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COLLECTIONS
Commentaries,
Word Studies, Devotionals, Sermons, Illustrations
Old and New Testament. |
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BOOKS
OUR BLESSED HOPE
Only #3 is Available for purchase |
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Considering the importance of the
Biblical truth about the believer's
BLESSED HOPE in the
vitality our daily walk of faith, it is surprising to discover that
relatively little has been written on important Biblical truth. The
following 3 sources are the most notable exceptions in the 20th
Century but only one is currently readily available.
1) The Hope of the Near
Approach of the Lord’s Return and Its Influence upon Life by
Handley G. C. Moule (London: Chas. J. Thynne, 1919) (Not a single
listing of this book on the web as of April, 2005)
2) Our Hope (Hopeless—Yet There Is Hope: A Study in World
Conditions and Their Solution) by Arno C. Gaebelein and published in
1935. It is available either commercially nor on the web (as of
April, 2005). Sadly one website cynically lists "Our Hope" in their
"Book of the Weak"! "Our Hope" is taken from the name of one
of the most prominent evangelical magazines in America, "Our Hope",
from 1894 to 1945 which was edited by Arno C. Gaebelein.
Click for article by Gaebelein
entitled
Twenty Prominent Facts Taught in the New Testament on the Return of
the Lord
3)
Hope Again
by Charles R. Swindoll -
the only Biblically based book on Christian hope readily available (click) |
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Looking for
the Blessed Hope
Dr. John Piper
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Do you eagerly await the coming of Christ?
And I don't mean: do you believe
in the doctrine?
Do you eagerly await him?
This is a very crucial test of the
genuineness of your faith. Peter said in his first letter (2:7)
To you who believe He is precious
And so the preciousness of Christ is the
evidence of your faith. And the anticipation of His coming is the evidence
of His preciousness. And therefore you can test the reality of your faith by
whether you are eagerly waiting for Christ's coming. I don't mean that
you must think about the Second Coming all the time. Even when you are in
love you don't think about your sweetheart all the time. Rather, ask
yourself these three questions:
1) Does
your mind return frequently to the truth of Christ's appearing?
2) When your mind
turns to the truth of his appearing does your heart want it -- is there an
eagerness to see him?
3)
Do you pray for his coming -- Maranatha, praised the early church!
Come, Lord Jesus?
If you come up short in answering those three questions there are three
possible explanations. From the least to the most serious:
1) You may have trusted
Christ as your Savior and Lord but you have not yet been well taught about
the Second Coming, and ignorance hinders the eager expectation of your heart
and your prayers.
2) You may have trusted Christ as Savior and Lord; you may know in your head
the truth of his Second Coming; but you have grown cold and distant and have
not felt for some time that Christ is precious and that seeing Him would be
the fulfillment of all your longings.
3) You may have never
submitted to Christ as Lord and trusted Him as Savior and may stand in
desperate need of new birth....
Do you love the appearing of Christ? If
not, confess the sin; pray for the awakening of your heart; and set yourself
to meditate on the blessedness, visibility and glory of the coming of our
great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." (for Dr. Piper's complete
message click
Our
Hope: The Appearing of Christ)
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WHEN HOPE IS LOST
Radio Bible Class
Click
for booklet |
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What do you do
when you feel like all hope is lost like moon walker Buzz Aldrin?
Some, like Buzz Aldrin, become depressed after they reach their goals
and find that there is nothing left to live for. Others slip into a
state of depression when hope for what has not been reached seems
lost--hope for a caring companion, hope for a successful career, hope
for enough money to pay the bills, hope for a reconciled relationship,
hope for relief from a stressful situation, or hope for the
fulfillment of a long-cherished dream. (When
Hope is Lost) |
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OUR
BLESSED HOPE
HOPE
KEEPS YOU GOING |
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"In
a recent study, scientists placed a rat in a tub of water. After about 45
minutes of treading water, the rat drowned. (No, the study didn't stop
there.) Then the scientists placed another rat in the water. This time, as
the poor rodent neared exhaustion after about 35 minutes, the scientists
rescued it. The result: When that same rat was placed in the water again
(after a little rest), it kicked and swam for hours. Why? It had the
hope of
being rescued, so it didn't give up as easily.
Hope can do
that. The promise of better times ahead can help us withstand the
toughest of times, filling us with energy we didn't know we had.
Christians in the first century knew about this--from experience! They had
begun to suffer persecution under Nero. Some even lost their lives. But
the church endured, because those early believers knew that heaven awaited
them. So when Peter encouraged them to "set [their] hope fully on the
grace to be given [them] when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1Peter 1:13),
they took his advice to heart. As a person who has trusted in Christ, you
have that same hope
of Christ's return. Whatever you have to give up because of your faith--
friends, reputation, chances for advancement--you have
hope of
something better awaiting you. Are you beginning to feel like the
rat in the experiment, desperately treading water? Set your hope on
Christ's promises. His resurrection gives us the assurance that
helps to keep us going, even when we've been in deep water for a long time."
From
Campus Journal, Radio Bible Class |
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DEVOTIONALS
OUR BLESSED HOPE
Excerpts from Our Daily Bread
(Click blue links for full devotional)
(Click
for more devotionals from ODB)
Note that some of the devotionals prior to 1997 may
not "work" -
RBC is in the process of trying to make these older devotionals
available |
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There Is Hope |
1 Kings 19:4 - No one is hopeless who knows the God of
hope. |
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Waiting |
Philippians 3:20 - The greatest joy on
earth is to have the sure hope of heaven. |
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What Keeps Us Going |
Philippians 1:21 - Those who are prepared to die are most
prepared to live. |
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Responding With Hope |
Colossians 4:2-6 - Each day, we are to
yield ourselves fully to Jesus, so that we may live wisely and respond
graciously to others about the One who gives us the assurance of eternal
life. A Christlike life can be a message of hope to a searching world.
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Too Much With Us |
Ro 8:15 - No one is hopeless who knows the God of
hope. |
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A Living Hope |
1 Peter 1:3-9 - If you have a living
hope in Christ, you can deal with your past because of your future. God's
glorious best for you lies up ahead. Christians can cope with their past
because of their hope in the future.
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Treadmill |
Pr 4:18 - Life without Christ is a hopeless end;
life with Christ is an endless hope. |
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Do You Have Hope? |
1 Thes 1:9-10 - If Christ lives in your heart, you have
a living hope. |
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Prepare To Live |
Ro 15:13 - No one is hopeless who hopes in God.
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Reason To Hope |
Lam 3:25 - God "alone gives the refreshment of
hope, and therefore we too can proclaim, "Great is Your faithfulness."
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The Hope Of The Heart |
Romans 4:13-25 - Are you looking
for hope? Then search the Scriptures diligently and claim the promises of
God that apply to you. Promises truly are the hope of the heart, and God
always keeps His word. The future always looks bright when viewed through
the window of God's promises.
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Source Of Hope |
Lam 3:25 - Feeling hopeless reminds us
that we are helpless without God. |
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Seeing With Hope |
Ro 4:18 - Hope, like an anchor, is fixed on the
unseen. |
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A Living Hope |
1 Pet 1:3 - Christians can cope with their
past because of their hope in the future. |
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Hopeful Derelicts |
Luke 7:48 - In Christ, the hopeless find
hope. |
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The Brightest Hope |
Rev 7:17 - Hope in the God of all our
tomorrows provides optimism for the future and gives strength for
today...Even in the bleakest times, Christians have the brightest
hope. |
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The Book Of Hope |
Psalm 119:97-104 - That Book, the
Word of God, gives us real hope—a hope backed by all the authority, truth,
and power of God. Many books can inform, but only the Bible can transform.
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The King Could |
Mt 19:26 - When the broken pieces of life
seem beyond hope of repair, don't give up. We have a King who can
put people back together again |
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Do You Have Hope? |
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 - If
Christ lives in your heart, you have a living hope.
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Finding New Hope |
Ps 42:5 - Don't give in to despair! Remind
yourself of God's goodness and love. Talk to Him. He will meet your
needs. He'll lead you in paths of love and light and joy where you
will find new hope. |
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A City Of Smiles |
Rev 21:4 - Hope in the heart puts a smile on
the face. |
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Hope In The Sad Times |
Lam 3:26 - It's remarkable! No matter what
we might be suffering, we can be sure that God will never leave us
hopeless. |
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Letdown |
Lu 2:19-20 - Feeling let down today? Try
looking up. |
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Renewed Hope |
1 Ki 19:4 - God gives hope to us as we give
help to others. |
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Where to Look |
Heb 12:1-2 - Corrie ten Boom lived through the
hellish life of Nazi concentration camps—a place where hope was lost
for most people. She survived to tell her story of unfaltering faith
and tight-fisted hope in God. Looking to Jesus, my spirit is blest,
The world is in turmoil, in Him I have rest; The sea of my life
around me may roar, When I look to Jesus, I hear it no more. —Anon. |
Anchors In The Storm
When The Going Gets Tough
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During his years of pastoring, radio
broadcasting, and the presidency of Moody Bible Institute, Joe Stowell has
helped many hurting people find strength for the journey of life. With a
reassuring realism that is rooted in the timeless counsel of the Word of
God, Joe proclaims a message of hope and faith that can be ours as we
travel the wonderful yet difficult road of life. This is the kind of
encouragement you will find in the pages excerpted from The Upside Of Down
by Discovery House Publishers. |
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Hope Keeps You Going |
In a recent study, scientists
placed a rat in a tub of water. After about 45 minutes of treading
water, the rat drowned. (No, the study didn't stop there.) Then the
scientists placed another rat in the water. This time, as the poor
rodent neared exhaustion after about 35 minutes, the scientists
rescued it. The result: When that same rat was placed in the water
again (after a little rest), it kicked and swam for hours. Why? It
had the hope of being rescued, so it didn't give up as easily. Hope
can do that |
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The Need For Hope |
A brilliant psychiatrist and
observer of human nature, Victor Frankl was a Jewish survivor of the
German concentration camps. As a prisoner living for many months on
the knife-edge between death and life, he witnessed time and again
the essential human need for meaning. He noted that survival in the
camps wasn't as dependent on physical strength as it was on the
possession of a deeply felt reason to live. He observed that
prisoners usually died if they lost hope and had no purpose for
carrying on.
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Does God Want Me Well?
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Finding hope in pain or illness |
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AIDS: Finding Hope And Compassion |
Our world is shrinking by the day.
Global travel, a global economy, and advancing technology have drawn the
world together more than ever before. But something else ties our world
together—the AIDS crisis, which can no longer be viewed as “someone else’s
problem.” This epidemic has grown to such a magnitude that it’s now
everyone’s problem. |
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When Fear Seems Overwhelming: Finding
Courage & Hope |
Fear wears many faces—being worried
about what others may think of you, or being anxious about getting
accepted at the college you’ve dreamed of attending, or being nervous
while performing at a music recital, or refusing to speak in front of a
crowd. Fear is the knot in the pit of your stomach that makes you wish you
could just disappear.
In a world filled with danger and uncertainty, one thing is certain—we
cannot escape fear. So how are we to respond when we feel afraid? Let’s
take a look at what the Bible teaches about the source of our fears, why
we fear, how fear helps or harms us, and how we can overcome debilitating
fears that hinder healthy living. |
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Revelation 21:9-22:5
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The promise of heaven is not empty
hype but eternal hope. |
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Lonely But Never Alone
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Hope and comfort when facing loneliness |
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