Keep Hope Alive
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Vietnamese
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Believe it or not, you can live up to 70 days without food. You can exist for nearly 10 days without water. And you can live for up to six minutes without air. But there is one thing you can't live without--hope!
Hope is the confidence that things are gong to get better. It is a reason for keeping on even when your life looks like it is falling apart.
The prophet Jeremiah knew the secret: "Blessed (happy) is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him" (Jeremiah 17:7). God, the all-powerful Creator of the universe who cares about your every problem, can build a secure future for you.
The person who has never trusted Jesus Christ may see life as hopeless. And he is right, for without Christ he is "without hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12).
But Jesus Christ offers what you could never purchase and no one can take from you:
- Love that is not based on your feelings or merits but on the never-ending mercies of God (Romans 5:8).
- Freedom to know and enjoy God because Jesus Christ has taken the punishment for your sins (1 Peter 3:18).
- Friendship that will never disappoint you because Jesus promised, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).
- A reason for living because following Christ gives true meaning and purpose to life (John 14:6).
- An unshakeable future firmly based on Christ's promise: "I will come back and take you to be with me" (John 14:3).
- An eternal home where the killjoys of earth--selfishness, hatred, death--will all be gone (Revelation 21:4).
You can be sure that you have put your trust in God by taking these steps:
- Recognize that your sin separates you from God: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
- Realize that God loves you, and that Jesus died for your sins: "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
- Receive Him into your life by faith: "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).
You can pray something like this: "Lord, thank You for sending Your Son to die for me. Without Him I would be lost forever. I invite Him into my life to be my Savior."
© 2002 Good News Publishers. Used by permission.
Translated by permission of Good News Publishers
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