"Getting MORE out of Life"
"HOPE for a Better Life"
Open your Bibles to 1 Peter 3 this morning....
...and while you're turning there.....I want to quote a Very Familiar Verse in John 10
Jesus said in John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have LIFE, and that they might have it MORE ABUNDANTLY.
CJB calls it "Life in its FULLEST Measure"
....That's the Life AVAILABLE to us In Christ Jesus.....Life in its FULLEST Measure........
.....that's the Life you and I are CALLED, APPOINTED TO and QUALIFIED TO LIVE in Christ.....
And ..... NO MATTER What Stage or Position you are at in your life....
....no matter How BAD or How GOOD....
...God's Standard,... His Measure,.... His INTENDED Life for you is MORE and BETTER than you've ever Known.....
It is the FULLEST that LIFE CAN BE
...That is God's Desire for EVERY PERSON today..... that we live life as HE INTENDED....
>>>VICTORIOUS and GLORIOUS ....that is the goal...
....and that is WHY He sent Jesus....that WE might have Life by God's Standard...
>>>But it doesn't Just HAPPEN.....does it?.....that's why Jesus said ".....they MIGHT have life...."
You need to know today that HOW MUCH LIFE you have.... AND the Quality of it is not up to God....
...but it is up to YOU....
Proverbs 4:23 (KJV) Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Proverbs 4:23 (NLT) Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
What determines the Course of your life?....YOUR Heart.....
(That's why the First Thing God wants to do in our lives is Give us a NEW HEART...that's Fashioned by His Spirit......so we can live the God Kind of Life....)
Your Heart is your Life Production Center....(Ezek 36:26 "A new heart also will I give you....")
Your Quality of life is not controlled by the president, the congress, or the Economy....
....not.....by your parents or your children.....
...or Anyone other than YOU YOURSELF....
I know that Others can Influence some things.....and they can make things easier or more difficult....
...but THEY CANNOT CONTROL YOU.....
...and they cannot Keep you from God's Will for Your life....
Jesus' death, burial and Resurrection made all men FREE to CHOOSE for themselves.....
....But it's WHAT YOU DO ABOUT WHAT GOD HAS Said and DONE than Will Make ALL the Difference in Your Life.....
God has Made Available Everything We Need for Living Life in the FULLEST MEASURE.....
....Everything for Getting More Out Of Life....
Now, you've found 1 Peter 3...... Turn a few pager further and let's see something in 2 Peter 1 ......
...We're talking about Getting MORE out of life......What MORE is there Available?
2 Peter 1:2-4 (KJV) 2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
Do we Know all there is to know about God and Jesus? Of course not.....
...but what did that say happens the More we KNOW THEM? Grace and Peace MULTIPLIED (not just added) to us
Grace is the Opening of Every Good Thing God has for us.....and Peace is the Possession of it
....That's why one explanation of the word translated "peace" here is "nothing Missing and Nothing Broken"
You don't get anymore WHOLE than that.
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
These 2 verses tell us What's AVAILABLE......All things that pertain unto life and godliness
.....AND exceeding great and precious promises that LEAD to Partaking of the divine nature and Escaping corruption.
Verses 5-7 show us the RIGHT RESPONSE to Verses 2-3......Diligently start ADDING to what you've got.....
And then Verse 8 gives the Result of our Right Response....SUCCESS or FRUITFULNESS
2 Peter 1:5-8 (KJV) 5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These are things that PLANNED and LIE AHEAD for us......FULL POSSESSION of the Promises.....and......Getting the MOST out of life......
...Today...we're talking about HOW to GET to this BETTER LIFE where MORE is....
Well ONE VITAL Ingredient to our Moving Ahead is Revealed in 1 Peter 3:15
1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
One Thing that I think is is Often Overlooked is that: Man was Designed to have HOPE on the Inside...... .
In 1 Cor 13:13 ...the Bible reveals 3 Things that God has Supplied for Getting More Out of Life.......
verse 13 And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
The words translated "And now abideth...." are meant to express the PERMANENCY of faith, hope and love,.....
These are ETERNAL Things, because they are SPIRITUAL......
........and they Flow Out to us From GOD....
(...whatever you get from God is Good and should not be neglected. God doesn't do anything for nothing)
Now, most Christians Easily Believe and Hold to FAITH and LOVE as Being from God.....
...but HOPE seems to have been DERATED and Degrated as Somewhat Fanciful and Useless in the Grand Scheme of Spiritual Things....
but....HOPE IS SUPPOSED TO BE in us...and it should be at all times.............
and If it is...then we should know WHY it's there....
(what is it Founded on? What is it Built AROUND?......In whom do we have Hope and WHY?)
Rom 5:5 says "...Hope maketh not ashamed...."
Heb 6:18 says "...lay hold upon the hope set before us..." (GET A FIRM GRIP)
...so we should also be able to give a Reasonable Answer and DEFENSE of that HOPE we have....
The word translated "answer" here in 1 Pet 3;15 is "Apologia" and it literally means DEFENSE
Why do we need to DEFEND our HOPE?
....we started quoting Jn 10:10.... and it begins talking about a THEIF who comes to STEAL....
One thing he loves to steal is a persons HOPE
....a Key Reason is that Satan Knows the Importance of HOPE in our lives...
he knows that according to Heb 11:1 "Faith is the substance of things HOPED for, the evidence of things not seen"
....so Without HOPE you can't Exercise or Move in FAITH.....
.....and receive HELP (or anything else really),from God for yourself....
Hope is the GOAL SETTER for Faith....
It doesn't have the power to Produce the goal by itself...
...but It works with your faith.....to give faith some DIRECTION
Hope is like the Thermostat....Faith is like the Air Conditioning unit
People without hope are DRIFTERS.......they have no goals or direction....
...and Satan Loves people like that....because he is able to PUSH them around as he pleases.....
...but when you have HOPE...(Ernest Expectation in God)....you become More Stable....
....Heb 6:19 says "Which hope we have as an ANCHOR of the soul, both sure and stedfast....."
Hope gives your faith direction.....and it holds you on course
Another thing about Hope..... (strength/wholeness including recovery)
Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Notice 2 things here....#1 the Source of Hope.....GOD
GW and CJB both say "...God, the source of hope"
#2 What you do IN THAT HOPE.......You ABOUND in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost....
Abound is " To be Plentiful, well supplied, Prevalent"
We are made to be Plentiful, well supplied and Prevalent by the power of the Holy Ghost ......
....AS WE Abound in ERNEST EXPECTATION from Believing God and His Word...
A good example of this is Abraham ........
Romans 4:18 Who (Abraham) against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
What do you do when, naturally speaking, there is No Reason to Hope?
When he had no Natural reason for HOPING to receive the promised SON.....
....he got his HOPE from the Lord....and the result was that he BECAME Plentiful and well supplied with SEED and Inherited the Promise of God....
Gen 15:6 tells us that Abraham "...beleived in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness..."
He didn't settle for circumstances....
....EVEN THOUGH.....Abraham and Sarah were well stricken in years.....Gen 18:11
Abraham Made a DECISION to Believe God's Word OVER his natural situation.....
......That's where his Hope came from....God's Word
...and God's Word is UPHOLDING ALL THINGS....(Heb 1:3
....And then, we know, Abraham CONTINUED on in faith, going the direction of his HOPE....
When satan Steals your hope...he steals yoru PROGRESSION and STOPS YOU and your faith....
Well, that's what Col 1:23 says "....continue in the faith....and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel....."
Many have either LOST HOPE or its been STOLEN from you.....
...but....If you have Little or NO Hope.....and no Godly Dream or Ambitions......
....You can to go to the WORD of GOD and Get Some.....
Ps 85:8 says "I will hear what the Lord shall speak: for He will speak peace unto His people....."
(Remember Rom 15:13 above, "..God...fill you with all joy and peace....that you may abound in hope...")
Find a Word from God to Believe in....and STICK WITH IT....
Rom 4:18 Abraham against hope...believed in hope that he might become.....
If all of the natural indicators are Screaming at you that "there is NO Way your life can get better.......There's no chance of getting more...."
....Get a Word of HOPE from a SPECIALIST ......by going to the SOURCE.....
God Specializes in Defeating the devil and Destroying his works......
He Specializes in Making Something out of things that aren't SEEN.....
HOPE in God and be Delivered, Restored...Refreshed and MORE.....
Romans 8:24 For we are saved by hope:....
You say "But I thought we were saved through faith"
WE ARE....but Remember that Faith and Hope Work Together....
Those are POWERFUL REASONS satan wants to Steal Away and Destroy Men's Hope....
but....Another reason is that: he knows that HOPELESSNESS leads men to desire death....
....and drives some to even go as far as Taking their own lives.....
King Saul, Ahithophel, Zimri and Judas....are all Bible Examples of men who Killed their ownselves WHEN THEY HAD LOST ALL HOPE.....
And if you've ever thought your life was Hopeless.....I'm sure satan has recommended the same to you....
But there is a BETTER WAY.....
Others went through Bad Circumstances.....and Endured Hardships....
...and Yet REBOUNDED and Came back BETTER than Ever Before....
The Difference is in HOW YOU RESPOND ....
.....and WHO YOU TURN TO in the those times in your life.......
If you look to your own strength......or for much help from those around you....
...you'll often find Little or NO HELP AT ALL.....
When David was going through Some Hard Times in Psalm 42:5 ....
He said "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? HOPE THOU IN GOD: for I SHALL YET Praise Him for the help of His countenance (presence).
I like the way he just TOOK CONTROL of HIMSELF ........
In this Psalm....he talks about THINGS that are bothering him ...
....but he Refused to be be CONTROLLED by the way he FELT.....
And he didn't count himself out when he felt Hopeless.....
...but he TOOK HOLD of Himself....and He TOOK HOPE to himself...
...and Made Plans for the PRAISE that would be on the Other side of his Problem.....
Don't count yourself out either if you are short on HOPE in your life..........
....Let the Word of God BUILD Hope in you.......and then EXPRESS, VOCALIZE and Follow After it in Faith.....
In Ezekiel 37:11 ....God's people were saying...."...our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts."
(like an old car that's not worth restoring....and you just part it out to get the most out of it....
but God says NO....
He's got a Word for the Broken and cast down...
He told Ezekiel to Prophesy and say to them in verse 12 "Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel....
Verse 14 says And I shall put My Spirit in you, and you shall live....."
Israel had been hopeless, but God sent them a word to RESTORE their hope.....
...and People with Hope have MORE LIFE
Today....God's got a Word of LIFE and RESTORATION for somebody.....if you're willing to Receive it.....
Jeremiah 17:7-8 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
When you take hold of hope....you take hold of our POTENTIAL
...you put SEED in the Soil of your heart.....
...and begin the process of Harvesting Vitory, Deliverance adn Increase in your life.
