Focus Pt 9 Hope
Notes
Transcript
Again today we are looking at what we need to focus on as followers of Jesus. There are so many things that could take us away from what is truly important. And not all of those things are negative. We all know that the pandemic, the economy, the tough times we are personally in can cause us to lose our focus. However, there are also “good” things that can cause us to lose focus. A job promotion that causes us to pay more attention to that, even relationships and family can cause us to focus on things other than God. Today we are going to look at the hope that is available to all of us as we focus on God and His word, follow the example of Jesus and follow the lead of the Holy Spirit. So let’s begin with today’s message on focusing on God’s hope.
15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength
1. The fact that we are saved gives us confident hope!
1. The fact that we are saved gives us confident hope!
When we focus on what Jesus did for us on the cross and how He secured eternal life for us, our lives are filled with hope! It doesn’t matter what we face each day. The tough times and even the good times are not our real focus. Why? Because all of the so called “times” are temporal. Just the word time tells us that there is a limit to what we are experiencing. But the hope that comes from God is a hope of not temporary things but eternal things that have zero time limit. When we focus on that, we are confident that when our time is done, we will enter eternity and spend that eternity with God.
7 But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and has made the Lord his hope and confidence. 8 He is like a tree planted along a riverbank, with its roots reaching deep into the water—a tree not bothered by the heat nor worried by long months of drought. Its leaves stay green, and it goes right on producing all its luscious fruit.
2. When we make the Lord our hope, we’re blessed!
2. When we make the Lord our hope, we’re blessed!
Is your life better with God? Do you remember how life was without Him? I do and it wasn’t good. We have a tendency to remember the good old days. Only problem is that we use selective memory and never remember how bad the good old days were without Jesus. The Lord is the One who gives us everything we need to live a fulfilled life. Now remember fulfilled not easy. But when we make Jesus our hope and we are confident in His ability, our lives are blessed no matter what the circumstance.
12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.
12 Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick,
but a sudden good break can turn life around.
3. If we lose our focus on hope, disappointment is the result!
3. If we lose our focus on hope, disappointment is the result!
3. If we lose our focus on hope, disappointment is the result! When we defer hope, like deferring a payment, in other words put that hope on hold, we become people with sick hearts. Hopeless people. But when we do the opposite of that and focus totally on the hope that God has given us, our lives are turned around and everything in it becomes alive!
21 You used to be far from God. Your thoughts made you his enemies, and you did evil things. 22 But his Son became a human and died. So God made peace with you, and now he lets you stand in his presence as people who are holy and faultless and innocent. 23 But you must stay deeply rooted and firm in your faith. You must not give up the hope you received when you heard the good news. It was preached to everyone on earth, and I myself have become a servant of this message.
4. We must never give up the hope of the Gospel!
4. We must never give up the hope of the Gospel!
So the conclusion is this, we need to stay focused on the hope that has been given to us through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Stay focused on our Blessed Hope which is Jesus and watch how life can be great even when times are tough.