A Path to Hope

Where do I begin to find hope in my life when everything seems so bleak?

If you find yourself asking this question often then maybe it's not an accident you found this page.

Like me you may have thought "What is true in this world?", "How do I know?" or "Why should I care?".
Have you ever thought about how we know if something is true and why it matters?

Suppose I were about to climb a tall latter that is marked "Maximum weight 300lbs". Would it matter to me if that claim were true?
Of course it would! Why?
Because I know I may suffer a nasty fall if that statement were false.
The point is, when we neglect truth we often suffer the consequences.

Now there are a lot of areas in our life where truth is less important than others. Most of us aren't too concerned if a candy wrapper is untruthfully stating the calories it contains. But when it comes to big issues in life, truth is critical. What can be more critical truth than the answers to the following 2 questions:

Where am I going when I die? Will it be better or worse than my current experience here on Earth?

For me that last one gave the most concern. Here is the first problem. Depending on who I asked, the answers to those questions could not be more different. Someone who believes in a God or many Gods will answer totally different than someone who doesn't. So who is right and what is the consequence of getting the answer wrong? The way I saw it, I've only got one of three outcomes.

1. There is no God, nothing happens and I'm not aware of anything.
2. There is a God, I am aware after death and the experience is good, bad or blah.
3. Regardless of God, I have to repeat life in this broken world over and over again till I get it right.

I've always been a "prepare for the worst" kind of person so I decided to look into the "I'm aware and its bad" scenario, especially since I didn't know how long I might be there. (I was guessing it would be a long time.)

Now option 1 may be completely true but I wasn't taking any chances if I could not prove it. If I already felt miserable in this life, then why take the chance of that just continuing on in another life if there is something I can do about it right? I guess the other question was if I have a choice between blah... and WOW! I'll take the WOW!.

So that being said I figured if there is a God out their powerful enough to create everything. This God is pretty well organized to make everything in nature work together so closely.

For example: I'm a computer programmer.
It takes me years to write code that can do only a tiny fraction of what our brain can do. I can't imagine trying to write the DNA code in our cells if it has over 3.1 billion letters.
To help you visualize that, if I tried to randomly guess a 4 number combination lock I would have 1 chance in ten thousand. Winning a one million person lottery every day for eighty years is 1 chance in a number with about twenty eight thousand zeros.
DNA happening by chance? 1 chance in a number with 3.1 billion zeros? Come on!
I would not cross the street if I had only 1 chance in 10, so why would I leave eternal happiness or damnation up to such odds?

So that being said, I wanted to know how to go to heaven if it exists and I definitely wanted to know how to avoid Hell.
But, with so many "Holy Books" how can I know which one is God's word?

DNA Molecule

I praise you god for I am fearfully and wonderfully made!

View from Hubble telescope

(Each light is a galaxy, not a star!)

The heavens declare the glory of God!

Which "Holy Book" Speaks for God?

Lets take a look at what the earliest books of the major religions of the world have to say about how we got here.
I will define Major based on the following statistics from wiki/Major Religious Groups.

Christians (33%)
Muslims (21%)
Hindus (13%)
Buddhists (6%)
Non-religious (14%)
Other (13%)

So lets start with the 14% non-religious. They would have me believe that DNA and the laws of physics happened by random chance.
Or, like Sir Frances Crick (co-discoverer of the structure of the DNA molecule) I can say we are the experiment of aliens.
He did not believe DNA could happen randomly but instead of God he opted for his theory of directed panspermia. You can download a copy here.

But even if aliens created us where did they come from? An infinite history of other aliens? Where does it begin?
And how does atheism comfort a parent who has lost a child to a murderer who commits suicide? When will justice ever happen? If there is no intelligence beyond us then the answer is never. So what would be the point of living a "good" life?
Nope atheism offered me no answers.
So whats next? Lets see what the "Holy Books" have to say about how we got here:

Quran - (Islam)

Do they not see how Allah begins the Creation, then repeats it? That is easy for Allah (to do) (Al-'Ankaboot, 29: 19).
Say: "Travel through the Earth and see how He began the Creation. Then, Allah makes the latter Creation. Allah is capable of (doing) everything" (Al-'Ankaboot, 29: 20).
We have built the heaven with (the power of Our) hands, and We are expanding (it) (Surat Al-Dhariyat, Chapter 51, Verse 47).
Have not those who disbelieve seen (known) that the heavens and the Earth were of one connected entity, then We separated them (from each other), and We made every living thing out of water? Will they not then believe? (Al-Anbiya', 21: 30).

I Ching - (Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto)

To the best of my understanding this has no real specific writings on creation. Its described often as the earliest book of divination.
Everything I've read suggests that confucianism is atheistic and does not concern itself with the afterlife but focuses on the ethics of Life.
If I'm not doing it justice with regard to our origins then please help me.

Rig Veda - (Hindu, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism)

HYMN CXXIX. Creation.
1. THEN was not non-existent nor existent: there was no realm of air, no sky beyond it.
What covered in, and where? and what gave shelter? Was water there, unfathomed depth of water?
2. Death was not then, nor was there aught immortal: no sign was there, the day's and night's divider.
That One Thing, breathless, breathed by its own nature: apart from it was nothing whatsoever.
3. Darkness there was: at first concealed in darkness this All was indiscriminated chaos.
All that existed then was void and form less: by the great power of Warmth was born that Unit.
4. Thereafter rose Desire in the beginning, Desire, the primal seed and germ of Spirit.
Sages who searched with their heart's thought discovered the existent's kinship in the non-existent.
5. Transversely was their severing line extended: what was above it then, and what below it?
There were begetters, there were mighty forces, free action here and energy up yonder
6. Who verily knows and who can here declare it, whence it was born and whence comes this creation?
The Gods are later than this world's production. Who knows then whence it first came into being?
7. He, the first origin of this creation, whether he formed it all or did not form it,
Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not.

Old Testament Torah/Bible - (Judaism, Christianity)

Genesis Chapter 1 Verse 1
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Conclusion

So far the old testament shared by the Christians and Jews seemed the clearest most orderly description of how we got here.
I also discovered that the Bible is the only holy book where God bases his authenticity on his ability to declare the future before it happens.
So what is God's message then of how to go to Heaven and avoid Hell?

If both Heaven and Hell are real possibilities then what must we do?

God loves you and has made a way possible for you to be with him forever.

1 John 4:16 - And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

But first understand that all people have sinned at one time or another.

Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Have you ever Lied? Stolen? Had sex with someone you were not married to?
If you were judged by God today based on his standards where do you think you would be?

What is God's answer to sin?

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Who is the son that I can believe in him?

Matthew 1:21 - And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

What do I have to do?

Romans 10:13 - For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Are you ready to have your sins forgiven and believe that Jesus died and took on the punishment for your sins?

Then please sincerely pray something like this:

How do I know that I am now saved?

1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Romans 10:9 - That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Now if you are ready please watch this video to see just how much our Lord loved so we may spend eternity with him:

Click Here for Video

Seeing this has helped me find strength when I have trials in my life.
I know that no matter how bad my situation may seem. Jesus has suffered far greater for me.

		A Path to Hope
		Because Your Life is Precious