In this world, the one thing we really need is something dependable, to put our hope in.
We all want to find peace and security for our future.
In the last century leading up to the new millennium, this world has seen technology develop at explosive levels,
like never before in the history of civilisation.
And now, with the introduction of computers, made accessable to businesses and homes, we have the age of the information explosion. Technology has provided us with the computer and the internet and this has created global communication and an information flow,
to the market place of civilisation.
These remarkable developments have enabled us to see accelerated developments, in the sharing and processing of intellectual resources.
From the 1980's to the year 2000, we witnessed an economic boom, headed by the techno rich USA and the DOW Jones kept soaring along with the NASDAQ. Recently, however there were corrections to curb the enthusiasm to more realistic levels, especially in the dotcoms.
Still with all of these advancements, it seems that the relative prosperity for most has not improved and the privelaged few on planet earth still seem to dominate holding excessive wealth and riches.
It seems that the way to get ahead for most is to create more credit card debt, the average person feels compelled by clever marketing to keep up with the latest fashions in the market place.

However we look at it, we are living in an incredible age of opportunity.
We live in a society and an environment of a modern technological world, where international communications systems make information to reach explosive levels of availability.
We have far reaching developments in the global production of goods.
Yet, we find in this setting of abundance, that there are the unfortunates, which suffer from lack to extreme poverty.
Even in this age of excitement, more than ever it seems that there is so much tension and strife, in the dizzying pace of modern existence.
Day to day for most of us, we are faced with the pressures of coping with our survival. Certain aspects of society actually promote drugs, alcohol and sexual excesses, then we have the consequences that all of these abuses bring. We find viral plagues are haunting large numbers of people.

In an age of such technological advances you would think there would be an out-flowing of benefits to most of the inhabitants of planet earth.
However, the accumulation of this worlds wealth to a large extent,
is taken by the few and powerful, who only have a selfish and greedy lust for more, multinational irrationals and global moguls dominate our monetary system.
Meanwhile the unfortunate ones, who are at the bottom of the heap, starve for a mere crumb off the table of the powerful control freaks,
who dominate in the money system.

I am not referring to the wealthy people, who have a generous spirit and liberally give to worthy causes, we do not want to become consumed with spite towards those who are successful.
I am referring to the system of the imbalance of poverty for a majority as compared to the excessive riches for a minority. God bless all those who generate money and wealth and are prospering and can handle money, with a generous heart.
Now, we all have come into this world with our vices, unique faults and imperfections that operate in us and around us.

The good news is that we do not have to end up this way, Jesus came to set us free of this system of corruption, that is propelled by a nature in mankind that is incapable of living God's way.
Now it is time to take a good look around and we can be absolutely sure, that all is not well on planet earth, things have definitely gone astray.
The daily news tells the sorry, but soberingly true tale of people's behaviour and attitudes and even atrocities, the press even takes delight in sensationalising the extreme, this in itself is sick.
Jesus came to provide us with freedom from greed and a sick attitude towards other people.

Now the question is does our situation change and what happens to us, through this experience of hope in God?

What condition were we in when Jesus came to save us? When we entered this world (as shocking as it is for us to find out) we are imperfect according to the law of God and we enter an imperfect and sometimes cruel world, which becomes the environment we live in.
When we find ourselves in an adverse environment, it has the effect of rubbing off onto us its flavour and we find that our very nature, that we are born with tends to conform, we are then dragged along into this behavior of sin (sin definition: seperation from God by a nature that cannot do what is right or is imperfect before a Holy God, or fallen from a right position with God).

Even some of our popular music groups have written songs making a statement describing, the society we live in. The intention being to expose the excesses of our habits of a consuming lust for more.
Sadly, there is a bombardment of filth, that is manufactured by some media groups and perverted minds, which is spread to the entire world by these depraved organisations.
The media is a very powerful instrument to infiltrate the minds of society, using suggestive imagery and undertones of provocative messages, which challenge the basis for absolutes in morality.
We wonder how come, if it is so blatantly obvious to all, that since our society at large is subjected to excessive, explicit barrage of sexual imagery, aimed at our youth particularly, that why doesn't the majority say enough, stop and no more, see what you are doing to the minds of people, desecrating what is created beautiful by our God.
The reason they can get away with this bombardment, although starkly obvious even to blind Freddy, that it is damaging to young, undeveloped minds; is that they are projecting imagery and suggestions at the human pleasure, sensory gate.
Now because, our very nature is bent from birth, we are not meant to have such an unrestrained and provoking onslaught upon us. With our very weakness and inability to resist, outside the miracle of becoming changed on the inside, we remain passive to their relentless campaign, which is boosted by the money the industry gains.
In our condition of a sin nature, we simply cannot handle this and because it appeals to our senses, we have a weakness to not resist, however, I am talking about living outside of Christ and not having the life of God working inside to strengthen our beings, where we are enabled in Christ, to resist.

How can we then answer the accusations that God has left us to die in a world that is cruel and unfair in the extreme, where the mindset is on the take and get what you can, without regard to anyone else?
Then we have the other well-repeated accusation, how can there be a loving God of this world, when there is so much misery and suffering?

Now for more good news, after we become born again and are saved from forever being seperated from God by sin, God in His great love for us enables us to receive His nature, to live right in this world.

Hope says that God through Jesus dying for us will give us the victory that we need, even though we, in our weaknesses have no strength to do what is right.
He loves us and pours His love into our hearts, by the Holy Spirit who is given to us and fills our very inner being with God's presence and joy,
that is indescribable and full of God's love and peace.
This is victory unimaginable to us, from what the world can offer to us.
God's Holy Spirit is also called the comforter and He will fill us with God's comfort when we receive Him, by faith in what Jesus has done for us.
When we feel weak in our own strength and we are unable to perform what God requires, we can know that God loved us and died for us knowing our weakness and has now provided His life and strength for us, to draw upon and to overcome our trials.
He fills us with His love, to assure us during the times of enduring the trials and tribulations, or the pressures of living in this world.
When these tribulations that inevitably come, we can take what is provided for us by Jesus, the grace (unearned gift and strength that is not our own) that He has given us to stand firm, in troubles and times of weakness to sinful ways and progress through, to hope and find God's life and strength to overcome.
We experience and find His love, when we are weak and struggle in our own efforts, due to the limitations that we have, because of the sinful nature.

We see that the change is not on the outside and in our circumstances so much, but rather it comes on the inside of us.

The most remarkable assurance we can now have is,
that, if when we were sinners and enemies of God,
He came and died for us.
How much more then, after we become born again,
we are now saved by His life,
because of God's great and unfathomable love towards us.
We, therefore now, have great hope in the life of God
to save us and to receive His strength to overcome in this world.
We can receive His love for us and become empowered,
to overcome through what is given to us by Jesus,
who loved us and died for us.