Hosanna Restoration Church

I have a note in my bible that says, “We don’t have everything yet! There is still a lot to look forward to.” Honestly I don’t think that we have done a very good job of showing people how to look forward. As Christians we have been lax in showing people how to keep looking forward with hope. Now it is time we did something about it.

Now I am sure that some would say that we are looking forward to heaven! We certainly should look forward to heaven. However, for most of us there is a considerable gap between salvation and heaven. Once we are saved, we should be the people with confidence and hope. We should be looking forward in everything.

When things are not so good, we should be looking forward to them getting better. We should be the ones that are sure God can turn things around. We should be the ones encouraging each other and being examples to the world around us that God really does make a difference in people’s lives.

When things are going good, we should not join the crowd that expects it not to last! We should be the ones anticipating even greater favor from God. Remember, we have a mandate from Jesus to go everywhere spreading the gospel! The gospel is good news. It is news that reveals the Kingdom of God here and now.

We are all guilty of forgetting that there is always something to look forward to. We are all guilty of expecting the worst. We are all guilty of magnifying what is wrong rather than looking at how it can be made right. We also know where this kind of thinking comes from. It comes from paying attention to our old nature. We spent a lot of time just getting by. It takes a while to rethink, but we can do it.

We can learn to live excited about what God has in store. We can learn to look forward and not get stuck in the past. We can learn to expect the best, because we have been adopted by the very best.

Let’s quit just expecting it to be better when this life is over. Let’s be people of hope. Let’s eagerly look forward to the freedom that the Lord promised us. Remember that we do this not so that we look good, but in order to bring glory to God. He tells us to do it, and so out of obedience we should. As we do, we will see that we did not hope in vain and others will see that God is all that says He is. The more we do this, the more we will become forward-looking people. We will be people who are lifting up Jesus, and He will be drawing them to Himself. Never lose hope. Wait patiently and confidently upon the Lord.