Living Without Hope
Man can live about forty days without food,
About three days without water,
About eight minutes without air,
But only one second without hope.
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- Moses asked his friends Aaron and Hur to support him. Exodus 17:11–16
- Jesus took Peter, James, and John aside to share His grief and distress (see Mt. 26:38).
Hebrews 6:19 (NIV)
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.
Hope is described in the Bible as an anchor. Why? What good is an anchor? What does an anchor do?
Anchor
- Steadies a ship, holds it fast, keeps it from drifting away or off course, lets you sleep easy
- An anchor has the ability to steady a boat in surging waves or shifting tides.
- It keeps the vessel from losing its way or drifting off course,
- it keeps the ship from being at the mercy of the winds.
- If you’re out on a ship and you want to go below into the cabin and catch a nap, you can drop the anchor and not worry about where the ship is going to go while you’re asleep.
- Anchors provide a certain peace and assurance that everything’s all right.
- “Hope sees the invisible...feels the intangible...and achieves the impossible." ~ Unknow
- “When there is no hope in the future, there is no power in the present.” ~ John Maxwell
- GOD WANTS TO DO A NEW THING IN YOUR LIFE
Isaiah 43:18,19
- Israel is in captivity, they have lost seemingly without hope
I. HEED HIS WORD & NOT YOUR HEART
-- QUIT LOOKING BEHIND START LOOKING AHEAD v.18
Isaiah 43:18–19 (AV)
18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
Is 43:18 NIV | “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
- If you are continually looking behind you cannot see where you are going.
- For new things in Christ you cannot depend upon past victories to sustain you
- Forget the former things;
- Israel had many victories in their past:
1. Leaving Egypt
2. Conquering the Land of Canaan
3. Survived a split in their country
II. OPEN YOURSELF TO POSIBILITIES
- DISCOVER WHAT GOD WANTS FOR YOU
Isaiah 43:18–19 (AV)
18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
“BEHOLD” A shout Here Here – It is immediate
- How do you view your life?
- Do you see possibilities or problems? Notice what God said:
The children of Israel had a choice. They could view their past and the problems of their present, or they could focus upon what God wanted to do in their lives.
Way -vs- Desert
Streams -vs- Wasteland
In order to discover what God wants for you, ...
You Must First See Yourself as God Sees You
- You may feel like your past has made your life a wasteland but in God, your life can become a stream of life.
- You Must See Your Possibilities as God Sees Them
- I am making a way in the desert ...
- God is able to transform the desert areas of your life into fields of blessing and abundance. God can take a dried up useless life and trans-form it into a life of purpose and grace:
III. PREPARE FOR A CHANGE
- This is the most important step
Isaiah 43:18–19 (AV)
18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
- Jn 21 – Fished all night – Nothing – Cast your net on the right side
- God had already set into motion the events that will make a change & bless.
- Up to you to decide if you want what God is offering.
- Unbelief you are doomed to remain in captivity.
- Ex. 6:9 - Israel in Egypt didn’t listen to him “because of anguish of spirit”. They were so far down they wouldn’t look up.
- Is 44:19 God has already set into motion a new direction & purpose
– Can’t He do the same for your life -- will you follow Him?
ENJOY HIS LEADING
EMBRACE ESTABLISH
Isaiah 43:18–19 (AV)
18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
- Wilderness are trackless
- There are pitfalls, entanglements, dangers, confusion
- Deserts are dry & barren
- He makes rivers
- Not just stagnate pools, or trickling streams
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