How do we have hope in this life, in this world, in God, if everything around us just seems to go wrong all the time? Well, all the generations before us, even in the time of The bible. The Christians had a very, very rough time, especially in the time where they were persecuted, and killed for their faith. And Paul knew this, and he told the believers to focus on the unseen. Read with me 2 Corinthians 4:16, "Therefore we do not become discouraged [spiritless, disappointed or afraid] Though our outer self is [progressively] wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day by day. For our momentary light distress [this passing trouble] is producing for us an eternal weight of glory [a fullness] beyond all measure [surpassing all comparisons, a transcendent splendor and an endless blessedness]!" Now, listen to this. So we look not at the things which are seen, but are the things which are unseen; for the things which are visible are temporal [just brief and fleeting], but the things which are invisible are Everlasting and imperishable. You see we need to change the way we think. Instead of focusing on the temporary. We need to focus on the eternal things. And you know we are the way we think and we cannot always change the situation but we can change the way we think. Now, let's continue, chapter 5:1 says, "For we know that if the earthly tent [our physical body] which is our house is torn down [through death] we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, for indeed in this house we groan Longing to be clothed with our [immortal eternal] celestial dwelling, so that by putting on we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened [often weighed down, oppressed], not that we want to be unclothed, [separated by death from the body], but to be clothed, so that what is mortal [the body] will be swallowed up by [life after the resurrection] Now he who has made us and prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the [Holy] Spirit as a pledge [a guarantee, a down payment on the fulfillment of His promise]. Now, I know that this is a lot to take in, a lot to read right from the beginning, but stay with me because it's all going to make sense very soon. So stay with me. Let's continue. Verse six, "So then, being always filled with good courage and confident hope, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord--" Now listen to this, "For we walk by faith not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God's promises] We are of good courage and confident hope, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore, whether we are at home [on earth] or away from home [and with Him], it is our [constant] ambition to be pleasing to Him. For we [believers will be called to account and] must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, So that each one may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or bad. Paul wrote this letter and he knew, that we as believers, as children of God can be become very discouraged In this world when we experience hardships. In the early Christians They experienced a lot of hardships. Being persecuted and killed for their faith in Jesus Christ, and even today we believers we have We have our own hardships. There are a lot of Christians, that's also persecuted in different countries and most of us still have really hard times in this world, Where we lost a loved ones, where we struggle financially, experiencing health problems, and apart from that we live in a dark world with corrupt politicians, crime and all of these bad things that weighs us down, and it's sometimes hard for us even as believers to deal with all of this. It is hard for many people to process all of this, and just to be able to go from one day to the next. And all of these things, most of the things that are hard for us to deal with. Are the result of sin, other people's sin, sometimes our own sin, as well. And it is not God's will. So, let me ask you. How do we have hope, in this life, in this world, in God? How can you stay strong as a Christian? How do you do it? How do your brothers and sisters in Christ do it? Every time I experience hardship in my life, in the in the past. The second death of my brother. My father died. All the other things that I've mentioned in some of my videos. God always brings this verse to mind 1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation [regardless of its source] has overtaken or enticed you that is not common to human experience [Nor is any temptation unusual or beyond human resistance] but God is faithful [to His word--- He is compassionate and trustworthy] And He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability [to resist], But along with the temptation He [has in the past and is now] will [always] provide the way out as well, so that you will be able to endure it [without yielding, and will overcome temptation with joy]. So whenever I feel, emotionally feel that I cannot overcome this, that I can't bear this, it is too much, Then this verse comes to mind and I immediately know wait a minute. The truth is, I can! I can overcome this, because I do not live by my feelings, but by the truth and promises of God. And then it's like a switch. [switch sound] And then I suddenly have the courage and the power, to overcome any hard situation. And Paul then also says, that we have to change the way we look at our problems. To focus on the unseen truth of the world. If we do that. If we truly focus on the things above, not the temporary, but the eternal, the unseen. We'll start to realize that our problems, suddenly start to look a lot smaller, than what we thought it was. And then when you focus on God, you look away from your problems and you focus on God. Understanding, knowing who He is, and also trusting His promises, then it changes everything. Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things Will be added to you. Not maybe, not probably. Will. Psalm 1:21 says, I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. You know my mom always used this verse, where she, whenever she had to go through a certain hardship she quoted this verse, but it was different than just normal people quoting verses, because she trusted in it. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth, and she trusted in it. And we as her kids could see it in her, and it changed the way that we looked at God, as well. You know, God will sometimes allow difficult times, hardships, trials, tribulations in your life. For a few different reasons. One of them, Is so that you can learn that you cannot trust, money, relationships, even your family, in work and even in yourself. You cannot trust in all these temporary things here on earth. But you can trust the eternal almighty God your Father. Proverbs 3:5 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will (Not maybe, will) make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes: Fear the lord, (meaning respect Him) and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. So let me ask you. Where is your head at? What do you focus on? You know, the world says we have to think positive, right? And when something happens and 'uh, you just be positive man.' Be positive. But to think positive is this human-made kind of thing. Where you try to ignore, or run away from the truth, and hope that it doesn't happen, right? But this is not what Scripture tells us. This is not what Paul says. Paul says, that we know about the hardships. We know about it very clearly, but we deal with it by looking at the unseen. By looking at God almighty. He says in 2 Corinthians 5:7, "For we walk by faith not by sight." I've said this in another video, but i'll say it again. We do not just live in a physical world, but in a physical and a spiritual world. Colossians 1:16 says, "For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth visible and Invisible. So when Paul says, "That we walk by faith and not by sight. What does he mean here? What is faith here? Faith is having full confidence in the truth. It's nothing to do with emotions. Faith is not emotions. Faith is knowing the facts of the truth and then trusting it. Especially when we have to deal with very tough and hard situations. Why? Because hardships want you to react emotionally, and then your emotions get so strong, that it starts to take control of your thoughts and your actions. And you don't live by your spiritual nature anymore. You think and act through your soul level. Now, I want you to listen very, very carefully here. If you live by faith. If you walk by faith. Then you look at your problems with your spiritual eyes. Your new spiritual nature, and not your physical eyes on your soul level Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:18, "As we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen." And just before this in verse 17 He says, "For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory Beyond all comparison. So we need to remember also that, all the hardships that we experience right now. It cannot even begin to compare with the life, that we will have after this one, with the glory Imagine, how it would be like with God and all our brothers and sisters in Christ. No more sadness, no more pain. This life of each hardship it cannot even begin to compare, with what is waiting for us. So we have to look at the hardships. And the pain that we experienced from this perspective, from the eternal perspective. Not the temporary. With our spiritual eyes, when we look at our problems, we need to look at it and understand it from a spiritual, eternal, Godly perspective. and that. That is the answer. That gives us hope in this world and we as children of God need to keep this perspective at all times. Because this life is a series of ups and downs. There will be good times and bad times. Even if you've been having a great time for a long time, there will come a time that will go downhill. That you will experience problems, another hardship. So never trust temporary things like money. When timothy 6:17 says, "As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy." So don't trust your money, but trust the God that gave you the money. Trust God. God is always the answer to all your questions. It has always been, it is and it always will be Jesus Christ. Psalm 9 10 says, "And those who know your name put their trust in you, For you. O Lord have not forsaken those who seek you. If you trust God. If you put Him first in your life. He will give you that kind of hope, that will give you joy and peace even in hard times. Why? Because he is the God of hope. Romans 15:13 says, "May the God of hope fill you of all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Do you get it now? Yes in this life, we will have trials and tribulations. We will have hard times. We will lose loved one, people will die from sickness. There will be hard times. But God will give you the power not just to overcome hard times, trials and tribulations, but to do so with peace and joy. And then when you go through hardships, you are able to say, 'all right God i'm gonna go through this for your glory.' 'With your help, because I won't be able to do it on my own.' 'But with your spirit in me, I will be able to do it and grow spiritually while doing it And understand what you want to teach me.' And then while I do it with joy, it will amaze a lot of people. Because they don't understand this light. This is why we are the light of the world. Because the way you go through trials, tribulations. How you deal with certain things how you think act all of these things. Is how people can see the light of Christ in you. Jesus says, 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." And James 1:2 says, "Count it all joy My brothers when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, Lacking nothing. Do you get it now? Do you understand? How do we have hope in this life? Number one. By focusing on the unseen, the eternal life, and by knowing that our struggles on earth is only temporary. Number two. By putting God first in our lives and to keep our eyes on Him, at all times. Number three. We do it all through the Holy Spirit in us and we think, act and live through our new spiritual nature and not our own emotions that want to bring us down. Nothing can test your faith like trials and tribulations. Because it's easy for some people. To say that they are a Christian when everything is just going good. When there's no problems. But if life gets hard, if it gets tough. If God allows certain trials and tribulations over your life. How do you deal with it? Do you accept it, or do you deal with it the way that Job's wife did? She said in Job 2:9, "Do you still cling to your integrity [and your faith and trust in God, without blaming Him]? Curse God and die!" You see, she was used to a very nice life and then when disaster struck, they lost their kids, their wealth, Job got so sick, And then she wanted her husband to curse God and die. But then job said this to her, "You speak as one of the foolish woman speaks [ignorant and oblivious to God's will]. Shall we indeed accept [only] good from God and not [also] accept adversary and disaster? In [spite of] all this Job did not sin with [words from] his lips. When you continue to read Job, you see that, God had a conversation with him, a very long conversation, and at the end of this whole hardship, that Job had to endure, He got closer to God. Job said in chapter 42:5, "I had heard of You [only] by the hearing of the ear, But now my [spiritual] eye sees You. Isn't it amazing? After this whole experience. God did not just allow this thing in Job's life. Just For no reason at all, but to bring Job closer to Him. A deeper relationship. And now Job says, 'Now I can see You.' He could see God for who He really was, and God blessed job two times more than before. You need to know that God will never allow hardship in your life, for no reason at all. When I look back at my life, and all the hardships that I endured. I can say with full confidence. That God had a reason for everything that happened, and He used all of it to change me. Daniel, to become more like Christ. And let me tell you. His work is far from done. I have still much to learn. I'm far from perfect. But i'm ready to learn more. And I will accept any trials and tribulations, that He allows in my life to become more, and more like Jesus, because at the end, that is all that matters. This short temporary life, will be gone in an instant, and then all that's left is eternity with Christ. I'll rather focus on that. Philippians 1:6 says, "And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you Will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:6 says, "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested Genuineness of your faith--- more precious than gold that perishes through it is tested by fire--- May be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So as a family, As brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us go through this life, it's hardships, with joy, with our eyes focused on Jesus Christ. So that our light, can shine even brighter in this dark world. So let's continue. Let's run the race until the end. Hebrews 12 says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great cloud of witness, Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith." So let's do this. Let us run the race, with endurance, together as a family of Christ, and let us do it until we complete it. Until we meet again in heaven, where there will be no more tears, no more sadness, no more pain, for all eternity. Let's all meet there. And in the meantime. Remember that, God loves you and I love you, too. Bye! [Music starts playing] [Music ends]
