DISCOURAGED? OUR HOPE – THE RETURN OF JESUS

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious
appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ”
(Titus 2:13)

MEDITATION:
What was your life like when you woke up this morning? Is
it the kind of life that you would like for others to experience?
Did you have a feeling that all the planets are aligned, and you
would have a great day today?

Were the birds singing and was there a pleasant breeze
blowing that was refreshing. Were your thoughts on how
you could depend on your friends to encourage you and
lift your spirit?

OR…..

Did you wake up discouraged? Did you feel like today would
be just another dismal, depressing, and gloomy day? Did you
have thoughts that others just don’t seem to understand the
trials you are going through, and even if they did understand,
would they care and pray for you?

Do you ever wonder how many of your friends can be considered
‘true’ friends; friends who are dependable and will be there for
you when you need them? Do you find that you are jealous when
you see others who have a spring in their step, and are looking
forward to a great day?

You don’t wish anything bad for them, and you don’t dislike them,
but you wish you had their optimistic and positive attitude. But you
may feel that you have fallen into a pessimistic rut that seems to be
getting deeper. How can you break the chains of this melancholy mood?

Maybe you need an overhaul of your focus and priorities? The more
we look at a glass that is half empty, the more half empty it becomes.
We need to be honest with ourselves – whenever we are discouraged,
it is hard to look at anything in a positive manner. We may WANT to
make changes to our attitudes, but we still have all these issues that
keep giving us a negative outlook and attitude.

One question we should ask ourselves is,
    “Does God want me to be depressed?”

What does He tell us in His Word?
    “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will
      eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life
      more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the
      birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,
      and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more
      valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single
      hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how
      the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell
      you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one
      of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is
      here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much
      more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What
      shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
      For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father
      knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his
      righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
      Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will
      worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
      (Matthew 6:25-34)

God knows that worry and depression can be debilitating to
His children. After reading these verses, we can easily see that
He does not want us to live a life of discouragement.

Okay, so where do we go from here? What action can we take?
We need to read and remember what God says in the scriptures.
His Word is a book full of great instructions for living a fulfilled
life, and it is a book that accurately predicts the future.

We can see many things in the world which can add to our dismal
outlook of possibly missing out on living a happy life. That can be
our core problem – we are looking for relief and encouragement in
all the wrong places.

When Jesus was facing the most dreadful immediate future imaginable
(being crucified on the cross), how did He cope with His feelings?
    Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of
    witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin
    that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the
    race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer
    and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured
    the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand
    of the throne of God.
    (Hebrews 12:1-2)

We can see in these two verses that Jesus could endure the cross with its
torturous treatment that would lead to His death, because He focused on
the “joy set before Him”. What was that “joy”? It was visualizing how He
would be with His Father on the other side of death. He was looking past
death to a blissful eternity.

So, what is the right place for us to look? Shouldn’t we be looking to the
eternal future we are promised in God’s Word? As believers, we should
never lose sight of the fact that Jesus IS coming again, and when He does,
we will experience an eternity of peace and joy.

When we regularly read God’s Word, we discover some obvious
instructions, but there are also some subtle instructions that we
should heed. I believe the scriptures above are an example of how
Jesus gives His followers solid information on dealing with worries.
It’s as if He is saying,
    “When you start becoming stressed, discouraged,
      or depressed, take your eyes off the challenges
      and focus on the ‘joy set before you’, which is
      the joy of when you will be with the Father and me.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean the issues or problems disappear,
but it means that we will be infused with a new ability to cope
with them without being emotionally and physically debilitated.
That is where our hope lies, isn’t it – the return of Jesus
(the One who loves us so much that He died for our sins,
so we could be forgiven, and live a life of righteousness
and goodness).

Looking forward to the certainty of His return, and remembering
His unending love for us, can paint a much rosier picture for our
day, can’t it? A new focus can replace the clouds in our thoughts
with a ray of sunshine and hope. Jesus is our hope, and our focus
should be on Him and His presence in our lives.

We still have responsibilities, but dealing with them can become
less stressful or discouraging whenever we include the Lord as we
face challenges and unpleasant issues that seem insurmountable.
God gives us instructions regarding our thoughts:
    Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true,
    whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever
    is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable;
    if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think
    about such things.
    (Philippians 4:8)

When we follow His instructions,
when think these pleasant thoughts,
and when we maintain our hope (confident faith) of His return,
our minds will have less room available for thinking negative
thoughts.

ACTION:
So, are you discouraged, depressed, or stressed out? If so,
what are your plans for changing your focus? Will you
continue to wallow in your negativism and allow it to drag
you into a deeper depression and greater discouragement?
(Satan loves it when he can successfully cause believers to
lose the joy of their salvation)

Or, will you make a conscious effort to follow God’s desire for
your life? He loves us and wants what is best for us! As long as
sin is in the world, we will always have ‘situations’ to deal with,
but we can find joy during these ‘trials’ when we maintain our
faith and hope in our eternal future with the Lord.

Problems can still capture our attention, but we need to guard
against them getting ALL of our attention; we need to reserve
room for thinking about the things God tells us to think about.
If God wants joy and happiness in our lives (and He does), then
He is going to provide an avenue for finding them both (and He
does…in His Word).

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, even if others cannot understand the
things I am going through, I am thankful that You do.
Forgive me forgetting the ‘joy set before me’, and allowing
problems to cause worry and distress in my life. Thank You
for giving me the Holy Spirit when You saved me; teach me
to rely on His help in overcoming the obstacles which can
be discouraging to me. I am thankful that You know me and
how I react to problems. I know You want what’s best for me,
so I pray that You will help me to embrace the good thoughts
of an eternity with You, which can overshadow the emotional
and physical issues that worry and negativity can create in me.
Thank You for being my Heavenly Father and for the abundant
blessings You have available for me!”

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