“Hope”  

**INTRODUCTION 

Welcome to "Key to the Kingdom." My name is Bret McCasland. There are many people in this world who live without any hope. For one reason or another they feel as if there is nothing to live for in this world. They have lost all desire to pursue something meaningful or important, and they are on the verge of giving up. You may know of such people, or perhaps you have experienced those feelings of hopelessness. How do you live if there is no hope? How do we make it from one day to the next? Those are some real questions, and we may struggle with them on a regular basis. In today's lesson on “Key to the Kingdom,” we will look into God's Word to find some very reassuring promises. We will notice how the Lord offers hope for those who have none. God does not want us to go through life without any hope for today, for tomorrow, or even for eternity. For the next few minutes, we will look at several Bible passages as we are reminded of the hope God offers to all those who put their trust in Him. I encourage you now to open your heart and your Bible as we study together.

**LESSON

Perhaps you would agree with me when I say the world in which we live today is very unstable. There is a great deal of uncertainty in the minds of many people as to what is going to happen from one day to the next. And the future is definitely unpredictable. No matter where we live, we are probably facing some difficult days and also some very difficult decisions that we need to make. Many of the things we have counted on for a long time really don't provide that kind of assurance anymore. And that sort of thing is happening all around us and throughout this world. We may struggle to handle the problems and the challenges we face in our own personal lives. Some people are losing their jobs, while other people are losing their families. Economic challenges and health difficulties continue to add stress to our lives. Throughout the world, events of natural disasters and terrorism seem to highlight the news on a regular basis. And the list of challenges seems to be getting longer and not shorter. And as a result, many people simply don't know what to do. They look for answers. They look for some kind of solutions to the problems they face. And perhaps the one question they ask more than any other question is this: Is there any hope? And that makes sense. And for those people, that question is real and they're searching for an answer. In the midst of uncertain times there are things, however, about which we can be certain; that when things in this world are not as we think they should be, there is something that remains the same. When other people have lost all hope, there is Someone in whom we can put our hope. And that is the one thing we need more than anything else: We need hope. We need hope for our lives. We need hope for our jobs. We need hope for our families. We need hope for the future. And that's common to all of us. We need hope. Years ago, the Israelites were in Egyptian captivity. They had been there for a number of years, and they felt as if God had forgotten them, as if He had abandoned them and left them right there in captivity. They did not know what to do. They grew weary and tired of being forced to do all kinds of labor for the Egyptians, and they wondered if God would ever show up again. And they struggled for years and years in the midst of that captivity. They wondered why God was not present in their lives. Well, several hundred years after that, another generation of Israelites was taken into Babylonian captivity, and they asked the very same question; they wondered, where was God? You have abandoned us. Are You going to show up, or, are You going to deliver us from all of the problems that we face? And yet, in the midst of all of that, their cries, their pleas for help, God saw them. He heard their cries and He was providing a plan for them. And yet they continued to ask the questions, what are we going to do and who will help us? In the midst of those times, God reminded His children He would always be with them. He told them to take courage, to not be afraid and to put their trust in Him. Well, several hundred years after that, Jesus came on the scene and He spent some three years with His disciples. He taught them what His Father asked Him to teach them. He taught them to follow in His footsteps. But after that period of time, it was time for Jesus to go back to His Heavenly Father and to be with Him in heaven. But He reminded them that God would not leave them, even after He left them in that physical form. And yet they too became greatly concerned as to what's going to happen next. Who would be their leader? How would they carry on His ministry? What would happen in the future? Well, Jesus told them the very same things His Father had told the people in Egyptian captivity and in Babylonian captivity. And it all seems to come down to about three statements; don't worry, don't be afraid, and God's presence will always be with you. Even though these promises came from the Lord, the future was still uncertain. The people did not know what that would look like in the days and the years to come. The Israelites in Egypt and in Babylon, as well as the disciples, really could not see how God could provide for them in the future, and they continued to ask the question, is there any hope? They had some real doubts. And yet they seem to forget, time and time again, God was in control of all things, and He would provide for them even in times when it seemed He did not even care for them. There may be times in our lives when we feel the same way. We live in fear of and are afraid of the unknown. We wonder what the future holds. We worry about what to do and where to turn for help. And when things look so unpredictable and uncertain, we wonder if all hope is lost. What is going to happen in the future, and will we survive in the meantime? In God's Word, however, we find hope. We find hope for our lives and for our families and for the future. We find the promises and the reassurances from the Lord that indeed He will be with us, even like He was with those people who were in captivity, and with the disciples as they were left without Jesus being physically with them. And we too can be reminded that the Lord will never leave us. He will never forsake us. He will never abandon His children, His people. And that brings a great deal of comfort to us, doesn't it? When we spend time reading God's Word, we are reminded of His very great and true promises. They remind us of God's love and concern for us. Those promises are there to drive away the fears and the concerns we might have in our lives. And even if we feel ourselves being on the verge of losing all hope, the Bible reminds us there is no reason to fear. I want to offer some words of encouragement and hope for us to consider today. Three different things come to my mind. When we are afraid, we need to remember Psalm 46, beginning with verse 1. <God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the sea, though the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.> At times it may appear everything is coming to an end. Things are changing rapidly. There is nothing that seems to remain the same. And even if that is the case, the passage here in Psalms reminds us there is no need to be afraid. God is our hope, and He is our refuge. He is our shelter and protection. And when we dwell upon that, when we think about what that looks like in our life, indeed there is hope. The psalmist also wrote these words, in Psalm number 27. <The Lord is my light and my salvation -whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life -of whom shall I be afraid?> There may be times in our life when we fear somebody is out to get us or to get one of our family members. We may fear they're going to hurt us in some way physically, emotionally, whatever it might be. And we know we can't handle those people and those situations on our own. We need help. And we've all been there before, haven't we? But the Lord is always there to provide the help we need. And when the winds blow and the rains come and the skies turn dark and the storms rage, we seek safety and protection. And the same is true when we are fearful of what is happening in our own personal lives. We search for and we look for something and someone who will protect us in those uncertain times; and we can always find it in the Lord God Almighty. Here's the second thing I want us to consider. When we want to give up, we are to remember the words of Lamentations chapter 3. <This I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him.> These words were written by Jeremiah the Prophet very soon after the entire city of Jerusalem was destroyed. Wholesale devastation was everywhere. Many people lost their lives and those who survived tried to make it from one day to the next. The situation could not have been any worse, and those who remained simply wanted to give up. They wanted to quit. They were saying, what's the use of living, what's the use of trying to put all this back together again? It's not going to work. In essence, those people had lost hope. Then Jeremiah came along with these words, and he said, “God is faithful. His blessings are new every morning. Don't give up because the Lord is there to provide exactly what you need.” We see the same kind of thing over in the New Testament, in Romans chapter 8. <We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, and who have been called according to His purpose.> I don't know for sure how God does it, and I will never understand the ways of the Lord, but He always seems to show up at the right time and to do the right thing. And we know that promise, from Romans chapter 8; that if we continue to love Him in our call to and pursuit of the purposes He has in our life, then things will work out. And when the Lord reveals His presence, He turns the bad into good. He changes our circumstances. And through His power and because of His great love for us, He restores our hope when there is every reason to give up. And with that hope restored, we know that things are going to be okay. Here's a third thing for us to consider. When we feel a great need for God's love, we are to remember the words of Isaiah chapter 54. <Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion upon you.>  The Prophet Isaiah reminded the Israelites in that Babylonian captivity that God knew their situation. He saw what was happening and He had compassion upon them; that in the midst of all of that uncertainty, the Lord's unfailing love provided the much needed assurance for those people. The same kind of thing is found in the words of 1st John, chapter 4. <We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.> Think for a moment about all the different characteristics or qualities of God. God is compassionate. He forgives our sin. God is merciful. He is kind. He is good. But perhaps you would agree with me when I say the number one quality or characteristic of God has got to be love. God's love is never ending. God's love is greater for us and more than we will ever even know. And we can rely upon that love as we live in His presence and as we receive His mercy. As we try to deal with the uncertainties of this world and the fearful things we experience on a regular basis, we can know with all certainty the Lord loves us. He will not abandon us even in the midst of our troubles. And so, in the Lord we find everything we need in those trying times. He gives strength to those who are weak. He offers courage to those who are fearful, and He offers hope to those who have lost their way. Yes, the Bible is filled with passages that remind us of God's comforting presence in times where hope doesn't seem to be available. We find that not only in these passages that we just noticed, but I believe there are some practical ways in which we can see God's promises and God's provision for us revealed from one day to the next. We find it in other believers. Think about these words from Ecclesiastes chapter 4. <Though one may be overpowered, two defend themselves, but a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.> Indeed, it can be very difficult to face uncertain times all alone. We quickly run out of strength. We run out of energy because we're trying to deal with those challenging situations by ourselves. We don't have enough resource to overcome all of the negative things that are happening in our life, and we need help. And Solomon, in this passage, encourages us to seek and to find other believers who can come alongside of us and help us. And that cord of three strands is not easily or quickly broken. They provide the strength. They help build us. They lift us up in those times when we fall down. And likewise, we are there for them also. We have that mutual love and encouragement and support for one another, and we rely upon that. And God allows us to have those people in our life so that we can be reminded of the fact that indeed He does love us and He provides for us when we want to give up or when we are afraid. We need those other people in our life. Here's something else I want us to remember: We see God's presence in our life through His great promises. I love the words of Peter in 2nd Peter chapter 1. <His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.> Those are two really long sentences. But the point is made here; God's promises remind us we have everything we need, because those promises are great and they are precious. Think about the greatest things that you have in your life today. They are valuable. They are important to us. But there's something even greater than all of those tangible things in which we can put our hands. We find here in the passage, God's promises are precious and they are great; greater than anything we could even imagine physically. There is no reason to doubt God's promises will come true, even in the worst of our situations. His promises are faithful. They are true. And as those promises are received, we can avoid the anxiety that the problems of this world might present to us. Here is one other way in which these great promises of hope and encouragement can be realized personally, and that is through everyday experiences. Oh, I love the words of Psalm number 121. <The Lord watches over you. The Lord is your shade, at your right hand. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm. He will watch over your life. The Lord will watch over your coming and your going, both now and forevermore.> Isn't that an amazing thought! God watches over us every single day. There is absolutely nothing that escapes His notice. He sees and He knows every move we make. He hears every word we say. He knows the thoughts that are in our mind even before we process and communicate them to other people. Now, for some people, that makes them afraid. That makes them want to run away from God because they think that God will catch them in doing something wrong and immediately punish them, or some bad thing would happen to them. But God doesn't do that. God loves us. We are His children. But it should remind us of the fact that God sees and knows everything in our life. And that should be a comforting thought. That should provide enough hope for us to keep on moving forward. Yes, God pays close attention to our lives, and He interjects Himself into our lives. And those things together bring a great deal of hope when things seem hopeless. The Lord asked His servant, Joshua, to lead His people into the Promised Land and to take possession of it. And that's exactly what he did. And as he began to make that conquest, He reminded Joshua of something very important. In the very first chapter of Joshua, in verse 5, He said, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you." Those words are as true today as they were when He spoke them to Joshua. The Lord God Almighty is the source of all hope. He is the stabilizing presence in our life. None of us know what will happen from one day to the next. But there is something, however, in which we can put our full confidence. There is one true God who has always been faithful throughout the ages. He has always been present and He always will be present. He will never change. And His great love for us will never be anything less than what it already is. Now there are many people who live their lives without any hope. They are uncertain and they worry about what will happen from one day to the next. But when this life presents no guarantees and promises of anything better, let us remember the reassurances of hope that we have from the Lord. Hope and reassurance can always be found in Him. He loves us more than we will ever know. And He wants us to receive that love through His son, Jesus Christ. Remember today, the Lord drives away all fear. He brings peace to our troubled lives. He gives hope to all of those who put their hope in Him. And my prayer for you today is that you will know the Lord God Almighty and that you will put your trust in His hope that He provides for you.

**VIDEO CLIP

Throughout the world today, there are many children who have no place to live. They don't have any place to call home. For a variety of reasons, they are almost on their own. And that's sad and that's tragic. Our heart breaks for them. No one takes responsibility for their care and for their well-being. It's hard, no doubt, to see that, and it's even harder for those children to experience that. And yet there are some places where there are, what we would call, children's homes. Loving and caring and responsible people come together and they take in those children. They minister to them. They love them. They give them exactly what they need. And when all of those children and all of those adults come together in a children’s home, it makes for a very big family. And in that family there, there is love and there are lots of good and exciting and wonderful things that take place. When I think about that, I think that's somewhat like God's family, isn't it? It's really big. Children come together and now we have a loving Heavenly Father, and through Him we have all of the blessings we need. He takes care of us, He provides for us, He blesses us, and we are able to come together as those children, as what we might call brothers and sisters in Christ. And we love each other and we support each other. We have a place to call home. We have a place to belong. We have a family that we can call our own. And most of all, we have a loving Heavenly Father who loves us more than we could ever imagine. He takes care of every need we have, and we can be thankful for that. I hope today that you are part of God's really big family and you enjoy all of His wonderful blessings.

**CONCLUSION

Thank you for tuning in to today's program on “Key to the Kingdom.” Hopelessness; it is a real challenge for many people, yet the Lord offers hope to all those who put their faith and trust in Him. If you would like to hear or to view this message again, it is available on our website. I invite you to go to keytothekingdom.com. There you will find this lesson, along with many other lessons. Any of them can be downloaded in a variety of formats. There is never a charge to do so, and certainly there is no obligation to do so. Devotional thoughts and short videos are on the site as well. And please, feel free to access anything that might be of interest to you or that will assist you in your daily walk with the Lord. There are other ways to access this ministry. You can find us on our dedicated channel at Roku® television as well as on Facebook®. A free phone app is available and it can be downloaded onto smart-phones. These media options are always available and I trust you will take advantage of those which are most convenient. It is always our pleasure to share these messages from God's Word, each week, and I hope they are a blessing and an encouragement. I invite you to join us again next time as we continue to study the Bible on "Key to the Kingdom."