Reason for My Hope

In the spring of 2006 I was planning a family vacation. Over the phone a travel agent asked me, if it wasn't too private a matter, if I would tell her the reason for my hope.

My email address at the time: HeatherHasHope@...piqued her curiousity.

I told her.

In 2000 my mother was diagnosed with cancer.
 My hope was that God would heal her.

My God is the Almighty, Jehovah-Rapha-the Lord who heals.
God is also the Alpha and Omega- the first and the last
 Elohim- the Creator
El Elyon- God Most High
El Shaddai- the All Sufficient One
His Name, Jesus, is the only one able to save

Jehovah Rapha is also my Mother's God 

She passed away June 2004

I was shocked.
 I thought God would heal her.

I knew He could.

I knew she was a Blessing to many.

I prayed that he would bring Good, out of bad.
God does that.

I prayed that many would place their Faith in Him,
after witnessing a Miracle in my Mom's Healing. (That happens too)

I Cryed Out to my God,  Jehovah-Rapha,
for my mother's complete healing, and consequently, the saving of many, as I hoped and trusted many souls would commit to Jesus after witnessing my mom's miraculous healing.

God chose not to heal her.
I was angry.

My Faith remained.
I still Believed.

I didn't like God's decision,
but  I accepted it.

I Held on to the Facts,
What I Knew to be True
about God

I was bewildered for a bit.

I  Kept Praying and Reading God's Word.

He sustained me.

He is the Comforter.
He binds up the broken hearted.

I don't know Why
God didn't Heal my Mother.
But I Know God is Good.

God loves us more than we can Imagine!
God gives us free will.

The first people created, Adam and Eve, rebelled against God as they disobeyed Him, wanting and choosing their own way.

They chose life apart from God.

Disobedience is called sin.
Sin entered the world.
Sin separated them from God, bc God is HOLY.

sickness, weakness, loneliness, depression, disease, sadness, suffering, abuse, violence, old age, death.
These were not God's plan.

God gives us free will.

God is Almighty  God is Love 

 God is 3 Persons in One: The Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit. All 3 make up God. (this is called the trinity of God)

God made a Way
Jesus is the Way, Truth and Life~ No-one comes to the Father except through Him. John14:6

Death is the punishment for sin.
We each must die.

Jesus was/is without sin. Jesus never sinned. bc He is part of the Trinity of God. Perfect, Holy.

Jesus paid for our sins, by  
 dying for us, bc He loves us.
Jesus paid our penalty, our sin debt.
Bc He loves us. God desires Relationship with us.
Sin separates us from God.

Jesus made the only way for reconciliation.
Jesus died on the cross,taking the punishment for our sins, and after 3 days rose back to life,conquering sin and death, so that we can be Forgiven and live forever with Him in Heaven. John1:29
God has given us Free will.
Choice.
We each have to make the choice
of Believing in the Truth of God's Word,
 Confessing our sin(that we admit we are sinners, and can only be forgiven by acknowledging that Jesus has paid for our sins,by sacrificing Himself, dying on a cross) and  Accepting His Sacrifice.
Romans 10:9,  John1:12, John 3:1,
God then gives us a new heart.
Not just changing our hearts, but actually giving us new hearts.
God's Holy Spirit lives in Christian's hearts. He guides us and counselors us into all truth. John 14:26, 15:26, 16:12-
Hebrews 13:5 God will never leave you, nor forsake you.

This is the reason for my hope.
I am Saved, by Grace, in Christ.
My Home is in Heaven.
I know where I'm going when I die,
and it's Good.
I will be with God
I will spend Eternity in Heaven. John14:1
(If the prospect of this doesn't excite you, then you need to learn more about God, Eternity and Heaven)

I know my mother and father are in Heaven.
I know God is in control.
God is Indescribable.
That is my Hope, my Blessed assurance,
Do you have Hope?
(a note about loss)
Grief is necessary. God made us emotional people, and we need to grieve our losses.
This takes time. We need to just allow the process (which is different for everyone) to happen.
I can't imagine how difficult it is for people without hope in Jesus.
I  can Trust  God  bc I know  God.
I know what God says about Himself in His Holy Word, the Bible.
Bc i read, meditate on and study it
Can you trust a stranger? well sure, if you want to. But, you can't really trust who they say they are, or what they will do, if you don't know the person.
This is why it's so Important to get to know God.
He gave us His Word, the Bible, to read, so we can get to know Him. We need to Know God, so we can Trust God and Love God.
The Bible says Faith is from God.

We can believe in Him and place our Faith in Him, without knowing about Him.
God gives us Faith.  
"If my mind is the size of a soda can and God is the size of all the oceans, it would be stupid for me to say He is only the small amount of water I can scoop into my little can." Francis Chan




C.S. Lewis says that humans instictively know that the good things in life are supposed to exist, while the cruel, painful things are not.


Good things: Amazing Beauty and Perfect Order of Nature,

A baby's smile, home-made bread, children, romance,....

Every day there are millions of good things to notice and Thank God for.