Hope - It's So Much More!

Dear Friends,

As we face the challenges of this new season and a rapidly changing world, let’s reflect on the following scriptures which so powerfully affirm the hope that is within us:

Hope sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, feels the intangible and believes and achieves the impossible through our Mighty God!

Hebrews 11:1
Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.

Without hope, there can be no faith. Our modern culture often uses the word “hope” to refer to what is uncertain or “wishful thinking!” Biblical hope is, in fact, “watchful thinking” – watching, waiting, and praying in patience and peaceful expectation. God is faithful to His word and promises!

Hope is a desire which is accompanied by a confident anticipation of its fulfillment! Hope is not a vague or nebulous, “I think so," or “I hope things will work out.” Biblical hope is certain; it is a firm and confident conviction!

Life without hope is merely existence - it is joyless, meaningless, burdensome & depressing.

We, however, serve the God of hope! Peter writes in his first epistle, that though we have not seen Jesus, we love Him, believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. Our Lord showers us with hope, joy, and purpose!

Hope focuses our attention on God and fills us with an eager expectation that something good will happen. Biblical hope does not focus on us or the world around us – it is sourced and centered in our faithful Heavenly Father.

Romans 10:17 (NKJV)
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

As we live according to the word of God, our hearts are filled with hope!

Isaiah 49:23
“…those who hope in me will not be disappointed."

Romans 4:18-22
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had
been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his
body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old - and that Sarah's womb was also
dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his
faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness."

The NLT says, “Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping.” He was fully persuaded God had power to fulfill His promise. If we have faith and hope, we do not deny reality.

We “face the facts” – fully assured that “nothing is impossible with God!”

Romans 15:4 (NLT2)
…the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.

Hebrews 6:19 (NKJV)
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast...

Our hope, which is in God, serves as an “anchor for our souls.” This hope is firm and unwavering.

It provides emotional and spiritual stability to the life of the believer. No matter how difficult or challenging our circumstances may be, we will remain steadfast in our faith and confidence in God!

Romans 8:24-25
…hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

1 Corinthians 13:13
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love...

Faith, hope and love are three important keys to walking with God.

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans
to give you hope and a future.

God promised to return the Jewish captives to Jerusalem after 70 years of exile – how much more does the Lord have plans for a prosperous and future hope for His faithful children in Christ?

Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

If we remain faithful, what the Lord did for us in the past He can do in the future. He is faithful!

To those who are born again, Jesus has given a new and abundant life to live! This life abounds in hope from which true joy springs!

Psalm 16:11
In Thy presence is fullness of joy;

The Holy Spirit produces fruit in the life of a believer: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control! These bear witness to God's indwelling presence in our lives and are visible to the world around us.

Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with
hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit’s power produces an overflowing hope in the believer which is accompanied by an enduring joy and peace!

Ephesians 1:17-19
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of
wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be
enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious
inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Paul continuously prayed that the saints would know “the hope to which they were called” in Christ.

Psalm 42:5-6
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Times of deep discouragement and anxiety can be overcome by placing our hope in God and praising Him!

Titus 2:11-13
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to
ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ…

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
…the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel
and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and
are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be
with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.

1 Corinthians 15:51-54 (NLT2)
…let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen
in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those
who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying
bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into
immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die,
this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory.

The “blessed hope” in Titus 2:13, is the coming rapture or “catching away” of the saints when Jesus appears in the clouds and we receive our glorified bodies!

The world is in darkness - bring them the light of Christ.
They are in despair - bring them the hope of the Gospel.
They are living in fear and anxiety - bring them the Prince of Peace.
Pray for those who are lost, broken and suffering.
Bring them the salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If we don't, who will?

May you all enjoy the Lord’s richest blessings,

Pastor Paul