Skip to main content

Hope

Hope Does Not Disappoint (Rom 5:5 NKJ)

In order to be happy a person must have someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for - Readers Digest (As cited by Billy Graham)
What oxygen is for the lungs, such is hope for the meaning of human life. - Billy Graham
To live without hope is to cease to live. - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Bible is the only document of hope that we have in the world.
The Bible gives us the message of hope, not only in this world, but also in the world to come.

Four reasons:
  1. It gives us the basis for hope.
  2. It tells us what to hope for.
  3. It encourages us with examples of people who lived by hope against hope.
  4. It teaches us how to hope.

The Basis of Hope - God Himself, His Promises
The Things of Hope – Good, Salvation, Life, Blessedness
Examples of Hope – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Job, Jeremiah, Daniel, Paul
Way of Hope – Faith, Patience, Love, Endurance….

There is Hope
One important fact that the Bible clearly wants everybody to know is that “THERE IS HOPE”

...for him who is joined to all the living there is hope (Ecc 9:4 NKJ)

It is said that a drunkard doesn’t give up drinking.. because he feels there is no hope.
A man or a woman may give up fighting when he thinks there is no hope.
Many a sick man has quickly died, before time, because he felt there was no hope.

However, if we believe in God; we must learn to believe in hope, contrary to hope (Rom.4:18)

Now, you may not have hope about a particular thing you are desiring. For instance, if you wanted to get a job and didn’t get it.. However, that doesn’t mean that your life is lost. God’s plan for your life doesn’t change. If you come back to God, there is hope.

Loss of Hope
  • People can be without hope (Eph.2:12; 1Thess.4:13)
  • People can lose hope (Eze.37:11)
  • People can give up hope (Acts 27:20)
  • Hope can be deferred – it makes heart sick (Prov.13:12)

Regaining Hope
  1. Remember that God is the God of hope (Rom.15:13)
  2. Remember that there is hope for the living (Eccl.9:4). If you are not dead already, hope is there for you.
  3. Stop looking at the contradictions; ground yourself in faith and hope (Rom.4:18)
  4. Turn your eyes back to God (Ps.121:1,2)
  5. Meditate on the promises of God (Ps.119:49)
  6. Remember what God has done in your life and in the life of His servants (Ps.78:7)
  7. Encourage your soul to hope in God (Ps.42:5)
  8. Repent from bitterness and frustration (Heb.12:15; Ps.73:13,21; Eph.4:31)
  9. Be filled with the love of God shed abroad in our hearts (Rom.5:5)
  10. Take courage and God will strengthen your heart (Ps.31:4)

7 Qualities of Divine Hope
  1. Unseen (Rom.8:24)
  2. Related to Future (Jer.29:11; 31:17)
  3. Grounded in Faith (Heb.11:1)
  4. One of The Three Theological Virtues That Remain (1Cor.13:13)
  5. Purifies (1John 3:2,3)
  6. Living (1Pet.1:3)
  7. Doesn’t Disappoint (Rom.5:5)
We Have Hope Of
  • Return of Christ - Blessed Hope (Tit.2:13)
  • Resurrection (1Cor.15:19,20; Acts 23:6; 24:15; 1Pet.1:3)
  • Redemption (Luke 21:28; Rom.8:23-25; Eph.1:14; 4:30; )
  • Righteousness (Matt.5:6; 2Pet.3:13; Ps.85:11; Isa.61:11; Mal.4:2)
  • Reward (Matt.5:12; Luke 6:23; 1Cor.3:14; Rev.11:18; 22:12)



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poll Results: Are all Mission Fields Harvest Fields?

On Monday, April 30, I started a poll on the following question: Jesus said: "The fields are ripe for harvest... I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor." (Jn 4:35,38) DOES IT APPLY 2 NON-JUDEO LANDS AS WELL? They don't need preparation and sowing? Rather, they are as equally ripe for harvest as Judea-Samaria was because of previous labor by somebody (local indigenous religions and prophets!)? A total of 18 votes were cast with the following main results: YES = 9 I believe it wherever the gospel is preached and people respond. = 5 NO = 1 I'M NOT SURE = 0 One Scholar responded saying: "I think God's Spirit is at work with all people all the time through various way, and sundry ways as Hebrews says. hence they are ready for harvest... but the church is too slow to go." A Pastor responded saying: "I do believe that even in the remotest areas, the fields are alread...
1 comment
Read more

Rocketing Prices Make Vegetables and Fruits a Luxury in India

Prices of agro-products soar higher in India, making fruits and vegetables almost a luxury. The Times of India reports: "The price of almost every vegetables except onion and potato has gone up to 25 to 30 per cent in the wholesale market and retail price staggering up to 45 to 50 per cent. A random market survey revealed an increase in the price of spinach to Rs 40-45 from Rs 10-15 kg a few days back. "The price of tomato has gone up to Rs 55-60 from Rs 40 a kg and capsicum to Rs 60-80 from Rs 40 per kg at the start of this month. The price of onion has gone up to Rs 20 from Rs 15-18 per kg but still remained steady in the market. "Variation between the wholesale prices and retail prices is staggering between 25%-30%." (Lucknow: July 17, 2009). Lauki (bottle gourd) went from being Rs. 7-10 per kg to Rs. 40 per kg. The price of lentils has shot up to Rs. 85 per kg from Rs. 40-45 per kg. The saying "dal bhat ab ameeron ka khana hei" (lentils and rice are n...
1 comment
Read more

Three Divisions of Philosophical Theology

Also discussed as "God of the Rationalist or God of the Empiricists " at Philpapers.org Philosophical theology can be basically divided into three classes: Rationalist theology, Empirical theology, and Intermediate Theology. Rationalist Theology  includes isms such as monism (e.g. Parmenides and Zeno) and non-dualism (Advaitins of India) whose assertions are usually supported by arguments that rationally dismiss experience as false and irrational. This they do with reference to ultimate concepts such as unity, necessity, infinity, immutability, and transcendence (none of which can be predicated of the things of experience). Thus, God becomes the "wholly other" transcendent reality that can only be talked about  via negativa. Empirical Theology,  on the other hand, is quite the opposite of the previous. It actually brings religion down to the earth. The gods and goddesses are more human like, and earthly; and, of course, positively understandable in empirical categor...
1 comment
Read more