I grew up in Philadelphia in a very dysfunctional family.
My father was a verbally and physically abusive alcoholic. There were many
times my mother, my sister and I had to flee for safety to a relative’s house.
My mother put us in Catholic school to get a good
education. We also got a good dose of religion. Catholic school taught me that
if I was good enough, I would get to heaven. So I tried to please God by doing
good. Only problem was I wasn't very good at being good or doing good.
In 1969 we moved to New Jersey and I started attending
public school. That was around the time when both my parents became Christians
but I became disillusioned with organized religion. So I turned to
drugs and alcohol and lived a very wild and self-destructive life for many years.
At 21 years of age, a Christian bookstore owner invited
me to church where I first heard the gospel and gave my life over to the
control of Christ. Jesus Christ can bring hope to an otherwise hopeless life.
When you become a Christian, something supernatural
happens! You receive the Holy Spirit. This physical body becomes the
temple of God. The Holy Spirit gives us assurance that we're in God’s family.
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we
are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs
with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified
with him. Romans 8:16-17
When you're a member of God’s family, you're an heir to a spiritual
inheritance.
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised
Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire
possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13-14
The Holy Spirit is the earnest, the down payment, the
guarantee of our inheritance. Now you have the Spirit living within but one day
we get to cash in the Holy Spirit for our full inheritance, living eternally
with God.
I know what it’s like to be without hope. Maybe you feel
hopeless today. You may have a degenerative or terminal disease. Your marriage
may be on the rocks. You may be a drug addict or alcoholic. You may be on the
brink of financial failure. You may have given up all hope and want to end it
all. That’s not the answer. Jesus is the answer. There is no problem so big
that God can’t solve it. Your life may be a chaotic mess but there is hope in Jesus
Christ. Stop running from God. Turn and run to Him!
