The problem for all of us is that the fullness of joy and the freedom of love that we crave

will never come until we can be completely assured that our future is going to be maximally happy.

If you think your future is going to be bleak, and to the degree that you think it's going to be bleak,

you will be insecure and unhappy, and you will not

be a person for others, but they will be stepping stones for your own satisfaction.

I think it's easy to underestimate how much our view of the future shapes the way we live right now. If the future feels uncertain

or bleak, we start protecting ourselves. We start turning inward. I'm your host, Dan Kruver. In this

episode of Light and Truth, John Piper looks at Isaiah 44 verses 1 to 5 and explains why the promise of the

spirit secures a future so joyful that it frees us to love right now. This message was

originally delivered at Bethlehem Baptist Church on March 4th, 1984.

Do you know why it's easier to be nice to people on Friday than on Monday?

Isn't it because hope is like a river that flows into us out of a bright future and fills our reservoir of joy which then spills over in love or kindness onto other people.

On Friday, the rest and recreation that we love so much is right around the corner.

It's so close you can taste it.

And the taste of the power of the weekend to come flows back into your heart

begets hope hope gives joy and joy spills over in kind deeds or love to other people so that

you're always nicer to people when you're happy about your future and you feel secure and you're not scared

or discouraged about what's coming.

It happens before vacations.

It happens before birthdays.

It happens before Christmas.

And therefore, if you think that's on the right track, it won't be hard, will it, to explain to people why the Christian faith is just what the doctor ordered for the human heart.

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