As Simone Weil and others have established beyond question, only someone in touch with the eternal can hope to be eternally relevant—and faithful too.

The words of Zephaniah 3:17 ring with as much hope today as they did generations ago when they were penned: "The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save.

Pastor, your eternal future carries with it the sure promise that you will have all the grace you need to do what you've been called to do between the time you came to Christ and the time you will go home to be with him forever.

So remember today that no matter how hard your story is right here, right now, it is guaranteed for you as God's child that it will end better than anything you can now imagine, and that glory will never end!

No, this is eternal and deeply personal hope. It rests in the truth that Jesus has wrapped his powerful arms around you and he will never, ever let you go.

We cannot treat the Bible as a collection of therapeutic insights. To do so distorts its message and will not lead to lasting change. If a system could give us what we need, Jesus would never have come. But he came because what was wrong with us could not be fixed any other way. He is the only answer, so we must never offer a message that is less than the good news. We don't offer people a system; we point them to a Redeemer. He is hope.

It's so easy to fail to live in light of the fact that Jesus didn't die just for your past forgiveness (praise God that he did) or your future resurrection (what hope!), but also for everything you are facing in the here and now.

Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”

But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

For You, O LORD, are my lamp; the LORD lights up my darkness.

When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes.

But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.