Sabbath: Visions of Hope
Read for This Week’s Study: Zechariah 1, 2, Rom. 15:9-18, Eph. 3:1-8, Zechariah 3, 4, Exod. 25:31-40, Zechariah 7.
Memory Text: “‘In that day each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree,” declares the Lord Almighty’” (Zechariah 3:10, NIV).
Key Thought: Though Israel had been punished for its sins, it was time to live again in relationship with God according to His promises.
On the wall of an old castle in central Europe a short Latin inscription reads: “Dum spiro, spero!” It means, “As long as I breathe, I have hope!” This saying can summarize the message of Zechariah to God’s people. Nearly 20 years after their return from the Babylonian captivity, discouragement replaced the earlier enthusiasm among those who began to wonder if God was still present among His people.
Zechariah, whose name means “the Lord remembers,” began his prophetic ministry a few months after Haggai began his ministry (Hag. 1:1, Zech. 1:1). Through a series of prophetic visions, Zechariah learned God’s plans for the present and the future. God’s eternal kingdom was coming soon, but the prophet called those who lived in his time to serve the Lord now. A good portion of the book was centered on how they were to do just that. This week, and the next, we will look at what the Lord has revealed to us through him.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, June 15.
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Yes,for still there is breath,I have hope. When ever a bright morning appears to me, it sounds to me that my God still loves me, because of His love for the Israelites after their captivity He still loves and draw them to Himself
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Aside from LOVE and FAITH, HOPE is one of the most important thing Christian should possess. H - stands for Heaven our ultimate goal; O - stands for Obedience, the best way to show that we believe and doing happily what's the Lord command. P - Prayer,our weapon against temptation, trials and through this we can freely communicate to God. E - Education, we need to educate ourselves daily, learn from God's word, learn from Nature, learn from Exprience and Excel...Let the world know that you have JESUS!
Hope is such a vital state of mind for well-being and life. I love that this book of Zechariah was given to point the focus of the children of Israel upward. Yes, they had been receiving the consequenses of sin, but God still claimed them as His own and had given them a purpose in their life. Such a story is good for me. I can have hope and focus upward even when going through the results of my mistakes. God is always loving and gracious.
God is using prophets repeatedly to warm us about the consequences of our disobidience...we sin against God but he still gives us hope that if we confess our sins,he is faithfull and just to forgive us and still claims us as his own children...
Everyday that you are given with God,He is giving us that day to correct all our mistakes.correct all your mistakes on each day you are given coming closer to God.that's HOPE. For us to win heaven we have to Obey God's commands,pray everyday to conquor the devil and education, read the bible everyday and know what God wants,in the Scriptures we find Hope where it seems no hope.
Petros, your list of things to do every day looks formidable.
I believe it will simplify matters if we remember that Christ said to His disciples, "You shall be witnesses to me" (Acts 1:8) and focus on that. We are to be witnesses to who He is and what He has done for us. We can't do that without knowing Him very well. So our first priority should be to maintain a close relationship with Jesus. All else will follow:
* We pray to maintain our relationship, because prayer is talking to God as to a friend.
* Obedience flows naturally from the relationship. We obey because we love and trust Him and know He would never ask us to do anything that is not in our best interest.
I'm going to suggest a variation of what one well-known Adventist radio preacher used to recommend:
* Spend at least 15 minutes a day talking to God in prayer.
* Spend at least 15 minutes a day listening to God through His Word.
* Spend at least 15 minutes a day witnessing for God -- that is talking about Him and letting Him demonstrate His love through your life. (Let His love flow through you.)
If you remember these three things daily, you don't have to be concerned about anything else on your list. It will happen without your attention.
We don't become more holy by trying to correct our mistakes and trying to conquer the devil. Jesus has already conquered the devil for us, and He will do a good work in us if we focus on maintaining a relationship with Him.
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We truly need to use the word Push, pray until something happens, we need not to rest until God makes a change in our lives. May God bless us and continue serving Him.