:5).
Sometimes the depression resulting from a seemingly impossible
situation is related to a wrong concept of God. David wrote:
"How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you
hide your face from me? ... How long will my enemy triumph over
me?" (Psalm 13:1, 2 NIV). Had God really forgotten David? Was He
actually hiding from David? Of course not. David had a wrong
concept of God, feeling that He had abandoned him to the enemy.
David believed a lie about God, and consequently he lost his
focus. His situation seemed hopeless, and hopelessness is the
basis for all depression.
But the remarkable thing about David is that he didn't stay in
the dumps. He evaluated his situation and realized, "Hey, I'm a
child of God. I'm going to focus on what I know about Him, not
on my negative feelings." From the pit of his depression, he
wrote: "I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in
your salvation" (Psalm 13:5 NIV). Then he decided to make a
positive expression of his will: "I will sing to the LORD, for
he has been good to me" (verse 6). He willfully moved away from
his wrong concept and its accompanying depression and returned
to the source of his hope.
If Satan can destroy your belief in God, you will lose your
source of hope. But with God, all things are possible. He is the
source of all hope. You need to learn to respond to
hopeless-appearing situations as David did: "Why are you in
despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in
God, for I shall again praise Him, the help of my countenance,
and my God" (Psalm 43:5).
If Satan can't destroy your concept of God, then he will seek to
destroy your concept of who you are as a child of God. He can't
do anything about your position in Christ, but if he can get you
to believe it's not true, you will live as if it's not, even
though it is. The two most important beliefs you possess are who
God is and who you are as His child.
Above all, Father, help me focus continually on who You are and
who I am in Christ, and to take every thought captive to the
obedience of Christ.
Copyright 2004 - Freedom in Christ - Taken from "Daily in
Christ" by Neil T. Anderson and Joanne Anderson
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Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/
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