By Flattery, George M. IntroductionFor many people life is hard, circumstances are daunting, and the prospects of improvement are bleak. Given the hopelessness of their situation, they live with despair. When despair deepens, millions of people wonder if there is a way out of their darkness. These people, including teenagers, sometimes consider suicide. Today, I want to talk with you about making the journey from hopelessness to hope. You do not need to live without hope. You do not need to be dominated by despair. There is a way out, a way forward, a way upward, and a way that is ultimately victorious. With joy I will tell you about it now. Living with HopeThe best way to live is to live with hope. When we have hope, we expect good things to happen. We believe that we will have a good job, will be well physically, will marry and have well-behaved children, will travel and see the world, and the list goes on. Just the anticipation of these things brings joy and happiness to us. Theologian Emil Brunner observed, "What oxygen is to the lungs, hope is to the spirit. The quality of our hope determines the quality of our lives." Thus, hope is an essential ingredient to life. Hope is the anticipation of positive outcomes. We expect good things to happen. With hope we can overcome the problems of life. Lost HopeIt is probably safe to say that every person in the world has had hope for something that never was achieved or obtained. Sometimes we may have false hope. Maybe there was not much chance at the start that we would get what we wanted. Alister McGrath. "To have no hope in life is a terrible thing, to build that life on a false hope is still worse." At other times, we learn over time that our hope will not be realized, so our hope becomes forlorn. In any case our hope is lost. Dr. Steve Lim writes, "Without hope, the human spirit shrivels. When cynicism, defeat, and despair stain our lives, they hardly seem worth living." We all have watched as individuals who normally are positive shrivel in spirit when they lose hope. The darkness of the day shuts out the light and imprisons the soul in hopelessness. Jimmy Long. "Most xers have given up on growth and prosperity, and societal progress has hit a brick wall." As Robert Jensen exclaimed, "When hope in progress has been discredited, modernity has no resource either for renewing it or acquiring any sort of hope . . . Hopelessness is the very definition of Postmodernism." Our Hope is In ChristToday, I want to offer you hope that will never be false or forlorn. Jesus Christ died and rose again to give you new life. When you believe in Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will have that hope that abides and never fails. It is the hope of life eternal through Christ. You can make the journey from hopelessness to hope by believing in Christ! Speaking of the hope that we have in Christ, Lloyd Ogilvie says, Hope enables a vital quality of life; it sets us free to dare, gives us confidence for daily frustrations, and the courage to live adventuresomely. The gift of hope for the future is the key entrusted to us which opens the floodgates of the LordÃ??s power and unlocks the flow of His amazing, unlimited possibilities. The Ultimate VictoryTo be sure, even with our hope in Christ, we have our disappointments. We know that some people suffer greatly in this life. However, our hope in Christ is well-founded. In Romans 5:5 Paul says, "hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Also, in II Corinthians 1:10 Paul writes: "On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us." As believers in Christ, all of our losses and suffering are short-term. We may experience despair for a season, but in the long run, we are victorious. In His time and in His way God brings the victory. The full extent of that victory will not be realized until we meet Jesus face-to-face. When we meet Him, we will see that all along our hope was sure. ConclusionYes, believers in Christ do suffer in this life, but Paul says (Romans 8:18) "Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." When we have hope in Christ, our hope abides. In 1 Corinthians 13:13 Paul says, "But now faith, hope, love, abide these three." With our abiding hope, we can make the journey from hopelessness to hope with confidence, joy, and assurance of ultimate victory.

[ Fri, 23 Mar 2007 04:07:00 GMT ]

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