Living Joyful Lives

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 ESV

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

What are three truths about God that believers desperately need to know in order to live confident, expectant, joyful lives while living in a fallen world?

Ephesians 1:15–23 ESV

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

False Hopes

We hope we can have justice and equality here on earth. This is false hope.

We hope things are always getting better. This is false hope.We hope our political party will fix everything. This is false hopeWe hope our friends, our family, or co-workers will meet all of our emotional needs. This is false hope.We hope our spouse, our soul mate, will meet all of our needs. This is false hope.We hope that money will buy us things that will bring us happiness. This is false hopeWe hope that a fancy job, with a fancy title, will make us happy. If I were just a CEO, or a lawyer, or a doctor I would be somebody. This is false hope.We hope that if we can have pleasure whenever we want, it would make us happy. This is false hope.We hope that Drugs and alcohol will take our pain away and make us happy.We hope the next vacation will satisfy us. This is false hope.We hope that all religions can lead to truth. This is false hope.We hope that science will find a cure to all our diseases. That it will make our lives easy. That it will even eventually offer us immortality. This is false hope.We hope that we can live however we want to in this life, and a loving God will offer us a second chance after death. This is false hope.We hope that if we attend church each Sunday, become a member, and attend bible study, but have no relationship with Jesus, and that we will be saved. This is false hope