Before I get underway and start writing this article on hope there's something I want to share. When I decided to write about hope I was dragging my heels just to get sit down here at the keyboard and start pounding away. It just seemed like everywhere I turned the word Hope would pop up. not only in things I would read but in tv shows, in the news . It was all over the place. I have a son who is in a prison down in Missouri and sometimes he lifts up me up when I'm a little down and gives me hope. At times more then I do him. "Of course if it wasn't for all my children there would be no hope to go on." About a week or so ago he sent me a card right out of the blue. Here is a picture of the outside of that card. It was as if some outside force was telling me to get up off my duff and get this done. Coincidence ? I don't believe in them. I think for everything there is a reason. Even though at the time or maybe anytime just what that reason is I don't know. So guess I should get started. Right?I don't know about you but I have hope that this world will get better. Of course with the way things are going I believe that it's going to get a whole lot worse. Therefore I hope that God will give me the strength to carry me through whatever happens and I have the faith that He will do this.
Here awhile back I was going through one of my storage tubs and came across an article I had written for an Overcomer's meeting. What is an Overcomers meeting you ask ? Well it's like an AA or NA meeting except it's Christian based.
I was staying at the Bethel Mission in Des Moines, Iowa and the meetings took place out at the Door Of Faith. Both are a part of Hope Ministries. There were about twenty five men that attended every Friday night and the thing that always stood out to me was that at every meeting only about seven or eight would talk. They were usually the same ones. What they had to say for the most part was pretty good but I always left wondering why the others never spoke up. Of course I had been to several AA meetings where people came just to kill time and drink some coffee which was free if you didn't feel like donating to the kitty. Some were made to go there either because of the program they were in or as part of a probation deal. They never said much. Bored yet ? I bet you hope it gets better. After going to about eight of these meetings I asked if I could chair the next one. The head honcho happily said yes.
The following week I decided the topic would be Hope. I'm going to share that article I wrote with you. Hope you enjoy.
Tonight's topic is Hope. You know hope is an awfully big word for only having four letters.
And did you know that hope is mentioned in the Bible 127 times ? Our world is built on hope. Hope for today, hope for tomorrow, hope for the future ,Hope can lift us up while no hope can tear us down.
Without hope, why go on, why even try. But with hope, it gives us the boost we need to strive towards a better life. Hope and faith go hand in hand. Faith in God and all that He does gives us that hope. Jesus is the Blessed Hope.
The Webster dictionary defines hope as believing in what is going to take place in the days ahead.
Faith on the other hand is believing in the things we can't see, such as God.
Many people today live in a world of darkness and despair, all because they have no hope.
There are some in the world who unknowingly at the time dash all our hope.
Perhaps parents have told there child repeatedly that no matter what they do there's no hope for them or the school teacher who tells the struggling student why bother doing the work cause there's no hope for them. Even a high school coach can shatter the hopes of an athletic just by the way they may criticize them in front of others in such a way as to demean them. What happens to their hopes ?
What about ourselves and our addictions ? How often have we been told or overhear our co-workers, families or friends say that we are no good? Why do we even bother to try- we will never amount to anything no matter what we do. No good will ever come of us.
Pretty soon a person starts thinking of themselves in the very same way as others do. But hold on, the good news is that there is hope for each and everyone of us. It states in the Bible dictionary - Hope does not arise from the individuals desires or whishes, but from God. In the Bible the word hope stands for both the act of hoping and the things hoped for.
1st Peter 3- 4 states 3 " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 4 "To an inheritance reserved for us in Heaven." Isn't that great news, " An inheritance in Heaven " That should give us hope right there. Hope also distinguishes the Christian from the non- Christian who has no spiritual hope. Without God in there lives they can have none.
Also take from the Bible dictionary it states - Christian hope comes from God and especially His calling, His grace His word and His gospel. It is pointed towards God and Christ. It's appropriate objects are eternal life- salvation - righteousness and the glory of God, the appearing of Christ and the resurrection of the dead.
In the Bible are many promises. In Philippians 1:6 it states " Being confident of this very thing that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."
John 8: 36 say "if the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed."
What great words and what great promises. So you see we do not have to live in darkness nor in a world of despair trudging through life thinking that no matter how hard we try that it will not make any difference. If we have faith in what God says, that very same faith brings us hope. And with that hope we can all be overcomers.
For this we can praise God, not just today or tomorrow but every single day.
With this being said, what is your hope today ? I'll now open it up for discussion. Thank you.
I know that while reading this, you may have thought of it as more of a sermon. Well, I guess in part it was, but remember that these guys at the meeting are in a program that's based on biblical principles and take Bible studies and I thought that maybe what I said would help them. Oh and how did the meeting go ? Well almost every person their spoke and most of it had to do with hoping they could get their families back and some had hopes of a job even though their addiction had given them a bad rep and of course wanting to overcome their addictions. We needed to extend the time of the meeting so each person was able to have their turn. So how about you ? Hope do you have any ?
I'll leave you with this video I made with me doing the song Whispering Hope.
Till next time you take care,
May God Bless you always,
Your friend,
Mike Rupe Sr.
