vain hope is really no hope at all!

Vain hope is what most people have. They hope things get better, their job improves, their health returns, the future will be favourable and they really hope their marriages work. But all such hope is vain. It is aspiration that more often than not never quite delivers!
The recent interest in games of chance especially card games like Texas Hold’em illustrates this truth. These games are like a window into what most of us call hope. A lucky break here, a risk taken there, out on a limb praying [hoping] for something to go your way. So much depends on the hand your dealt; so much depends on when you lay your bet down. Hold your cards close to your chest and deceive everyone around the table as best you can. Try hard to make them think that you truly do have a winning hand! You've got what it takes to make it work. But in the end it truly is a game of chance and as in any casino 97% of the time the house wins.
This is how many people go through life. Round after round our chips of hope dissipate as life beats us up. We slowly but surely loose our aspirations, we loose our hope. All those Grad speeches we heard where just that, just speeches. Hopelessness is ramped in our society. Hopelessness leads to despair and that leads to all kinds of trouble. Hatred, deceit, stealing, violence, anger and rage, all stem from the root of despair that comes from the helpless sense of hopelessness.
Without hope we go through life with significant disadvantages. 1) The is no expectation that someone can save us from our selves and those nasty habits that bring damage to our lives, relationships and loved ones. 2) There is no knowledge of the great and awesome promises of God that introduce, foster and make hope flourish. 3) There is no hope past the grave. It's eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die! 4) The best hope we can muster is an, “I sure hope so…” kind of hope. 5) A desperate hopeless world breeds desperate hopeless people. It feels like a trap that is slowly squeezing the life out of us. Vain hope is really no hope at all!
Fortunately, vain hope is not the only kind of hope out there! God himself has intervened in his mercy.
Easter is all about a good and living hope. The Bible tells us that there is hope that comes from God. It describes it as a better hope, a Good hope, and a Living hope. It says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!
Allow me to introduce you to this kind of hope that is held out by the good news of Jesus Christ.
What he did was die and take all the punishment that we deserve because of our sin on himself. This death opens up a way for us to connect with the God of the universe. The God of all hope! A way of hope, a way of grace, so that we can now have God and all the promises he makes of a life forever where He is the center of it all.
Jesus resurrection is like a guarantee that he really means business. His resurrection means what he promised is true and those promises have power to bring us good and living hope to transform our lives both now and forever!
So, what kind of hope do you have in your life; vain hope or Living hope? If you don’t have living hope would you like to have it? Hope that is good, merciful, living and eternal! This hope can be yours by believing the message I have just told you. We must claim it as our very own, turning away from lives full of vain hope and the trouble it brings, and turning them toward God for life and hope forever which he offers through his Son Jesus. Just believe it!

Sandy Footprints

I sat and looked at these footprints for along time tonight. Maybe I am just a bit tired from the week of rollercoaster riding that Cheryl and I went on. Ministry has those moments when you feel like you're just making dents in sand dunes. When it seems like you are in a dry and weary land where there is no water. When there isn’t a person in sight and you feel all alone.
Except - someone took the picture. Someone is there, right behind me all the way. He has my back. Encouraging me to keep putting one dusty foot in front of the other. Keep pressing on. Keep the way straight.
Marks are left in the sand. A Footprint is not a monument. A monument shouts, "At least I got this far". But a footprint, a footprint says, "This is where I was before I moved again." Not stagnant but moving, not stationary but progressive, not aimless but purposeful.
Finally, I looked up at the horizon. What adventure is just beyond that hill top? The next thing, the next event, the next whatever! I suppose it could just be more sand, but maybe, just maybe there is an oasis or a city or even just a camel. Nobody but God can see over that horizon and he has my future in the palm of his hand.
I can hear him whisper, “I delight in you, and you are spectacular!"
That's all the encouragement I need.
I will get there with the Lord's help one sandy foot in front of the other.
Where are your footprints taking you?