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Isaiah 40:31; “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (ESV – all emphasis mine)
Jeremiah 29:11; “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Romans 8:24-25; “Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Another great verse that goes with this is John 20:29; “Jesus said to him [Thomas]; ‘Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed.’”
Romans 15;13; “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope.”
Peter seems to be speaking of today’s world when in 1 Peter 4:12-13 when he writes, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.” Our greatest hope is to be taken up to meet our Savior in the air in the Rapture. Meanwhile, we are witnessing a turning away from the faith worldwide, just as Jesus said would happen (Matthew 24:10).
Paul tells of persecution in his day, yet there are places in this world right now where Christians are persecuted even unto death. 2 Corinthians 4:8-10; “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”
Hebrews 4:15 gives us a very appropriate reason to have real hope in our Savior; “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses; but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
Our Jesus is also our Creator. Yes, He is called God’s Son; however, He is fully one-third of the Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. John 1:1-3; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.”
This Jesus allowed Himself to become lower than the angels for a time (Hebrews 2:9) so that He could walk this earth as a “human,” yet He was still fully God. He purposely experienced everything we experience, yet He did so without ever committing one sin. At his death, when He declared, “It Is Finished,” he physically died as a human, and immediately His Spirit was with the Father, and once again, He was fully God.
We have the hope of eternal life without any further blood sacrifices to cover our sins. From that moment on the cross, the blood of animals, birds, or whatever were no longer acceptable by the Father (Hebrews 10:4).
Consider 1 Peter 1:3-5; “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living Hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading; kept in Heaven for you who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a Salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Follow this with Galatians 5:5; “For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.” Our wait does not appear that it will be much longer, taking into account all that is happening in this world right now. We are definitely at the Luke 21:28 stage where Jesus said when these things “begin to take place,” He is very near to returning to take all believers off this evil planet. That “beginning” He spoke of could very well be said to have started about 10 years ago.
Michael Card is a minister/songwriter who has written and performed many great hymns. In 1977, He wrote and released a song simply called “Hope.”
1.) Hope has been woven throughout all creation, an anchor that holds through the waves. Hope is the helmet of each noble soldier; for only the warrior who hopes can be brave.
Ref) Hope you in the Lord, and renew your strength; soar you up on eagles’ wings. Tirelessly run the long race that’s set before you; your life is a song the Father sings.
2.) Hope that you can see is really no hope at all; and like children who see faces in the clouds, we hopefully listen to the silence of life and find that it’s shouting out loud.
3.) And though your life may seem to sound a dark and minor key, it will someday shift itself to major, and the lyric of your life will rhyme with nothing less than joy, and you’ll find that hope is from the One that you believe.
(4) Hope is an echo in the air all around you; it is the sign of Heaven’s symphony. And the hope that is Jesus will never disappoint us; it tenderly tells us to hope is to believe.
By the grace of the Savior and the mercy of the Father, all who will receive and accept the gift will have eternity in absolute paradise. We will have forever immortal and imperishable bodies and a pure temptation-free mindset, just as our Savior has.
Yes, there’s a catch to this. We must confess and admit that we are sinners, as everyone is, and that we cannot save ourselves (Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23). We must have faith and believe that Jesus took all our sins to that cross, and they died there with Him. We must have faith and believe that the Father raised Him from the dead, and death and sin were conquered forever for all who believe in Him. We must call out for Him to forgive us and ask Him to be our Savior forever. By the way, this is found in Romans 10: 9-13.
All who refuse to receive and accept God’s Son will answer for every sin, great or small, at the White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15. There will be no forgiveness or pardons given at this Judgment, as everyone there will be condemned forever in the Lake of Fire and will be shown exactly why.
No one has sinned so great that they cannot be forgiven. It must be done before taking your last breath on this earth. We are told that “All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” There are no other secret ceremonies, special deeds, or any works to be done. If we truly ask, He will accept us as part of His precious flock.
Our real Hope, the only Hope, is through our loving Savior, who gave His life so that we could live. Please don’t wait any longer to call out to Him. Today would not be too soon. The trumpet and shout could take place any second now, and to have a reservation for the “trip up” is your greatest Hope of all.
Shalom! Come, Lord Jesus!
The post Our Real Hope Is Jesus :: By Dennis Huebshman appeared first on Rapture Ready.
