{"id":12011,"date":"2012-11-04T21:55:52","date_gmt":"2012-11-05T03:55:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/?p=12011"},"modified":"2012-11-06T21:53:32","modified_gmt":"2012-11-07T03:53:32","slug":"my-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/04\/my-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"My Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>David said&#8230;.. &#8220;<em>Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope<\/em>&#8221; \u00a0 Act 2:26<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12012\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12012\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/hope.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12012\" title=\"hope\" src=\"http:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/hope.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"236\" srcset=\"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/hope.jpg 300w, https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/hope-254x200.jpg 254w, https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/hope-90x70.jpg 90w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12012\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo credit: www.reformingculture.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>God loved man so much that he made a garden for him and provided all he needed&#8230;at that point, Adam had no need for hope.\u00a0<em>Right<\/em>?<\/p>\n<p>But then Adam fell &#8211;\u00a0<em>and he fell hard<\/em>\u00a0&#8211; so hard in fact, that we are still paying for it to this day! His mistake ushered sin into this perfect world God had created &#8211; and since God could not abide by sin, man became lost and without hope.\u00a0<em><br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Yes there is hope for us &#8211;\u00a0<em>it does exist<\/em>\u00a0&#8211; but our hope is in Jesus Christ alone! Our faith leads us to wait for his return which means, we have nothing to hope for but\u00a0<em>Jesus Christ!\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0This is not something we &#8220;<em>wish<\/em>&#8221; for like a birthday present&#8230;&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>When I was young, I remember being asked what I wanted for my birthday. \u00a0I shared my wish with anyone who would listen&#8230;but then I waited impatiently because I was never really sure if my wish would come true &#8211; sometimes it would, sometimes it wouldn&#8217;t.\u00a0<em>\u00a0Of course<\/em>, I was always encouraged to blow out all the candles if I wanted my wish to come true. \u00a0I could never understand why my wish wouldn&#8217;t come true if I told anyone&#8230;&#8230;.. \u00a0<em>Where did that come from<\/em>?<\/p>\n<p>Jesus did not die so we would need to &#8220;<em>wait and see.<\/em>&#8220;&#8230;.nor do we need to search this world for his hope&#8230;&#8230;our hope is the\u00a0blessed\u00a0assurance\u00a0that he was raised from the dead and that he<strong><em>\u00a0is<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0coming back for us!<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Hebrews%2011:1&amp;version=KJV\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Hebrews 11:1<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I remember being left at the babysitters and my mother promising to come back at the end of the day to pick us up. That was always a long day, because I was never quite sure if she was really coming back for us&#8230;<em>but of course, she always did<\/em>&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Satan has been trying to convince us that God is not coming for us&#8230;.<em>and by the looks of\u00a0things more people are believing that every day<\/em>!<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>And hope does not put us to shame, because God\u2019s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.<\/em>&#8221; \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Romans%205:5&amp;version=KJV\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Romans 5:5<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A lot of things offer us hope in this world, but because they are attached to this world, they will never be anything but short-term\u00a0illusions\u00a0because God does not intend for us to remain here and he paid the high price for our souls so we wouldn&#8217;t need anything else! \u00a0Our society is designed as if this is our final destination! \u00a0<em>Don&#8217;t be fooled<\/em>&#8230;..there is a force at work in this world intent on ensuring we never reach our true destination!<\/p>\n<p>I remember having to live with relatives while growing up and how I would always hope for a place of my own&#8230;&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>In my Father&#8217;s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.<\/em>&#8221; \u00a0John\u00a014:2<\/p>\n<p>As for our nation&#8230;.Aren&#8217;t you getting tired of being told, &#8220;if we just get the right man in the white house or&#8230;.&#8221;just a little more tax&#8230;..&#8221; \u00a0 or \u00a0&#8230;&#8230;&#8221; with a little\u00a0sacrifice\u00a0&#8230;.&#8221; \u00a0Can anyone tell me how long we&#8217;ve been fooling ourselves with this false hope? Why are people pushing Jesus aside while waiting for &#8220;something more?&#8221; \u00a0It makes no sense to push aside the hope that has already been given us, in search of false illusions.\u00a0<em>Hasn&#8217;t our hope already been delivered to us<\/em>?<\/p>\n<p>I believe our hope first arrived the moment that Jesus Christ was born &#8211;\u00a0<em>but the hope that we can now be reconciled with God and have eternal life actually was given to us the moment he died!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said,\u00a0<strong>It is finished<\/strong>: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.<\/em>&#8221;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=%20John%2019:30&amp;version=KJV\" target=\"_blank\"><em>\u00a0John 19:30<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sin is still in the world &#8211;<em>\u00a0and always will be<\/em>\u00a0&#8211; so, does that mean there is no hope for man?<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God<\/em>.&#8221; \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=%20Romans%205:2&amp;version=KJV\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Romans 5:2<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<em>Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.<\/em>&#8221; \u00a0 \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=%20John%2014:6&amp;version=KJV\" target=\"_blank\"><em>John 14:6<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.<\/p>\n<p><em>In Christ alone my hope is found&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NHn-8mDmdYc<\/p>\n<p>Visit Mark at <a href=\"http:\/\/plantingpotatoes.wordpress.com\" target=\"_blank\">Planting Potatoes<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>David said&#8230;.. &#8220;Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope&#8221; \u00a0 Act 2:26 God loved man so much that he made a garden for him and provided all he needed&#8230;at that point, Adam had no need for hope.\u00a0Right? But then Adam fell &#8211;\u00a0and he fell &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/04\/my-hope\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;My Hope&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":12012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2379],"tags":[6125,6093,6126,6124,223,590,6116,6117,6119,2393,3808,3382,6123,6122,6118,201,6121,2447,6120],"class_list":["post-12011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest","tag-babysitters","tag-blessed-assurance","tag-candles","tag-faith-is-the-substance","tag-flesh","tag-heart","tag-hebrews-11-1","tag-hope-act","tag-hope-david","tag-jesus-christ","tag-lost","tag-mistake","tag-perfect-world","tag-photo-credit","tag-point-adam","tag-satan","tag-substance-of-things","tag-tongue","tag-world-god"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}