Fight for Hope

The enemy wants us to feel hopeless. To believe there is no hope, so that we turn to the world to fill that void. The truth is, there is a void when we don't have Jesus as our Hope. But no matter how many things of this world we turn to, that void will never be filled. The only things that can fill it is Jesus. He makes us complete. The enemy tries to convince us to find false hope. Things that look good and promising on the outside, but only leave a bigger void on the inside. We have to fight for Hope in a culture that tries to silence it every chance it gets. As the enemy continues to make everything continue to look hopeless. fight for Hope. The devil wants nothing more than for our situations, society, and lives to look hopeless. So that, by doing so, we question God's provision. Therefore, we turn away from Him as our Hope, and to the world to fill the emptiness we feel. As the Israelites were in the wilderness, the Lord provided manna for them to eat. He took care of them. Yet, even then, the temptation to put their hope in the thing, rather than the One who provided it came. The devil pushed them to question the Lord's providence even though He never failed to provide and fulfill His promises to them (Exodus 16). Even starting in the beginning, Adam and Eve trusted the created things, rather than the Creator. God never gave them any reason to question or doubt the validity of His promises or providence, yet they chose to hope in worldly things. It's no wonder that the enemy still, to this day, uses that as a trap. It's what caught us in the beginning. False hope placed in things that will only fade. The disciples in Matthew 8 placed their hope, not in Christ and His provision, but in how calm (or not) the waters were. When things were fine, they were fine. But, when the storm came, the disciples were terrified. The storm tested the placement of their hope, trust, and security. Maybe that's a word for someone, the storm you're going through may be a test of your placement of hope. In Exodus 3-4, God tells Moses to go to Pharoah to let His people go. Moses' hope is in himself, rather in the One who is sending Him. I love these biblical examples, because we can definitely fall in anyone of these categories today! Are you placing your hope in the world, your circumstances, yourself, or in Christ? I am beyond thankful that we have a better option. We have a Hope that fills every emptiness, but we must fight for it. Hope is counter cultural. The world doesn't want to give us true hope, it wants us to give us things that seem like hope, but are far from it. True Hope overflows life, joy, peace, and contentment. False hope stirs up stress, discontentment, fear, and chaos. Hope is the antithesis of fear. Right now, all society sells is fear and ways to drown out the feeling of emptiness. But Hope has a Name. And He died on the cross so we could live in relationship with Him and reside in Heaven when it's time. He paid the price that we so rightly deserved, but, in His love, He chose mercy and grace. He chose to take upon the death, the punishment that should've been upon us and defeated, sin, death, and the grave. THANK GOD. And thank God that He lives in Heaven today and is the only Way we could have lived. The only reason we get to be in relationship with God. HOPE HAS A NAME. His Name is Jesus. Culture wants to destroy our Hope, because it's real. Because it means something. Because it destroys the prince of this worlds mission. The Pied Piper will try to play the tune of death with a melody of lies disguised as truth, but the Prince of Peace speaks words of life, hope, and truth with such power and authority. We must be alert. We must be on guard. Don't allow the enemy to twist the name of Hope.

"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God, nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in their sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator- who is forever praised. Amen."

-Romans 1:21-25

I encourage you to sit with the Lord. See where your hope is might be misplaced right now. Ask the Lord to realign your heart with His and for Christ to be your true and only Hope. Ask for discernment in distinguishing truth versus lies. When the devil tested Jesus in the wilderness, he used scripture. Don't think you don't need to know the word when our greatest enemy does. Even he knows the power it holds. But the devil tried to twist scripture, huh... sounds like a lot of people these days...

Be AWARE! Know the word! Jesus knew the word better than the devil, so He was able to catch on to his schemes and distinguish the truth of the word and the lies of the enemy. Keep your Hope. Fight for it. Fight to keep Him the center. Because everything in this world tries to steal the glory and center of our lives. The enemy doesn't want us to have Him as our Hope, because He's the only hope that fills. The only Hope that heals. The only Hope that is real. The only Hope that remains. He is the only Hope.