Hope

I have been hearing a lot of talk lately about hope. We seem to talk about hope when we would all like to have more hope. Last night I participated in a town hall meeting with Dave Ramsey and at the end of the meeting he gave what I thought were three great observations on the subject of restoring hope. It also occurred to me that these same points that build up hope could also apply to trust, confidence, optimism, and a host of good character qualities. As I thought about these points I wanted to respond to them and apply them to my own situation.

First we need to take action. We need to be proactive instead of reactive. We need to look around us and see what needs to be done and them start doing something about it. This is what vision is all about. Blackaby says that God is always at work around us and we need to see what He is doing and join Him in His work. We all have to participate if this church is going to fulfill God’s mission. But, we cannot wait on someone else to start or tell us what to do. There are things we can do now.

Second we need to stop participating in loser talk. Ramsey suggested that we should fill our minds with good information, such as good books, and surround ourselves with better people. That will help us change our conversation. Our conversation is a reflection of who we are and can lead to a downward spiral in our attitude. We recently did a study on Godly Attitudes and looked at the attitudes of the Israelites in the desert. We discovered that complaining is a sin and they stayed in the wilderness because they could not stop complaining. Complaining is also a habit. We can stop complaining but only if we reinforce a decision to stop with also filling our minds with Godly information and surrounding ourselves with encouraging and hopeful people. Let’s be the first to change the subject of conversation to hope.

Third we need give. The practice of giving needs to be a lifestyle so that we do not think of it as one thing. We need to give our ears to listen. We need to give our mouth to encourage. We need to give our hands to help those who need help. We need to give our resources, time, and talents. As I heard last night, service is worship.

Paul said, “Now in this hope we were saved, yet hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.” (Romans 8:24-25) Whatever may be going on around us God is still God, and He is still in control.

I love you, Church. Thank you for allowing me to be your pastor. Thank you for serving with me to fulfill God’s mission.
Bro. Robin

How do we know?

How do we know that we are a Christian? We believe that we are saved by God’s power to save us, called grace, through our faith in Him to save us. There are no special works or magic words. You make a decision and God keeps His promise. You believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and make Him the owner, Lord, of your life and He will save you. It sounds simple, yet I hear from people all the time who pray but doubt their salvation. How do we know for sure?

When someone comes to me with doubts I direct them to the book of 1 John. This short letter from the apostle John, only five chapters, tells us what we need to know to know that we know Jesus. The stated purpose of the book is, “So that you may know that you have eternal life.” (5:13)

The first mark of salvation is that we, “walk in the light,” (1:7). When we know His truth He gives us more insight into His nature, our new nature, and our neighbor’s needs. In fact, a person who is not a Christian does not have this insight.

Paul put it this way, “But the natural man does not welcome what comes from God’s Spirit because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to know it since it is evaluated spiritually.” (1 Cor. 2:14) This is not the only mark of salvation. There are others, but this is a good place to start.

What do you understand that you could not understand before? Understanding is the key to overcoming. With understanding comes the power to say no to those things that seemed to control you before, and say yes to the one you did not seem to be able to obey before.

Jesus does not just save your soul. He saves your understanding also. On the day of Pentecost Peter declared to the crowd, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!” (Acts 2:40). Salvation begins now with God giving you the power to do His will. That is the power of grace that assures us that we are one of His children. That is how we know. In the light of salvation, we see the change in our own life.
Bro. Robin