Hope

A few years back a former co-worker stumbled upon my Facebook page. In a note, he read about my faith. He messaged me and asked me why I became one of "those religious people".

I don't know why this popped into my head recently but I feel that it needs to be addressed.

Throughout centuries, religion has been used to manipulate, control, condemn, enslave, abuse and execute people. No religion is innocent.

So first, I am not a religious person. Yes, I attend church on a regular basis and read the bible quite a bit. But no, I am not perfect nor do I see myself better than anyone else spiritually. I don't believe that a set of rules or works will get me into heaven. What I do believe is that I am a sinner. That I mess up all the time.

What I am is a woman crazy about Jesus. I love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.

So what convinced me to follow Jesus? 
Hope.

Yeah, I said hope.  The one thing that keeps human beings from curling into the fetal position and giving up.

In my time of searching to figure out what was true I learned about a lot of different beliefs. They were interesting, tempting, and promised connection but the one thing I found that they all lacked was hope.

I can't say I looked into all belief systems but I will just tell you about the ones that I did.  

Catholicism - (screeching brakes) wait a second, aren't they Christians?  I am sure that a great many individuals in the catholic church are bible believing, Jesus loving Christians but then again, many (just like any denomination) attend out of tradition. What I learned in my short stint with catholicism was that if I didn't confess my sins to a priest, didn't pray so many rosaries, didn't take first communion or confirmation, wasn't baptised by the catholic church, didn't pray to Mary, didn't perform so many works, I couldn't go to heaven.  By their rules and regulations, I was doomed. 

Buddhism - Buddhism is the belief that we can become enlightened and work toward being free from affliction, suffering and rebirth by acheiving Nirvana, or continuing on in the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth to help others achieve enlightenment. While the idea of reincarnation used to intrigue me, and the thought that the things that happen in this life are the result of a past life, to me really didn't make sense. This life was enough for me, the thought of coming back again? Not one of hope. What if I made some mistake along the line and came back to a life of horrendous pain and suffering? How did I know if my next life would be amazing, what would I have to do to make that happen? 

Islam - The path to heaven includes confessing faith in one God, Allah, and that Muhammad is His Messenger; recitation of five prayers daily; giving alms; fasting throughout Ramadan, pilgrimage to Mecca. Confessing and repenting one's sins is between the person and God, made only to Allah and for Allah. Strict obedience to God's laws (conveyed in the Qur'an) and His prophet's doctrine is required.   You can make up for your sins by suffering in on this earth. Suffering is desired by Allah to erase one's sins. Some suffering is Satan's doing or is the work of his spirit world cohorts ("Jinn") and is allowed by Allah as a test of humility and faith; suffering and adversity strengthen one's faith, as pain often leads to repentance and prayer. But there is still no guarantee that you will go to heaven. 

Wicca - is basically the worship and respect of nature they do believe in a creator. They believe in the law of three, basically whatever you put out, you get back three fold. they also believe in reincarnation. that when you die to go to a place to await rebirth, there is no final place like heaven or hell. 

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that when we die, our bodies go into the grave and our souls go to sleep to await the return of Jesus and the resurrection for judgement. Only 144,000 will go to heaven and the rest will either live on the earth forever or will be destroyed completely in hell. They also believe that they are the only ones that truly know God and that everyone else will be destroyed. 

I don't know about you but for me, one lifetime on this earth is enough!  So what is it about Jesus that drew me to Him.  

For many years I struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts. Meds didn't work for long, exercise and good diet didn't work for long. Having a great job didn't lead to lasting happiness. It seemed like nothing I tried kept the darkness at bay.  

One day someone invited me to church. I had only ever been to church at Christmas a few times, for weddings and funerals and as I kid I kept my friend company at the catholic church she went to while her parents stayed home and watched tv. So I went to Bethel Gospel Tabernacle in Hamilton Ontario.  It was so different than anything I had ever seen before!  Within a few months, I had actually heard the gospel. I learned about Jesus' birth, his life, his death, his resurrection, him appearing to people for 40 days after his death and then ascending in front of many witnesses.  I learned what sin was in God's eyes. And in a way it scared me!  Of course I had sinned. WE all sin! Was it enough for a person to be good to get to heaven?  No! God says that our good deeds are like filthy rags. Doesn't sound like much hope right?  But Jesus. For centuries the Jewish people would sacrifice animals to pay for their sins but the sacrifice was only good for one year. So Jesus.  

Jesus was a man born of a virgin, lived a sinless life and willingly died on the cross and shed his blood for the sins of all men.  When he died on the cross, there was darkness for about three hours, there was a massive earth quake and the 18 inch thick curtain that separated the holy of holies from the common people tore from the top to the bottom. (that was one huge curtain) 

So now the hope. 

If Jesus died and stayed dead then there is no hope. But that isn't what happened. On the third day, the women went to his grave to prepare his body and found that the tomb he was buried in was empty. When they went to the men who followed Jesus and told them, two of the men, Peter and John raced to the tomb to see for themselves.  What they found was the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in laying there and the head cloth folded up and set aside. Once the men left, Mary stayed behind and Jesus appeared to her first! 

So what does it mean?

Jesus defeated death, but he had willingly died and shed His blood to make a way for us to finally be able to stand before God. The hope is this: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that he was raised from the dead, you will be saved.  There is nothing else that you need to do to be guaranteed a place in heaven. Reject him and it means eternal separation from God. 

Someone posted the other day that they didn't want to go to heaven if there were going to be rapists, killers, child abusers etc there. But I countered with, "there will be rapists, killers and child abusers in hell but it won't be a nice place to be. So be in the most amazing place with no sickness pain or sorrow, or be in a place of eternal darkness and suffering but it's your choice."

Jesus is Hope. He is the hope of an eternity filled with love, peace, good health and beauty. No proving yourself, no measuring up. Just trust in Him. He does the rest. 

The day that I accepted Christ was the last day that I struggled with debilitating depression. I have never needed another medication for depression. I have never felt overwhelmed with suicidal thoughts. And I have never felt completely hopeless or alone again.