NEW LIFE – NEW HOPE!
Ivan Pattison, Australia
Where ever there is
new life there is new hope.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen.
Luke 23:8 And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was
desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him;
and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him.
We all hope that
heaven will be our destination, but will it be for each one of us, I hope so.
King Herod had wrong motives, that is why Jesus did
not answer him, as Jesus knew his heart and what was in his heart. We can have
hope, we can have desire, we can also be enthusiastic about Jesus, but unless
we put in our heart God's Word, then our New Hope, and New Life will come to
nothing!! Hope is eternal, now do we need more than hope to see us into heaven,
or is hoping enough for us to receive the eternal prize. I don't think hope is
enough to ensure Eternal Life, as Apostle Paul wrote;
Philippians 2:12
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only,
but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling.
Here in Philippians
2:12, Paul says that we need to work out our own Salvation in Fear and
Trembling!! That is quite a statement, work out our Salvation in fear and
trembling, this is what gives us New Hope, and a New Life. Do we know how to do
that, are we taught that in church, or are we taught to have a good time?
Isaiah 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the
former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
When we receive
Christ, we become a new creation, or at least we should become a new creation.
Becoming a new creation, takes more than hoping, it takes stamina, discipline,
in reading our Holy Bible, which is the Word of God. It takes discipline in
taking time to pray, and pray often. I love the three verses of Scripture that
says; Pray without ceasing. Meditate day and night. With these two verses we
will attain the third verse which is; "Having the mind of Christ" How
many start in the Spirit and finish in the flesh?
Galatians 3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in
the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Here Paul says are some so
foolish to go back to the fleshly desires and fulfil
them, after we have been walking in the spirit.
1 Corinthians 9:27 But
I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means,
when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
1 Corinthians 9:26 I
therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: Let us take on the attitude of Paul, so we
will continue in the spirit, and when we finish the race, we will hear the
words WELL DONE good and faithful servant. Paul did not run a race of
uncertainly, but he ran a race that was going somewhere, and that race took him
to a heavenly home.
Love and Blessings
Ivan
