Shepastor: “Keys to Hope”

Lamentations 3:19-25, NIV

19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;

What is hope? A basic definition states, “Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. It is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. [1] To hope is to wish for something with the expectation of the wish being fulfilled,
However, in theological terms, Hope is one of the three virtues in the Christian tradition. Hope is a desire for something and expectation of receiving it from the Lord. Like all virtues, hope arises from the will, not passion.

“Hope arises from the will and not passion.” In other words, one has to do more than passively desire. One has to have the will to expect God to move on one’s behalf. The attitude that hope arises not from passion, but from the will suggests that it takes the will of the heart, mind and soul to hope when hope seems to be an exercise in futility.

Back in the 80’s, The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., coined the phrase, “Keep Hope Alive.” He used this as he pursued the highest office in the land, the presidency of the United States of America. As impossible as it seemed for an African American to become president, Rev. Jackson insisted that we had to “keep hope alive.” Although he did not win, Jesse became the forerunner to the first African American to attain the dream of holding that office in the person of Barack Obama. Why? Because somebody had the will to keep hope alive. Hope transcends individuals. Hope is transformative. Hope is expansive. Hope moves beyond one person to communities, nations and the world.

God wants you to keep hope alive. Even if your dream has died, YOU have not died! God is not through with you! For God has been known to resurrect that which has been dead! But maybe, just maybe, your hopes for your life had to die, so that you could receive the blessings and benefits of God’s hope for your life.

Sometimes our hopes and dreams are too short. Sometimes our hopes and dreams are too small. Sometimes our hopes and dreams are too self-centered and sometimes our hopes and dreams will prevent us from fulfilling that which the all wise and eternal God has purposed for our lives since before the foundation of the world.

The prophet Jeremiah teaches us a profound key to hope. In verses 19-23, Jeremiah says,

19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

In other words, Jeremiah says, “When I reflect upon all of my problems, my wanderings, my losses, my soul remains bitter and cast down. But when I the conscious decision to “call to remembrance God’s great love, God’s never-failing compassion and God’s GREAT faithfulness, I have HOPE! As mentioned earlier, Hope is not an act of passion. Hope is an act of the will. In other words, you’ve got to make up your mind to have hope. Passion comes and goes. That hot, intense, excited feeling that propels you onward is not going to be there on a continuous basis. We couldn’t stand it – it would burn us up! Passion is just one aspect of hope. Yes, it is a necessary element, but it cannot stand alone. Passion must be connected to something bigger. We must have hope.

Hope fuels our passion. Hope is tied to our trust in God’s love, God’s compassion and God’s faithfulness. You cannot focus upon God’s faithfulness and love towards you and hold onto the bitterness and gall of your past. Whether it’s mistakes that you have made or wrong things that someone else did to you or unfortunate life circumstances, if you choose to focus upon God’s faithfulness and love towards you, your hope will rise.

There are some things that we must do in order to survive the “bitterness and gall” in life and to keep hope alive,

We must call to mind the faithfulness of God…
God has brought you this far. God has been with you all the days of your life. God has sustained and kept you. God is mighty to save. God will carry you through. In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, Jesus has overcome the world and so can we!

We must say to ourselves, the LORD is my portion, therefore I will wait for Him…
The Lord is our portion…the Lord is our provider…the Lord is our supplier…continue to serve Him, continue to pray…continue to hope…continue to trust…WAIT on the LORD…He promised that your strength would be renewed, that you would mount up on wings like an eagle, run and not get weary, walk and not faint WAIT on the LORD!

We must remind ourselves that the LORD is good to those whose hope is in Him and seek Him…

We must remind ourselves that the LORD is good to those whose hope is in Him. We must remember that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. We must remember that things look one way to us, but God sees the big picture. We must remember that even if this earthly tabernacle should be destroyed, we’ve got another building not made with hands whose builder and maker is God.

We must remember that those who sew in tears shall reap in joy. We must remember that even in our pain, even in our toil, even in our utter confusion and frustration, God sees us, loves us and is with us. He will carry us over and see us through. Great is God’s faithfulness towards us.

Jesus, our elder brother bore it all for us. He suffered, bled and died for us. He was wounded for us and He is risen for us. He is a compassionate savior who carried the load for us and knows the pain, knows, the anxiety, knows the toil, knows the struggles, knows the tears and therefore He knows how to comfort us in all of our sorrow and pain.

No matter what you are facing, trust God. No matter what you are fearing, trust God. No matter how hard your road, trust God. Make up your mind to call to remembrance God’s goodness, God’s mercy, God’s compassion, God’s faithfulness. Determine to keep hope alive in your heart. God will see you through!

Until next Wednesday,
In Faith, Hope and Perseverance,
Pastor Chris
www.shepastorchris.org

Shepastor: “The Mark of a Christian Part III: Endurance That is Inspired by Hope...”

1 Thessalonians 1:1-3 New International Version (NIV)

1 Paul, Silas[a] and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you.
2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 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.

In Part II of the series, “The Mark of a Christian," Shepastor explored the example set by the Christians in Thessalonica through their “Labor prompted by love.” Today, we will consider the final example in Part III of this series, “Endurance that is inspired by hope.” The third mark of a Christian is that they are inspired by hope. That’s why Paul says, “we are not as those who have no hope.”

We cannot endure without hope. The term endurance means, “the ability to withstand hardship or adversity especially: the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity like a marathon runner's endurance. I have never run in a marathon. I have never participated in those 5k runs or even walks. But I know people who have and they train for months and weeks to prepare for the long distance. A marathon is not like a sprint. A sprint is a quick short distance run that takes a lot of energy. But a marathon runner needs energy and stamina – staying power. They need endurance.

In order to withstand hardship and adversity, you’ve got to believe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, something greater is on the other end of the journey, that your work, your faith, your labor is not in vain! You’ve got to be inspired by hope. For the Christian, our hope is in Christ. We have an eternal hope and we have hope for the here and now. Our eternal hope is that Jesus died for our sins and rose for our salvation. Our eternal hope is that if we confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead, we shall be saved. Our eternal hope is that our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Our eternal is that if this earthly tabernacle should be destroyed, we’ve got another building, not made with hands, whose builder and maker is God!

Our earthly hope is that through Christ we can do all things. Our earthly hope is that through Christ we are more than conquerors. Our earthly hope is that Jesus came that we might have the abundant life. Our earthly hope is that we believe to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!!! Hope is “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” The reason why hope is a mark of the Christian is because as God’s people, we live with expectation. We are not like Eor in Winnie the Pooh. We don’t walk around “under the circumstances.” We look up and wait for God’s promises in full expectation that what God said, He is willing and able to do.

We don’t allow our spirits to remain downcast. We like the Psalmist challenge our hearts and declare, “Why art thou cast down oh my soul and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God who is the health and the help of my countenance!” He said, I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance…In other words, when the Psalmist took a look at God, the creator, God, the giver and the sustainer of life, God… the Lord God almighty who hung the moon and the stars in the sky he praised God for the help us his countenance. What is the countenance? The term “countenance” means the look on a person’s face that shows one’s nature or feelings.

We know that God is not a person but a spirit - and none of us living have seen the face of God, but by the reading of His word and the experiences of our lives, we know and understand the nature of God. The personality of God – the way of God. God is a healer – he is a deliverer – he is a way maker – he is the source of our joy and our strength – God is all powerful – He is all knowing – He is everywhere and can do anything – God’s countenance – God’s nature.

So when we as Christians consider these things – the countenance or the nature of God we gain the hope to endure. When we look at our problems matched up against God’s power then we will move from telling ourselves about our problems and instead begin to tell our problems about our GOD!!! As God’s people, our endurance, our ability to withstand hardship, our ability to run the distance, our ability to press our way, our ability to stand the storm, our ability to “keep on keepin on” is inspired by our hope in God! As God’s people, may we take a page out of the character of the Thessalonian Christians…may we (1) Have work that is produced by faith, (2) May our labor be prompted by love and (3) And may our endurance be inspired by hope in Christ Jesus.

Until next Wednesday,
In Faith, Hope and Perseverance,
Pastor Chris
www.shepastorchris.org