To Give You a Future and a Hope :: By Candy Austin
In a time when things are ramping up in this world, much of which is not positive in the least, by the way, it may seem that ‘hope in general’ is bleak, if not almost nonexistent. But as followers of Jesus Christ, we know that He has already told us how all of these things will play out in His Word and that those of us on the side of Truth will have victory in the end!
Therefore, I’d like to give you some reminders of hope and comfort from our Lord, my friends, especially during such turbulent and distressing times as these.
Guess what, in case one doesn’t know… the Bible has a lot to say about Hope… so here goes:
What are some Bible verses about hope? | GotQuestions.org
For example, did you know that our Heavenly Father has an ‘expected end’ in mind (a hope and a future) for those of us who are His children? A ‘thought of peace’ toward us which is meant to be everlasting. How comforting and exciting it is for the True Believer to know this, especially during times like now!
Example: Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope” (Berean Study Bible).
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (KJV).
BSB Commentary: The verse is a promise that God has a plan for our lives and that He desires good things for us. It reminds us that even when things seem bleak, God is still in control and has a good plan for our future.
Barnes’ Notes on KJV Bible Commentary: An expected end – Rather, a future and a hope.
In a day and age where hope seems fleeting and the world is plunging deeper into darkness, we can and should still be comforted during times like these, especially when we can read, know, and understand the promises that God has for us in His Holy Word.
For those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, we know that the enemy of our souls wants us all to be fearful, divided, paranoid, angry, afraid, without peace, and always fretting about — living unsettled lives, basically in a state of fear and panic of the unknown, which creates nothing but havoc and a soul without a sound mind.
Oftentimes, it is when I am alone that the enemy tends to wage his attacks. For example, I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and turn on the light to noises from critters beneath my house, only to see a huge scorpion scurrying across my bedroom carpet! Do I scream? Do I panic? NO. I just simply pick up my shoe and kill the scorpion, then stomp on the floor a few times to get the critter to scurry away to make the noises stop, then proceed to lay back down in my bed and pray until I fall asleep.
Guess what, as if that wasn’t enough… the next morning, the enemy seems to plant a huge brown wolf spider perfectly perched and waiting for me in the bathroom as well. Once again, do I scream or fret? NO. I just kill the spider using my shoe once again, then thank the Lord for protecting me and carry on about my day.
Also, a few years ago, while I was once again alone, other random things would happen, like the garage door all of a sudden getting jammed for no apparent reason or my having several severe gall bladder attacks that would wake me from my sleep while writhing in pain. All of these were overcome and handled by prayer each and every time, by the way… because I know my God, the Lord Jesus Christ, is always with me!
Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
As we progress further and further into the end times, the mental health and anxiety levels of not only the youth but most people in our population and society today only seem to get worse and worse! What with pandemics, medical misinformation, fake news, propaganda, deception, increased deaths, lies, wars and rumors of wars, mass killings and tragedies, and the list can go on and on indefinitely!
Why Kids’ Anxiety Is at an All-Time High | Psychology Today
This Video (Exposing New Age/Satanic Practices by Richard Lorenzo Jr.), in my honest opinion, can help the youth who want to know the truth about their world:
https://youtu.be/xFkILy3dgiw?si=ahHYomDG3ijceTxd
What I can also offer you in contrast to all of this is by giving you what is written in God’s Holy Word. Information from the One Who knows the end from the beginning. Words from an All-knowing and Sovereign Creator. Truths from the Ancient of Days, the Lover of our souls.
Which is this… for it is written in 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. ” Do you see this? We are not given a spirit of fear, but we are given a spirit of power, of love, and a sound mind, brothers and sisters! Do you have a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind?
Another plight of our time is in the rampant growth of people living in homelessness. Never before have we seen so many people on multiple street corners in our state than we do now! A few weeks ago, there was a young man sitting in a semi-dangerous spot at the turn of the road with dark hair hanging in his face and holding a sign that read, “Hungry and Homeless.” Immediately, I knew I had to drive all the way back around just to give him one of our readymade bags. Upon receiving it, he was repeatedly and profusely thankful while immediately eating the Slim Jim and cheese crackers as we were waiting at the long red light there.
Recently, though, we have ‘upped our game’ in the 1-gallon freezer Ziplock bags that we make for the homeless that we see on the curbside due to encountering a family on the corner one day — a family that consisted of a dad, 3 kids, and a pregnant mom holding up a sign that said “God Bless” while waiting in the extreme heat for any kind of help.
While at the gas pump, we watched as car after car passed by this family without so much of a glance. (We get it… seeing how many people are also in dire straits due to this economy.) We were just glad that we had these readymade bags in our car to give to them, but they were without water bottles at the time. The family was grateful as we handed them 3 of these bags, but as we were driving away, we wished they included water bottles as well. No one, especially pregnant women or children, should stand out in the hot sun that long without having some water.
So, since then, we have added little water bottles in the bags along with a Slim Jim, a pack of cheese crackers, a dollar in change, and, of course, always a Chick gospel tract. It may not be much (a water bottle, snacks, change, and gospel tract), but hey, it’s better than nothing! Several years ago, we participated in a homeless ministry in the big city with our friend. However, he mainly gave toiletries and plenty of snacks but no gospel. So, I made it a point at that time to add the Chick Gospel tracts that I would order monthly to the packs that we made up with him.
For just like the beloved and late pastor Adrian Rogers once said, “I am saying that man needs more than soap and soup; he needs salvation. He needs a birth from above, not merely a boost from below.” Therefore, whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord! Minister to someone in need, pray for the lost, keep the faith, and continually fight the good fight of faith for yourself as well. And guess what? You won’t have time to fret about the gloom and doom or focus on the fear, porn, and panic. Instead, you’ll be about your Father, who is in Heaven’s Business! What better thing to be doing with our time than that?!
Must See Beautiful Reverse Poem that we saw at our church yesterday:
https://youtu.be/RzKNOXkrkMY?si=0_XjULir7w70Whpz
Hope this piece blesses someone today, and if you would like to subscribe to our new DIY Project Channel on YouTube, please do so and hit like as well. We would greatly appreciate it!
https://youtu.be/ObyX3KhS2cs?si=wPiHAbUiOq4yr-w-
Until next time… Maranatha!
Sincerely & In Christ,
Candy Austin
(I have no Accolades….
I am just a Nobody,
Trying to tell Everybody,
All about Somebody,
Who can save Anybody!)
The Williams Brothers – “I’m Just a Nobody” Song: https://youtu.be/_wCTQdmXkUg
My Mission is to be ‘Salt and Light’ to a Lost and Dying world,
To be an Ambassador for Jesus Christ.
All for Him and His Glory!
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