Agape at the growing wreckage of our civilization, how can anyone be optimistic about its future? That’s investing in end-of-the-rainbow gold or leasing cloud-built castles in the sky.
Yet, for the true believer in the Lord Jesus, things have never been better! Here are five reasons we can be unapologetically optimistic.
1. Because with God nothing is IMPOSSIBLE. Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mk 9:23) Having faith in God is not make-believe; it’s taking Him at His Word and then acting on it. “For with God all things are possible.” (10:27) He specializes in impossibilities.
Of course, when we truly trust Him, we’ll add, as Jesus did, “nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.” (14:36)
2. Because our resources in Christ are INEXHAUSTIBLE. Do you know the most positive and negative verses in the Bible? The most positive, with five “alls,” rendered like this, “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, in all ways having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for all good work.” (2 Cor 9:8) He’s looking for those eager to be conduits of His blessings to a lost and hurting world.
The most negative verse? In the original Greek, Hebrews 13:5 has five negatives. It might read something like this: “I will not, I will never cease to sustain and uphold you. I will not, I will not, I will never let you down.” Even God’s negatives turn out to be extremely positive!
3. Because His plans for us are IRRESISTIBLE. No force in the universe can thwart His purpose for us. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Rom 8:28) Not everything is good, of course, but God finds a way to turn everything for good, changing liabilities into assets.
4. Because the promises in His Word are INFALLIBLE. Jesus declared, “Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” (Mt 5:18) A jot is the yod, the smallest Hebrew letter, and the tittle is the smallest stroke of a letter. This is His iron-clad promise to keep all the promises! And, He says, one letter of one promise is more significant than the rest of the whole universe!
5. Because our union with Christ is INDIVISIBLE. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?…neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:35-39)
Want to be an optimist in a pessimistic world? Join the Jesus team. How? First, become a realist about three things.
1. You are the incorrigible sinner God says you are. (See Isa 64:6.)
2. Christ is the only Savior; human effort is as useless as a self-help course for a corpse. (See Titus 3:5)
3. God’s Son is not for sale; eternal life is a gift. “Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” (1 Pet 3:18)
Jabe Nicholson and Louise, his wife of 50 years, reside in Starkville. Reach him at jabe@uplook.org or www.uplook.tv
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