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Topic: Hope against Hopelessness
(Open Heaven 18 November 2019)
Memorise: “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” – Romans 8:24
Read: Mark 5:25-34 (KJV)
25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
Bible in One Year: Job 33-35, Amos 5:1-17
Open Heaven 18 November 2019 Monday MESSAGE:
What can anyone do without hope? Absolutely nothing! Every human being lives in the anticipation of a better tomorrow. It is the hope of a better government that makes the electorate troop out to the polling booth to vote out a bad government. The absence of hope leads to despair, and that is not the state a child of God should live in. the Christian life is built around hope, which is the anchor of our faith. The heroes of faith who have gone ahead of us all lived in hope and were comforted by it. Hebrews 11:13 says:
“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”
The hope of living in the Kingdom of God in heaven produced a strong faith in them, which drove them to live blessed lives as strangers and pilgrims on earth.
Today’s Bible reading narrates how hope worked for the good of a woman with an issue of blood. Even when she had no reason to hope anymore, she kept hope alive that she would overcome her problem someday. When she heard about Jesus, hope produced a great sense of purpose in her heart and persuaded her to come out of her hiding place. As she left her home and struggled through the crowd around Jesus in hope, she kept on saying these words of Mark 5:28 to herself:
“…If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.”
The forward-looking tone of her statement confirms the hope in her. Hope precedes faith, and without it there is no foundation for faith to stand on. This is the reason why we need to keep hope alive in ourselves as we live our daily lives in faith. Hope is so essential that an adage says, “if there is life, there is hope.” In other words, as long as you are still alive, there should be hope in you for a better tomorrow. Speaking along this same line, Ecclesiastes 9:4 says:
“For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.”
Indeed, hope is an essential part of human life.
Are you living in a state of hopelessness today? Please don’t contemplate suicide. No matter how things are for you, your condition is still better than that of someone else. Please keep your hope alive in God. Having Christ in you is the surest source of hope. He gives the hope of a glorious tomorrow to those who have allowed Him into their hearts (Colossians 1:27). Let Him come into your heart today and He will turn that hopeless situation around for good. It is well with your soul.
Open Heaven 18 November 2019 Monday Prayer Point:
Father, let my hope come alive, and teach me to trust You for a better tomorrow.
Open Heaven 18 November 2019 Monday Hymn 7: My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less
1 My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name
Chorus:
On Christ the solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand
2 When darkness hides His lovely face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil
3 His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood
When all around my soul gives way
He then is all my hope and stay
4 When He shall come with trumpet sound
Oh may I then in Him be found
Dressed in His righteousness alone
Faultless to stand before the throne
