Understanding Hope Listening to people talk and reading many emails from Christians I have discerned that there is a lot of confusion in understanding the difference between hope and faith. The bible has a lot to say about hope. The bible tells us that hope is something that is eternal, in other words hope is not just something we exercise in this life, but hope is also a quality of heaven. 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. Loss of hope is one of the major demises of this generation. Many in the world today cannot see a good or bright future. This generation sees a nuclear future a future that is alarminingly uncertain. The distrust of governments and authority in general has reached disquieting proportions which in turn has generated the loss of hope. Christians are not immune to the demise unless they have a firm trust in the Lord and an unshakable hope in an incredibly bright future. The bible tells us the without hope the people perish. Hope keeps you sane, the faithless hopeless educators of our day have taken all hope from this generation, evolution robs man of dignity and hope, humanism teaches that you are an accident and death is the end of existence ; so eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. The universe has no meaning, life has no meaning, and you are here because of a freak accident of nature so you may as well live life how you want, there are no rules and you will soon be dead anyway. This generation has lost its innocence dignity and hope Ephesians 2:12 that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. The Hebrew word for vision in this verse is chazown, which has the meaning of a sight (mentally) i.e. a dream, revelation. Where there is no vision of a good future people wither through this loss of hope. There some statistics regarding people who reach retiring age and actually do retire are very interesting. Many people who are perfectly healthy when they retire die within four years. Why does this happen? simply because, their future has gone and they have nothing to live for anymore. Biblical Hope There is a vast difference between what most people understand what hope is and how God sees hope. Generally people understand hope as something they are wishing for but may never happen. They have hopes without any assurance of those hopes materializing into a reality. Biblical hope is different and can be defined as, something that is absolutely certain but yet future. Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; This verse describes hope as something that is yet future but is a certain reality. It is interesting that we see in the scriptures how that people’s lives were extended through hope. Paul the apostle was threatened with eminent death many times. One time the Jews were seeking him out in order to kill him, but God had a plan for Paul’s life. Acts 9:15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. Paul had a future that he had not yet stepped into he couldn’t die yet. In Acts chapter 23 God told Paul that he had to go and preach the gospel in Rome, that was a future hope and reality which kept him alive. Don’t give up; your number is not up yet. You need hope to extent your life on this earth. King David Served the Lord for many years and then there was no more vision left so he died Acts 13:36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: Once you retire from life you start to die, everything in you starts to retire. We need hope based in a purpose from God for our lives as well as having the hope of going to heaven. Remember biblical hope is something that is certain but as yet still future. Sometime we have to quietly wait for hope to be realized. Romans 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. God will often show you a part of your future, He promised to show us things to come John 16:13. Often the reason for showing us things in advance is to anchor our soul, our mind and emotions. Hebrews 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, That hope keeps you alive and poised for Gods purposes for your life to be fulfilled. Romans 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. 18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. Don’t give up God hasn’t given up on you, you are here for a reason, let God reveal that to you in ever increasing understanding of your calling or your purpose for being here. The gospel of the kingdom is a gospel of profound hope. This world is not finished its just about to realize its finest hour which will last for a thousand years. This generation needs to know where they came from, why they are here and what is their future; Preach it. Romans 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. Blessings Neville Johnson April 15, 2010
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 01:30:37 +0000
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