Easter is a global holiday. Even if you’re not Christian you know something of the history of Easter. It provides people around the world with hope. But if we went back in time 2,000 years you would meet a little band of Jesus’ followers who didn’t have a lot of hope.

If they considered their past, they would have focused on the rejection they received  as people who followed a new Messiah. They would have to contemplate their struggles in facing the extreme prejudice of the religious leaders of Israel.

Can Hope and Passion Change the World?

If they thought of their present they would wonder, where do we go from here? With Jesus dead, what kind of hope could they realistically have to change the world? After the crucifixion the followers of Jesus recoilded in fear. They must have been asking themselves how could they continue without Jesus?

So they huddled in the Upper Room overcome by grief and anxiety. All thoughts of changing the world left them. Miraculously, the Holy Spirit came to them and showed them their future was more promising than the past or present.

Psychologists know that what a person believes about their future is more important than anything that has happened in their past, or anything that is happening in their present.

What kind of hope do you have to change your world?

Although Jesus was crucified he didn’t lose hope. Sure, on the cross, in a moment of agony, he called out, “Father, why have you forsaken me?” Why would he say that? The Divine Principle offers interesting insight into that statement. Send me an email if you’d like to know more on that point: info@nhfaithfusion.com.

Jesus’ commitment never failed. He continued to have hope because he couldn’t separate himself from God’s love. We know that because, before he died he called out: “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do.” He felt compassion for the very people who killed him. He extended unconditional love to his enemies. It was that heart that transformed the despair and darkness of Jesus crucifixion, and set the direction for a new history that would change the world.

Identity, intention and knowing who you are

Jesus’ secret weapon was that he knew who he was. He was firmly rooted in his relationship to God. His Heavenly Parent was not some abstract figure or concept but a real presence in his life. 2,000 years ago, people could have looked at his life and thought “What a waste.” But Jesus’ life bore fruit because his hope and heart rested in a relationship with the living God. A healthy spiritual life has hope for the future because God is alive in our lives and the possibilities are as large as we allow them to be.

“You can feel God’s heart when you really feel in both mind and body that God exists, and you were created by Him, and that God and you are in the relationship of parent and child.” – Sun Myung Moon

Five ways to make sure you stay alive spiritually

1. Stay Young at Heart

An amazing quality of children is their sense of wonder. They never grow tired of something. It doesn’t matter how many times a story has been read to them, it is as fresh as the first telling. They have an innocence that allows them to be available to the wonder of the world. This is why Jesus said, “Unless you become like little children . . .” (Matthew 18:3).

It’s true that we need to “grow up”, or become “mature”, but maybe we’ve lost something in the process that God never intended us to lose.

We discover that God is younger than we are! He is more playful than we are. He is more alive and creative than we are. He is more full of life and zest than we are.

We discover that we are the old, grouchy ones and God is the young, fun One. That is the exact opposite of what most people believe about God and most Christians believe about spirituality.

The birth of a baby shook up the religious world. Maybe it ought to happen again. Rather than somebody becoming a Christian, and then becoming more religious, uptight, judgmental, opinionated and harsh; they would naturally become more open and alive.

Maybe it’s time to reconnect with the Jesus who said, “Unless you become like little children…”

2. Embrace the Ultimate Contradiction

If you take Jesus seriously, he had some pretty confronting things to say:

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” – Matthew 16:25

We are so afraid to live this even though we know: “Life confined to the self is a prison, a joy-killing, neurosis-producing, disease-fomenting prison.”– Eugene Peterson.

Today, a cross is a piece of jewelry rather than an instrument of torture and death. At the time of Christ, there were days when more than five hundred Israelites were crucified each day. They were publicly displayed where people would have to walk. Scholars suggest that when Jesus said, “Take up your cross,” He could have been standing near one of those crosses, maybe looking at it. Everybody knew He meant, “Be ready to die.”  The point is not to die but to go over the peak of death and the fear of death.  Rev. Moon spoke of this many times:

“Heaven made limitless efforts to enable us, human beings living with our earthly human hopes, to go over the peak of death with new hope and to live with reverence for the eternal world. Therefore, people who live a life of faith should not live by embracing only earthly hopes but should live dreaming of the eternal world of hope that can conquer even death. To achieve this aim, we practice our life of faith continuously.” – SMM

The amazing paradox is this: dying to self looks like it leads to a life of emptiness and loss. In reality, dying to self leads to a life of joy and freedom. If you were to ask Rev. Moon what is the core of his philosophy or way of life he would say, “Living for the sake of others” because that is God’s way of being. This is where a life of faith starts.

3. Be ready to go out on a limb

If you want a healthy spiritual life then you need to have a daily relationship with God. That means there has to be a lot of give and take. You have to learn how to trust God. There is only one way to do this and that is to go beyond the limits of your own ability.

It’s easy to depend on what you know, but the trouble is you don’t know everything. There is more to learn. God has a habit of nudging people out of their comfort zone. Unless you’re ready to budge, you wont learn all there is to know. You can read more about going out on a limb in Miracles, by Eric Metaxas.

4. Stay Future Focused

The only people I know who have sustainable, positive, long-term joy and passion are all people with one thing in common—they believe God has amazing plans for their tomorrow. Why? Future focus creates possibilities. That leads to a very critical question: Do I have any future dreams?

I love being around people who have expectation for their future! They believe God is alive, the resurrection really happened, God is still going to work; today, tomorrow, anytime.

5. You’re better off with a purpose.

Ask yourself what can I do?

Never have people had more comforts than in the life we now live in America. And this is only the beginning. With advances in technology, robots will soon take over menial functions liberationg us for a life of untold freedom.

But sales of antidepressant drugs have gone through the roof. Why? Because people have everything except purpose. People with no purpose will have no passion or hope because passion, hope and purpose go together.

We all give our lives to something:

• Some people give their whole lives to attain status.
• Some people just want their picture to go viral and become famous.
• Some people give their whole lives to get rich.

The real question is this: Am I living for a compelling purpose?

The great thing about people who live with purpose, who are connected, and who have future dreams, is that their hope overcomes any obstacle. Max Lucado told a story that illustrates this:

I have everything I need for joy

“I have everything I need for joy!” Robert Reed said.

His hands are twisted and his feet are useless. He can’t bathe himself. He can’t feed himself. He can’t brush his teeth, comb his hair, or put on his underwear. His shirts are held together by strips of Velcro. His speech drags like a worn-out audio cassette.

Robert has cerebral palsy.

The disease keeps him from driving a car, riding a bike, and going for a walk. But it didn’t keep him from graduating from high school or attending Abilene Christian University, from which he graduated with a degree in Latin. Having cerebral palsy didn’t keep him from teaching at a St. Louis junior college or from venturing overseas on five mission trips.

And Robert’s disease didn’t prevent him from becoming a missionary in Portugal. He moved to Lisbon, alone, in 1972. There he rented a hotel room and began studying Portuguese. He found a restaurant owner who would feed him after the rush hour, and a tutor who would instruct him in the language.

Then he stationed himself daily in a park, where he distributed brochures about Christ. Within six years he led seventy people to the Lord, one of whom became his wife, Rosa.

I heard Robert speaking recently. I watched other men carry him in his wheelchair onto the platform. I watched them lay a Bible in his lap. I watched his stiff fingers force open the pages. And I watched people in the audience wipe away tears of admiration from their faces. Robert could have asked for sympathy or pity, but he did just the opposite. He held his bent hand up in the air and boasted, “I have everything I need for joy.”

His shirts are held together by Velcro, but his life is held together by joy. _{https://maxlucado.com/where-do-i-go-for-strength/} 

This true story is remarkable because it shows the power of faith and purpose. With that many obstacles against me, I am sure I might easily fold. Robert Reed succeeded despite his circumstances because he realized life happens from the inside out, and a vibrant life is fueled by a heart full of of hope and purpose.

The power to change the world

Jesus found a way to beat the odds and that opens a path for us to do the same.

Jesus resurrected because he invested everything – he gave it his all. He had an innocence that made him uncorruptable. He was ready to give up his life and in doing so opened a path to heaven for all.

He challenged that insane contradiction of life and death. He went out on a limb. He had to put his trust in God. In his darkest days, he kept future focused with a heart of gratitude for everything he was experiencing. Finally, he was missonal. It would have been easier to go back to his father’s carpentry business but he knew he had a calling, and that caused him to do much with little.

As we move forward into the rest of the year I hope we can use the power of resurrection just as Jesus did to change our world.

The world at large is under the threat of violent extremism. No wall, no matter how tall, can protect you from hatemongering and resentment. We are called to build a new future based on the peace that a celebration like Easter represents.

It is not just for one religion. Jesus came for the world and any solution has to prioritize the well being of the whole world. The world’s future is dependent upon enough people standing up with a resurrection mindset that says, “I am ready to give my all and to value each and every person as a son or daughter of God”. We are in this together.