Happy Wednesday!

Hebrews 7:19 “But now a better hope has been given to us, and with this hope we can come near to God.”

One of my favorite movies is The Preacher’s Wife starring Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington. Whitney Houston’s husband is a pastor. One of his parishioners is a young man who has been falsely accused of stealing something. The pastor meets with the young man in the courthouse just shortly before the grand jury is planning to indict him for the crime. The pastor is talking with the young man and asks him if he committed this crime. The young man says no and then the pastor asks this question, “ How long has it been since you prayed?” the boy replies, “A while.” The pastor asks, “Do you play basket ball.” The reply is “Yes, sir.” The pastor continues, “When you shoot the ball, do you hope that you make the shot?” The young man responds, “Yes.” The pastor continues, “Well, that is what prayer is. Hope. That’s all a prayer is.” The young man needed a better hope.

Our hope is Jesus Christ. Our better hope is Jesus Christ. In this passage the apostle Paul tells us that hope has been given to us and because of this hope we can come near to God. We can come near to God because God embodied Himself in Jesus Christ so we could know Him. As long as God remained in heaven and spoke through the prophets of Moses, Elijah and others we could hear about Him and watch His works through these human men and women. God also sort of worked through the prophets in a corporate level. When Jesus came, He was God on foot, the incarnate, fully human and fully divine and desiring a personal relationship with each of us. He drew near to us so we could draw near to Him. When the most difficult moments in our lives occur, our hope is in Jesus because of His love for us and His desire for a personal relationship.

God is not confused, confounded or discouraged in our most difficult situations. For God these are the times when He knows we will draw closer to Him. Remember my song, “When there is nothing left to do, but just depend on you and the power of your name.” There is nothing too hard for God to handle. We need to hope in God and claim the better hope in Jesus Christ.

Take joy in the journey, wear comfortable shoes hope in the Lord. Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.