The Revelation of Jesus with Rick Sterling~

Hope vs. Opportunity~

"I hope things get better for you." This type of expression is often used to try to mitigate or soften the responce of a family member or friend during a particuarly tough time in their lives. We have all heard this sentiment from our own friends or family when bad things have happened to us that cause us to loose hope. My wife and I just went through a very tough time in having to put a beloved family pet to sleep. Maggie, our min-pin, was mostly blind, half deaf, had conjestive heart failure, and collapsing trachea, a condition that makes breathing very difficult particularly for small dogs. The treatment at the end finally became less and less effective, until we had to make the hard decision to take her to the Humane Society and put her down. 

Hoping for a positive resolution became counter-productive, and we had to say goodby to our precious pet.

Yet in every difficult problem come with it an opportunity to do the right thing, take the hard road, and accomplish for ourselves and others something that has lasting benefit. Maggie had a wonderful last week of her life. She was not yet in pain, and it was our responsibility to see to it that she did not have any suffering. This was an opportunity to do the right thing for the right reasons, and was in the end a benefit to our dog, and to us.

When faced with an opportunity to look at what you believe to be true about salvation and eternal life to assess whether that belief is based in fact, or not, is always a 'hard thing'. It requires a self-honesty that goes far beyond just living a 'good' life, to finding out whether what you believe is actually true, or not. 

Hope plays no part in the process of finding Truth. Truth is singular and absolute, and is what you need to KNOW whether you are in the Kingdom of God, and have gained eternal life. Choose life by choosing Truth!