You Have Hope, You ARE a Hope by Robert Ricciardelli

Joyce and I want to thank God for each of you and pray that this year becomes increasingly significant because of His overcoming presence in your life. We pray that despite the challenges you face, the Lord would show Himself mightily in every aspect of your lives.

Recently I met with someone who knows the Lord, but has been bruised by the things of this world, and especially the current challenges many of us now face. Mostly there was discouragement on a pathway to despair. There is despair, there is sorrow, and many times there is just a flatline,….No hope. Without hope or purpose, insignificance, discouragement, and ultimately despair can become a stronghold.

The Bible teaches us in Proverbs 29:18 that without vision or purpose, people perish. It triggered me to consider a response for this person that is similar to what I am about to share. YOU ARE CREATED FOR A PURPOSE THAT EFFECTS MULTITUDES AS IT IS FULFILLED IN HIM AND THROUGH HIM. Everyone born into this world has a purpose. There is not one who has been born or will ever be born without a purpose.

Jeremiah 1:5 "I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world." Psalm 22 10When I left the womb you cradled me; since the moment of birth you've been my God.

Thankfully this person I met knows the Father and is on their way towards His purposes and plans. Whether those that are born into this world ever realize their purpose, or ever know their God, does not take away the fact that the Lord is LORD of all things, and He has an intention for good for every living soul. You have hope if you know Jesus, You have hope if you know you have a purpose to live out. You ARE hope and a light to potentially everyone you will ever meet. You are not of this world, so may times your battle is what you feel or see, rather than who you truly are in Christ. The kingdom of God is beyond matter, it is beyond what we can see or even imagine.

Isaiah 55 8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD . 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Life with the Lord on this earth is a process of understanding and fulfilling the reason you were born. To the measure we allow ourselves to draw near to our Savior and renew our minds to His Word, is the measure by which we will hear His voice, and follow the destiny He had purposed for us before the foundations of the World. Hearing His voice, responding in obedience, and living in His presence is the reality we need to engage with every moment of every day.

1 Samuel 2 "For the foundations of the earth are the LORD's; upon them he has set the world. 9 He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. "It is not by strength that one prevails;

Even those that were born out of a rape or perceived accident were created for a purpose. It is a powerful revelation. As you walk through this life and trust God with everything, He will open up doors for you and in time, you will know your purpose. Consider this…… After you go through your whole life here on earth, you will be amazed when the Lord brings up your life’s video on how much impact you made in this world, even if you think, or the devil tells you that you were insignificant. You will also see the opportunities missed, but He will remove every tear. Obedience now leads to less tears for missed oppoertunities, and the joy we can live in as willing and obedient children of our Almighty Father.

The Lord will replay for you in His home theater the times that love, grace, or prayer, set in motion the eternal destinies of others. He will show you times that you heard His voice, which sparked a discussion, which triggered an answer for someone, which changed their thoughts, which changed their direction, which saved their life, and the life of many others they were ever to meet. There is this eternal stuff going around us everyday that we have no clue about. In your work day, you may react with love in a situation that most people would not and guess what, you could be changing the outcome or direction of another life.

Everything is eternal and has eternal consequences for good as well as for not so good….. We choose doing good as faithful servants to store up heavenly treasures and please our heavenly Father. You do make a difference even when you may not feel like you do. We are a witness everyday whether we want to be or not. The type of witness depends on how much we die to ourselves and let the Lord live through us in His intended plans and purposes. The world without you fulfilling your destiny effects not just your life, but multitudes. Your life as an ambassador to the King will effect multitudes even if you are not fully aware.

Philippians 3 13 -Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.

Let us press on together my brothers and sisters…. We have a life in God to fulfill. Do not let this world stop you. Do not let the devil or self thoughts hold you back. You have a hope, but now knowing this, you must live and BE the Ambassadors of Hope in Him to the World. We are soldiers of the King, we have the victory in Him. It is already won .. It is finished… and all we have to do is march in His purposes and plans in this life, and march on into our eternal destiny with Him. My love, His love, abounds for all of you in Jesus name!