~* Faith-Lift Fridays Feb. 29, 2008 *~

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

"If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." I Corinthians 15:19

Hope...that tiny flame inside that propels us to go just a little further, fight a little longer, work a little harder, love a little better...

Think of all the hope you probably hold in your heart right now: hope for your children to have a wonderful future - beautiful marriages, good careers, their own children (your grands!);  hope for a long life with your honey;   hope for an upcoming vacation...so much many dreams we hope to see come to pass.  Hope...it's the spice of life in so many ways.

Usually, that kind of hope comes from having faith...faith not only for a wonderful eternal life, but hope for good things to happen in this present life because of God's love and goodness to us.

Now, stop for a moment and think about this generation...your kids generation to be specific.  Think about how so many of these kids are taught to not believe in God - to believe they come from monkeys- to believe there is nothing beyond this present world.

They are being bombarded with messages that say," Get what you can, while you can."   "Live for today"
"The only thing that matters is Y O U."
And yet, while trying so desperately to get all they can, to live for the moment, to take care of numero uno...they are so empty, so unhappy, so...hopeless.

  Is it any wonder we see the acts of violence we are seeing all to commonly? How much hope would be in your life if you believed this was it... that you will just grow old and die...that there would never be a true future?  Isn't our faith the very thing that gives us hope each day?

Let us challenge ourselves to do two things: 1)pray for this generation like we've never prayed before, and 2) be on the look-out for ways to offer them hope...which ultimately is known as the good news.

"Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news  that Jesus is the Christ." Acts 5:42

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