June 30, 2006 - Job 17-19 and Acts 10:1-23
Hope is what we are expecting to happen in the future. As Christians our hope is what we know will happen in the future because God has promised that it will happen. However, it occurs to me that there are two types of hope. There is a hope for our life on earth, and there is the hope for our life in heaven. I believe God wants us to have our hope in Him and to be mainly focused on our hope in heaven, instead of our hope for life on earth. Which one do you focus on in your heart?
Job was a man of faith in God. He never lost his faith. He did not forsake the Lord in the midst of his terrible trials. (19:25-27) He was very confident in his relationship with God. However, in his grief he did experience a crisis of hope. Part of it was the pain and the depression that were part of the grief process of which we have spoken earlier. However, I believe part of his crisis of hope was that his hope was focused on this life, instead of in heaven. The reason Job is so distraught is that he keeps thinking about how his life here is destroyed. What if he would have had his focus on heaven? What if he realized that he would see his children again in heaven and have eternity to be with them? What if he was concentrating on the glory and the perfection of heaven, instead of the loss of earthly status? I believe Job would not have kept saying that God had taken away his hope, if he had been focused on eternal hope instead of earthly hope. (17:15; 19:10) That is even why he accuses God of having wronged him. (19:6) He is focusing on what he has lost in this life. If he were considering the rewards of heaven, his earthly loss would seem much less important. I urge all of us to have an eternal perspective on life and a hope that is fixed in heaven instead of in this world. It will change our outlook on everything.
In Acts 10 that is the case for Cornelius. He was a Roman military leader. In earthly terms he had it made. He had a great job. He had power. He had authority. His earthly life was secure. However, that was not his focus. He feared God and worshiped him even though he could have been ridiculed by the Romans for this. He gave his money to the poor. (v.2) He prayed, and God heard his prayers. God sent Peter to him, so that he could be saved by trusting Jesus. Why did all of this happen? At least part of the reason is that Cornelius knew that this world was not the end. He was looking for more. He wanted God to show him the ultimate meaning of life, and God did just that by sending Peter to preach to him. God had to prepare Peter's heart first, but that shows just how important this was to God. He wanted all people to come to have hope in Him and eternal life in heaven. That is still God's heart. I pray that your hope is in Him and that you know you have eternal life which will have you living in heaven for eternity.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Job 20-21 and Acts 10:24-48.
Job was a man of faith in God. He never lost his faith. He did not forsake the Lord in the midst of his terrible trials. (19:25-27) He was very confident in his relationship with God. However, in his grief he did experience a crisis of hope. Part of it was the pain and the depression that were part of the grief process of which we have spoken earlier. However, I believe part of his crisis of hope was that his hope was focused on this life, instead of in heaven. The reason Job is so distraught is that he keeps thinking about how his life here is destroyed. What if he would have had his focus on heaven? What if he realized that he would see his children again in heaven and have eternity to be with them? What if he was concentrating on the glory and the perfection of heaven, instead of the loss of earthly status? I believe Job would not have kept saying that God had taken away his hope, if he had been focused on eternal hope instead of earthly hope. (17:15; 19:10) That is even why he accuses God of having wronged him. (19:6) He is focusing on what he has lost in this life. If he were considering the rewards of heaven, his earthly loss would seem much less important. I urge all of us to have an eternal perspective on life and a hope that is fixed in heaven instead of in this world. It will change our outlook on everything.
In Acts 10 that is the case for Cornelius. He was a Roman military leader. In earthly terms he had it made. He had a great job. He had power. He had authority. His earthly life was secure. However, that was not his focus. He feared God and worshiped him even though he could have been ridiculed by the Romans for this. He gave his money to the poor. (v.2) He prayed, and God heard his prayers. God sent Peter to him, so that he could be saved by trusting Jesus. Why did all of this happen? At least part of the reason is that Cornelius knew that this world was not the end. He was looking for more. He wanted God to show him the ultimate meaning of life, and God did just that by sending Peter to preach to him. God had to prepare Peter's heart first, but that shows just how important this was to God. He wanted all people to come to have hope in Him and eternal life in heaven. That is still God's heart. I pray that your hope is in Him and that you know you have eternal life which will have you living in heaven for eternity.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Job 20-21 and Acts 10:24-48.