Articles
Building a Home of Hope
While in Jerusalem, Jesus meets a man at the healing pool of Bethesda who suffered from a debilitating illness for 38 years. Jesus knew that the man had been at the pool for a long time without a healing, so He asked him, “Do you want to be healed?” (John 5:6 ESV) The man then explained that every time he tried to enter the pool to be healed, someone else would get there before him. Although, he desired to get better he gave up. Jesus took compassion on the man and told him, “Take up you bed and walk.” (John 5:11) The Pharisees grumbled at Jesus for healing the man on the Sabbath, but Jesus was demonstrating that God is always working for His children. (John 5:17)
God is continually watching over His children because He intimately created each one of us. He knows everything about us. (Psalm 139:13-16) Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ascertains that we should be diligently internalizing and teaching God’s love for us. If we bond His words to our hearts then we can be confident in our intimate relationship with Him. The Lord will always have compassion for us, but we also have to be making sure that our relationship with Him isn’t one sided. Hope, confidence, and trust in this relationship with God comes from our constant effort and diligence.
There is an old saying, “home is where your heart is.” We always have a home with God. We simply have to choose to enter and embrace Him. Two of the devil’s greatest lies is that life is suffering and evil is more prevalent than good. 1 Corinthians 10:13 mentions that God will grant the way out of temptation and suffering. Then John 17:14-17 says, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” In a world that seems hopeless, God helps us be hopeful. When we faithfully live with Him is when we exist to spread His light, love, and hope to everyone, ourselves included. Hebrews 11:6 reads, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
