Tag Archives: without hope

HOPE – 1

Christian life, ,

Hope, what is hope? A beautiful name for a baby girl? Wishful thinking, like sportsmen or women hoping to win the game? A family hoping for good weather for their day at the beach?

In the world’s eyes, hope is nothing more than a hit-and-miss expression of desire, or anticipation of something that may or may not happen.

Outside of God, hope is insecure, based on chance or on the efforts of those who hope for success.

Paul evaluated the destiny of the Gentiles who had no faith in God and were without hope. He was referring to another kind of hope.

Ephesians 2:11-12 NLT
[11] “Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders…. [12] In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.”

In God’s way, hope is the rock-solid reality of what is yet to happen because God has promised. So reliable are God’s promises that Paul called God Himself “the God of hope”.

Romans 15:13 NIV
[13] “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

The New Living Translation calls Him “God, the source of hope”. This means that any real hope we might have in this world starts with God. Any expectation of good things to come flows from God and is expressed in His promises, His intention to do what He says.

So, the letter to the Hebrews tells us that we have hope by faith. We attach faith to God’s promises that make what we hope for, happen.

Hebrews 11:1 NLT
[1] “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”

Our faith in God’s promises is the proof that WHAT He has promised is real and will happen.

Let me explain with a simple illustration. I decide to bake a cake, so I find a recipe which is illustrated by a picture of the cake I want to bake. The picture represents my “hope”. I gather my ingredients, and mix them together by following the recipe. By doing what the recipe says, I prove my “faith” in the recipe that will take me to the picture, until I finally reach my goal.

So, faith is confidence in God’s promise, the hope that keeps me going as I faithfully follow the “recipe” in God’s Word that will get me to the “picture”… God’s promise fulfilled.

Many times, in Paul’s letters, he joins hope to faith and love that are the three enduring characteristics of God’s children. For example,

1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT
[13] “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”

To the Thessalonians, Paul wrote…

1 Thessalonians 1:3 NIV
[3] “We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

… three qualities that set them apart as God’s children.

Why do we need this kind of hope?

There is nothing more soul-destroying than to live without hope. The worst thing about having no hope is that people give up. When they give up, they stop living. Some take the “easy” way out – they take their own lives. Others vegetate, even in psychiatric facilities, no longer taking responsibility for themselves. Still others kick over the traces by turning to crime.

God has provided a fool-proof way out of this predicament. He did something greater than any human could have done. He gave us hope! How did He do this? By changing our direction and destiny!

He brought us back from spiritual death, caused by sin, by a spiritual resurrection through His power.

He changed our direction which was away from Him because of the great barrier of sin between us and God. We kept running from Him because we were afraid of His judgment.

He changed our destiny from hell to heaven by removing the sin-barrier that separated us.

Ephesians 2:11-13 NIV
[11] “Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— [12] remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. [13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

He changed our hopeless situation into hope, the picture of the end product. Instead of a black hole in the future, we now have the hope of eternal life as members of His forever family in His eternal kingdom.

This means that this kind of hope produces perseverance and endurance, great qualities for coping with a world gone crazy. Without hope in a secure and certain future, it’s no wonder so many people are fearful and depressed!

We can only acquire this kind of hope when we turn to the Lord, believe in Jesus and what He did for us. We will receive His gift of eternal life and the Holy Spirit who will guide us safely to our eternal destiny.

To be continued…

BROUGHT NEAR BY THE BLOOD-6

Bible Study,

Ephesians 2:12-13 NLT‬
[12] “In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. [13] But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.”

Although God chose the Jews as His own personal possession, His plan of salvation was far wider than just one nation. He would stop at nothing until He had brought the whole world together into His family, under one head, His Son, Jesus.

Before the nation of Israel ever came to be, God told Abraham that, through his descendants, the whole world would be blessed.

‭Genesis 12:3 NLT‬
[3] “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

God’s plan was particularly distasteful to the Jews. They hated and despised the Gentiles. They called them “dogs”, distanced themselves from them in every possible way, and, of course, refused to believe that Gentiles had a part in God’s salvation.

They even tried to kill Paul for daring to preach to Gentiles about “their” God. The entire hullabaloo in Jerusalem (Acts 21,22), was triggered by Paul’s testimony to his conversion and God’s plan to send him to the Gentiles.

‭Acts of the Apostles 22:21 NLT‬
[21] “But the Lord said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’”

That statement set off a frenzy of rage in the Jewish people.

‭Acts of the Apostles 22:22 NLT‬
[22] “The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they all began to shout, “Away with such a fellow! He isn’t fit to live!”

Despite serious opposition and severe persecution from his own people across Asia Minor and Europe, Paul obeyed God’s instructions. He preached to the Gentiles the good news of Jesus, resulting in many small groups of believers forming churches across the Roman empire.

Paul’s motivation for going to the Gentiles was fueled by the revelation of God’s plan. He knew the Scriptures. He already understood that God’s Messiah would be given as a covenant to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews.

‭Isaiah 42:6, 9 NLT‬
[6] “I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will take you by the hand and guard you, and I will give you to my people, Israel, as a symbol of my covenant with them. And you will be a light to guide the nations….
[9] Everything I prophesied has come true, and now I will prophesy again. I will tell you the future before it happens.”…

Isaiah 60:3 NLT‬
[3] “All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see your radiance.”

So, when the Jews rejected his message, he turned to the Gentiles, receiving from them a glad response.

Acts of the Apostles 13:46-49 NLT
[46] “Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, “It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles. [47] For the Lord gave us this command when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.’”
[48]When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers. [49] So the Lord’s message spread throughout that region.”

As Paul writes to Gentile believers, then, he reassures them that their inclusion in salvation was God’s plan from the beginning.

Despite what they were before they heard the message of Jesus – dead, outsiders, uncircumcised, excluded from citizenship in Israel, apart from Christ, without God, and without hope – now it was different. They had been brought near by the through the blood of Christ. Through His death, they were reconciled to God and reunited with Israel into one new race.

‭Ephesians 2:14-16 NLT‬
[14] “For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. [15] He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. [16] Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.”

What a glorious plan, and even more! Since the Jews rejected Jesus, God extended His mercy to the Gentiles. Their inclusion in all the blessings of salvation, would make the Jews jealous and they, in turn, would turn to the Lord.

And so God’s mercy would be revealed to the whole world!

Paul explains, in the entire chapter of Romans 11, how He would achieve His purpose.

‭Romans 11:2, 11, 28-29 NLT‬
[2] “No, God has not rejected his own people, whom he chose from the very beginning….
[11] Did God’s people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves….
[28] Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. [29] For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn”…

‭Romans 11:25-27, 30-32 NLT‬
[25] “I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. [26] And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say, “The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness. [27] And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins.”…
[30] Once, you Gentiles were rebels against God, but when the people of Israel rebelled against him, God was merciful to you instead. [31] Now they are the rebels, and God’s mercy has come to you so that they, too, will share in God’s mercy. [32] For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone.”

Paul calls this plan God’s “mystery”, something God hid from His people in the past but has now revealed through His apostles and prophets.

‭Ephesians 3:3-6 NLT‬
[3] As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. [4] As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. [5] God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets. [6] And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.”

‭Ephesians 2:19-22 NIV‬
[19]” Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, [20] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. [21] In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. [22] And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

WOW! What a glorious plan! Enough to make Paul burst out in praise!

‭Romans 11:33-36 NLT‬
[33]” Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! [34] For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? [35] And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back? [36] For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.”

WITHOUT HOPE

Bible Study, ,

WITHOUT HOPE

Therefore, remember that formerly you who were Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men) – remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world (Eph. 2: 11-12).

What does it mean to be without hope? I think it’s like being in a dangerous situation without any promise or possibility of rescue.

I have read many stories of slavery in America before their emancipation as a result of the Civil War. Cruel slave masters, who cared nothing for the wellbeing of their slaves, ripped families apart. Mothers screamed and wept when their children were dragged away from them. Husbands and wives were cruelly separated. Their masters owned them and treated them like property. They were a people without hope.

Then there are those who are ensnared by habits which they cannot break – substance abuse, sexual promiscuity, anger, bitterness, greed and selfishness – people without hope. The Ephesian recipients of Paul’s letter would well remember when they were part of an evil and debased religious system which offered them no hope. They were at the mercy of cruel and capricious gods who demanded from them but gave them nothing back.

What must it have been like for them to hear the truth from Paul’s mouth and to respond in faith to the invitation to submit their lives to one who offered them hope? Instead of an uncertain life and an unknown future, what Paul taught them made sense and attracted them towards a God they could trust and a life that was free from fear, guilt and shame. The moment they put their faith in Jesus and their lives under His authority, they experienced the peace in their hearts that had eluded them all their lives.

O, the utter relief of being free from the uncertainties and insecurities that had plagued them all their lives! The hope that held them steady was based on fulfilled prophecy, historical fact and the indisputable proof of the resurrection. No longer did they have to pin their hopes on myths and legends that had nothing to substantiate them.

Their faith was built on the history of a nation that God had called, led and molded for Himself in preparation for the coming of His Son into the world. This nation received God’s covenant and all the promises that offered them hope. The God they worshipped, who had introduced Himself to them as “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness, forgiving sins . . .” had miraculously intervened to meet their needs and rescue them from their enemies, time and again.

The Jews thought that they had exclusive rights to this God until Jesus came, opened the door to the Gentiles and sent His disciples out to tell the world that there was hope for them, too. Fanatical Jews were incensed by this move and mercilessly persecuted those who dared to obey the Master. Time and again, Paul experienced the effects of their vicious hatred, but he was never daunted by their prejudice.

He wanted his beloved converts to know that they were just as entitled to God’s mercy and grace as were the Jews because the message of Jesus was for the whole world. Although they had once been cut off from God and had no part in the life and benefits of His chosen people, they were now part of God’s people with full rights to all the benefits of His covenant and His promises.

What was this hope of which Paul spoke which had made such a difference to their lives? Have you ever baked a cake or crafted something according to a design? You gather all the materials and follow the instructions because you have a picture, either in your mind or on paper, of the end result. If you follow the instructions carefully, you will produce a replica of the picture before you. The picture is your “hope”.

God has intervened in our lives when we were without hope. We had no idea where we were going and, subsequently, we had no idea how to get there. Jesus made a promise to us. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He also told us what to do. He said, “Follow me.” He promised that He would take us to the Father if we follow Him.

What is our hope? What will be the end result if we follow Him? He has promised us eternal life in the presence of the Father. Everything that had ruined and made our lives miserable will fall away. We will be perfected and we will have perfect and imperishable bodies, just like Jesus’ resurrected body, and we will live in perfect love, joy and peace with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit forever.

Is that not a hope worth having? There is nothing that can happen to us in this world that can destroy or take away that hope because God Himself has guaranteed and promised us that, if we follow Jesus, we will never perish but have eternal life.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com

Without Hope

Bible Study, , , ,

WITHOUT HOPE

Therefore, remember that formerly you who were Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men) – remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world (Eph. 2: 11-12).

What does it mean to be without hope? I think it’s like being in a dangerous situation without any promise or possibility of rescue.

I have read many stories of slavery in America before their emancipation as a result of the Civil War. Cruel slave masters, who cared nothing for the wellbeing of their slaves, ripped families apart. Mothers screamed and wept when their children were dragged away from them. Husbands and wives were cruelly separated. Their masters owned them and treated them like property. They were a people without hope.

Then there are those who are ensnared by habits which they cannot break – substance abuse, sexual promiscuity, anger, bitterness, greed and selfishness – people without hope. The Ephesian recipients of Paul’s letter would well remember when they were part of an evil and debased religious system which offered them no hope. They were at the mercy of cruel and capricious gods who demanded from them but gave them nothing back.

What must it have been like for them to hear the truth from Paul’s mouth and to respond in faith to the invitation to submit their lives to one who offered them hope? Instead of an uncertain life and an unknown future, what Paul taught them made sense and attracted them towards a God they could trust and a life that was free from fear, guilt and shame. The moment they put their faith in Jesus and their lives under His authority, they experienced the peace in their hearts that had eluded them all their lives.

O, the utter relief of being free from the uncertainties and insecurities that had plagued them all their lives! The hope that held them steady was based on fulfilled prophecy, historical fact and the indisputable proof of the resurrection. No longer did they have to pin their hopes on myths and legends that had nothing to substantiate them.

Their faith was built on the history of a nation that God had called, led and moulded for Himself in preparation for the coming of His Son into the world. This nation received God’s covenant and all the promises that offered them hope. The God they worshipped, who had introduced Himself to them as “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness, forgiving sins . . .” had miraculously intervened to meet their needs and rescue them from their enemies time and again.

The Jews thought that they had exclusive rights to this God until Jesus came, opened the door to the Gentiles and sent His disciples out to tell the world that there was hope for them, too. Fanatical Jews were incensed by this move and mercilessly persecuted those who dared to obey the Master. Time and again, Paul experienced the effects of their vicious hatred, but he was never daunted by their prejudice.

He wanted his beloved converts to know that they were just as entitled to God’s mercy and grace as were the Jews because the message of Jesus was for the whole world. Although they had once been cut off from God and had no part in the life and benefits of His chosen people, they were now part of God’s people with full rights to all the benefits of His covenant and His promised.

What was this hope of which Paul spoke which had made such a difference to their lives? Have you ever baked a cake of crafted something according to a design? You gather all the materials and follow the instructions because you have a picture, either in your mind or on paper of the end result. If you follow the instructions carefully, you will produce a replica of the picture before you. The picture is your “hope”.

God has intervened in our lives when we were without hope. We had no idea where we were going and, subsequently, we had no idea how to get there. Jesus made a promise to us. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He also told us what to do. He said, “Follow me.” He promised that He would take us to the Father if we follow Him.

What is our hope? What will be the end result if we follow Him? He has promised us eternal life in the presence of the Father. Everything that had ruined and made our lives miserable will fall away. We will be perfected and we will have perfect and imperishable bodies, just like Jesus’ resurrected body, and we will live in perfect love, joy and peace with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit forever.

Is that not a hope worth having? There is nothing that can happen to us in this world that can destroy or take away that hope because God Himself has guaranteed and promised us that, if we follow Jesus, we will never perish but have eternal life.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com  or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

For more details, check my website:

http://luellaannettecampbell.com/

Have you read my blogs on www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com ?