How Can We Hope?

Wednesday, December 4, 2024

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.  2 Corinthians 4:17-18 

How Can We Hope?

It takes a deep abiding relationship with God to understand the hope of actually letting go. Letting go sometimes indicates giving up, but it also means releasing something. When we release things in faith into the hands of the One who is completely capable, we can have hope. He takes everything we get from trying to do it on our own – the hopelessness, the weariness, the fear, the worry, the exhaustion – and He exchanges it for the most peaceful hope we could ever have. Trying to do what we were not meant to do will always produce hopelessness, rather than hope, in our hearts. 

The Lord is going to walk with us through the secret things we don’t know, as we trust  in what we do know, that which God has revealed. Sam Nobles

What has God revealed? If you want to know what God has revealed, take a good look at your life. How has He been faithful to you? How has He shown up in your life? The revealed things are the promises He has given us and the examples we have in our lives, in he lives of those around us, and in the Bible of those promises fulfilled. We have Heavenly Father who is faithful and true and keeps His promises. Faith in a promise keeping God gives us the hope we need to keep going. 

The objects of hope are different for everyone.  For some, hope is waiting for financial relief from excessive debt.  For some, hope is waiting for emotional healing in a broken relationship or marriage.  For some, hope means waiting for physical healing from disease or illness.  For some, hope means never giving up believing that a child that has strayed will come back to how they were raised. For others, hope means hanging on day after day and trusting God in a seemingly hopeless life.  Hope can be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in a life burdened by sin and shame.  But for all of these the only real hope they have is in someone or something outside themselves. It is hard to keep the faith in difficult circumstances, but looking to Jesus for hope, trusting Him, and moving forward in obedience is the only answer. 

Hope and Faith…they go hand in hand!

In order to have real hope, we must have faith.  Faith is as strong as that which it believes in.  Real hope is based on a strong faith in a loving God.  It took many, many years for the prophecy of the coming King to finally come about, and truthfully, many of those watching and waiting probably lost hope and faith as well.  But He came.  He came and He brought hope to a hopeless world.  The gift of the baby in the manger was realized hope.  He came as man, lived and died on the cross for us so we could have eternal life, and hope.  We cannot save ourselves and we cannot save each other.  Jesus is the one and only true hope for all. He came as one of us and lived, died and rose from the dead.  We now live in the hope that He is coming again!   

Advent is a season of waiting and preparing – waiting and preparing for the coming of the only hope for you, me, and this fallen world. This Christmas season prepare your heart and make room for the coming Christ.  Celebrate His birth and embrace the hope that is Jesus Christ. 

The Good Shepherd - Do You Know Him?

 Tuesday, December 3, 2024

I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd. John 10:14-16 CSB

The Good Shepherd - Do You Know Him?

It is no mistake that Jesus compares us to sheep in the Bible. We are sheep that have lost our way before, and we will continue to lose our way every time we move away from our Good Shepherd.  Thankfully we have a Good Shepherd that will bring us back into the fold every time. 

Shepherds have a very important job.  Sheep are completely defenseless in the face of an attack.  They have no sharp teeth or claws, and they certainly cannot outrun a predator, so when a wolf comes after them, they are going to lose.  They are totally dependent on the shepherd to protect and lead them.  He watches for danger and uses the crook of his staff to pull them back into the fold when they start to wander outside the bounds of protection.  The sheep know their shepherd, and they will listen to the shepherd and follow where the shepherd leads.  Shepherds may even give up their lives to protect the flock.  

In the scripture above Jesus says that He is the Good Shepherd, and we are His sheep.  We listen for His voice and follow Him.  He will lead us, guide us, protect us, and He has laid down His life for us.  He had all the power in the world to save us, without giving His life, but He did not choose to save Himself.  His willing sacrifice of His own life for His sheep, made it possible for everyone who chooses to come, to have salvation.  He identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd as He laid down His life for us. 

Like sheep without a shepherd, we will walk right into trouble. We need the gentle voice of our Good Shepherd to call to us, lead us and guide us.  We need the loving tug of His staff to pull us back to Him, to safety where we belong.  We need His love, grace, mercy, and protection.  

Jesus is our Good Shepherd, and it is His desire to give us all good things, to take care of us, to give us comfort, peace, meet our needs, and to protect us. The things we think we want are sometimes not good for us.  The good things that the shepherd gives are the right things for us. His word tells us not to worry about our needs - our basic provisions of what we will eat, wear, etc.  He has it all under control.  We just have to follow Him. The shepherd always guides the sheep, and our Shepherd is no different.  He leads us, and when we stray, He will come for us like any good shepherd would. There is no place we can go that He won’t come after us.  And no matter how big the flock is, He cares about every single one of us.

How can we hear his voice? Because we belong to him - I know my own, and my own know me… When we are in a relationship with Jesus we will know his voice, just as we know the voice of our friends and family. Our relationship with Jesus should be even more intimate than those relationships. When we seek him, learn from him, walk with him, spend time talking to him, as well as listening for him, we will hear his voice when he calls for us. Are you listening for his voice today?  

 

Who Is This Child?

 Monday, December 2, 2024

 In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:  Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke 2:8-12

Who Is This Child?

In Luke chapter 2 we find the traditional Christmas story, which is also the very first proclamation of the Gospel. Who were the recipients of the long-awaited news of the Gospel? A group of Shepherds watching their sheep at night. 

Shepherds were not considered to be a privileged position in society. Unreliable and uneducated, shepherds at the time of Jesus’ birth did not have a good reputation. They were not allowed to give testimony in Jewish court because they were considered untrustworthy. They were criticized by Jewish leaders because the nature of their work meant they usually could not keep religious rules such as strict Sabbath observance. They were dirty and smelly and looked down upon in society. Yet they were the ones the angel of the Lord chose to tell first about Jesus’ birth. 

Who did the angel tell the Shepherds that this child was? 

The angel told the Shepherds that the child was three things: 

The Savior – The people were in need of a Savior, but they were looking for a different Savior. They were looking for a Savior that could deliver them from the Romans. They were looking for a military leader to come riding in and deliver them. Some of them did not even realize their need for the Savior that Jesus was – a Savior to deliver them from their sins and give them eternal life. Until we realize our state as a sinner, we do not even realize that we need a Savior.

The Messiah – The Angel called Jesus, “Messiah”, which means, “Anointed One.” The people were waiting for a messiah because prophets prophesied that one day King David would have a descendant whose throne would last forever. The angel Gabriel said Jesus was that king. The New Testament calls him “Christ,” which means “Messiah” or “Anointed One.” The Old Testament predicts the Messiah, and the New Testament reveals the Messiah to be Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of the Messiah: He was a Hebrew of the tribe of Judah, He was born in Bethlehem, to a virgin.

The Lord – Jesus is God and has “all authority in heaven and on earth.” Jesus is Lord, more than the Messiah, and more than the Savior; He is the Lord of all and all will submit to that truth: “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, and at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” 

When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. Luke 2:15-18

God’s message of salvation is for everyone, regardless of stature, class, status, wealth or poverty, or position in society. God chose the lowly Shepherds to be the first to hear of the birth of Jesus. God often used those who the world sees as unimportant to spread His word and accomplish great things. The angels did not just give the shepherds a message to share. The shepherds were the direct subjects of that message. "Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord…" The divine proclamation of a personal savior is delivered to those who need and recognize their need for salvation. The highest qualification to be a messenger of the good news is to be one transformed by that very news.

We don't know the extended story of each shepherd, but we know that having looked into the face of the incarnation, they were eager to share the news of the birth of the King of Kings.  All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them… Maybe they were amazed at the shepherds themselves. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told. v20

This baby – the Savoir, the Messiah, and the Lord, was and is hope – true hope – for sinners. He is our true hope still today. He is our only hope. Because Jesus came as our Savior, Messiah, and Lord, we have this hope that we cannot find anywhere else. We can have hope in eternal life with Him in Heaven. The Shepherds couldn’t find hope in the fields. The pharisees couldn’t find hope in the books. Yet God gave all of mankind the hope they needed, and He used some of the lowest of society to spread that hope to others. 

Hope Has a Name - “The Shepherds”

Hope Has a Name

 “The Shepherds”

Luke 2:8-20 (CSB)

 

- Key Truth- “The child in the manger came to give us hope both now and for eternity.”

 

- Main Question: Who did the angel tell the Shepherds that this child was? 

 

1. The Savior. (vs. 8-11a)

 

2. The Messiah. (vs. 11b)

 

3. The Lord. (vs. 11c-20)

 

So, what was the shepherd’s response to this “good news of great joy” (vs. 10)?

a. They sought the child. (vs. 15-16)

b. They bore witness to what they heard. (vs. 17-19)

c. They glorified and praised God. (vs. 20)

 

After the Message: Read John 10:1-10; 14-16. What is Jesus’ role as Shepherd? How can we know that we are His sheep?