How to battle hopelessness...

 

I dreamt last night that I was in a stadium full of people who were challenged to profess the deity of Christ. One by one, they denied Him until I was the only one left. I was so discouraged that I buried the ‘proof’ of it in the ground and woke up feeling entirely hopeless.

I read until this feeling lifted then was reminded of another dream. I’m not a golfer but did have clubs and went out a few times. The dream was about playing a perfect game, even getting a hole in one. I woke up realizing why people golf. It is the hope of doing better the next time, of improving their game. 

Callaway says that each year more than 20 million people play on 13,000 courses in America and many new courses open each year to accommodate those who are hopeful. This is a bit better than describing it as a long walk. Hope is a Bible word where it is not just about a fresh start nor does it have anything to do with my goodness or ability. Instead it is believing in the unchanging promises offered to me by my Savior, Jesus Christ, promises like these: 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:3–9)

My realistic dream defined a dark, sad day, but God reminds me that He is true, even in the face of reality, never mind despairing dreams. Hope opens doors that despair slams shut. Hope looks for the good instead of the worst and turns problems into opportunities and fear into faith.

How is it recognized? I once wrote an essay on hope using the smell of cinnamon buns to illustrate that hope is like that; I cannot see the yummy buns but know they are there waiting for me. Yet hope Is no pie-in-the-sky illusion. It does not make me complacent, content to leave the world as it is by thinking about a secure future. Instead, it impels me to take hold of God’s goodness and share it with others, maybe not a stadium full of people but with those God puts in my life. 

Losing hope in a dream is not the same as losing it in reality because reality is the dwelling place of God’s promises. He tells me:

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, (Hebrews 10:22–24)

PRAY: Jesus, the way to beat this hopeless feeling is to focus on Your faithfulness and how You keep Your promises. Your goodness can turn hearts that seem pleased with their own misery, or those who seem to love their own wickedness. Hope can change the torment of Your conviction into welcome enlightenment, and change the fondness of our sin into a remedy to eradicate it. Your love and grace can make those displeased with their condition into the realization we are unable to raise ourselves from sinner to saint. No matter how far anyone falls, Your goodness can triumph over all blindness and sin and turn anyone from nothing to children of God. This is the hope that enables me to think of ways to encourage others to live for You in the hope that You give. Feeding them sweet buns might open hearts to Your message of hope; however, feeding on Your word fills empty hearts and turns unnecessary despair with joy that You set before me. You give me words to say and actions to do that bring hope to the hearts of others who need it like we all do.

Amazing Hope. . . .

So far, this has been a challenging week with concern for friends, odd health issues, spiritual lessons that seem impossible to learn and apply, interruptions to almost every task, and a long to-do list, meetings and appointments, and new information flying at me like angry wasps. I felt abandoned at times, like Jesus had other more important things to deal with and the battles were mine alone.

Today’s reading is like warm oil. It begins with: “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” (Revelation 22:4)

When John wrote of his experiences in exile, he saw a sealed scroll and was concerned that no one could open it and he began to weep. However. . . .  

One of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Then Jesus appeared between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, standing as a Lamb as though it had been slain. He took the scroll and the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before Him, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

Then John heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders. These angels numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. They said with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

Not only that, every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, were saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped. (Revelation 5:1–14)

The Bible does not tell us much about heaven, but this is awesome. I will have a clear vision of Christ. Everything which now hinders my sight of Him will be removed. My many sins, earthly cares and sorrows will be gone, and like the song that blesses me, there will be nothing between me and my Savior, nothing to rival Christ or distract me from all that is in Him.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:1–3)

This is full redemption — seeing the face of Jesus with all evil and every fleshy impulse totally eradicated. I long for that complete transformation when my will and heart are totally one with His will and heart. No more battles with sin. Total bliss.

PRAY: Jesus, thank You for such a wonderful hope, particularly when the days are long and filled with so much of the struggles that will not be in heaven. What a great blessing to know that when I at last see Your face, I will be perfectly satisfied. In the meantime, thank You also for the challenge to purify myself as You are pure, doing this by obedience to another truth from John: “If I confess my sins, You are faithful and just to forgive my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) Truly, You are a worthy and awesome God.

What is heaven like?

 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places . . .  (Ephesians 1:3)

Heaven is hard to imagine. Once I realized eternity is without time and is all ‘now’ rather than past, present, and future, imagining it became even more difficult. The OT says it is unknown, and the NT says we cannot imagine it, and yet God does reveal many things to us by His Spirit:

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit . . . (1 Corinthians 2:9–10)

Jesus said it is a “kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Paul wrote about it in connection to our bodies. The physical will perish, but we are only living in that body like a person would live in a tent. He said:

For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. (2 Corinthians 5:2–5)

That and other passages tell me that I will have a new body. One compares it to a seed that dies but a plant grows from it, and that plant is not like the seed. This new body is imperishable, meaning no more sickness or aging. It does not say if that means new like an infant though, nor tell what the bodies of babies who died will be like, nor say anything about pets or animals in heaven, only that we will be changed and be like Jesus.

The NT also describes heaven as a city with jewels in the walls and gates and streets of gold, even calling this city “the Bride” as the “wife of the Lamb” further mystifying heaven.

Jesus told His disciples that it was a definite place and that He would be there:

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14:2–3)

For me, that is enough. I can speculate what I might be doing, but know that worship and praise will be a huge part of it. Will I paint sunsets and have long visits with loved ones? Will I dance with Jesus? Lots of ideas but the only certainty is that life after death will be incredible and awesome.

Today’s devotional says that most Christians are more occupied with this life than the next, forgetting or ignoring that this is not our home; we are just passing through. MacArthur says “Christians hold a dual citizenship. We are citizens of earth, but, more importantly, we are also citizens of Heaven.” He quotes passages that tell me to think that way:

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. (Philippians 3:20–21)

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1–4)

While age tends to bring on thoughts of heaven, God wants all His children to have an eternal perspective. If I put my life on a continuum line representing eternity, it is a mere dot, or perhaps like a tiny molecule in a sea of forever. Living His way is about seeking first His kingdom and righteousness, about not letting the cares of this world overtake His promises about the next, and about putting to death all that is sinful and worldly. It is also about telling others of Jesus, who is my everything — both in this life and the next. I know enough about heaven to want everyone to be there!

RESOURCES: Matthew 25:34, 1 Corinthians 15:35-56, 1 John 2:17; 3:1-3, Hebrews 11:16, Revelation 21:2-27,