Our Journey to Hope
We all have the potential to have our hope challenged by life events, or we know someone whose hope is currently being challenged.
I invite you to explore this critical topic with us and please, share this with others. Our goal is to strengthen our own hope while helping others discover, sustain, or regain hope.
Remember, no one walks alone.
The opinions expressed by guests on this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the host. Guests are encouraged to express their opinions and insights freely in the interest of providing understanding and encouragement to others.
For more information, please visit my website at: https://ourjourneytohope.com/
Our Journey to Hope
Episode 129 - Confirming Hope
There are many remarkable events in the life of Jesus. In fact, as the apostle John closes his gospel, he states,
"Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."
In this episode I want to focus on one event early in the ministry of our Lord. It is the event when He confirmed through His actions the hope He offers.
I invite you to join me in this episode and to share it with others who are facing challenges to their hope.
You can learn more about hope by visiting my web site: https://ourjourneytohope.com
I encourage you to purchase a copy of the book, “Journey to Hope”. In it I explore hope from a variety of perspectives. I also look at examples from scripture of men and women that journeyed from hopeless to hopeful through their interaction with our Lord. You can obtain a copy by going to https://bibletalk.tv/books/journey-to-hope. All proceeds from this book go to support Bibletalk.TV.
Please, be the person that helps touch someone whose hope is challenged by sharing this podcast. Also, please leave me feedback using the "Send us a text" link at the top of the description.
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Hello Friends, I’m your host Dr. Dave Laton and thank you for joining me in Our Journey to Hope.
It is my desire through this podcast to bring you information about how to discover, sustain, or perhaps regain hope.
In Matthew chapters 5 – 7 Jesus presents the greatest sermon ever delivered; the Sermon on the Mount.
There are many great teachings in this sermon. But there is an underlying theme. It is that true and lasting hope is offered by God to those that would be citizens in His kingdom. Jesus teaches this by renewing our understanding of what God expects us and through that we have true and lasting hope.
Over time, God’s expectations had been altered and diluted to excuse or justify attitudes and behaviors that we wanted rather than what God wants. Today many are in the same condition as those who were listening to this great sermon. We seek to have life on our terms.
Jesus draws us back to God’s wishes for us. He does so from the very beginning of His teachings through what we know as the Beatitudes. He teaches us the importance of humility and meekness, regrets for our sinful nature, desiring righteousness, showing mercy, living pure, being peaceful, and remaining faithful in the face of persecution.
As he progresses through the sermon, he goes from the general to the specific by addressing many beliefs and behaviors that had been misunderstood and misapplied.
Behind this great sermon with all its teachings is the gift of hope. Jesus takes hope from theoretical to application by demonstrating it. He confirms his teachings through the first action he takes after delivering the sermon. Matthew records as he begins chapter 8 that as Jesus was coming down from the mountain, he meets a leper.
Here is a man who is forbidden to join in public worship with others. He cannot socialize with his fellow man. He is relegated to a lonely and hopeless life.
But he had heard Jesus and sees the possibility of hope. He positions himself to where he can be with the Master. He humbly approaches our Lord and asks for healing. He doesn’t demand it. He simply states that if Jesus would, he could heal him. In an apparent paradox, the leper expresses humility and meekness through the boldness of his actions.
Jesus hears the plea and uses the moment to demonstrate love and the hope He offers to anyone who would come to him. There was no way possible that our Lord would have refused this man’s request.
The event by itself is remarkable, but Jesus adds to it. He could have stood away from the leper and healed him. That is what would have been expected. But that is not how our Master works. Upon hearing the desperate plea for cleansing, Jesus first touched the leper. Don’t pass over that quickly. It was after touching him that Jesus spoke the words the leper had only dared to dream of. Jesus stated that he would heal him and did so. In this moment in time, the leper went from hope as a desperate wish to hope as confident assurance of hope fulfilled.
I find it fascinating that upon hearing the request, Jesus first touched the man. He could have healed him and then touched him. But again, that is not how our Master works. He welcomed the man as he was. That is what our Master does for us. He takes us as we are as we humbly and with simple faith come to him. Then he heals our soul and rebuilds our life. The wonderful song, Just as I Am is what Jesus truly does. He takes as we are and leads us to what he wants us to be.
What do you need to bring to Jesus for healing? What disease of the heart keeps you from full fellowship with God? Bring it to the Master. Let Him touch you and heal you. Then you can grasp the hope He gives.
Friends, thank you for joining me as together we journey to hope. I trust in some small way we have encouraged you to discover, sustain, or regain hope through this effort.
I invite you to contact me if you have questions or comments, or if you wish to share with me something you’ve experienced in your journey to hope. My email is info@ourjourneytohope.com.
And please, share this podcast with someone whose hope is being challenged.
I look forward to sharing more with you soon. Again, I'm Dr. Dave Laton, and thank you for listening. And until our next episode, remember, we give all glory to God our Father.
