Tag: How to have hope

Hope: The Defining Line Between Salvation and Disbelief

On By Elisha McFarlandIn Blog Posts, Christian Posts, Current Events15 Comments
Hope man in tunnel light

Hope. The defining factor between Christianity and Secularism. As I wrote about in my previous post, defining hope within Christ, we understand hope as being grounded on the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ and truth of the Gospel, complete contentment within Christ and His plan, having released our sorrows and stress to Him, which allows us to look forward to the future “with eager expectation.”

In times like this, it can be difficult to have hope. Terror, with its contagious cold, takes ahold of even the bravest of men. Despair, with its fingers of dread, creeps in like a thief at night. One by one, we succumb to terror, and in our terror, we are moved to despair.

And yet God is a God of hope! These words seem to be the most difficult to utter, but they remain true. In the middle of the storm, God is there. He has all power, He has a plan, and it is good. And, through this plan, we have received faith and rejoice in our hope. He sent His son into a world far worse then one inhabited with the coronavirus, malaria, or even ebola. He sent his son into a world inhabited with sin, with the purpose of defeating that sin and ultimately eradicating it from humanity.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1, New International Version
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What Does It Mean To Have True Hope?

On By Elisha McFarlandIn Blog Posts, Christian Posts13 Comments
Hope sunrise worship Christian

Hope is one of the most defining traits of Christianity. In fact, I have found that the biggest and most important difference between believers and non-believers is hope. This realization came to me as I debated with a man who denies the existence of God and seemed determined to destroy my beliefs and strip me of my convictions. In our “discussion”, I realized something- he had no hope. Every point he made was filled with hopelessness. To him, life was meaningless, and the only thing we could do was try to get as much pleasure as we could before we died. There was no life after death, only emptiness.

What a terrible mindset! If I believed that, I most certainly would go partially crazy. What is the point of life without hope?

“Oh, but I have hope,” says the deist in the back of the room. “I hope for my future, that I can get a good job and start making lots of money.”

No. That is not, by any means, true hope. The only definition of hope that matters is found within Christ; indeed, the only hope that matters is found within Him. Hope is, to shorten an extremely long definition, grounded on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and truth of the Gospel, complete contentment within Christ and His plan, having released our sorrows and stress to Him, which allows us to look forward to the future “with eager expectation.”

Continue reading “What Does It Mean To Have True Hope?” →