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by Dr. Frederick K.C. Price
Hebrews 10:23 says: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”
There are two words in that verse which I want to examine-confession and hope. Before I learned how to walk by faith, all my wife and I lived on was hope. But hope will not change your circumstances. It takes faith to release the power of God to change your circumstances. Hope will only keep you alive until things change. If you never bring faith to bear upon your circumstances, all you will do is live in hope. Your circumstances will never change.
However, in order to really walk by faith, you have to have hope. Hope is a goal setter. What’s your goal? My goal or objective is to reach the top of the mountain in all areas of life. Everybody should have a goal. If you do not set a goal you will never reach one. This is one reason why many people, and even many Christians, never achieve anything. They never set goals. They have nothing for their faith to obtain. Hope sets the goal and faith achieves it.
Hebrews 11:1 says: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hope by itself has no substance. Faith adds substance to your hope. If you do not have hope then you have nothing for your faith to obtain. On the other hand, if you have hope and do not have faith then you have nothing by which to obtain that which you hope for.
I want to challenge each of you to high hopes this New Year. I have high hopes and I obtain the goals I set. Though there still are some that have yet to manifest. I know that some things take more time than others.
I want to challenge you to have high hopes, to set some goals for 2009. If you do not set any goals you will never reach any. Now be careful and use wisdom when you set your goals. Do not set them so high that you become frustrated and lose hope. If you do, it will cause you to give up and do nothing.
Have you set goals concerning your financial and spiritual needs? Do you have any goals with regard to your desires, your family, your husband, your wife, your children, your job, your career, your education, your ministry or your physical health?
You need to have high hopes and there are steps you can take to obtain any goal. The first one is to remain steadfast, as it says in Hebrews 10:23. You have to be tenacious and hold on to your goals. Do not let go until your goal manifests. It takes that kind of attitude. Stay with it even if it takes forever. It may take a while for your goal to come to pass, but if you remain steadfast sooner or later it will manifest.
First Corinthians 15:58 says: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
If you want to reach your high hopes you have to be steadfast. Even if hell rises up against you, if the water rises, you stick with the goal. This is what steadfast means. It takes discipline and commitment to be constant.
Jesus said in John 15:18-19: “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
The enemy will put pressure on you when you attempt to reach your goal. But you can handle it. Jesus did. You are in good company. In fact, you are running with the best. He has already warned you. If they persecuted Him they will persecute you.
Situations may arise in which you are unable to figure out what to do. We all have encountered this at one time or another in our lives. When you are walking in the Word and by the Holy Spirit you have divine, inside information to meet your goal.
Second Corinthians 4:8-9 says: “We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;”
If you are steadfast, standing through the persecution, deliverance is at hand. You can obtain your High Hopes.
If there really is a God, why do bad things happen to good people?
The inability of some to reconcile the existence of a loving God with that of an evil and depraved world is one of the primary reasons why many reject the message of the Bible. However while tragedy may prompt some to question the existence of God, in truth, it is only by turning to God that any real answers can be found.
The Bible teaches that God created the whole universe. He created our world and everything in it, but the world he created was very different from the world we live in today. Genesis 1:31 says that “God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” However when Adam and Eve disobeyed God everything changed, sin and death entered into the world.
God created man with a free will – the ability to make choices. He could have made us like robots, preprogrammed to love and obey him. Instead he gave us a choice, because he wanted us to come to him willingly. Mankind suffers because of its sin, and it is because of our sin that we are separated from God, who is perfect and holy. However there is hope. Our suffering need not be in vain.
The Bible says that everyone has sinned, that the punishment for sin is death (both physical and spiritual), and that our sin separates us from God. Furthermore, there is nothing we can do to obtain the holiness (or perfection) necessary to enter into God’s presence. Left to ourselves, without God’s intervention, we are hopeless.
However because God loves us, he has graciously given us a way out of our predicament. He provided us with a substitute, Jesus Christ, who was perfect and blameless, to take our place and bear the punishment for our sins. Because he died for us we can be forgiven.
When we trust God and choose to follow him, our suffering is not in vain. The Bible says that God uses trails and obstacles to teach us and draw us closer to him.
Why Do Christians Have Trials?
It has been said that you can best discern a person’s true character by observing them in times of trouble. It is easy to claim to be a faithful follower of Christ when things in our lives are going smoothly; it is often a very different story when the road gets rough.
The Bible has a lot to say about trials and tribulations, and it is filled with example after example of God’s faithfulness. So why do many Christians bolt at the first sign of trouble? If we really believe that God is good, why are we so quick to turn our backs on Him in anger and resentment when things don’t go our way?
There are two major errors we can make regarding trials: The first mistake is the failure to anticipate trials. Jesus suffered trials. Jesus promised us trials (John 16:33). All the apostles suffered trials. Trials are an expected part of the Christian life. And, like all storms, preparation can be critical in successfully enduring them. A second mistake is to harbor a morbid fear of trials.
Remember 1 Corinthians 10:13: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
The Apostle Paul certainly knew sufferings (2 Corinthians 4:7-11, 16-18; 2 Corinthians 11:23-28; Hebrews 11:32-40). And he regarded them as opportunities. There are many reasons why we face trial.
Here are just a few
To glorify God (Daniel 3:16-18, 24-25)
Discipline for known sin (Hebrews 12:5-11; James 4:17; Romans 14:23; 1 John 1:9)
To prevent us from falling into sin (1 Peter 4:1-2)
To keep us from pride. Paul was kept from pride by his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
To build faith (1 Peter 1:6-7)
To cause growth (Romans 5:3-5)
To teach obedience and discipline (Acts 9:15-16; Philippians 4:11-13)
To equip us to comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
To prove the reality of Christ in us (2 Corinthians 4:7-11)
For testimony to the angels (Job 1:8; Ephesians 3:8-11; 1 Peter 1:12)
When faced with times of trouble remember that God loves you, He knows what is best for you, and He has a plan for your life (Jeremiah 29:11).
The Bible says: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:35, 38-39).”
Shake off the defilement of recent distractions that have taken you away from kingdom focus and kingdom purpose. There has been a dissipation, a diversion, a scattering from the central theme of your existence. Make a concerted effort and take the time to get back on holy ground, says the Lord. Be done with everything that has diverted your attention away from your faith and hope in Me.
1 Peter 1:17- 21 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
You are a light to the world to those who are hurting and need a glimmer of hope. You are a bridge to carry them to the other side of the troubled waters. They will be untouched because of my Holy Spirit and your willingness to submit them to me due to the heart I put inside of you.
I am increasing your passion, love and compassion for the lost and hurting souls. I will deliver them as I am delivering you, all you have to do is encourage them with my word and lift them up to me by holding them up in prayer to Abba. I am teaching you to who Papa is so that you can pray to Papa for all of your needs and the needs of others.
It all begins and ends with me so be encouraged that you don’t have to do anything in your own strength. So don’t even try it because you will be discouraged. Let the light of my word guide you into all truth, this is what I require of you. My word is your most powerful and effective tool for ministry. Fill up your storehouses with my promises and wisdom because others are dying to hear the message of hope.
Their hearts are damaged and bruised so all they know how to do is hurt others out of their heart of hurt. I will restore their hearts with my love so they can show that same love to others. I am calling you to heal the broken hearted, set the captives free by using the treasure map I have freely given to you. It will be like a domino effect, moving in the direction I have set up and those prison walls will come down all over the world, people will realize that I am the ONE who can hold them up.
No more crutches that keep them crippled with no purpose in life. I am the one who gives life to the dry bones. My people perish due to lack of knowledge, not knowing what to do or how to get out. That is where the called of Christ are commissioned to heal the broken hearted with what I have put in their hearts. This is the “good news” of love, hope, peace, prosperity, power and joy in abundant life with me.
Do you see that this has already begun? Seek my heart in the secret place and you will know what I am doing today on the earth. I have appointed you for such a time as this, wait in the doorway and I will tell you when to step out. Be watchful with my word and you will know what to do, don’t allow guilt to drive you to move prematurely. Be led forth with peace in all you do. I love you beloved children of mine.
For your prayerful consideration…
JLL
