A World Filled with Hopelessness

(Disclaimer: this post is NOT about politics. Please read to the end before commenting.)

Want some free advice? 
Don't check out the news right before you go to bed! 

So I read, got disturbed by what I read, and then tried to go to sleep, still thinking about what I had read. Remind me not to do that again, please. After 3 hours of laying there unable to fall asleep, I got up and wrote this post. 


Let me share with you what disturbed me so much. 

Both President Obama and  Ban Ki-Moon addressed the U.N. general assembly today (I guess that would be yesterday now). 

In President Obama's speech, he claimed the current murderous rampage (my choice of wording, not his) going on in the Middle East has nothing to do with religion. 

Ban Ki-Moon, the U.N. secretary-general, saw it differently. 

Ban decried the "new depths of barbarity" and called for decisive action to stop "atrocity crimes." But he also said "we must not let the smoke from today's fires blind us to longer-term challenges and opportunities" and address "the danger posed by religiously motivated fanatics." Source: foxnews.com

I also have to disagree with President Obama's claims. It has everything to do with religion. A religion is based on human reasoning. True faith is based on God's reasoning. See the difference? 


The president also "urged the leaders to address the failure to confront forcefully enough 'the intolerance, sectarianism, and hopelessness that feeds violent extremism in too many parts of the globe.'" Source: foxnews.com


Obama was right about one thing. The world is indeed in a hopeless state. As I read his comments, I was reminded of Ephesians 2:12-13.

That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

The majority of people in this world are alienated from God's promises and therefore, have no hope. This hopeless spiritual condition is made much worse in the Middle East.

The cross, the symbol of hope, promise and salvation is hated, feared and distrusted in that part of the world. Why?

Another murderous religious conquest which took place across much of the Middle East back in the middle ages was carried out under the banner of the cross. Just as is happening now, the perpetrators of atrocity followed human reasoning. They did not have true faith in the One, True God.

The holocaust was also carried out under the banner of another cross and many of those guilty of atrocity in that time and during the middle ages attended churches filled with all shapes and sizes of crosses and other religious memorabilia. 

But, explaining the difference to those who remember is difficult. They see the crosses in our churches and the very real feelings of hate, fear and distrust dictate their response to us as believers and to the message of hope in Christ we share. 

Honestly, I don't have the answers to the problems of the world today but I do know the underlying cause. It is because people simply have no hope.

But, praise God, He has the answer. He provided hope in the form of His Son. He went to the cross to bear the sin, and the hopelessness of the world. 

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.(1 Corinthians 1:18)

God "is not willing that any should perish" (2 Peter 3:9). The cross still holds as much power today as it did the day my Savior cried, "It is finished" and the curtain in the temple was torn in two, granting access to the Father's throne of grace for all who will believe. 

The cross is still, more than 2,000 years later, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to others.

But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:23-24)

The answer for a world filled with hopelessness is not found in coalitions of nations. The answer is not found in political correctness, or in dividing lands or in embracing the enemy in our midst.

The only answer for a world filled with hopelessness is the power of the cross. 

Romans 10:13 gives the world an awesome and eternal promise.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

But...

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14)

I'm certainly not suggesting we should pack up and go somewhere dangerous. 

But, is the power of the cross evident in your life?

Your neighbor, your friend and your co-worker all need to hear of the hope found in the power of the cross.

That hope needs to be shared with a world filled with hopelessness.



Want to know more about the difference between true faith and religion?  
Check out peacewithgod.net

The Hope

Many Christians are not aware of Israel's history nor do they realize the significance, in God's grand plan of the ages, of this tiny nation. I originally wrote the following article several years ago at the request of the founder of a pro-Israel ministry which, sadly, is no longer in operation. It is presented here with the hope of bringing more awareness to the those who wonder why we, as believers in Christ, should support Israel and her people. 

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Ha Tikva (The Hope)

As long as deep in the heart,

The soul of a Jew yearns,

And forward to the East,

To Zion, an eye looks

Our hope will not be lost,

The hope of two thousand years

To be a free nation in our land,

The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

-

Ha Tikva, The Israeli National Anthem

Although these words of hope were not penned until the 1880s, Ha Tikva’s fire has burned in the heart of every descendant of Abraham since God commanded him, Get yourself out of your country... and go to the land that I will show you (Genesis 12:1).

Ha Tikva is the hope of a homeland, the hope of freedom, the hope of independence and the hope of peace. Despite hardship, Diaspora (scattering), persecution, atrocity, and genocide, the truly Jewish heart has never abandoned Ha Tikva.

For you are a people set apart as holy for ADONAI your God.
ADONAI your God has chosen you out of all the peoples
on the face of the earth to be his own unique treasure.
- Deuteronomy 7:6

A unique treasure, chosen and set apart is cherished, adored and preserved. It is not abandoned, replaced or cast aside. Sadly, some in the church believe that God has abandoned Israel and put out the fire of Ha Tikva that He Himself kindled within their hearts. However, He is the God who keeps covenant and mercy to a thousand generations. He is the God who made covenants with Abraham, Moses and David, igniting and fueling the fire of Ha Tikva. That fire still burns brightly within the Jewish soul.


God has faithfully kept His promises to the apple of His eye (Zechariah 2:8). He gave them a land flowing with milk and honey, established kings, set up His own dwelling place in their midst and preserved a remnant in Israel during times of captivity. In 70 AD, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans and the people scattered. The land came under the control of several invading forces, ending with the British Empire. Yet, a remnant remained in the land of promise and Ha Tikva still smoldered within the hearts of God’s chosen people.


For two millennia, most of God’s chosen were of the Diaspora, inhabiting almost every nation on the globe. However, the God who keeps covenant and mercy to a thousand generations did not abandon or forget His chosen. He kept the fires of Ha Tikva burning through the centuries, even in the face of an evil like this world had never seen.


The Holocaust impelled many to seek fulfillment of that burning hope of a land to call their own. On May 14, 1948, the British forces withdrew from the land they had dubbed ‘Palestine.’ Led by David Ben Gurion, the remaining Jews declared the establishment of the independent state of Israel. Despite misleading reporting by America’s liberal media of the events and history of the Middle East, there never was a Palestinian nation. There is no occupation. Those who call themselves ‘Palestinians’ are merely Arabs from the surrounding areas.


Upon Israel’s declaration of independence, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq immediately attacked. Unprovoked attacks have continued ever since in the form of trained armies and cowardly acts of terror. Yet, Ha Tikva still burns brightly within the soul of every true Jew whether they have returned to the Holy Land or remain of the Diaspora.


This unique treasure, chosen and set apart is still cherished, adored and preserved by the God who gave them reason to hope. Israel comprises an area of only 8,019 square miles, while her Muslim neighbors, seeking to extinguish Ha Tikva, occupy a total land mass of well over 2 million square miles. Logic defies Israel’s continued existence yet she stands strong, as a David facing the Philistine Goliath. 


As Nehemiah admitted, the survival of the nation is due to the good hand of their God upon them, fulfilling His promises and keeping Ha Tikva burning in the hearts of His people. That same God who keeps covenant and mercy to a thousand generations is fulfilling His promise right now, bringing His own back to the land of their fathers in record numbers.


Every follower of God whether Jew or Gentile, whether living in the land of promise or elsewhere, has a responsibility to fan the flames of Ha Tikva. Some may take issue with such a bold statement. Many arguments could be presented to support it, but only one is needed. It comes in the form of a promise made by God Himself to Abraham. I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse anyone who curses you; and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed. (Genesis 12:3) As we bless the descendants of Abraham, God’s chosen, treasured people, we bless and glorify God Himself and He, in turn, blesses us.

Ha Tikva

As long as deep in the heart,

The soul of a Jew yearns,

And forward to the East

To Zion, an eye looks

Our hope will not be lost,

The hope of two thousand years,

To be a free nation in our land,

The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

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Pray for shalom in Yerushalayim; may those who love you prosper.

May shalom be within your ramparts, prosperity in your palaces.

For the sake of my family and friends, I say, "Shalom be within you!"

For the sake of the house of ADONAI our God, I will seek your well-being.

-Psalm 122:6-9

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Scripture quotations are taken from the Complete Jewish Bible, copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. www.messianicjewish.net/jntp. Distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources. www.messianicjewish.net. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 

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