Building and Sustaining Joy and Hope

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.   John 14:1-3  NIV

   Sometimes the struggles of this world are all too real and the joy of our future home in Heaven does not seem real enough.   Problems in this life can feel big  and insurmountable, while the pleasures of the next life can seem distant and almost nonexistent.   It becomes very easy to complain when this life is not going the way we want it to go. 

   Jesus knows our struggle is real.  That’s why He spoke the words above.  There really will be a day when we will be physically with him.  We will be amazed at his glory and ride high on the eternal bandwagon of his victory.  We will never again feel pain or doubt or confusion.

   One of the best ways to be inspired with the kind of hope that gives us strength to persevere with joy is to fill our heart with the truth of God.  This is what we call meditation.  We actually meditate every day of our lives. Unfortunately, we don't always meditate on helpful ideas.  Sometimes our meditation takes the form of worry because we focus on what could go bad rather than focusing on the good that God wants to produce in us.

 This week, write down the above verses on an index card or some other piece of paper and review them for a few minutes each day.  As you do, ask God to fill you with confident hope in Christ’s return and to help you remember that Jesus is looking forward to taking you to where He is.

Do You Believe Christ's Life Can Flow Through You?

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.   Romans 6:8  NIV

“I am convinced that the majority of Christian people are living on a plane far below what our Master planned for them.”   -  Jonathan Goforth, 1859-1936, missionary to  China.

  

   Ask yourself:  Do I truly believe that I can experience the life of Christ flowing through me?  As Jonathan Goforth observed  a century ago, the majority of Christian people are not enjoying the fullness of Christ that God has promised  to give them.  God wants to fill us with Christ’s life, but we don’t experience it.  Why?

   

   The first obstacle that keeps us from experiencing Christ's life flowing through us is that we simply don’t believe that his life can flow through us.  We let our knowledge of our weaknesses and our experience of our failures blind us to the potential we have in Christ. 

    How can we overcome this obstacle?  The place to start is to exercise our trust in God to keep his promise to fill us with Christ’s life.  Like a muscle, the more we exercise our trust, the stronger it becomes.  It’s more simple than we might think.  A simple way to exercise your trust is to continually offer a simple prayer to God in which you invite God to fill you with Christ’s life and believe that He WILL answer that prayer.   If you pray this prayer daily, even several times a day, and trust God to keep his promise, you will begin to notice a difference in your experience of Christ.   The prayer below is an example of a prayer you can use to invite God to fill you with Christ’s life through the Holy Spirit.  Write it down and then pray it at the beginning of each day this week.  Even better, carry it with you and pray it several times a day so you aware of God’s work in you.

   “Father, I give every part of myself to you today - my thoughts, my words and my actions.  I want Christ’s life to flow through every part of me in everything I do.  Please fill me with Christ’s life today and every day so that I can do your will on earth just as it is done in Heaven.  Thank you for keeping your promise to do this.”

What If Jesus Didn't Rescue You?

Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.      James 5:20  NIV

   When we think about the Jesus saving us from our sins, we usually think about the sins from our past.  What about the future?  What path were you on when Jesus saved you?  What would your life be like today if Jesus had not rescued you and changed the direction of your life?  When we think about these questions, we begin to see that part of Jesus’ saving work is to protect us from sins we may have committed if we had not come to know him.

   This week, set aside some time to do two activities with God.

1. Answer the question above:  “What would your life be like today if Jesus had not rescued you and changed the direction of your life?”  As you consider what could have happened, thank God for changing the direction of your life so it didn’t happen.

2. There is likely someone you know that is headed down a path that will be very destructive to them if their direction does not change.  Take some time to pray for them to be rescued by Jesus so that their direction is changed and they begin to travel on the path of God’s life.