HOPE

 

I had a member of the choir email me a story last week that had been published in ESPN Magazine about a football game that took place in Grapevine, TX toward the end of last year.  The Gainesville State School had come to town to play.  The Gainesville team is made up of 11 players that are incarcerated in a maximum security correctional facility.  The Grapevine school is the Faith Christian School.  Their coach had decided to have fans of his school team root for the other school.  Can you imagine what that must have been like?  Parents of players on the Faith Christian School’s team cheering the players from a maximum security prison on to victory against their children.  I won’t give any other details because I would encourage you to look up the archives of this story online and read it for yourself.  However, I will tell you that the writer of this story from ESPN realized by the end of his story what many people today never realize.  That there is something that can be given that is free – HOPE.

 

One definition of HOPE that is given in Webster’s Dictionary is to cherish a desire with anticipation.  Imagine if you will what life would be like without HOPE.  Why would you get up in the morning? What would there be to anticipate?   What motivation would there be to be successful, to have a family, to live life on this planet we call Earth?  I can’t begin to grasp what life would be like without HOPE.  There are a lot of things that you and I might HOPE for in this life.  We each one have our own hopes and dreams, but what would our lives be like without any of those hopes and dreams?  Why go on living? 

 

The story that inspired this dialogue in me touched me in a way that I can’t begin to describe and sparked within me a new desire to give the gift of hope to the world around me.  Now I will be honest, I can’t truly give HOPE, but I can give direction and insight into how anyone can obtain it.  You see, HOPE is not going to be found in anything that this world has to offer.  You will never have enough money, enough stuff, enough health, enough joy to truly have HOPE.  The only way to truly have HOPE is to know the One who is our Ultimate Hope – the Lord Jesus Christ.  He came as a baby in a manger to bring HOPE to a world that is filled with hopelessness.  He came to give a reason to HOPE in the future.  The only way to have this HOPE is by coming into personal relationship with Jesus and this is done through acknowledging Him as Lord and Savior of the world.  He came to that manger to complete a mission that started before time began – redeeming mankind.  He came to give eternal life to anyone who chooses to believe in Him and accept Him into their lives.  It sounds too good to be true and too simplistic to be effective, but that is all it takes.  Romans 10:9 tells us that if we will confess with our mouth that “Jesus is Lord” and will believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved – that simple. 

 

Now, for those of us who are children of God and have received Christ into our hearts, we have a job to do.  We have the awesome privilege of living before the world around us with such HOPE that they want what we have.  We have the task of demonstrating that HOPE everywhere we go.  If we live it, the world will take note.

 

If you have never accepted this free gift of eternal life and HOPE, then my encouragement to you would be to receive it simply by asking for it.  It is as simple as praying to God and letting Him know that you believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, and He will meet you where you are and give you, not only new life, but HOPE.       

 

Your sins are forgiven!

Have you ever had one of those moments when it truly struck you what those words mean? I had one of those this morning. As I was praying one more time for the Lord to forgive me of my sins and to cleanse me from the errors of my ways, it struck me. I’m nearly 49 years old. I can’t even begin to recall all of the sins of my life and the many times I have prayed for forgiveness. I can somewhat recall the sins that I have continually had to confess, but to truly know of every sin I have committed would be totally mind boggling.

That is when it struck me. I know that over the years I have sinned more than is even comprehensible, yet the Lord forgave, forgives, and will forgive every one of them. “As far as the East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12) Can you imagine? You can start going East and you will never meet West and the reverse is true. Isn’t God good!? You realize that if He had said that as far as North is from South, I have removed your transgressions that it would mean there was a point where He could go back and find them. You can only go so far North and then you are headed South, but you will never, ever find West by going East. Our sins have been removed – forever! God can’t even find them! Is that not the most awesome thing you have ever heard!?

Now, here is where you and I come in. The Lord can’t find our sins. The Lord doesn’t remember them. Do you or I? I’m afraid that I have to be honest and say yes. Yes, I remember those sins that I have repeatedly committed. I remember the things that I did wrong yesterday. I remember confessing them this morning and I still have a tendency to carry the guilt. AND, I’ll be honest, I can remember the sins that others have committed as well. I remember those who have sinned against me. I remember the failures of others around me. BUT, if the Lord can’t remember them or find them, why am I still fishing in the sea of forgetfulness or why am I headed East trying to find West?

Therefore, the time has come to allow God’s Amazing Grace to flow over us and truly remove the guilt and shame of our past failures in order for us to walk forward in freedom and release. And just as God has released us from our sins, we need to release others from theirs as well. I pray that you and I will be able to do that today – for ourselves and for others.

 

Are You Discouraged?

 

            Have you ever felt as though the Lord had a call on your life for a particular purpose and yet feel as though that purpose is never going to be fulfilled?  Have you ever just known in your spirit that something greater and more meaningful was on the horizon, yet it seems as though the hill you are currently climbing has blocked the view of the landscape?  Have you felt as though your day to day is not accomplishing anything for the Lord?  Well, I believe there is hope for all of us.

 I have been in those places and still sometimes feel overwhelmed by them just as anyone else.  As I was reading the devotional “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers this morning I was reminded that God doesn’t waste anything and that His call on all of our lives is never taken away or put on the back burner – so to speak.  No matter what you feel as though the Lord has put in your spirit to accomplish, God has a master plan that is far greater and higher than you or I can imagine or think.  Remember Moses?  He saw the oppression of his people in Egypt and came to the realization that God was calling him to be their deliverer.  He, in his own strength, tried to help God accomplish the deliverance by killing an Egyptian man who was taking advantage of one of the Israelite people.  Then, God sent him to the desert for 40 years until the pride and arrogance of Moses could be brought down to the place where Moses said, “Who am I that I should go?”  It took the Lord all those years to prepare Moses for the task He had ordained for him.  Do you think Moses was ever discouraged during that time?  Do you think he ever wondered about his people and family back in Egypt?  Do you think he ever questioned whether he had missed God’s call altogether?  I am sure that he did, but in those 40 years of shepherding sheep, Moses learned valuable lessons from God that truly equipped him for the task at hand. 

            I don’t know what God may be preparing you for or even what he may be preparing me for, but I have learned this.  That during the times in our lives where we feel as though our hum drum day to day has no meaning, God is working in us to accomplish His plan.  Don’t give in to the notion or idea that you have been put on the shelf.  Press into the Lord and continually seek His will and guidance for your life, and at some point along the way you will here His voice reviving that call once more in you for His purpose and glory.  He will complete the work in you that He began so long ago.  Keep seeking.  Keep listening.  Keep worshiping.  Keep going.  God is near and He is working.