Hopelessness ~ Regner's Coffee Break

ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: HOPELESSNESS Feb 14, 2010
by Regner



Hopelessness

Now there's a title for you! May seem a bit strange to take off from our series on the Table of the Lord and do this piece, but this is an issue facing many folks during the terrible economic condition our nation is in, but I've seen too many people being affected by a trap of the Enemy; and I'd like to deal with this in straightforward conversation.

Anyway, Good Morning! Got your coffee poured yet? Della and I are actually enjoying some Jamaican Blue Mountain -- and it’s been a long time since we got to enjoy such a luxury!

Steven Shelley was sharing in a conference with Paul Keith Davis during the New Years' weekend, and he shared something that was pretty sobering. He had a visitation of the Lord a few days before New Years in which four angels appeared -- each one with a message of importance for the body of Christ. The first one was "Hope." The second was "Honor." The third was "Holiness" and the fourth "Humility." Because of the events that are about to unfold, these are critical messages for the body of Christ. If we are to be a company of overcomers, we'd best be getting a hold on the principles and character issues that matter to the Lord.

Christians worldwide -- and especially in the United States -- are about to be tested to the core of their faith and their walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. The next few months are especially crucial to us because of the upheavals that are in store. We can either submit to the processing of the Holy Spirit and become shining lights in the midst of some incredible darkness, or we can try to coast with what we already know and suffer some personal physical and spiritual calamities. The events that are unfolding, and the events that are about to unfold will shake many believers, such that they will even question their walk with God. This Coffee Break, and the next few to follow are designed to show believers some key truths and principles in God they'd better have locked down in their beings if they expect to stand victorious.

Before I begin, let me assure you that I am not a "doom and gloom" preacher. I'm not one of those who think the book of Revelation is a book of catastrophes and woes. Yes, there are many things in Revelation that John saw that have stirred Christians for centuries; and those who've tried to interpret what John saw through study and academically-acquired knowledge have postulated some really awful doom and gloom scenarios. The problem with these scenarios is that folks are not seeing the book of Revelation "in the Spirit" -- and that's the only way one can look at it, since that's the way John saw things. (Revelation 1:10)

The Lord is not out to scare His people. His desire is to reveal His heart to a people in love with Him. His desire is to show us what we need to overcome, how we can overcome, and what the riches of His inheritance are in us. His heart's desire is to build in us such an overcoming authority that nothing -- and I mean NOTHING -- can touch us!

Let's not forget that John starts out with telling us that this book is nothing more and nothing less than the Revelation of Jesus Christ -- NOT a revelation of doom and gloom, failure and disaster. Revelation is a manual for overcoming everything that Satan throws at us. Revelation is a picture of the most stupendous victories we can possibly imagine!

OK. Let's not get too sidetracked here. This series of Coffee Breaks is not really about the book of Revelation. And yet I do want to share some revelation with you to encourage you and prepare you for the days ahead.

Let's begin with understanding "hope" before we get to the root of "hopelessness."

Psalm 42 and 43 repeat this phrase with some variations three times: "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance." The one minor variation in the phrasing of this comes in 42:11 where David writes "I shall yet praise Him Who is the health of my countenance."

A couple years ago the Lord gave these verses to me as a song (we sing it every so often here at River Worship Center), and as I was studying this in the Hebrew text I discovered that in each instance, the word "help" and "health" are identical. It may surprise you, but the Hebrew word here is Yeshua. That's right, folks! Yeshua! The same word for Jesus. Yeshua means: saved (salvation), deliverance, aid, victory, prosperity, health, welfare, wholeness.

Hmmmm..... "Hope thou in God?" What are we talking about? There are several words in Hebrew and in Greek. All of them pretty much have the same sense to them. The first word -- yachal -- brings with it a sense of patience, waiting patiently and expectantly, trusting. The second word -- tocheleth -- is derived from the first and means: confident expectation. The Greek elpis and elpizo (which derives from elpis) parallel the previous two Hebrew words. Again we have confident expectation, hope mixed with faith, pleasurable anticipation.

"Hope mixed with faith" pretty much sums it up. There is a trust and confidence that come with our hope in the Lord. Beyond that, you can't "hope in God" without faith. Look at what Paul writes to the Romans:

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope [in the confident expectation] of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope [confident expectation] maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." (Romans 5:1-5)

See the connection? Faith...hope...love...they're inseparable. You can't have hope without faith, and faith is nonexistent without love -- agape love. Remember what Paul wrote to the Galatians?

"For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love." (Galatians 5:6)

Right. Then there was Paul's statement to the Corinthian Ekklesia -- and we've all heard this verse quoted so many times we've lost track (and usually out of context).

"And now abideth faith, hope [confident expectation], charity [agape], these three; but the greatest of these is [agape] charity." (I Corinthians 13:13)

I won't go into any long description of agape today, but the word "charity" just doesn't get it -- not at all! Neither does the word "love" really and truly cover the concept of agape. The word "love" in today's usage is so distorted and misused that we think of God's "love" towards us in human terms. Because of that misconception, we have people who genuinely think that there's no such thing as an eternal Hell or a Lake of Fire that burns forever. After all, God is a God of love, and He wouldn't condemn people to everlasting torment in Hell. He just wouldn't! That's not love!

And with this kind of mindset, we have folks who actually believe that there is coming a day when the Devil will get saved, too. In theological circles this is referred to as "the doctrine of ultimate reconciliation," and honestly it is a doctrine of demons. With that kind of thinking, one's attitude towards God becomes so warped that it really doesn't matter whether they sin or commit "small sins" in the meantime because God is still going to "reconcile" them to Himself.

OK. I can really take off on this, and this is a side-trip for today's discussion; so we just won't go there today. Suffice it to say that eternal judgment and damnation are consequences that come from man's choices -- not God's! God isn't the one who condemns people to Hell: they condemn themselves because they choose the way of the flesh, they choose to agree with Satan -- and if you agree with Satan, you suffer Satan's judgment. That's all there is to it!

Now, let's get to the point I really need to accent in today's discussion: Hopelessness.

If Hope is the confident expectation that God will keep His Word, if Hope is patient waiting and trusting with pleasure and anticipation, what is hopelessness? That may seem an academic and obvious question, but it really isn't.

Hopelessness is much more than the absence of expectation, or the absence of confidence, pleasure or anticipation. Hopelessness is rooted in unbelief. It stems from a lack of trust in the Lord.

Hopelessness is rooted in fear -- and specifically in one of two families of fear: (1) The Fear of Evil, or (2) The Fear of Death. In case you've not read my previous Coffee Breaks dealing with the three families of fear, let me do a quick recap.

The Fear of Evil is the dominant fear family. It is rooted in the spirit-makeup of an individual. Man -- created in the image of God -- exists on three levels: Spirit, Soul, and Flesh (Body). The spirit part of our existence is that portion of our being that was designed specifically to link us in communion with God. It is that communion that was cut off in the Garden when Adam and Eve sinned, and when you watch their reactions immediately after partaking of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you see that eating of "Evil" breeds and opens the door for "The Fear of Evil."

All religious doctrines (and I'll build a fence around this comment momentarily) are predicated in the Fear of Evil. Religion creates doctrines that require "performance" in order to please God. When an individual fails to "perform" adequately or properly, he or she has the fear of God's judgment hanging over them. More on this in a minute.

The fence I need to erect around this statement is simply this: when referring to "religious" or "religion" it is important to distinguish between "religion" and "relationship." Relationship with God is based in love, and more specifically, in agape. (In the days to come, I'll do a Coffee Break which deals specifically with agape, and just how different it is from how we humanistically define "love.") Religion is based in "performance."

Are there requirements of us in our walk with God? Of course there are, and there are consequences for sin; but that's a far cry from God watching to see how well we keep certain commandments and waiting to execute judgment against us when we fail to measure up. That, folks, is religion! There is no faith in religion. There is no agape in religion. There is no hope in religion.

Religion is all "works." Religion requires you to dress a certain way. Religion requires you to wear your hair a certain way. Religion requires you to abstain from certain foods. Religion requires you to observe certain protocols with church attendance and accuses you of a "lack of spirituality" if you fail to keep those protocols. Religion requires you to attend church on certain days -- or not to attend church on certain days. Religion defines your behavior with excessive zeal and legalistic requirements. That, my friends, is driven by fear -- a fear of not pleasing God.

Although there have been many efforts to turn Christianity into a religion with strict works, performance and measurement requirements, real Christianity has no religion to it at all! Real Christianity is a personal love-relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm taking too much time perhaps with these definitions, but it is important to at least have a basic foundation in understanding the operation of the Fear of Evil and the Fear of Death in order to see "hopelessness" for what it is. The Fear of Evil causes a person to be afraid of God. It warps and contaminates one's walk with the Lord and creates an unholy fear of God. It generates a fear that you cannot please God, or that you are not "good enough," or that you are "undeserving" of God's love and grace and mercy. On and on it goes. There's more, and we'll get to it momentarily.

The Fear of Death directly affects us in our flesh -- our physical well-being. People who suffer from this fear are driven towards death without realizing it. Folks who have a "daredevil" attitude are those who are trying subconsciously to prove to themselves that they are not afraid of death, and that they are superior to death. The Fear of Death is a driving force behind many diseases and physical ailments. The Fear of Death drives some people towards drug addiction or alcoholism or food addictions.

The Fear of Death propels many toward a "hoarding lifestyle" in which they gather, they store, they hoard -- all supposedly towards that expected "rainy day" -- until their storage becomes a "warehouse" of stuff that is old, wearing out, molding, decaying and rotting. And they never have enough, whether it is food, clothing, money, friends, household goods, trinkets -- you name it! The Fear of Death creates a poverty mindset -- and that is precisely the opposite of the abundant life Jesus promises.

The Fear of Death creates hypochondriacs. In the same way that it drives folks to hard drug addiction or drunkenness, it drives some people to the medical society, to doctors and nurses, to hospitals, and to the pharmacists. It does so with such extremes that if they experience the slightest pain or discomfort, they are on the phone in the blink of an eye to the doctor to make an appointment, or they hustle over to the emergency ward of the hospital.

(I hope you understand that I'm not downing the medical society and the doctors and nurses -- the medical professionals -- who devote their lives to helping people! I'm talking about those folks who are so afraid of disease or infirmity that they have a phobia of anything that even suggests -- however slightly -- that death might await them.) They have fistfuls of prescriptions over which they fret, and if one prescription begins to run low they worry they'll be in trouble if that prescription isn't renewed early.

So how does this all relate to hopelessness?

Hopelessness produces depression. Hopelessness produces a cloud of darkness that hangs over a person. Hopelessness reminds a person of everything that has ever gone wrong in their lives. Hopelessness is schizophrenic. It causes folks to think one thing one day and something entirely different the next. People who suffer from this spirit continually visit the past. (More accurately, they tend to live in the past!) They continually focus on "what went wrong."

More often than not, the problems they focus on are the result of someone else's failure. Their husband is at fault. Their wife is at fault. Their kids are at fault. The "blame game" is continually in play. They don't have enough money. They don't have enough food. They don't have enough of this or that -- you name it! They are always trying to "fix" someone else in order to solve their own issues.

Are you seeing the picture? Hopelessness is rooted in unbelief. The person suffering from this spirit -- and that's what it is -- no longer trusts God (or never has) to keep His Word. Unbelief says to him or her, "God may keep His Word to other folks, but look at you! He sure hasn't kept His Word to you!"

Doubt sets in. It overtakes a person's mindset. It plays the same trick on us today that it tried to play on Jesus. "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." (You're hungry, and if you don't eat, you'll die!) "If you be the Son of God, cast yourself down (and now this spirit quotes scripture to justify doubt), for it is written........." (If God is REALLY your Father, He'll send His angels to care for you and they'll keep you from getting hurt!)

Hopelessness -- like every evil spirit -- is a liar! Hopelessness couldn't tell the truth if it was paid to. Everything it suggests is a lie. If it quotes some fact from your past or your present, it is distorting that fact (or even a collection of facts) to make you believe a lie. Truth, you see, is not a collection of facts. Truth is Who Jesus Christ is. Truth is what Jesus says. Truth is contained in God's promises to us.

There is a condition attached to those promises -- and it isn't keeping some set of commandments or laws. The condition for receiving those promises is nothing more complicated than believing God and speaking your agreement -- VERBALIZING IT OUT LOUD -- continually with Him. And I'm not talking about "mind over matter:" this is setting your mind, your heart, your imagination, your purpose to actually believe what God has said, is saying (NOW) and then looking expectantly for the visible manifestation.

Here's how the apostle Paul put it:

"Let us hold fast the profession (Greek: homologia: saying the same thing as [God]) of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)" (Hebrews 10:23)

"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16)

"For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession (homologeo) is made unto salvation (sozo: salvation, deliverance, healing, safety, wholeness, complete provision). For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." (Romans 10:10-11)

We'll wrap up this discussion with how Jesus put it: "For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." (Matthew 12:37)

Isaiah describes hopelessness as "the Spirit of Heaviness" (read Isaiah 61:1-3) and tells us that the Spirit of the Lord gives us "a garment of praise" to replace it.

OK? Believe God. Believe His Word. Agree with what God is saying to you, agree with His Word, and speak that agreement, put on the garment of praise -- and watch hopelessness flee!

"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (II Corinthians 3:17)

Be blessed!

Regner

Regner A. Capener

CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
455 North River Road
Prosser, Washington 99350-6554
(509) 781-6099

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