Questioning Your Hope

 

        When events happen in life you may question your faith?  You face a cross roads where you can allow the Holy Spirit to convict you like Peter or turn away from your faith like Judas.  When the Holy Spirit convicts you, it is an opportunity to lean in and really figure out why you believe what you believe.  It is vital part in growing in your relationship with Jesus.  The other option is to abandon all that you do know to be more comfortable now, but pay dearly later.

    It is harder to be a Christian than a person of the world.  It is not harder because of life events.  It is harder because you have conviction when you sin.  You feel it and sometimes you feel it physically.  It is hard knowing the truth and still not living up to God's standards.  It is hard not to give up at times and join the people that seem to have it all together or appear so happy.  It is hard being strong sometimes.

    That is why you have to claim your hope.  You hold onto it with agape love and allow Jesus to take the burden off your shoulders.  He will take as much as you are willing to give him.  Claim agape love into your heart to be able to love completely and stop comparing your  life to other people.  They don't have it as together as you may think, so love them and pray for them instead of envy them.

    Peter teaches a lot about phileo love.  Phileo love is deep affection based on friendship.  It is true and pure, but it is not all encompassing as agape love.  Phileo is easier for people that have faults than agape love which is perfect love.  Peter loved Jesus with phileo until after he was forgiven.  Then he really learned what agape was and adopted it as his own.

    Peter lived a transparent life.  In the Bible you learn about his insecurities.  He was broken for failing Jesus.  When Jesus had Peter forgive himself, he turned Peter into something unbreakable.  Peter's shame and broken history became a pillar of strength for Christianity.  His fear of failure became possibility.  His doubt, or insecurity of the past, was removed to never be repeated again.  

    Christians need to walk with confidence.  Doubt, fear, and insecurity will never allow you to mature in your faith.  They have to be crushed.  That is why God commanded it so many times do not fear or doubt, but to trust Him.  It can be a humbling lesson to learn if you do not choose to learn it on your own, but humility is a gift all on it's own.

    Look at the lessons that God has given you.  Do you see the value in the lessons learned?  Do you see where He may be trying to teach you a lesson right now?  Do you look for the lesson in life events?  Please do because that is when you will find God's love for you.  When you see how much you do not deserve salvation, but He is offering it to you anyway, is when you find real hope.  This hope can't be taken from you.

    We measure the worth of a person by how they respond to mistakes, hard times, or scary situations.  That is not the most loving approach.  God measures us by our faith, hope, and ability to love.  This is what Christians are striving to be like.  That is agape love in action.  Trying agape love reveals a heart for Jesus and an honesty to live as loving and transparently as possible.  

    Hope and love in Jesus restores your soul.  To live in guilt, doubt, or fear crushes the soul.  Jesus wants to restore you and take the burden off your shoulders.  He wants to heal the broken heart and make it stronger than it ever was before.  When he ask you questions, know that it is for your benefit.  He wants you to know yourself.  It is also to prepare you for your future.

    Question your hope, but do so in the search for answers not destruction.  Allow the things in life that upset you to be an indicator on where to start searching.  Why does it upset you so much.  Find the root to the problem so that if it is for evil you can remove it.  If it is for good, then you can expand on it.  Hurt feelings can be healed, but a soul that abandons God is doomed.  You and God are the only ones that really know the truth about your soul.

John 21: 15-19, Romans 15:7-13, Hebrews 10: 23-25, & 1 Peter 3:13-17