Hope

Written by cycleguy on November 26th, 2014

Confession Time: I am not a fan of The Wizard of OZ. Never have been. You know the story I’m sure. Dorothy wants to get back to Kansas (why I ask?). The Tinman wants a heart. The Scarecrow a brain. The Lion his courage. The wizard is supposed to give it to them, but he is nothing more than a balding professor who is great with a sound and light show, but has absolutely no idea how to meet their needs. To make a long story short, he tells each of them to look deep inside themselves for the answer. That sounds like a bunch of junk we hear today. The correct terminology is “Balderdash!”

Someone has said, “A man can live 40 days without food, about 3 days without water, about 8 minutes without air…but only for one second without hope.” I’m not sure how accurate that really is but, in essence, he is saying if we take away hope we have no reason to live.

My sermon Sunday finishes my time in Luke for 2014 with “The Miracle of Hope.” It focuses on the miracle-working power of Jesus to heal and raise the dead in Luke 7:1-17. Jesus gave hope to two who had none. The centurion’s servant, who, according to a parallel account in Matthew 8, was a paralytic and in severe pain. The other story was even deeper pain. It is the story of a widow whose only son had died (the epitome of grief in that day) and was being carried to be buried. Lost the husband, then lose the son. No hope left.

But Jesus steps in and gives hope where none is found. Just as He does today. He still instills hope when all seems hopeless. What a tremendous message we have!

First, Happy Thanksgiving Day if you are reading this Wednesday night or Thursday.

Second, if you can squeeze in a prayer for Sunday I would appreciate it.

I’ll be back Sunday night/Monday morning with a new post!

 

16 Comments so far ↓

  1. Daniel says:

    I think that hope is the key that allows us to press onward and upward. Take that away and nothing else matters or is even relevant. Hope you have a great day tomorrow and I will be praying for you during my Friday morning devotionals.

  2. the Old Adam says:

    You’re always in my prayers, Bill.

    Happy Thanksgiving to you, friend.

  3. floyd says:

    How could you not like the flying monkeys?

    I’m with you on true Hope, Bill. Praying for you and your sermon. Happy Thanksgiving, brother.

  4. Ed says:

    As the Old Adam says: you’re in my prayers!

  5. Hope your Thanksgiving was good.

  6. It’s easy to lose hope when we keep our focus on ourselves and our present power. The nature of hope is to remind ourselves of God’s power and his promises to us. It’s really so simple to describe, but in the midst of a storm it’s a different thing to practice.
    Happy Thanksgiving!

  7. Dan Black says:

    Jesus was and still is a HOPE giver! We should follow His examples and provide hope to those around us. I’ll be praying for you as you preach this message.

  8. Sharon says:

    Great truth here, Bill. Hope is the lifeblood of the believer. For truly, only believers have true hope. Thanking the Lord for His gift of salvation, for without it we would really and truly die.

    Thinking of this quote from The Shawshank Redemption:

    “…hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”

    And, neither will we because of the Great Hope of eternity.

    GOD BLESS!

    (Will pray for Sunday, but don’t worry. You’re gonna knock it out of the park!)

  9. Mike says:

    Unfortunately we see hopelessness all around us. We see it in the rioting in Ferguson, we see it in the drug and alcohol abuse throughout this country. A life apart from God is a life of emptiness. God created a void in each of us that can only be filled by Him. When we don’t have God in our life, we try to fill that void with whatever seems to cover up those empty, lonely and fearful feelings that plague us. Bill, you are a man who truly cares about others which is why I know you will definitely touch the hearts of those you will be speaking to on Sunday.