HOPE

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

And as Christians our faith rests in Christ and Christ alone.

Ephesians 2: 1-8 (NRSV)

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God-

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

Hope has been on my heart a lot lately…and we can see here in Hebrews it is directly linked to our Christian faith, for our faith rests upon our hope of God’s promises in Christ – indeed our hope should be so firm that we are convinced, resulting in faith and trust.

What is hope?

1. Hope is defined as, a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen. Similar to: aspiration, desire, plan, dream.

When we begin to lose hope as Christians there is a very real possibility, if it continues for too long our faith can seriously be affected.  The result of a person losing all hope can be devastating.

As Christians hope therefore cannot afford to only be present in our early days, rather it needs to be deeply permeated into our faith foundation.

2. Another definition of hope is, a feeling of TRUST.

Therefore with hope comes the trust. 

Trust in The Lord to work all things together for our good, (Romans 8:28) no matter what our current circumstances are.

But where does hope come from? 

Does it come from our own minds?  Is hope something we can self-raise with positive thinking?  Indeed our minds are incredibly amazing, so I will not say that positive thinking/dreaming does not help people…But I would like to remind you that scripture says our God is a God of hope.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 13:15).
Therefore God is the source of hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.  Now this is not some prosperity message, for we know that we have an eternal royal inheritance waiting for us through Christ, as our future hope, rich or poor, persecuted or free…

So hope is both aspiration and trust and the source is God.

I believe The God of hope can inject anyone with good dreams…whether or not they realise it and acknowledge Him is another issue, as is the trust factor of hope…

As Christians we can walk into wilderness seasons and sometimes feel although we haven’t quite lost our faith, we have lost our dreams and hope for a new season or breakthrough.  These seasons are real and valid, yet to stay in them too long worries me, because a lack of hope can impact one's faith and Christian life/well-being.

Our God is a God of hope and wants to refresh, heal and renew His children – the enemy is a liar and thief and will try to rob God’s children of their Father’s good gift of hope. James 4:7-8a says, ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you…’

So if you are in an excessive despondent period, remember that God is the source of hope…so draw nearer to Him, asking for His protection and for hope to return; for Him to give you a clear dream and deeper trust…and while you are waiting for your breakthrough, His peace.

May we finish with this scripture:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! (1 Peter 1:3).

In the hope of Christ, Melanie...