One definition of hope is a feeling that something good will happen or be true.
Christian hope is different than the world’s hope.
Christian hope rests on having confidence that something will come to pass
because God has promised it to come to pass. Perhaps what God has promised you
years ago has caused you to give up that promise will ever come to pass.
Whatever God speaks to you as a promise and you can confirm the promise in the
Word of God, than it shall surely come to pass. Having hope comes with faith.
When it seems like what God has promised you is not coming to pass, having
faith that God is faithful and will fulfill His promises to you will increase
your hope.
A
lack of hope leads to depression. An antidote for depression is hope, but not
hope in just anything, the hope found in Jesus Christ.
Hope is an essential and fundamental element in the
Christian life. Jesus is the reason for our hope, not placing our hope in what
we can get from life or others. While hoping for things is not wrong, it can
misplaced if we put all hope in the things we want and not in Jesus.
For
in hope we have been saved, but the hope that is seen is not hope; for why does
one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance
we wait eagerly for it. Romans 8:24-25
Hope is synonymous with salvation and blessings that
are promised in scripture. Christian Hope is the confident expectation and
surety that what God has promised in the Word is true, has occurred, or will
happen in the future. If we put our hope in anything other than the Lord we
will be disappointed.
My
soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is in Him. Psalm 62:5
The
hope of the righteous is gladness, but the expectation of the wicked perishes. Proverbs
10:28
Hope
is not a feeling or an emotion. Christian hope is
different from the world, it is “the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). This means having a hope that is
not moved by circumstances or what is seen.
Sometimes, we place our hope in everything but Jesus.
We may have desires and wants that are unfulfilled, and we lose our hope. If
you have experienced one heartache or trial after another, it may be difficult
to have hope. We have all heard the scripture,” hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a
tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12. When dreams do not come to pass, depression
can easily slip in. God’s time table is not ours, and our expectations of how
we think He should fulfill our desires can make us have “heart sickness.” We
can actually make things worse by holding on tightly to how we perceive things
in our lives SHOULD turn out.
What
if God has a better plan for our lives but we are not even willing to entertain
anything but what we want?
There was a time in my life I felt my heart was truly
sick from waiting on my prayers to be answered. Maybe you have been praying for
a prodigal child, a spouse, salvation for your family, or healing, and you have
lost hope. What if God has a plan that He
is working on that you are not able to see, and perhaps it may look a little
different than your expectations? I believe God’s plans are better than our
plans.
We
must learn to wait patiently on the Lord, and trust His ways.
For
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the
Lord. Isaiah 55:8
The
Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks him. Lamentations
3:25
Keep
hope alive by believing in God’s promises not your circumstances.
The hope of eternal life (Titus 1:2, 3:7).
Hope of salvation (1 Thessalonians 5:8, Romans 8:24-25).
Hope laid up in heaven (Colossians 1:5).
Hope for the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6).
The hope of the Gospel and the fulfillment of the
promises in the Bible (Colossians 1:23).
The hope of His calling (Ephesians 1:18, 4:4).
Jesus our hope. (1 Timothy 1:1).
Because of Jesus’ resurrection, we have hope for the
resurrection (1 Peter 1:3, 1 Corinthians 15:12-20).
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