Jesus, Our Hope and Our Comfort

I am heartbroken; I am angry; I am desperate.  I am heartbroken at what I have seen and am seeing in our communities.  I am angry about injustice, racism, sexism, and godlessness that exists.  I am desperate for Jesus.  In Genesis 3, we read about the fall of mankind.  Adam and Eve sinned against God; they rebelled against God and His commands.  Sin was born into our world in that moment of rebellion and rejection.  Even then, God gave us hope; God gave us comfort.  In Genesis 3:15, God says, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."  Our hope and our comfort is Jesus.  God made a promise that Jesus would come to defeat the true enemy, Satan.  Sin was still in the world.  Mankind was still sinful, but salvation was available; salvation came through Jesus.  We continue to see mankind's struggle with sin in Genesis 6.  Genesis 6:5 says, "The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time."  Of course, we know the context these words.  The flood of God's judgment fell on the earth.  God called people toward repentance and faith, but people rejected Him, rebelled against His Word.

Sin separates us from God.  Sin separates us from one another.  Sin is devastating.  Sin is deadly.  We see it in every generation; we see it in every people.  As Paul says in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  If we are not heartbroken about OUR sin, if we are not angry about the injustice and racism and sexism and godlessness that OUR sin has produced,  and if we are not desperate for Jesus, our Hope and our Comfort, then devastation and death will abound.  I need a Savior.  You need a Savior.  We need a Savior.  His name is Jesus.  Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 2:3-7, "Praise be to the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.  For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.  If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.  And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort."

As a Christ follower, I have repented of my sin and believed in Jesus.  I no longer live for me; I live for God with Christ in me.  I don't belong to me; I don't belong to this world; I belong to God; I belong to the kingdom of God.  As a Christ follower, I live to glorify God.  I live as an ambassador of His kingdom.  I live as a vessel of His love, His grace, and His mercy.  Am I perfect?  No.  Do I still struggle with sin in my life?  Yes.  However, as a Christ follower I have Hope and Comfort.  I have Jesus, and I am commanded to live as Jesus lived, to love as Jesus loved, to walk as Jesus walked (1 John 2:3-11).  I am called to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with my God (Micah 6:8).  I have to make a choice daily to die to self and sin.  I have to make a choice daily to submit to God, to entrust myself to Him.  I have to make a choice daily to live in love toward EVERYONE.  How do I do this?  I know and rely on the love God has for me (1 John 4:16).  I am not perfect; I am not better.  But I am saved, and I am alive.  I live for God.  I live in love.  I stand with any and all who are hurting and broken today.  I stand with those suffering injustice, racism, sexism, and godlessness.  I want to be a vessel of hope and comfort for you.  I want to show you Jesus.  He is our Hope and our Comfort.  Nothing and no one else will satisfy.  Only Jesus.  Only Jesus.  Only Jesus.

Lord, forgive me of my sin.  Lord, thank You for loving me and laying Your life down for me.  Lord, help me.  Lord, give me the strength I need to be a vessel of Your love, grace, and mercy to a broken world.  Lord, help me be a reflector of You, our Hope and our Comfort.  Lord, I am desperate for You because our world is desperate for You.  Lord, may these words of my heart be the actions of my life, my life lived for You and for Your glory.  Amen.