Subscription Lists

“If my people, who are called by my name,

will humble themselves and pray and seek my face

and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven

and forgive their sin and heal their land.”

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

Hope-expectation of future good.

Several years ago, the doctor I was going to said something that concerned me. He was promoting a ‘white ribbon’ week that called attention to drug abuse among the teenage population of our area. His comment-“We’re losing a whole generation.”

Recently, our senior pastor told us during his sermon that, in the previous week, there were four young men in our area who chose to take their lives. That number seems to be rising.

At church, more recently, on a Wednesday night, we heard of another young man who chose to take his life. Our associate pastor spoke of the root cause of this epidemic, a feeling of hopelessness.

This is a widespread condition in our world. As I write this, I think of four families I know personally who, over the years, have lost a member because someone took ‘a permanent way out of a temporary problem’.

●Where does our hope lie?

As God’s children, our hope lies in Jesus Christ. We believe He died on the cross in order that our sins be forgiven. He is our Hope.

●What could we do better to educate our young people to have hope?

COPING SKILLS-

One of the families experienced this type of loss because the husband/father couldn’t cope with a series of events in his job and his life. His own father had passed away rather quickly from acute leukemia; once diagnosed, the older gentleman never left the hospital. He perceived his job becoming harder to do because of enacted government legislation.

THINGS

Overall, we have given our children everything in the way of material things they wanted. By doing this, we have not permitted them to learn some very basic principles of living, the act of saving for something and the difference between our wants and our needs. This desire for ‘our children to have things better than we did’ began when soldiers returned home after World War II. In essence, we, as a nation, have taken our eyes off Jesus and put them on things.

FINANCES

In the process of teaching our children to amass things, we have taught them to overextend themselves financially. Several years ago, a friend shared with a group of us a talk she had with one of her adult grandsons about managing his money. The conversation seemed to end when she responded to one of his questions. He asked, “What do you do when you come up short?” Her response, “Without.”

CREDIT CARDS

The modern day remedy to stretching our money, rather than intelligent management, seems to be dependency on credit cards. By and large, we haven’t taught our children the ground rules for these small pieces of plastic. The word credit comes from the Latin word ‘credere’, which means ‘to believe’. Basically, the issuing company –bank or credit union- believes we will pay them back. Whenever we use that tool, we actually borrow money from them; they loan us the amount of our purchase.

RELATIONSHIPS

In two of those four families I personally knew who had someone take their lives, the cause was a marriage or a relationship had ended. As I thought about this, I remembered something my mother told me when, as a senior in high school, my boyfriend had broken up with me. I went into our neighbor’s house where mom was. I told her that he had asked for his class ring back. After a few seconds, she calmly looked up and said, “Everyone needs to go through that at least once in life.” As I look back, she used wisdom. We have neglected to teach our children that not all friendships are ‘forever’. The term going around the younger generation today, ‘BFF-best friend forever’ sounds nice but it’s not allowing the kids to face reality.

●How can we correct these situations?

-We need to get back to the basics of life.

Have we looked at our things and thought about what we don’t need?

Have we gone through our books and decided that we could share them with a friend?

-In order to do this we have to bring God back into the forefront of our lives.

Have we been lax in our devotional reading?

When was the last time we had a good personal Bible study?

When we had our last problem, did we pray before we shared with a friend?

-We have to invite the Holy Spirit into our lives, both private and corporate, and do it daily.

When was the last time we thought about the person of the Holy Spirit?

When was the last time we obeyed the Holy Spirit?

Have we called on the Holy Spirit when we’ve had needs?

God is there for us; all we have to do is ask for His help. Let’s all pray about the needs we have and the needs of others. Let’s trust Him for the things we can’t handle by ourselves. He loves us and wants what’s best for us.

"Today's Little Lift" from Jim Bullington

Comfort in Isaiah II (12-14-10)