Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany Georgia has produced several movies that provide a witness for Christ. Many of our readers have seen at least one of them. We use them in our counseling ministry and find they really connect.
In one of them, “Courageous”, the story line includes a family that is devastated at the loss of their young daughter in a car accident. A scene that especially blesses me is that of the faithful pastor who comforts the family at the funeral with these words:What an aspiring perspective hope brings to any earthbound disaster or personal loss and what a tremendous spiritual blessing it is to having a living hope! A simple definition of hope is an emotional state, the opposite of despair, that promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one’s life. But Biblical hope is grounded in the absolute certainty of God’s care, not just a wishful thought for a positive outcome that may or may not be true.
Sadly there are scores and scores of people who live day after day without hope. These are the kind of people that Paul wrote of in his letter to the Thessalonian believers. Upon the death of a loved one they were not to “grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Because of Christ they had a living hope.
Living hope for the follower of Christ is a result of God’s great mercy and the new birth He has given us, grounded in the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The apostle Peter wrote these words to encourage believers undergoing various trials and persecutions. Some thirty years after Christ’s resurrection the church entered a time of horrific persecution during Nero’s reign. It was shortly after this that Peter was martyred for his faith.
Today we need to hold fast to our living hope. Never lose sight of it. Be assured, God will hold us fast. The writer of Hebrews spoke of this hope as “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Hebrews 6:19). As God’s children we have a living hope and an assurance that God will see us through. I encourage you this day to keep the presence of our living hope ever before you! In doing so, I feel certain that you will be encouraged in your circumstance and more importantly strengthened in your faith!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
