Good question! What is HOPE (acronym) really? It’s: Holding on with patient expectation.
Are you doing that, believer, or do you feel like you need some fresh hope today.. during these tough days and some persecution?
Talk about such tough times, check out the Hall of Faith in the Bible?
You can have hope, and help is also to be had. Free of charge. Yes, there’s hope to be had in a close relationship with Christ who meets all our needs. Where does it flourish?
Hope grows strongest in the garden of pain, of tribulations, of anguish, of suffering and even of loss, believer. I mean when things get really hard during this life, because God sees. He cares, is more powerful and always comes through for you during those darkest moments!
What does it mean that faith, hope, and love remain (1 Corinthians 13:13)?
What is the living hope in 1 Peter 1:3?
How can we be rejoicing in hope (Romans 12:12)?
What are some Bible verses about hope?
What does it mean that we have this hope as an anchor (Hebrews 6:19)?
What is totally righteous awesome hope?.. I mean the hope we enjoy.. it’s a living hope! Yup, exactly!
What does God in the Bible have to say about hope?
What does it mean that hope deferred makes the heart sick (Proverbs 13:12)?
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God can save anyone repentant. The only rainbow I like is found in...Genesis 9:13-16 |
My grandfather, both my parents and others around me were alcoholics (by their own admissions) and then as a teen I started to drink a lot too to numb the pain and hopelessness. Man, how did I inherit my dad’s life? I was hopeless, but now I have hope every single day! Not my fault, but I do! Even my older brother, Kevin, and my dad, Kim, turned and trusted Christ. Now they have hope!
“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance..”
Romans 5:3
"And not only this, but with joy let us exult in our sufferings and rejoice in our hardships, knowing that hardship (distress, pressure, trouble) produces patient endurance.." Romans 5:3 amp
"Not only this, but we also have joy [rejoice; boast] with our troubles [through suffering, trials, persecution], because we know that these troubles aka suffering; trials; persecution, produce patience endurance." Romans 5:3 exb
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3
"The hope of the righteous [those of honorable character and integrity] is joy, But the expectation of the wicked [those who oppose God and ignore His wisdom] comes to nothing. The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright, But it is ruin to those who do evil. The consistently righteous will never be shaken, But the wicked will not inhabit the earth." Proverbs 10:28-30 amp
"The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing." Proverbs 10:28 niv
"The aspirations of good people end in celebration; the ambitions of bad people crash." (10:28 msg)
“The aspirations of good people end in celebration; the ambitions of bad people crash. God is solid backing to a well-lived life, but he calls into question a shabby performance. Good people last—they can’t be moved; the wicked are here today, gone tomorrow.” Proverbs 10:28-30 msg
We are living in the Land of the dying and we are headed towards the Land of the Living.
Death died with Christ arose. Mary and Martha the two sisters had run out of hope, but they turned to the right person and received from Jesus much better than they ever imagined. Their bro back.
He conquered death. Hello! Think about what happened to Lazarus. He died, then God (Jesus) appeared to arrive really late, but the sisters wanted a healing and God really wanted a reselection. So Laz actually had to die twice. But he too lives today cuz the soul of the righteous lives on and on and on and on with Him!
You remember the story!
"'The Teacher is here and is asking for you.’ The moment she heard that, she jumped up and ran out to him. Jesus had not yet entered the town but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When her sympathizing Jewish friends saw Mary run off, they followed her, thinking she was on her way to the tomb to weep there. Mary came to where Jesus was waiting and fell at his feet, saying, ‘Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing, a deep anger welled up within him. He said, ‘Where did you put him?’ ‘Master, come and see,’ they said. Now Jesus wept. The Jews said, ‘Look how deeply he loved him.’ Others among them said, ‘Well, if he loved him so much, why didn’t he do something to keep him from dying? After all, he opened the eyes of a blind man.’” John 11:1-44 msg
Life here can get real tough at times. It hurts, lots of sorrow and then people die. There are just no words when your son dies of Covid like my young son Nathan died. And so many have died. Hate that!
But check out what happened in verses 43-44. “Then he (Jesus) shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” (out of that tomb) And he came out, a cadaver (lookin’ dead but now walking), wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face. Jesus told them, ‘Unwrap him and let him loose.’” Why? Cuz Jesus loves life, loves people and loves us enjoying total freedom!
Now what’s up with millennials and God these days? Millennials today long for lasting hope and life. The Pew Research Center says that millennials are trying to find their lives now in pizza, pushups, yoga, and digital connections like social media instead of in organized religion.
I’m not into organized religion at all though I grew up in that -- the Roman church. But I’ve turned to the Jesus of the Bible that they didn’t crack open. Yes, cuz He’s the only one who can save anyone. And I like some pizza too once in a while.
Hey millennials and everyone else guess what.. knowing and following Christ firsthand (I’m talking about a meaningful two way relationship here) sure beats pizza, Facebook, Snapchat, Gaming, cartoons, Youtube, all other social media.. beats all dead religion and pushups. If it hurts you, it affects Him -- suffering and death breaks God’s heart! Never originally meant to be here. It wasn’t. He loves you, and has a good plan for your future.
When is the Rapture going to occur in relation to the Tribulation?
Have some more questions about the great tribulation and the End Times?
Have you had trials and tests lately? Are you suffering? Sorry about that. Let us know so we can pray for you. Christians are continuing to be be stereotyped and marginalized more and more so by those who write the scripts. And sometimes the stereotyping moves into what we might call the marginalizing of them/us. Has that happened to you yet?
Christianity Today reminds us that most persecution against Christians is nonviolent. Instead it’s a squeeze of the Christians. Interesting thought huh. It’s a squeeze of Christians in five different areas, like in the area of family, in our own private lives, in the community, in our national world, and guess what.. we should not assume before we go any further, we should never assume that any trouble that we have is persecution. Some believers simply forget to pray, forget to study and then make stupid choices. They sadly do wrong, it's a bad witness, they experience the consequences and say they are being persecuted. WRONG! If you suffer, let it never be for wrong-doing, Marvin.
“For if anyone endures the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God, this is to be commended. How is it to your credit if you are beaten for doing wrong and you endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His footsteps: ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.’” 1 Peter 2:19–22
There’s actually about five stages that we’ve observed when it comes to what persecution for Christians looks like today.
Again, there’s been the stereotyping, the marginalizing, the threatening, then the intimidating of believers, and now we see the litigating. After that or along with that I should say there is instances of Western martyrdom in our day. Am I giving you prayer fodder? Sure, but let’s take a private and public stand for Christ and His Gospel as well.
Need some hope and strength today, please turn to and fully trust the living Word today.
A church or business can't save you, but Jesus can. I love going to church but Christ is the one who helps me in the greatest ways possible.
Hey Westerners, He is your hope!
No religionists, pundits, politics or savvy politicians are going to clean up this mess. It’s gone way beyond that.
Listen up, Sport. Unless there's a major turnaround in our country (the USA), we can expect an awful lot more of ugly opposition. The secularists have now moved into positions of power and influence and corrupt courts with corrupt judges.
Judgments against Christians who practice their faith are going to accelerate and we need to be prepared for it. We may not like it. We may not think it's right. We may think it's totally ungodly which it is, but it's going to happen. So what do we do about it?
What's going on in our world today is not something that's new. If you open the Bible from the beginning of the Bible, you discover that Christians have been persecuted throughout all of the history of Christianity. Christian faith worked out in their behavior just angers non-Christians because it makes them feel judged. Many people are convicted inside of their wickedness. May God help all of us to walk what we talk and behave wisely in God’s will.
It sort of resurrects in many lost people, the embedded truth of moral accountability that God planted in each one of us from the very beginning that we are ultimately accountable to God. And when they see Christians living out that accountability, it causes them to be very angry. And instead of being angry at the message, they get angry at the messenger.
If you are good and you try to live your life godly and righteously, in the name of Christ, You will get attention. It won't always be encouraging. They will come after you. They want you to live life at their level so they don't have to feel guilty about what they're doing.
When Christianity in practice arouses the dormant conscience of a non-Christian, their response is seldom to accept the message, it's to kill the messenger. And that's why persecution has been a persistent counterpoint to being a Christian throughout its entire history, Persecution in the New Testament. Begins shortly after Christ's birth in Bethlehem, and it does not end until the last chapter of the book of Revelation.
Here are a few of the most notable examples. The Judean king Herod, fearful of reports that a prophesied king had been born in Bethlehem tried to protect his dynasty by killing all the male babies. Born within the prophetic time frame, John the Baptist, the first public proclaimer of Christ was beheaded by Herod's son Herod Antipas, Several times the Jewish people and their leaders angered over Jesus message and his rebukes tried to seize and kill him even before their successful crucifixion plot, Peter and other apostles were arrested and beaten and imprisoned several times for preaching. Jesus Christ. Stephen was stoned to death by angry Jews for preaching Christ, all 12 of the apostles. All of them died violent deaths at the hands of their persecutors with the exception of John, who was simply exiled on the Isle of Patmos until his death. The apostle Paul suffered every kind of persecution that could be inflicted, he was often in prison, stoned almost to death five times, beaten with 39 stripes. Three times, beaten with rods, then run out of town. Was often arrested, often went hungry and cold and without adequate clothing.
Persecutions have always been with believers, both men and women, since the birth of Christ. Was even there for the righteous in Old Testament times.
And if you study the history after the Bible the Empire best known for persecuting Christians is ancient Rome. In the first century Romans under Nero burned Christians, on stakes and fed them live to lions for arena entertainment. The apostles Peter and Paul were executed under Nero and later in the century. The Roman Emperor Domitian declared himself to be Lord and God and he executed Christians who refused to worship him. The apostle John was exiled under the reign of Domitian. And Romans continued to persecute Christians to varying degrees of intensity up until the time of the Emperor, Constantine when he declared that Christianity was now legal in 8313. And other empires and nations and religions also took up the sword against Christians.
And you know that persecution is alive and well today (if you can call it that..). Yes, in our world today. Many believe that worldwide persecution of Christians today is worse than at any time in all of history. There are far more believers today. Here are some solid facts: Every single month there are 322 Christians who are killed for their faith, 214 church buildings and Christian properties are destroyed every month, and 772 forms of violence are committed against individual Christians or Christian groups. Those figures add up to over 15,000 incidents of serious persecution against Christians every year.
Given the history and the present state of Christian persecution worldwide we should not be surprised that we are beginning to feel the sting of it more and more here in the United States.
Have I been persecuted in this life? Naww, not yet. I read about it often. I don't feel like I've ever been persecuted though I've been harassed and mocked at times even from a few relatives.
Most of us will either experience some of this or we will witness some of it. Many believe that it could all out happen and that it is happening now.
The side effects of Christian persecution are interesting. How should we respond to persecution? What should our attitude be? Listen to the words of Paul to the Philippians:
"Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me." Philippians 1:27-30 nkjv
I like that, well I don’t mean I really like all the pain of it cuz that would be weird. I like the results after we turn to the Lord for comfort, wisdom and guidance.
Want to receive a grant? Do I? For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake. To you it has been granted to suffer and Paul makes suffering sound like a gift. What a gift?
Does He really want to give us the gift of suffering?.. but wait, to reject suffering is to miss out on an enormous blessing in the Lord. Of course you and I are not going to be able to stop what's coming after us here. There are no political engines out there even close to powerful enough to push it all back, I mean in what’s happening with the secularization of our world, You and I know that apart from a major revival spawned from a 5th, 6th, or possible 7thh great awakening we be up a deep river without a paddle. Yes, and the tide has fully turned against Christianity here.
As one writer has said, we've already crossed over the Rubicon, there's no turning back. So the issue is not, how do we stop all of this from happening? The issue is how do we learn to respond in the Spirit rather than in the flesh to what's already happening here? How do we think and act as Christians? And here's Paul writing to the Philippians teaching believers when you suffer, just remember that's a free gift from God. And here's one of the reasons why you can be positive about it all when it happens to you. First of all suffering promotes godly character. Although persecution is inflicted by the enemies of God. God turns it around and uses it often as a form of discipline to mold us into greater Christlikeness which glorifies Him. You and I want to shine brightly for Jesus!
Here's what we read in Romans 5:3-6 (kjv): “..we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”
The Bible says that when persecution comes, it is basically a teaching tool of Holy Spirit. Yes from God so that we each can gain some patience and courage.
Ever had a believer approach and ask you to pray for them so that they “might be more patient.” You can first remind them of this.. God uses a very simple tool to create some patience in his followers. And what is that tool? The Bible says persecution creates patience.
With hard and even fierce opposition God is in the teaching biz. He's taken us to the old school of hard-knocks so to speak. He's putting us in the classroom so that through the persecutions that we face, or through the pushback that we face, we learn what it means to be a strong man or woman of God, and to stand strong by faith until the end.
When everyone else except us keeps swooning and bowing down in adoration to popular idols of our day, even to some famous, outwardly attractive people and gets ticked off cuz you won’t then guess what.. Suffering promotes godly character in us.
It provokes us to a courage of biblical conviction and this type of courage is a hallmark of authentic Christianity because it reflects Christ's own loving uncompromising character that He displayed under really adverse circumstances here.
There is indeed a time for certain compromises, but you and I need to live without any spiritual compromise. It is the crucial virtue that Christians must display and deploy. When we face the cultural demands that totally conflict with biblical teaching, we say, NOPE, not sorry! I’m going with the word instead. Just make sure it’s not taking a firm stance for something stupid.
Pray beforehand, earnestly, fervently and candidly. Why? Because it takes courage to be a Christian in our world with enemies who are watching us. Some watch to trap us and others are curious.
Today, it's not vogue to be a real Christian, it never has been. It's not in style, lauded, or popular to be a Christian. If you're gonna be a Christian, it's going to cost you something. Hello! Just remember, suffering in Christ (not for wrong doing, but for doing God’s will) simply promotes godly character and spiritual maturity, It provokes boldness in being and in giving a witness and it proves godliness.
Christians, ya gotta know that we are on a battleground not out on the playground. Yes, we’ve been in a war and this is all about spiritual warfare today that God will help us to win in. And He will use us to win people to His Son. You can get right with God through His sinless unselfish Son Jesus right here and now. Come as you are. He catches His fish so to speak and then He cleans em.
Read more.. kurtwvs.medium.com
