In today’s world more and more people are finding themselves alone and depressed, and some are even faced with bigger-than-life situations. But here’s the Good News! By Pastor Eric Toleafoa of the Seventh-day Adventists Church.

Help is available, not the kind the world has, where it wishes for the best and that it may all go away by itself. You see it is one thing to wish, and quite another to have hope based on the promises of God.

Just for a few moments we will discuss what hope means for me and I hope, what it means for you as well.

Hebrews 4:14-16 says: “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

What a blessing to know that no matter what challenges we face in life, someone is there to pick us up and renew us with His grace and salvation.

It’s no secret that we live in a distorted and broken world, a place that often overwhelms us by the realities of life.

Sometimes it seems as if all hope is gone, especially when you struggle with larger-than-life situations. It’s no wonder why many are searching for hope.

You see, what gives us hope, is that Jesus faced these same challenges. Jesus felt the emotions of depression, betrayal, isolation, and rejection. These are real human emotions that Jesus dealt with when He lived on this planet, and also His victory over sin gives us hope for a better future. And when we see His life from this perspective, dealing with His own pain and sorrow, yet offering us His strength to help us deal with our own inner turmoil, we can begin to love and trust Him and make Him part of our lives.

At the cross Jesus felt the weight of the world on His shoulders, and the price He paid gave us eternal salvation. When times are bad, just remember that Jesus felt the same emotions you are going through. He knows the pain you feel, for He experienced it before you did. Doesn’t that give you hope to know you are not alone in your pain, that Jesus shares it with you?

Jesus says, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NLT).

There are people just like you and I, people who try to replace the pain in their hearts caused by this sinful world. I pray that together you can find the joy that comes from living a life filled with the grace of Jesus, a life that is complete with the hope and wholeness of Jesus’ salvation.

“May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing (through the experience of your faith) that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.” (Rom 15:13, Amplified Bible). Have a blessed weekend with your families, stay safe, but most of all Be Encouraged!             

Five verses on hope found in Jesus Christ

Hope is found in the promises God has given us – promises of freedom from sin. We can find so much hope in Scripture through the gift of eternal life made possible through His son, Jesus Christ. No matter what trials, temptations or pain we may suffer, we can always hold onto the hope God extends to us.

Here are five verses that demonstrate the hope we can find in Jesus Christ.

1 John 5:13-14 – I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

1 Peter 1:3-6 – 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 honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:8-10 – For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 – So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 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.

John 4:13-14 – Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

- https://billygrahamlibrary.org/