The world needs hope
hope is a powerful word the Latin's have a word for hope and it means breath to give oxygen to
someone hope is a reality hope is something that is real hope is what keeps us going
that it is only God who can bring hope and new life out of dead situations
God himself is the one that provides for us the hope that we need in times like these
hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness
we learn to cultivate hope the same way we learn to walk one step at a time
there may be times when we must make a courageous decision to hope even when everything around us
contradicts this hope like father Abraham we will against hope believe in hope
or as one writer expressed in the midst of winter we find within us an invincible
summer hope sustains us through despair if only we could glimpse for a moment what the
Lord has in store for us not only in the next life but in this one as well our hope would be
unshakable and despair could never overcome us hope teaches that there is reason to rejoice
even when all seems stark around us and to all who suffer to all who feel discouraged
worried or lonely I say with love and deep concern for you never give in never surrender
never allow despair to overcome your spirit for the love of the son of God pierces all darkness
softens all sorrow and gladdens every heart a traditional Russian saying is that hope dies
last which is one Russian explained it means that as long as you are alive you have hope
and that even if everything is very very bad around you if you have hope you can survive
while it may not seem like much the smallest form of hope the smallest desire to believe can be the
first step in the miraculous process through which God can exalt us so if at times you can't really
see very clearly or really not at all if all you can do is hang on to one thread and hope it holds
then hang on and hope that will be enough to start the process if you then turn to the savior
and sincerely ask for his help he will take what little you have to offer and turn it into
magnificent exalting hope which can be an anchor to your soul in times of distress we can hold
tightly to the hope that things will work together for our good this type of hope in God his goodness
and his power refreshes us with courage during difficult challenges
and gives us strength to those who feel threatened by enclosing walls of fear doubt and despair the
adversary uses despair to bind hearts and minds in suffocating darkness despair drains from us
all that is vibrant and joyful and leaves behind the empty remnants of what life was meant to be
despair kills ambition advances sickness pollutes the soul and deadens the heart
despair can seem like a staircase that leads only and forever downward hope on the other hand is
like the beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances it pierces
the darkness with a brilliant dawn it encourages inspires us to place our trust in the loving care
of an eternal heavenly father who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth
in a world of relativism confusion and of fear because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ we need
not fear for we will live forever never to taste of death again because of his infinite atonement
we can be cleansed of sin and stand pure and holy before the judgment bar the savior is
truly the author of our salvation put your hope in him put your trust in him put your hope in God
he will not fail it is the constant exercise of faith in Christ that transforms what would
otherwise be merely wishful thinking into the kind of hope that can become an anchor to our soul
we have to plant our desires our hope in him because of his atoning sacrifice Christ has
the power to transform all our righteous desires into reality our role is to believe in him and his
gospel and teachings enough that he can work with us that we will allow him to shape our desires
so that our will aligns with his thus if we want to strengthen our hope we must focus more on the
savior especially when we feel hopeless and hope is not well you know I just hope something happens
hope is an expectation that something good is going to happen and see you can do that on purpose
you don't have to wait to feel something you can say tonight I am going to change my attitude
from a hopeless attitude to a hopeful attitude and I am going to
keep believing that something good is going to happen to me until I see it take place
listen I know what it's like to go through hard things
I know what it's like to have so many bad things happen in a row that you just you're almost afraid
to expect anything good because you just don't want to be disappointed one more time amen and
boy the devil loves it when we get hopeless when we begin to think that we've just made
too many mistakes to ever recover but let me tell you something nobody can out sin God's goodness
did you hear me there's no pit so deep that he can't reach down in it and get you out and god
loves you and he wants a close intimate personal relationship with you Jesus didn't die so we
could all just have some brand of religion he wants to have a relationship a personal
in your face in your life every day relationship with you and God is a God of restoration
and there's nothing in your life that he cannot restore amen so how about if we have
a new attitude today is the first day of the rest of my wonderful life that God has planned for me
and I'm gonna let go of what lies behind and I'm gonna press on to the good things that are ahead