Godly Hope Eliminates Discouragement
Updated: Sep 22, 2021
Fyodor Dostoevsky said, "To live without hope is to cease to live."
Our hope is in the Messiah, the Christ.
Jesus Christ not only gives us life after physical death. He also gives us Life during this earthly existence. Because of this new Spiritual Life, we are not without hope for today and for the future. We eagerly await the Resurrection of the Dead.
Think of all the things we have survived in this life, especially those who are my age or older. Here are a few of the things I have experienced since I was born in 1949:
The polio epidemic.
Childhood diseases before vaccines (but you got to stay home from school if you caught the disease).
A man walking on the moon and the space race with the Soviet Union.
Digging bomb shelters during the Soviet Missile Crisis where Cuba received nuclear warheads from the Soviet Union.
The assassination of President Kennedy.
The Vietnam War and the protests at colleges.
The Hippies.
Drug use among the youth.
The attack on traditional marriage.
The gasoline shortage with the long lines in the early 1970s.
The split of the Southern Baptist Convention in the mid-1980s.
The death of the sanctity of marriage.
The financial crisis in the early 1990s and the death of the Savings and Loan institutions.
Los Angeles Riots.
Oklahoma City bombing.
Columbine Shooting.
Bosnian Genocide.
Monica Lewinsky Scandal.
Waco Siege
Ruby Ridge.
The Space Shuttle explodes on re-entry.
Bankrupcies and closures of major auditing/consulting corporations.
Constant inflation.
COVID-19.
I missed some, but you get the drift. Things are weird now with everyone wearing or else protesting the wearing of masks. Churches were closed in California until the Supreme Court of the USA weighed in on the side of freedom of religion. And, yes, I am one that believes our current administration is using COVID 19 for political purposes but, seriously, is that anything new? Unfortunately, no, it is not.
Things are basically the same as always. Evil is attacking Good, the flesh opposes the Light of the Lord, and Christians are tested in their resolve to surrender to the Will of God.
Jesus said:
"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world," --John 16:33, KJV.
Jesus is coming soon. Be faithful. Be at peace. Be of good cheer. Live a godly life that shines bright in this darkness. ##