Category: Hope For The Hopeless

¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ~ John 10:10

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for us, His sheep. Pause and consider this truth: if Jesus willingly sacrificed everything so that we might have eternal life, will He not also provide for our needs? Will He not respond to the desperate cries of our hearts when we cry out in faith? Of course, He will. His sacrifice on the cross wasn’t just to secure our eternal salvation—it was to ensure we could experience life in its fullness, a life marked by His provision, care, and abundance right here and right now in this life. He promises an abundant life.

Let me share a story about a young woman from Iran whose story proves this truth. Her mother was a moderate Christian, and her father was a non-practicing Muslim. After her mother’s death, she veered off course—spiraling out of control, she began drinking and sleeping around. By her early adulthood, she was an unmarried mother of two, burdened by the consequences of her choices. Her reckless lifestyle strained her relationship with her family. Her stepmother eventually gave her father an ultimatum: “It’s her or me.” Her father told her she had to leave. With nowhere to go, she and her children ended up homeless, hungry, and sleeping in a park.

At her lowest point, she felt utterly defeated. She went to her daughter’s grandparents and told them she was considering placing her daughter in an orphanage in hopes that it might give her child a better chance. The girl’s grandparents stepped in and told her she could stay there with them instead.

Eventually, the young woman found a job and rented a small apartment, scraping by to rebuild her life. But food remained scarce, and desperation crept back in. One day, she remembered a Bible she’d been given years earlier—a rare treasure in her country, valuable enough to sell for a decent sum, perhaps enough to buy groceries. Yet she hesitated. The man who had given her the Bible had said, “If you don’t need it, give it away for free, just as you received it for free.” Convicted by those words, she decided to keep it.

Hungry and hopeless, she opened the Bible and read the story about Jesus and His disciples in John 21. The disciples had fished all night but had caught nothing, and now they were returning exhausted. Jesus called out from the shore, “Do you have any fish?” They replied, “No.” Yet when they reached the shore, He had breakfast waiting—broiled fish and bread, a meal prepared by His own hands. A surge of anger and despair welled up in her. “You had Jesus,” she accused the disciples silently, “but who do I have? Who cares for me?”

That same morning, still hungry, she arrived at work. Near her desk sat two potatoes and some food—no one was around. When her coworker arrived, she asked, “Where did this come from?” Her coworker smiled and said, “I put it there. We don’t have much ourselves, but we wanted to share with you.” In that moment, she saw it: Jesus was with her, just as He was with His disciples, providing through unexpected hands.

Jesus came that we might have life—abundant life. He’s our Good Shepherd, our Provider, our unfailing resource. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus offers hope, a future, and provision beyond our imagination. Hebrews 13:5 echoes His promise: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” That woman’s potatoes weren’t just food—they were a sign of His care, a whisper of the abundant life He died to give us. When we’re at our lowest, He’s still near, meeting needs in ways we might miss if we don’t look for Him. So, trust Him today. Ask boldly. The Good Shepherd who gave His life for you won’t hold back what you need to thrive.

Father, thank You that no matter how desperate my life might become, no matter how hopeless my circumstances may seem, You are there with me. You are always by my side. Thank you for giving us life to the full, LORD Jesus. Help me never to lose hope no matter the situation or the circumstance because I know there is a greater reward, an even more abundant life coming in eternity. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. ~ John 10:10^NIV

When I watch a TV Show or a Movie, it’s impossible for me to watch them without comparing it to our lives and the Bible. For instance, in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 when Harry Osborn becomes the Green Goblin and he realizes that Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker, he states:

You don’t give people hope. You take it away. I’m gonna take away yours.

Then he goes after Gwen Stacy, Peter’s love. Gwen dies by the end of the scene, and Peter essentially loses all ambition to live. He stops being Spider-Man, so crime increases in the city, and hope decreases. Then he listens to Gwen’s graduation speech that she gave him before she died.

It’s easy to feel hopeful on a beautiful day like today, but there will be dark days ahead of us, too, and there’ll be days where you feel all alone, and that’s when hope is needed most. We have to be greater than what we suffer. My wish for you, is to become hope. People need that.

As Christians, we share hope with others. We lead others to the hope of Eternal Life with Christ Jesus, our LORD and Savior. We bear each other’s burdens and pray for each other’s strength. We lift up, and, in many instances, we are people who others look time, especially in times of trouble, even if we don’t realize it.

The Green Goblin’s goal was to destroy Spider-Man, and by taking away his hope, he did. The Devil’s goal is to destroy the Bride of Christ. He will take away anything and everything he can in order to destroy our hope. Because if he can destroy our hope, then no longer will we be the light of the world. No longer will we be laborers in the field. No longer will we be a beacon of hope for another person. As long as there are Christians on this earth praying, fasting, evangelizing, and discipling, there is hope.

Don’t let the enemy steal your hope. If you weren’t important, he’d never come after you. He’d never attack you. He would just leave you be. But you are important. You’re a threat to the kingdom of darkness because the God of all creation not only knows you by name but dwells in you, with you, and through you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Become A Beacon of Hope.

² And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. ³ And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. ⁴ And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. ⁵ And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸ And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? ¹⁰ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— ¹¹ “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” ¹² And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” ~ Mark 2:2-12

Let me start by setting the scene for you. Jesus had been gone for a while; you could say He was on a preaching tour throughout Galilee and had just gotten back home to Capernaum. No doubt, all the people in His hometown had heard about all the great things He had done on His tour. Lepers were cleansed. The sick were all healed. The demons were cast out. The oppressed were set free. All kinds of various diseases were all healed.

At the very least, their curiosity was piqued, so much so that there was no more room left in the house, not even at the door. The crowd pressed against the door and then stretched out into the yard. Everyone was straining to hear what Jesus was saying.

In other words, the yard was filled with eager listeners. They probably crowded around the windows, if for nothing else but to hear and hopefully get a quick glimpse of Jesus. Jesus was preaching the word to them. Explaining Scripture like no one else did or no one else could. For Jesus taught with authority, not like the Scribes and Pharisees, but like one having authority.

When suddenly, a group of people entered the scene, trying to barge their way in carrying a man lying on his bedroll, but to no avail. The crowd was just too many. Everyone was bunched up together, hanging on every word Jesus said. There was simply no way to get in. They could not even get close to the door.

Then, one of them had a harebrained idea. Let us climb up on the roof, remove all the tiles, and let him down in front of Jesus. What? Are you mad? Climb up on the roof, tear the tiles off, and dig a hole through the roof big enough to let him down through it on his stretcher? Yes, came the reply. Okay, sounds good to me. Let’s do it.

There was no back-and-forth discussion about who’s gonna fix the roof. Or whose expense it will be to fix the roof. Their only thought was to get their friend in front of the only one who gave them hope. That was Jesus.

See, these friends understood that even when everything seems completely hopeless, there’s always hope in Jesus. If you can just get to Jesus, hope can be found. Why? Because Jesus is the God of possible. What seems impossible, He makes possible. Where there is no way, He makes a way. Therefore, no matter what is going on in your life or your loved ones’ lives, if you can just get to Jesus, you will have hope.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek The God of Hope.

¹⁷ For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. ~ Isaiah 65:17

All of this suffering, aches, and pains. The sorrow of death shall not enter into the eternity of those who love God. Why? Because death will be swallowed up with life, and not just life, but abundant, eternal life. It does not matter how much the nations rage, or how its leaders plot and coerce, nothing can change, or disrupt God’s plans for His people, those who call upon His great and mighty Name.

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¹³ And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴ by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. ~ Colossians 2:13-14

Ariel signed away her soul to Ursula (the sea witch), not fully realizing all that entailed. By the time her father found out, it was too late. His youngest child, his baby girl, was held captive by the sea witch, and there was nothing he could do to destroy the contract. The contract was valid, and he couldn’t break it no matter how much power he had. So, what does he do? He takes her place. Our relationship with Christ is very similar.

The main difference, though, is that when Christ died, He defeated sin. He took our sin away and defeated what once held our souls captive. He abolished death. We were once slaves to sin, unable to control our flesh. We were once hopeless, but just as the characters in the movie killed Ursula and made the contract null and void, so sin and death have to be overcome and abolished.

Because Christ overcame, through Christ, we are able to overcome as well. There may be generational curses, strongholds, depression, oppression, etc. that plague your life. It may feel overwhelming, but there is hope. Our God has overcome the world. He’s made these contracts null and void. They no longer have any hold on us. It may not happen overnight, but it will happen.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Claim The Abolishment.

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⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. ~ Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Easier said than done. When things go wrong, the first thing we do is to look at our circumstances, and then our understanding of what we see automatically kicks in. But God said, “Do not lean on your own understanding.” Far too often we evaluate our coming and going by what we see.

Today, I took my car in to have it serviced for a factory recall, and they will have to keep it overnight. They gave me a shuttle ride home and said that they would come back tomorrow to pick me up so that I could get my car. We only have one car. When I got home, my wife reminded me that our daughter had to get her packages to the Post Office before 5 pm today. I had totally forgotten that it was absolutely vital that the packages be sent out today before the Post Office closes at 5:30 pm.

We had no way of getting them there unless we took an Uber or something. Then the LORD—it would have to be the LORD—put it in my spirit to get everything ready and ask the postperson to please take it for us since we had a label, and the packages were all packed and ready to go. The problem was that one had to go to FedEx as well, something that never usually happens.

But as the LORD’s fate would have it, a FedEx van drove by at the very same time and stopped two doors down. I ran out and asked the driver if he would please take it since it was packaged with a label and ready to go. He said, “No problem at all.” We gave him the package, along with some water, some chips, and a frozen fruit bar to show our gratitude. Now for the Post Office. We didn’t know whether or not they had come and gone as yet.

About ten minutes later, the postperson drove by, and I asked her the same thing if she would take the package, and she said, “Yes, no problem.” Long story short, everyone was super stressed out because both packages had to be out today, and according to our understanding, there was no way they would be able to go. But the LORD provided what seemed impossible, and within 20 minutes, everything was done. The stress was gone. The joy of the LORD was back, and everyone was happy again.

And to top it all off, about 3 hours later, the service department called and somehow, they worked it out that not only did they start working on my car right away but told me it would be ready in about another two hours. Way enough time for them to come, pick me up, and take me back for me to pick up my car and still have plenty of time to make it to the Post Office if the need was still there.

What am I saying? God not only solved our impossible problem, but He gave us not one but two ways of getting the impossible done. Lean not on your own understanding, but rather, trust the LORD and acknowledge Him and everything you give Him, He will work it out for you.

Father, thank You that You are a good, good Father. Thank You that we can trust You and know with full confidence that You will work the impossible out for us. Teach us how not to be shaken by what we see or to be stressed by what we understand our circumstances to be. For You are a God that does the impossible, deals with the difficult, and brings hope to the hopeless. Thank You, Father, in Jesus’ mighty name, amen.

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² Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. ~ 3 John 2

God’s desire is that you be prosperous and healthy not only spiritually but physically as well. Have you ever heard someone praying for the sick and in their prayer, they say, “LORD, if it is Your will, heal this person;” that always troubled me. Think about it. Why would Jesus pay such a heavy price for our healing but then say, “Just kidding, it really isn’t My will to heal you.” That does not make much sense. If you think about it, that is not a prayer at all, that is really a disclaimer. It is like saying, I’m going to pray for you, but if you don’t get healed, it’s obviously not God’s will for you.

I don’t believe that is the way God operates. He doesn’t dangle a carrot before us. He doesn’t give us false hope. If it doesn’t work, the fault is not with Him; it is with us. All of His promises are yea and amen towards us, His blood-bought, the redeemed. He says what He means, and He means what He says. Peter, quoting the prophet Isaiah, said,

²⁴ He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.

1 Peter 2:24

Peter said it is already done. We have been healed.

If you are experiencing any kind of illness, place your hand on the place and believe as we pray.

Heavenly Father, I believe You sent Your Son Jesus to not only die for my transgressions, but the chastisement that brought me peace was placed on Him, and with His stripes, I am healed. Help me with my unbelief. Teach me to receive all that You have for me. Please help me to receive my healing right now. Thank You, Father, in Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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