Hope in Jesus

In the world everyone has a world view. I believe that the biblical world view is true, and whoever wholly believes that Jesus Christ died on the cross will spend eternity in heaven. A thorough world view will answer these questions: what is God like, what is the nature of the universe, what is the essential nature of man, what is the basis of morality and ethics, what is the cause of evil and suffering, what happens to man after death, and what is the meaning of history?

While people describe God in different ways, I think of him as infinite and personal. Of all the examples in the Bible of God being infinite, one of my favorites is John 1:1: “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.” Infinite means that God is “always there” and that he is totally independent. Amazingly, God is also personal. Personal means that God talks to us and is not someone who controls us; he interacts with us. Talking to Moses and telling him to free his people from Pharaoh, God showed his personal character. This God also reveals himself through the creation.

The universe declares there is a God. Creating the world, God planned it to work together perfectly. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” and Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made,” which means that God created the universe extraordinarily. The world is so complex that without a creator we wouldn’t exist. God has made man in a special and unique way.

Unlike other creatures, we are created in the image of God. Genesis 1:26 reads, “God said, ‘Let us make humans in our own image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish in the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’” This says we are created in the image of God. Being created in the image of the God who created us means that we are personal and more like God than any other animal. Wholly, man has a choice, and we are able to choose completely what we do, think, and say. Since we have a choice, we are able to listen to God and follow him. Adam, the first being, sinned, and now we all sin. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is no one righteous, not even one.” Although the good news is that there is hope through Jesus Christ, our representative. Jesus is the light, the truth, and the only way. God has given us a choice to obey his standard.

God is the standard for morality and ethics. Since scripture is His word, we can find the standard in it, including Jesus’ living example. We also know what is true. John 8:29 says, “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone.” God is with Jesus always, and Jesus is God, making him also the complete standard. Man doesn’t meet God’s standard.

Sadly, we are sinful because our first ancestors Adam and Eve sinned. Because of them, we are sinful, but through Jesus we are saved. Jesus, who came to earth to show that he the and way, died on the cross for our sins. When this happened, we were no longer separated from God. God has no longer separated us from him, and now we can spend eternity with him.

Christians believe that there is a life after death. Completely perfect is the best way to describe heaven. Heaven, which is where people go when they believe in Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, is paradise. In the world, if people reject God and die, they will be eternally separated from God in hell. If death was the end of the story, history would have no meaning.

In this world, I believe that there are two portions: visible and invisible. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Buying clothes, books, and all other worldly things is temporary, while God is unseen, as are heaven and angels, which means they are eternal. Unquestionably, God will never leave us nor forsake us, which is the most comforting thing in the whole world. Although many things happened in the Bible, I think these are some of the most important: the world was created, Jesus was born, Jesus died, and Jesus rose again. I also think that Jesus coming back is completely important.

Because of this world view it is easier for me to recognize right from wrong. When defending my world view, I will be able to refer to biblical truths and feel confident in my beliefs. Thankfully the biblical world view also offers hope to sinners who are separated from God.

Professional Crime Fighting

Sweeping the floor of his store, Franklin glanced up to see a massive man with a mask like Zorro’s stuffing his pockets with merchandise. “Hey you didn’t pay for that!” Franklin shouted angrily. Calmly, the man kept shoving trinkets in his pockets and down the front of his shirt. Franklin, who was very confused about why the thief didn’t run, thought up a plan. Since the thief ignored him, Franklin dropped his broom as he stomped furiously across the aisle.

Past the toys Franklin sprinted. He hurtled quite madly. He panted loudly. Casually, the thief took out a gun and pointed it at Franklin. Since he didn’t know what to do, Franklin stopped abruptly. The thief, who grinned slyly, chuckled to himself. Although usually he was a sensible man, Franklin charged at the monstrous intruder. Pulling the trigger, the thief fired. Franklin couldn’t understand what was happening. He wasn’t in any pain, but he was lying on his back, soaked to the skin. It was a water gun.

Jumping to his feet, Franklin chased the thief through the store, hollering at the top of his lungs. As they came to the exercise department, the thief glanced back to see if he was still being chased. Frantically swiveling his head to see where he was running, the thief realized too late that he was half an inch away from a pull-up bar. The thief collapsed pathetically on the ground. After the police, who showed up late, identified the man as an escaped convict named Al Steellall, they tied and woke him up. Franklin asked him, “Did you really think you’d get away with that?” “You are the only reason I didn’t,” Al replied. Receiving the reward money for capturing Al, Franklin went into professional crime fighting service and became a millionaire, while Al became a professional prisoner, locked up in jail.

Linus's Miserable Failure

Linus sat down to work on a school project. “What in the world should I write about, Snoopy?” Linus asked the dog. Suddenly he jotted down a few words. Crossing them out, he laid his head on the table, thinking furiously, which is quite hard for a boy. Linus had to write a story by taking three pictures and writing a paragraph about each one. Although it was not hard, he still did not want to do it.

Writing as quickly as he could, he came up with something. Happily, he inspected what he’d written a few minutes later. Because he was so excited, he exclaimed, “Snoopy look at this!” Snoopy, who looked the essay up and down, approved. On the paper was a story of a boy who did not know what to write about.

“Linus, time for school,” his mother called loudly up the stairs. Linus had forgotten about school! Hurriedly, Linus ran frantically down the stairs and put on his brown sandals. Hopping onto the bus, he rode down the street, when suddenly Linus realized he had forgotten his paper. At school, he failed his project miserably.

Deathly Fish Fear

Where is that cake? Debra was leaning into the refrigerator, looking frantically for the cake. Because of her husband’s fortieth birthday party that evening she was very stressed out. Thinking about all the things she had to do made her nervous. She still had to clean the house, shop for funky party napkins, sweep the floor, and put up party decorations. Briskly she searched through the fridge, which was stuffed with party food, wondering where the cake was.

Jumping back like a scared cat from the refrigerator suddenly, she put her hand over her mouth and looked as if she was going to be sick. A terrified expression came to her face, and she backed away from the fridge. Inside the fridge was a huge bowl of moving fish. Debra screamed!

Sharply, she ran across the room and fell like a rock to the floor. Flopping out of the fridge onto the floor, the fish laid there and died from lack of water. Alfred, Debra’s little boy, walked in and started to cry because all the fish he had found at the pond were dead. After a couple of minutes, Harold, who had been doing college homework in the basement, came up to see what all the fuss was about. In the end, Harold called off the party and put Debra, who was very distraught because of her deathly fear of fish, to bed, gave the frightfully sad boy a spanking for bringing fish inside the house, and cleaned up all the dead fish.

Billy's First Day

On Billy’s first day of work at the supermarket, he was absolutely ecstatic and wore a smile like a circus clown all afternoon until a tough pudgy man with a black mask sauntered in. Suspiciously, Billy eyed the man as he swept the floor. Billy soon stopped watching the man and began thinking about what a good employee he was while he grinned stupidly. Hearing the sound of a stomach growling, Billy was alerted to the man again, who was sneakily snatching a box of Cocoa Puffs from a shelf and hiding it behind his back. Billy pointed at the man. The man’s stomach growled loudly. When Billy tried to yell, his voice was squeaky as a rubber ducky, and only a gurgle came out. Billy’s happiness and smile were replaced with fear.

Slyly, the robber lied to Billy about how hungry his poor family was and how he had no money to feed them. He spun his story. He embellished it. He deceived. Dabbing at his eyes with his apron, Billy felt sorry for the man and kindly told him that he could take the box of cereal for his family. While Billy wiped his tears away, the robber grabbed two more boxes of cocoa puffs, which he concealed under his shirt. The robber believed he was utterly clever because he had lied so convincingly and had tricked Billy completely. Hurrying out of the supermarket, the robber couldn’t wait to enjoy his delectable Cocoa Puffs since he was famished.

Billy, who was thoroughly confused, wondered why the man had left without a small thank-you. How could he be so ungrateful? Before long, this question was answered when his boss told him that that the man was a well known serial killer and petty thief. Unfortunately, Billy’s first afternoon was his last as he was fired for his stupidity, and his ecstasy vanished when he realized he’d been tricked by the robber.

A Note to Not Forget

Once there was a girl named Ruthie Anne, who was a kind and honest person, but exceptionally forgetful. Talking to her friend Ramona one day, Ruthie Anne was asked to care for her plant for the weekend while Ramona was visiting her grandmother. Ruthie Anne assured Ramona that Fuzzy (the plant) would be safe with her. Like a mother, Ramona brought the plant over to Ruthie Anne’s house and told her to make sure that the plant got plenty of water and was put in a cool shady area. She also mentioned that Fuzzy needed an hour of play time every day or he would get lonely. After Ramona left, Ruthie Anne decided that a nice cool place would be the refrigerator, so she set the plant on the top shelf among the ketchup bottle, strawberry jam, and leftover casserole and proceeded to enjoy her fun- filled weekend without giving another thought to Ramona’s poor plant, which sat in the refrigerator the rest of the weekend freezing and without a single drink of water or tenderness.

On Monday afternoon Ramona arrived to pick up Fuzzy. “Oh No!” Ruthie Anne thought when she remembered that she hadn’t even glanced at Fuzzy for the whole weekend. Grimacing slightly, Ruthie Anne led Ramona to the refrigerator and slowly opened it up. Cautiously she looked into the refrigerator and saw that Fuzzy, who was amazingly still alive, had turned bright magenta and had grown long vines with leaves that were moving creepily as if dancing. Ruthie Anne hollered, “Jumping Jaguars!” and threw her hand over her mouth in shock. She couldn’t believe it. “If only I had remembered, this never would have happened” she thought frantically. “What will I tell Ramona?”

Holding the door wide open for Ramona to see, Ruthie Anne flinched as Ramona gazed into the refrigerator, eyes as big as tennis balls, and her jaw dropped. “I’m so sorry,” Ruthie Anne moaned. “I never meant for this to happen.”


Suddenly Ramona’s face cleared and she exclaimed, “Don’t be sorry. This is fantastic! And Fuzzy’s sure never been so happy in his life!” With that, she ecstatically snatched up the peculiar looking plant, who immediately wrapped his long vines around her in a hug, and raced out the front door. Ruthie Anne sighed in relief. The next month Ramona entered Fuzzy into the “Most Exotic Plant” contest where he won the first place gold medal! Ramona loved Fuzzy even more than before! Although everything had turned out for the best, Ruthie Anne decided that she was going to work on improving her forgetfulness problem by using sticky notes.

Rumors of Indians

At school on Tuesday Linus heard some terrible news that Sally had been kidnapped by ferocious Indians and taken to Canada! Linus, who was horrified by this information, immediately zoomed home when school ended to think of a rescue plan. Deciding that sending a letter to the Indian camp was the best idea he had, Linus and Snoopy sat down with a pencil and paper and wrote,

“Dear Sally,

If you need help from the evil Indians, send this letter back telling me!

Love,
Linus”

As his signature Snoopy put his paw print on the paper. Triumphantly Linus and Snoopy finished their Indian rescue letter to Sally.

Holding the paper at eye-level and carefully scanning it once more, Linus and Snoopy. who were proud of their handiwork, checked to make sure that the letter was perfect. Helpfully, Snoopy pointed out where adjustments could be made. After writing the rescue letter, Linus felt confident the Sally would be retrieved from the clutches of the wicked Indians. “If anything can save her, this letter will!” Linus exclaimed proudly.

Suddenly Linus and Snoopy both realized that they had no idea what to do to save Sally if she did need help. Hearing a knock at the door, Linus and Snoopy, who thought it was the Canadian Indians, stared nervously at the handle which slowly turned, the door opening. Their eyes bulged when they saw Sally standing in the doorway, asking them to come outside and play! When Sally told them she wasn’t at school because she hadn’t felt well that morning, Linus and Snoopy were outraged that they had believed the silly rumors that Sally had been kidnapped by wild Indians.