Thursday, December 9, 2010
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Centuries ago, Tyre was one of the greatest cities of the Middle East, strategically located on the Mediterranean Sea...until it was leveled by a foreign invader. Actually, there was an ancient Biblical prophecy that Tyre would not only be leveled, which was unimaginable at that time, but that the site would be so swept of Tyre's rubble that fishermen would one day lay their nets there to dry. The city was gone, but the rubble still remained until Alexander the Great came along. By that time, Tyre had moved to an island offshore, confident that they would now be unreachable by a future invader. They underestimated Alexander. He ordered his engineers to use the rubble of the old city to build a causeway to the island, and that's what they did. And Alexander and his army marched across the bridge that was made from rubble and won what seemed to be an impossible victory. So the site of ancient Tyre was, in fact, swept clean. And in modern times, fishermen have - well, you probably guessed -dried their nets where the city once was.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Hope From the Rubble."
So history was made by a conqueror who made a bridge out of rubble. Many a personal history has been changed the same way; by someone who could make from the rubble of a broken life a bridge to something better. A bridge to hope, I guess you might say, when hope seemed pretty hard to find.
It could be that you're living in the rubble right now of a broken marriage or a broken romance. Maybe you're trying to put together the pieces of a broken career or business. Or maybe it's your health that's broken, or a dream you've held onto for a long time.
I know a Savior who makes our broken times into a bridge; a bridge to a victory we could have never imagined. For so many people I know, their broken time turned out to be the last stop before a place called hope. Jesus uses your broken hope to turn you to the hope that will never let you down.
It's the hope God describes in Hebrews 6:19. It's our word for today from the Word of God. It describes the incredible security that so many have found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Here's what it says, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." Now no other hope can ultimately be an "anchor for the soul, firm and secure." Only Jesus can do that. But often it isn't until we're standing in the rubble of what we once depended on that we consider looking Jesus' direction. And you know what, you might be at that crossroads right now.
The Bible tells us that we're without hope because we're "without God" (Ephesians 2:12). And we're without God because we've repeatedly chosen to do things our way instead of God's way - even the most religious of us. Every one and every thing we try in order to fill the hole in our heart ultimately becomes just another god that failed us. And then along comes Jesus. He's God's one and only Son who went all the way to a cross to build a bridge from our brokenness to God's power and God's presence. He died to pay for the sin that's created an awful chasm between us and God; a chasm that will keep you out of His heaven.
But the bridge is there for you to cross; the cross that bridges the chasm. If you'll step across that bridge today, you'll step into the hope that is "the anchor for your soul, firm and secure." We're talking every sin forgiven and we're talking a permanent love relationship with the God who made you. If you say, "I want that." Then tell Jesus, "I'm Yours, Lord, because You paid the price for my sin."
We'd love to help you plug into the hope that Jesus has. We've had that privilege to help other people along the way. Many of them went to our website That's what I encourage you to do. Check out our website and you'll find a simple explanation of just how to get started with Jesus. Now, that web address is yoursforlife.net. Or maybe you'd like to get my free booklet called Yours For Life. You can just call and ask for that on a toll-free number. The number is 877-741-1200.
Wouldn't it be something if this broken moment in your life became the bridge to the greatest hope you've ever known? It could happen - today.