Doom, Gloom, and Hope

It's so easy to see the doom and gloom in hardships.  When life gets rough and the storms seem to keep rolling in with no foreseeable relief, hope may seem all but lost.  

As I look back in the storms I have faced I remember countless times thinking Hope is lost.  Now I am at this point in life where I can look back.  Hindsight is always 20/20.  I can now see how God used the storms to direct my path, build my strengths and even developed my dependence on Him to bring me where I am today.  Today I can proclaim how blessed I was, am and will continue to be, because of the storms.

The book of Acts speaks of Paul's storms in life.  It talks about the persecutions, beatings, imprisonments, hurricanes, ship wreck, and poisonous snake bite.  The book of acts concludes with a surprising ending.  

Acts 28:30-31 For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him.31 Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Keep the faith, the storms will end. 

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HOPE

I don't care if you are a christian, Muslim, charismatic, politician, Jew, parent, teenager, successful business man, college student, hamburger flipper, or even the president of the USA.  Everyone is looking for a better tomorrow.  A tomorrow that offers hope, peace, pleasure, purpose, satisfaction, joy, gladness, and even prosperity.  I honestly don't know anyone who is hoping for a worser tomorrow.

What I do find sad, is there is an answer to a better future.  The answer was established at the beginning of time.  There is a book that describes this opportunity and way in such great detail it will blow your mind away.  Many have disputes it's truths, governments have tried to abolish it, and unfold multitudes have completely rejected it.  In spite of all the adversity, the Holy Bible, God's inspired and written word remains the top seller for the last several hundreds of years.

It's funny the answers to a better tomorrow, exactly what ever one is looking for, is found in Gods word.  Yet so many reject it, neglect it, and fewer and fewer continue to protect it.

The apostle Paul was imprisoned and threatened to be put to death for proclaiming exactly what everyone was hoping for.  I as well have even been threatened and rejected for proclaiming what people are looking for.  Crazy huh?  

Adversity is a given.  Hope is a choice that can only be found when your humility to answer Gods call is greater than your pride to reject Him.  

Acts 26:6 And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today.

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Word of God

When Christians allow science to affirm the word of God, the word of God becomes fallible.  It is fact that science in itself has proven to be faliable.  What was once thought true simply became a fallacy as science evolved and disproved it's earlier theories.  

You can read scientific articles, medical researches,  earth science, astrology science, geological and even philosophical science articles.  Repeatedly you can find a common theme related to the phrase; "what was once believed... has now been proven, shown or discovered..."

The word of God is infallibly and irrefutably the soundest words ever written.  As science has repeatedly discovered it's own faults, it has increasingly affirmed the words of God.  

We must not allow science to qualify the very words of God.  In doing so we are attempting to establish absolute truth with the fallible thoughts an wisdom of man.  

When God said He created everything in a literal six days He meant it! His written word declares it and He defined it by clearly stating after each day; "there was evening and there was morning."  At the very onset God established the twenty four hour day "Yom" by light and darkness, day and night, evening and morning.  

Martin Luther said "for of this we must be certain: no clearer speech has been heard on earth than what God has spoken."  We are arrogant if we believe we can tell God what His words really mean.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

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Ignorant faith

Being a christian is not about agreeing with the character of Christ and finding comfort in the icons of christianity.  It is about believing in the person Jesus Christ and turning to him by accepting His Lordship over your life.  

Often we find cultural Christians who's faith is bound by walls and materialism. They bound God within the walls of the church and even worship man made idols like statues and cross necklaces.  

When you place limits and boundaries upon the God you worship, you have a God that is beneath you.  A God beneath you is no God at all, but simply and idol offering empty promises and zero hope.  

The living God calls this type of faith ignorance.  True faith begins with repentance.  Repentance that acknowledges the omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent God.  Jesus Chris is all knowing, always present, and all powerful.  He can not and will not be bound by walls or any other materialistic form.  

His life, death, and resurrection command our complete surrender.  Surrendering our life of sin and seeking His life of salvation.   

Acts 17:29-30  "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone--an image made by man's design and skill.30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

#god #godsword #jesus #jesuschrist #christ #christian #bible #bibleverse #scripture #salvation #trustinthelord #faith #hope #love #gospel #godsnotdead