The Hope You Need

Taken from yesterdays message…

Today we are kicking off a new 6-week series I’m calling “God In Real Life” and for the next 6 weeks we’re going to be looking at how God meets us in the everyday areas of our lives.

To do this we are going to be looking at some of the names given to God in the bible, and we’ll also be looking at some of the primary people from the Old Testament. And so we’ll be looking at their story and how God met them in their life and how He wants to meet ours…

Well let’s kick off this series by looking the subject of Hope! Where do we find the Hope we need to face life’s challenges?

It’s been said that a man can go 40 days without food, several day without water, but not last 1 second without hope, why because hope is what gets us up every morning, it’s the reason we work, it’s the reason we play…it gives us a reason to go on…Well if that’s true where do we get Hope?

The bible tells us where to find hope in Romans 15:13, it says…

“May God, the source of hope, (Who’s the source of Hope, where does it come from) fill you with joy and peace through your faith in him. Then you’ll overflow with hope.”

Well why does it come from God and not from the world around us? It’s because God created us and He desires for us to live hope filled lives. Circle the words, joy, peace, and hope from that verse.

Now how many of you could use a little of that today as we begin a new year? I sure could. So where do we go for these things? Only to God! Why because He is the author of hope!

The writer of Psalm 52:9 knew this when he wrote…
“In your name I will hope, for your name is good.”
Psalm 52:9 (NIV)

What does it mean “In your name…” We’ll all throughout bible God has revealed himself through many names…Jehovah Jirah – which means I am the God who provides your needs, or Jehovah Shalom – Which means I am The God of Peace, and He has even revealed himself as…the

Alpha and Omega the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet
which means I am = “The First And The Last”

He is the God who is before all things and after all things, there is no place we can go that God isn’t, He’s been everywhere we have, even the bad places, even when we feel it or not.

And no matter where you find yourself today, whether good or bad, God says I offer hope…

To illustrate this we are going to be looking at the father and mother and mankind, Adam and Eve.

In Genesis 1 We find God creating…
Light and darkness, the heavens and the earth, the waters, the animals,

and then in Genesis 1:26-27 he creates man…
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

And in Genesis 2: we find a more detailed description of the creation of man…let’s look at verses…8-9

Now read Genesis 2:15-18

Let’s pick up the story in Genesis 3:1-5
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, `You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, `You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:1-5

And the rest is history…you might want to write on your outline…sin enters into the world…

And it appears that all is lost…Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and we’re left with the consequences all around us…brother killing brother, drug and alcohol abuse, people trapped in depression or fear, marriages suffering, and so on and so on…

But let me just share with you, there is hope in God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,

From the story of Adam and Eve I want to guide you down the PATH that leads to hope to a relationship with God Himself…

The Path To Hope Includes… 4 things

The first step involves…
Holding My Life Up For Evaluation

I have to be real with myself and ask myself where am I and how did I get here. If I find myself not happy with my situation in life, I have to say where am I and where does God want me to be. I have to be honest with myself and ask, why don’t I feel like I have any hope?

Notice the rest of the story of Adam and Eve…Genesis 3:6-7 says
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” Genesis 3:6-7 (NIV)

For Adam and Eve they find themselves caught in disobedience, living and doing things God never intended for them to do, first they doubted God’s word, they the did exactly what He told them not to do.

I don’t know about you but for me it’s easy to do things God doesn’t want me to do. It’s easy to lose my temper, it’s easy to be selfish, it’s easy to think negative thoughts…

So it’s important to remember that the first thing I need to do to find hope is evaluate where I am…

I have to ask, Is this just something inside of me, that’s making me depressed, or angry or bitter, or was it something someone else brought into my life???

I want you to notice this next verse… Romans 8:28-29a (NIV) says
“…we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son” Romans 8:28-29a (NIV)

Notice that it does not say all things work out the way I want them too. It doesn’t even say all things on earth have a happy ending, reality teaches us that that’s just not true. Nothing is perfect in life.

But it this verse does say is…We know…(with certainty), in all things God works…(God is there in all things, does that include illnesses, unemployment, divorce, miscarrage, failure, freak accidents, dumb decision I make)? Yes, everything can be put into God’s plan for our life.

It does not say all things are good. Nor does it say God causes all things. God does not cause rape, leukemia, or cancer. But he can cause all things to work together for good and out of that He can even bring hope…

The truth is, We don’t know why things happen to us, but we can know that God can take the good, the bad, and the ugly and turn it around for our benefit.

Look at the crucifixion, did God bring Good out of that? Sure he did. It was not good…but he used it to bring millions to himself. God say he has a plan and a purpose for our lives. Notice that this promise is not for everyone. It is only for those who love God. If you are telling God I can do without you, this promise in not for you. Instead the opposite is true. All things are working for bad for you. Why because they are keeping you separated from God. This is only a promise for those who love God and are trying to live according to His purpose for their lives.

The first step on the path to Hope involves Holding my life up for evaluation, and the next step involves…

an Openness Between Me And God

I have to be Open with God…I have to be open to letting God work in my life

Genesis 3:8-11 (NIV) tells us
“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not
to eat from?"

What was Adam and Eve’s response to God, they were afraid and
hid…

Let me just share with you, you don’t have to be afraid of God,
that is unless your choosing sin over obedience (there’s
consequences to our actions) however if we are wanting to live
for God, we don’t have to be afraid of Him. Why because he
loves us, He’s eager to forgive us, he desires to heal that
relationship…He desires to offer hope of a better tomorrow…

Now for Adam and Eve, they did what we do sometimes, we forgot the love of God, we either forget that God loves us to we have a misunderstanding of His character, His love and forgiveness…

I want you to notice the kind of open relationship King David had with God in Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV) Look at what he said in a prayer to God…

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV)

The PATH to Hope includes an Evaluation of my life, and
Openness with God, and 3rd

Placing Responsibility Back Upon Myself

The path to Hope involves, Taking ownership for what might be my part in this disconnect with God…

• First of all if you’ve never given your life to Jesus Christ I need to take responsibility for that because God’s already done His part
• Second If I find myself in a place where I just not satisfied with life, I’ve got to stop blaming other people for that, and start trusting God a whole lot more to meet my needs.

The fact is no one else can meet all your needs, not your parents, not your spouse, not your children, not your boyfriend or girlfriend, not your career, nothing but a loving God who’s eternally existed and who has made himself know to us through the person of Jesus Christ…

I want you to notice who Adam and Eve blamed for where they were in life…

“The man said, "The woman you put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Genesis 3:12-13 (NIV)

It’s not my fault I’m the way I am, it’s my parents fault. You could have had the worst parents in the world, but we are still responsible for how we live life. It’s my ex-spouses fault for making me the way I am, no-no we need to take responsibility…

We cannot take a detour in the path here, we need to deal with our part. God help me not let anyone or anything keep me from becoming all that you created me to be.

I love this next verse because I need this on a daily basis…1 John

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:8-9 (NKJV)

So I take an evaluation of my life, I stay open to God, I take responsibility for my part, and the final step on the PATH to Hope…involves…

Experiencing Hope Today, Not Later

Look at this verse from Lamentations…

“I have hope when I think of this: The LORD’S love never ends; his mercies never stop. They are new every morning.” Lamentations 3:21-23 (NCV)

For Adam and Eve, they chose sin over obedience, and the
world has never been the same since, and we in 2011 are reaping
the consequences…But even then God didn’t leave them without
hope…look at the rest of the story…

“So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. (which is a symbol of total defeat…now catch this) And I will put enmity (hostility or war) between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He (He who? The rest of the bible points to Jesus) will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. (Being wounded in the battle)" Genesis 3:14-15 (NIV)

It’s because of Jesus that we can have hope for today…because He’s forgiven our past, He’s given us a purpose for living, and because he promises us a home in heaven…

1 Corinthians 15:21-22 (NLT)
“So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.”

1 Peter 1:3 (NIV) tells us…
“In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”

So let me ask you, who are you hoping in? Isaiah 40:31 (NIV) tells us

“Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Closing

Now God brought you here to read this to say to you, Don’t give up, don’t give in to discouragement, instead God is saying, Give it to me. 2011’s going to be your year…

Father I’m sure there are people here today who are feeling beat up with life, and there are other who are depressed, thank you so much for bringing these people hear today so that they can turn it over to you and to have a living hope spring up inside them.

Now why don’t you pray. Dear God you know exactly how I’ve been feeling. Today I want to turn it all over to you. Help me be more aware that you are always with me, that you are watching over me even when I didn’t know it, thank you for working in my life to help me become all that you created me to be. I want to get to know you and follow your purpose for my life, so today Jesus Christ, as much as I know how I open up my life to you, I want to build a relationship with you, so that when I die I can be with you, and I want to put my trust in the hope that you will never disappoint, and that you will always love me. In your name I pray, Amen!