Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
--1 Peter 1:3
Christian recording artist Steven Curtis Chapman once wrote a song entitled “Heaven in the Real World,” in which one of the repeated lines is, “Where is the hope? Where is the peace?” Those are great questions because I think those are the questions many people are asking every day.
How I praise God that we have the answer! There is hope and there is peace for this world. But that hope and peace is found only in Jesus Christ.
You see, when you and I accepted Christ, we were born again to what the Bible in the verse above calls a “living hope,”…a hope that is not wishful thinking, but a hope that is based on the reality of God Himself evidenced in the power of the resurrection of Christ from the dead.
This living hope means we can persevere through trials, rough spots, and even pain. This living hope means we may stumble and fall, but we will not falter completely because we are in Jesus Christ. And this living hope means we have a future that is sure and that we aren’t alone today.
The peace God gives us when we accept Jesus is a peace that the world could never know. It means that we can enjoy serenity of heart no matter what happens to us. Why? Well, Jesus said it best in John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
Where is the hope? Where is the peace? In Christ! My prayer is that you will experience that hope and peace in your heart today…and everyday.
In Christ, you have the hope and peace that can endure any storm.
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Luke 12:31–34
In the 1980s, workers renovating the old Lexington Hotel in Chicago, which had once been used by the gangster Al Capone for his headquarters, discovered a series of secret tunnels and passageways under the building. In addition to an underground shooting range, they discovered a sealed vault. Immediately there was great speculation regarding what riches might be hidden inside. Some thought that there might be bodies hidden there. In April of 1986, millions watched on live television as the vault was opened. But when the cameras were taken inside, all the vault contained was some garbage and a few empty bottles. There was no treasure in Al Capone’s vault.
All around us people are hard at work laying up earthly treasures. While there is certainly nothing wrong with wise and careful planning for the future, we must never forget that this world is only a temporary stop and that we are meant to care about what is eternal. Trusting in God rather than in what we are able to accumulate brings peace and frees us from fear. Spending our lives and our treasure on what is eternal ensures that when we reach Heaven we will not go empty handed. The world cares about stuff in the here and now, but God wants to present us with eternal rewards. In fact Jesus said it was God’s “good pleasure”—something in which He takes great delight.
Today’s Growth Principle:
If our resources are only spent on our own interests, it shows that our love for God is not what it should be.
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