Dear Partner,

While I was in prayer one day this week, the Holy Spirit began instructing me concerning the need to always give the people HOPE when I minister. One of the things He said to me was;

"The first lifeline for those who are drowning in the sea of affliction is to cast them the lifeline of hope. Without hope they will not move toward their God. Without hope they have nothing to hang on to. Hopelessness is the goal of their enemy who would destroy them spirit, soul and body. You are never wrong to give the people hope, says the Spirit of Grace."

At the same time He was speaking these words to me, He also created a vision within my spirit. In this vision, I saw a man who was near the point of drowning in the ocean. The seas were rough and it was a very dark night. He was exhausted and near the point of going under for the last time.

He was looking at a giant ocean liner, much like the Titanic, slowly moving past him about 50 yards away. He was making no effort to move toward the ship for two reasons. First of all, he did not think the ship was even aware of his difficulty. The ship was so huge and he was so small on the waves of the vast ocean.

Secondly, his thinking was that even if he made it to the ship, he could see no way of climbing aboard it. There were no footholds nor handholds on the vertical, smooth steel sides of the vessel. There was no rope extended from the deck down to the water for him to grab hold of.

It is interesting that in the vision there was not a single person on the deck of the ship whose attention he could attract by yelling for help. To him the ship was a giant entity that was totally indifferent to him and his plight. There was no "personality" about the ship at all. He knew that he would be in complete safety if somehow he could get aboard that ship, but he was totally without hope that there was any way for him to do that.

Sadly, this is the concept many people who are in hopelessness have of God. They see God as being giant and fully capable of providing everything they need to rescue them from their difficulties. Yet they also see Him as being cold and indifferent to both them and their problems. They do not see God as a "Father," with all the personality traits of a Father who loves his children dearly.

Again, sadly, much of the reason for this is that many ministers have so misrepresented God to the people that they actually think God may be the source of their problems, not their help out of the problems. From many pulpits in the land every week it is still being taught that God sometimes puts sickness on people to teach them lessons. Many still teach that it is God who has broken the people financially in order to humble them. Of course people will not move toward God to help them if they think it was God who caused them to be in their present difficulty in the first place.

As a minister of the gospel, The Holy Spirit was instructing me that I must present the "personality" of God as being their Father. I must always cast the lifeline of HOPE to them first. If they have hope that God is their answer and not their problem, even though they are weak, hope will give them strength to grasp hold of the lifeline and begin moving toward their HELPER!

Without hope, they will not move toward their God! Without hope, many will languish in the sea of affliction until they die.

Rom 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Let us never forget that our Father is the God of Hope! As we believe His promises to us, we are filled with joy and peace. Hopelessness is never an option for a Christian, for we "abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." Amen!

Thank you for your gift to GCM. Sue and I love you and appreciate you. We thank God for your generous and giving heart. God bless you!

Your friend and co-laborer,

Gary Carpenter

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