The Hope of His Calling

In Ephesians 1:18, Paul says, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints…” What a prayer! Paul doesn’t pray that his readers will have hope, but that they will see the hope they can have. That is exactly the message that the downtrodden and discouraged need to hear.

Many people have lost (or are losing) hope these days, and with the attitudes of some people, it’s not hard to see why. The core of the Gospel message the apostle Paul preached was the resurrection. In his greatest defense of the resurrection in Scripture, Paul said “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19). He was right! If the only things we have to hope for are in this life, why in the world would we subject ourselves to any rules or regulations at all? 

However, we don’t just hope in this life, do we? I know it is hard when you consider going in to work today with the thought that it might be your last because you are going to be fired, laid off, or the plant is going to close. It’s also hard to go to work or school when you know (or feel) that your boss or teacher has it in for you. Maybe a co-worker makes your life miserable. Perhaps there’s trouble in your family that threatens to destroy not just the family’s happiness but even your health. These are painful afflictions, but they can be overcome. 

Remember Paul’s prayer. He prays for you (and so do I, by the way) that the eyes of your heart will be enlightened (opened); that you’ll see the hope you can have. There is a hope associated with the calling of Jesus Christ. If you’re a Christian, you have hope. You might not realize it, and it may not feel like it, but that’s the essence of the prayer; that you will realize it! And something else you can hang your hat (I mean, hope) on is the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. Do you realize that this means God considers you a richly glorious part of His inheritance in you?

Christians have a good life, do we not? No, it might not all be peaches and cream, but it doesn’t have to be. What makes our life so good is that there is a better one on the way! We don’t just hope in Christ in this life only. Many people do pity us, but it is misplaced pity. They don’t need to worry about us because we have hope. So many do not. In giving words of comfort to the Thessalonian church about their dear departed loved ones, Paul said he didn’t want them to grieve as those who don’t have the hope we have will grieve (1 Thessalonians 4:13). We do have hope. Praise Jehovah God!!

I want you to take this hope with you. As you head out into the world, no matter your destination, there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God if you will remain faithful to Him (Romans 8:38, 39). He is yours if you are His. He makes that true because He loves you and so do I.

Donnie Bates

God Is Love

Usually when I sit down to write an issue of Barnabas’ Notes, I work from a particular verse or passage that teaches a lesson of encouragement. This past week, however, as I thought about what I wanted to write this week, I tried to back up and look at more general encouraging thoughts from Scripture. The first thing that jumped out at me was the love of God. What could be more encouraging to anyone than realization of the love of God? “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). That says it all, doesn’t it? John puts it another way that is just as good: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:10, 11).

Maybe that’s too general for some. We’re used to people trying to encourage us by saying that God loves us and if we will remain faithful, He will take care of us in the end, but what about right now? What’s He going to do for me right now? Well, I hate to appear insensitive, but He’s already done it. He loved you (already) enough to let His Son die for you. He’s done His part, now you have to do yours. I know, that still doesn’t answer the question about what’s afflicting you right now in your life...or does it?

The duty of all Christians is to grow toward spiritual maturity (2 Peter 3:18). For us to mature as we ought, we need to mature in our faith and in our hope, among other things. Faith and hope are what will get you through the tough times. You’re not going to have times as tough as Jesus did or the first century Christians who were slaughtered simply because they were Christians. Yet, because of their faith and hope, they were able to endure. 

Many people work very hard these days to provide for their families. And they’re able to provide not just a living (a place to sleep, clothes to wear and food to eat), but many luxuries, too. However, without God, no one has achieved any real success at all. What good does it do to work yourself to death and make wash tubs full of money if you and your family are lost in the end? Jesus asked that same question this way: “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). If you want to be successful, truly successful, in this world, you must achieve spiritual success. You must be a faithful child of God. Anything less is failure, even if you live in the biggest palace on earth.

I know the pain you feel is real and God isn’t ignoring your pain and neither am I. I wanted to encourage you this morning with more general thoughts simply to show that even the most complicated problems and their solutions are more simple than you think. True, spiritual, eternal success really does boil down to simply living for God and not living for yourself. And the solutions to the things that afflict you right now, are really just as simple as giving yourself to God and overcoming them or letting those problems grow out of proportion and overcome you. Yes, God is love (1 John 4:8) and He wants you to love Him and live for Him. He wants that kind of success and peace of mind for you because He loves you. I want it because I love you, too.

Donnie Bates