Revelation 5:1-4 I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One Seated on the Throne. It was written on both sides, fastened with seven seals. (2) I also saw a powerful Angel, calling out in a voice like thunder, "Is there anyone who can open the scroll, who can break its seals?" (3) There was no one--no one in Heaven, no one on earth, no one from the underworld--able to break open the scroll and read it. (4) I wept and wept and wept that no one was found able to open the scroll, able to read it. John began to "weep and weep" because no one in heaven or earth was found to open the scroll. His weeping came from the desperate feeling of no HOPE. Have you ever been there before? Are you there now? Are you facing a situation where you have searched "heaven and earth" for the answer, but there just doesn't seem to be an answer? If you aren't careful, you will get in the same state of mind that John found himself in…HOPELESSNESS! Proverbs 13:12 (AMP) Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life. (GNB) When hope is crushed, the heart is crushed, but a wish come true fills you with joy. (MSG) Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick, but a sudden good break can turn life around. God warns us in the above verse about what happens when hope is-deferred (put off), crushed, or unrelenting disappointments Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." What is the difference between Faith and Hope:
I often write and speak on Hope. I believe it is an area that each of us struggle with often in our lives. I want you to know today that you may be in a HELPLESS situation, but you are not HOPELESS! Helpless means that there is nothing you can do to change a situation. Hopeless means that NO ONE can do anything to change your situation. There is one who can; He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. His name is Jesus!
keep coming our way-God tells us that the heart becomes sick and crushed.
Webster defines hope as-"An expectation, and a desire, that a dream, goal,or purpose will be achieved! A feeling of excitement about what is getting ready to happen."
Many times our hope is destroyed. Faith is like dynamite! It explodes truth! Brings us from doubt to belief! From defeat to victory! From unseen to seen! Hope is the fuse!
Without a fuse, dynamite is worthless! Hope is that confidant anticipation of good things that are to come! Hope is the positive feeling that brings about a good work! Hope brings forth active Christians! No hope brings forth ineffective Christians! Satan's attack may not be so much against your faith, as it your hope! Why go through the trouble of messing with the dynamite, when you can remove the fuse? The devil is attacking hope in the day that we live in. It is easier for the devil to discourage us mentally than it is for him to defeat us spiritually (attack fuse rather than dynamite) It is easier for him to manipulate a circumstance, than to alter the will of God! Opposite of hope is hopelessness!
When you have no expectation you reach a place of despair that ends in giving up! Many people are at this place! They have given up on dreams, promises, purposes, and desires! We need to Get our hopes up! Let me say it once again, many people have given up! They have enough faith to turn the situation around! But they've lost their hope! They have enough dynamite, but their fuse has been tampered with! You can have enough dynamite to move mountains, but you must have a fuse! You must get your hopes up! A lot of churches have lost their hope! Their mental attitude of anticipation. People come into the doors of the church downcast, defeated, depressed! No anxious anticipation, they have LOST THEIR HOPE!
You can take from a person his wealth, and you HINDER him. You can take his purpose, and you SLOW HIM DOWN. But you take from a person his hope and you STOP HIM IN HIS TRACKS. He can go without wealth, and even without purpose for a while. But he will not go on without HOPE. Hope is like oxygen. You take oxygen away and death comes by suffocation. You take away hope and death comes by despair. We live on HOPE! When hope dies, a large part of us dies.
A well known American cardiologist noted that "hope is the medicine I use more than any other. Hope can cure nearly anything." A noted minister wrote: "The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for."
We MUST get our hopes up. How do we do that? Look back at our text:
Revelation 5:5 One of the Elders said, "Don't weep. Look--the Lion from Tribe Judah, the Root of David's Tree, has conquered. He can open the scroll, can rip through the seven seals."
John realized that just because his situation looked HOPELESS, didn't mean that it was. The LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH was on the scene to CONQUER the problem he was facing. My friend, Jesus is still the LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH, and He hasn't changed one bit. Look to Him today, and allow Him to reinstate your hope.
Blessings!
Pastor Rusty
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