encouragement | WORLDWIDE INTERNET EVANGELISM

A blogger made a comment to me: “maybe the reason God allowed Obama to be president was to give America a wakeup call”. That is a very interesting thought. God could be waiting to see how we react, now that we have a new president, to see if we take the opportunity to turn back to HIM. I firmly believe that God was directly involved in the presidential election. God has made it apparent that He wants us to take notice.

When God gave the nation of Israel their first king He told them to serve God and don’t rebel against His word and everything would work to the good for them. We as a people need to follow this example and be sure we follow God. God is willing to bless this nation now if we will only turn to Him and stop all the ungodly things that America has embraced in recent years.

If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the LORD your God. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king. — 1 Samuel 12:14,25

It is time to stand up and be counted that we are committing to God, the president, and this nation. Then we will be blessed beyond measure. God can take away blessings and then restore them twofold. Read the book of Job in the bible to see God in action. Our problem is we don’t believe God.

Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the LORD. — Lamentations 3:40

It doesn’t matter whether someone is professing Christian or not. God is not a respecter of persons. God does not withhold the needs of people because they are unbelievers. God loves all people. He loves you! God created the heavens and the earth to be inhabited by men for a very important reason. All creation is meant for the inspiration, edification, and encouragement to men everywhere to learn about God and to have free moral agency as to whether they want God in their lives. But He does not discriminate against anyone. He loves you and wants to give you His blessings only if you let Him. He says in His word that He is always at your door knocking patiently waiting for you to let Him in.

that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. — Matthew 5:45

You can trust God and He promises to never forsake you or leave you.

God teaches us to love Him and to love our neighbors just as we would like for them to love us. May God bless your life for reading this!

This was a real legitimate question by a young lady on Yahoo’s Question and Answers!

Here are some of the answers given as suggestions of hope. It is not surprising that the last thing anyone wants to hear about is religion. All want to use the carnal human approach to help the person. Each one uses their own understanding of the world around them and their experiences to try to encourage the person. Some literally shocked me with their comments. Here are some of the things they told the young lady.

1 “you have already received many wonderful answers and some not so good ones too. I agree that, if you are without hope, you may have a psychological or medical imbalance and it is important to rule that out by seeing a professional. When hope is gone, a person needs something to ‘believe’ in. Search your soul for a positive thought and let it flow further – into a belief. It could be as simple as looking at the stars and moon and realizing that many people are looking at the same stars and moon as you are.”

2 “Well, there are two choices. You either end your miserable life, or you take a step in the right direction and reach out to others in need. Doing something nice for someone else, even when you feel you have nothing to give, is always rewarding, and you would be surprised at how much hope it will give you.”

3 “Oh, please… do we have to throw God at the girl and make it sound like that’s the answer?
As if God is going to come down and throw his arms around her and make everything better… ’cause gee, that’s what he does, right? That’s why everything is so perfect in this world and why everyone that believes in him so much is such a perfect person, right? Here’s a better answer.
Take a good long look in the mirror at yourself and realize that there is hope. And there’s hope because YOU won’t allow yourself to think any more that there’s not.
Trust in yourself… and trust in your best friends to be there for you.”

4 “Count your blessings – reformat your thoughts and think of good things that have happened to you. Do something stupid (but harmless) that you haven’t done since you were a kid”

5 “ACCEPTANCE is the only answer to such a predicament. 99.9% of emotional problems (unless you have a recognized mental condition), stem from not wanting/wishing to accept reality.”

If I was hurting as this person seemed to be, the suggestions above would have been like being hit in the stomach with a sledge hammer. They don’t give good answers because they themselves don’t have hope! Since they don’t want God in their lives they only follow the worldly course of; eat, drink, and be merry because when they die they believe it is all over. They don’t believe in life after death and frantically try to do all they can in this life while they can.

But God does say there is hope for those who are willing to let Him into their lives but there is no hope for those who do not. Job 11:18,20 “Then you would trust, because there is hope; And you would look around and rest securely. But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And there will be no escape for them; And their hope is to breathe their last.”

Hope takes on a whole new meaning when God explains in Colossians: 1:5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, 27 which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

That glory is something very special! God performs a miracle in your life to the effect that God says in 1 Timothy 4:10 For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

God wants to emphasize your hope more succinctly as He states again in Hebrews 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul

That great anchor is a promise so amazing and encouraging because Jesus Christ did something that utterly guarantees that we will live eternally with Him and His Father in heaven. Jesus being fully God came to the earth and took on the form of a man to shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins, died on the cross for us while we were still sinners so that we might live, was buried and in the grave for three days and then was raised to life and ascended to heaven to set on the throne of God with His Father. Jesus sent back to the earth the great Comforter, the Holy Spirit to dwell in believers filled with faith in Christ to give encouragement, peace, and hope. It is a guarantee of our salvation and resurrection to eternal life.

1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

This hope cleanses you from all the pressures, stresses, and problems of this world freeing you from the bondage that the world heaps upon you refreshing your soul.

1 John 3:3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.