Need Hope?

Dirty laundry, diapers, disobedient children, There is HOPE!

Dread, depression, divorce, There is HOPE!

Drunk, disease, death, There is HOPE!

Diet, Dumb drivers, delayed, There is HOPE!

Doubled over pain, debt, disabled, There is HOPE!

Distance, drown, disaster, There is HOPE!

Dried land, drained, despondent, There is HOPE!

Everyone needs Hope. Real, down to earth, yet out of this world HOPE. This world may offer temporary fixes to some of the”d”s, but everyone needs eternal hope, this world cannot offer. The Bible describes hope differently than the world. The world’s hope is only wishful thinking. For example, I hope the weather is nice; or I hope there is a front row parking space. The Bible offers Real hope, an expectant truth, given in a person, Jesus. Because God always keeps His promises, we can trust Him and receive Jesus as our hope.

To receive hope, you must believe the Bible. Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Sin, choosing our way instead of God's way, separates us from a perfect God. The glory of God describes God's perfection. Because God is perfect, he cannot allow sin into heaven. Wow! We have a problem. God hates sin, and we are full of sin. To receive hope, we must admit we need hope because of our sin.

The Bible says in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Wages are what we receive for the work we do, what we deserve. The wages for sin: death. "But" (I love that word) read the rest of the verse. The good news: God gave us a gift of eternal life in Jesus. Because it is a gift, I cannot earn his forgiveness.

Jesus came to earth, totally God and totally man, to live a perfect life. Because Jesus lived without sin, when He died on the cross, God accepted his death as payment for everyone's sin. More good news: the Bible says in Romans 5:8, "But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!" Because we cannot make ourselves right before God by what we do, Jesus forgives us the way we are: full of sin. To receive the gift of hope, we must believe that Jesus can offer hope through His death on the cross.

The Bible says in Romans 10:9, "If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Awesome news! ss references:

A.Romans 5:8 : Rm 3:5

B.Romans 5:8 : Jn 3:16; 15:13; Rm 8:39

To receive the gift of hope Jesus offers, you must confess.

Do you need to admit, believe, and confess today to receive eternal hope through Jesus?

 If you would like to receive eternal hope today or just have questions,

I Want Hope

When you receive Jesus you not only have eternal hope, but hope for the daily "d"s (see top).




Linked to A Holy Experience

Flat Tires?

HOPE S.H.A.R.E.D. (Share How Abba Relates Every Day)

Last week I had twenty-five minutes to ride bikes with the girls before soccer practice.  House locked, garage door open, bikes in driveway, helmets on, legs stretched (mine only, the girls never have to stretch for a bike ride), and finally, "Let's go!"  I rolled down the driveway and my oldest daughter said, "Mom, both of your tires are low."  Ugh!  Back to the house.  Pump found buried in the back of my van, air added, and now we only have twenty minutes left for our bike ride.

While I rode, Jesus spoke to my heart.  You know Stacy, you are like your flat tires, you lack air.  What?  I wish he had referred to my stomach.  But sadly, he pointed to my spiritual life. 
God reminded me:

I.  Flat tires must be filled.

Just as I couldn't ride on flat bike tires without ruining them, God cannot use us as He chooses if we have no "air in our tires"  The air: the very presence of God, the Holy Spirit.  When a person becomes a follower of Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside to connect, correct, and direct.

1 Corinthians 6:19 says,
¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

II.   Tires may leak air.

I hadn't ridden my bike in a few weeks.  The last time I rode, the tires had plenty of air.  I assumed they still had air, forgetting that tires may have a slow leak.  As a believer, the amount of "air in your tire" correlates with the amount of spirit control.  As a believer, the constant battle: controlled by flesh (my control, my desires) or controlled by the spirit (God's control, God's desires). 

Galatians 5:16- 17 says,
¹⁶ I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want.

The more a believer chooses to control life, the more air leakes out of the tires (less spirit controlled). 

III.  Tires need consistent checks.

I didn't notice the flat tires on my bike because I never pushed on them. I'm not even sure if I looked at them.  I knew I should have checked my tires, I just didn't.  Warning:  It's harder to detect a slow leak.  Likewise, God wants us to check our spiritual lives.  Do you have the Holy Spirit living in you?  Do you have any unconfessed sin causing a slow leak?  Do you limit the Holy Spirit because you are not spending time in prayer?  Do you lack wisdom because you are neglecting the study of the Bible?   God used the flat tires on my bike to remind me to assess my spiritual life.

IV.  Tires cannot self- inflate.

It would be nice if the tires would self-inflate, but they don't.  Likewise, I cannot air up my own spiritual life.  I must admit I need air and go to the source, God himself.  Through obedience, God "airs me up".

V.  Tires never get glory.

When my daughters learned to ride their bikes, I never said, "Wow!  Look at those tires.  Aren't they great!."  No.  I said, "Great job, girls!"  Likewise, God doesn't put air in our tires to make us look good.  He does it for Him to get the praise!  He wants to use us to make His name known among the nations.    

What about you?  Need air in your tires?

Easter Memories

Easter Sunday holds a special place in my heart for several reasons.  Yes, first and foremost I celebrate Easter as the day our risen Savior, Jesus Christ, conquered death, the reason for my hope.  But to my family, Easter has other significant memories. 

Easter eleven years ago, our first-born came into the world.  Thankfully she came in the evening so I could wear my highly debated new, maternity dress.  I taught second grade Sunday school class as usual, sharing the great news about Jesus coming to save us from our sin.  We worshipped in "big church", timing contractions and singing along.  We went to my in-laws house for Easter lunch.  When we arrived, I thought I should start with dessert, just in case I had to leave for the hospital.  My contractions, now much longer and stronger, deserved my attention.  My husband wasn't sure if we should go to the hospital, or not.  We had already been the week before, only to be sent home.  Finally, my Father-in-Law said, "Son, I've seen that look before.  I think you should take her to the hospital."  I'm forever grateful to my Father-in-Law.  After waltzing into the maternity floor and taken to a room with no equipment, the nurse says, "You are going to have this baby today."  I'll spare you all the labor details, but at 8:19 p.m., our beautiful, forever life-changing daughter announced in her own way, "Happy Easter!"  My husband, with tears running down his face, opened the door to family awaiting the unknown announcement.  "It's a girl!"  I will never forget this special Easter Day.

Fast forward nine years. My "Easter surprise", now a third grader, gave us one of the most memorable Easters ever.  My family, my husband's family, and friends watched as the Pastor of our church baptized her.  She had already made the most important decision of her life, to follow Jesus, on Christmas night a few months previous.   She believed Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose again to take the penalty of her sin. She accepted Jesus' gift of forgiveness, trusting Him to be her boss.  The book of John (Chapter 3) described this as the second birth or being born-again, a spiritual birth.  So, Easter morning her baptism told everyone about what happened in her heart.  My sweet girl, born on Easter, demonstrated through her baptistm that she was"born again."  What an Easter!

And now, this Easter.  My youngest daughter, age six, has asked many questions about Jesus coming again, heaven, hell, and becoming a Christian over the last few months.  Easter Sunday evening we attended Truth Baptist Church that meets at an apartment complex in our city.  The Pastor served the Lord's Supper and wanted us to come up as families to observe the meal together.  (Jesus gave us instructions for the Lord's Supper when he gave the disciples instructions the night before he was crucified.  The bread represented Jesus' body, that was torn apart for our sin.  And the wine represented his blood he gave on the cross.)  Our youngest had never eaten the Lord's Supper meal because she had never trusted Jesus for herself  (or so we thought).  She continued to "bug" us about taking the meal.  As quietly as we could, we argued for her to wait until we could talk to her after the service. When we got home, she wanted crackers and apple juice.  She would have her own Lord's Supper.  We talked to her and realized she understood that her sin separated her from God.  She said she had already prayed to ask for forgiveness, but hadn't told us.  We told her to wait until next Sunday and tell the Pastor about her decision.  She couldn't wait.  "No.  I want to tell someone tomorrow," she said.  So, Monday I called our children's minister and set up a time for her to talk to her about following Jesus.  Wow!  Another Easter blessing.  Now, all of our girls are followers of Christ.  Easter never gets old.       

Do you have any special Easter memories?
He is Risen!