{"id":5067,"date":"2019-04-05T21:28:22","date_gmt":"2019-04-06T01:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christskingdom.org\/staging\/8402\/?p=5067"},"modified":"2026-06-02T11:03:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T15:03:34","slug":"you-need-hope-to-get-through-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christskingdom.org\/staging\/8402\/you-need-hope-to-get-through-life\/","title":{"rendered":"You Need Hope to Get Through Life (112)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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You Need Hope to Get Through Life<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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By Steven J. Hogan<\/p>\n

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~ A Saturday Morning Post #112 ~

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Every person has challenges, difficulties and pressures. Life is not easy. It can be hard, extremely hard, and at times, seem impossible! That\u2019s why you need hope! A person can only keep going if he has hope. People who are sick look forward to getting better. People who are hungry are anticipating their next meal. People who work hard all week can\u2019t wait for the weekend. To be honest, you can\u2019t live without hope. But for you, as a Christian, I\u2019m talking about godly hope;<\/a> and God knows you need it, otherwise, you will become discouraged, lose heart, and want to give up and quit.

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But what is hope? It\u2019s a reason to live. It\u2019s a present certainty about a future reality. It\u2019s what you don\u2019t have now but are convinced you will receive in the future. It\u2019s the promise of the gospel that speaks about your life after this life. It is the confident expectation of God\u2019s future love for you. It\u2019s a present faith in God\u2019s promises resulting in a sure realization of His future blessing upon your life. But more than anything else, it\u2019s longing to be with Jesus, knowing that you will soon see Him in heaven.

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My fear is that many Christians don\u2019t have this godly hope in their heart. Focused on this present life, they are thinking about this world, but are not setting their hearts on things above. A believer cannot live rightly for God in the present if he is not longing for the future, for that time when Christ is revealed, and he will be with Him in glory (Colossians 3:1-4). You need hope,<\/a> for it helps you to be holy, strengthens you during trials, and anchors your soul when you are in troubled waters (1 John 3:3, Psalm 62:5-6, Hebrews 6:10). To have hope, you need to meditate on God\u2019s promises. Think about Psalm 23:6 (\u201cI will dwell in the house of the Lord forever\u201d<\/em>), and God will give you hope.

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All godly believers who have gone on before us have lived with hope in their hearts. They had an assurance, a \u201cconviction of things not seen.\u201d<\/em> Abraham<\/a> \u201cwas looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God\u2026 all these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance\u201d<\/em> (Hebrews 11:1, 10-13). But now that we live in the end-times, we are seeing prophesied signs being fulfilled, which means it won\u2019t be long before the coming of Christ. More than any other generation, we ought to be \u201clooking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/em> Titus 2:13

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This Titus verse, as some wrongly think, does not imply there won\u2019t be great tribulation before Christ\u2019s coming. The Bible makes it clear that before Christ\u2019s return and the rapture of the church, there will be birth pains,<\/a> economic difficulties, food shortages, family members hating us, great persecution, and the Antichrist ruling the world. Some of the most difficult days for the church still lie ahead, which means that the way to heaven will be a rough road<\/a> for many of us. I am not saying we are to be looking for the tough times, but we do need to hear and heed Christ\u2019s warning: \u201cThen they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.\u201d<\/em> Matthew 24:9

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This is when \u201clooking for the blessed hope\u2026\u201d,<\/em> will not just be a nice idea, but a necessity. This is when hope will be essential, when we cannot, at least in a godly way, make it without it. When life gets real hard, we need to know that Christ is coming soon, and be \u201cfixing our eyes on Jesus\u2026 who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God.\u201d<\/em> The greatest example of One who had hope is Jesus. \u201cConsider Him who endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.\u201d<\/em> Hebrews 12:2-3

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\u201cMay the God of hope fill you with all joy and believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit\u201d<\/em> (Romans 15:13). Are you abounding and overflowing with hope? Are you excited that you have a God-planned future, an amazing and perfect future in the ages to come? No matter what happens in the present, your future will be infinitely better. It\u2019s well worth it to live and suffer<\/a> for Christ on earth, for yours \u201cis the kingdom of heaven\u2026 your reward in heaven is great.\u201d<\/em> Matthew 5:10, 12

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What is this hope God wants you to be looking forward to? You will be with Jesus,<\/a> your Lord, Savior and King (John 14:3). You will be in a heavenly home, a place prepared by Jesus just for you (John 14:2-3). You will receive an immortal, glorified, spiritual, powerful body, perfectly suited to love and serve God forever (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). You will be with all the saints, including loved ones who have passed away before you (1 Thessalonians 4:14). You will obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled (1 Peter 1:5). Finally, there will always be fullness of joy, along with eternal pleasures. Psalm 16:11

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Godly hope is greatly encouraging and extremely motivating, and will energize you to keep persevering to the end of your short stay on this earth. Look forward to being with Jesus, and to the fulfillment and realization of all your hopes. \u201cFix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/em> 1 Peter 1:13

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P.S. I encourage you to read this article, “You Have to Have Hope,”<\/a> for it greatly expands on this important and needed subject.<\/p>\n\n

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