HOPE
Have you ever considered what a vital role HOPE plays in our lives?
Upon further digging into the word hope, it was enlightening for me to reflect on the fact that there is hope, more in the “worldly” sense and there is hope in the “Biblical” sense.
Think about this–
How often do you say to someone–
“I hope you have a nice day!” or “I sure hope that your test for cancer comes back negative.”
Using the word hope in this way seems to mean we DESIRE or strongly WISH that something good will occur and produce a favorable outcome. This is more the “worldly” view of hope; hope that is founded in uncertainty or without strong assurance.
Photo courtesy of Warren Rachele under Creative Commons License (CC BY 2.0)
Let’s look at some Bible verses relating to hope in the Biblical sense.
Three things will last forever–faith, hope, and love–and the greatest of these is love. –1 Corinthians 13:13 (NLT)
Hope must be more than a desire or wish if it is something that will last forever!
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” –Lamentations 3:24 (ESV)
Hope is based on the Lord; someone concrete and true!
….Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. –Hebrews 6:18-20 (NLT)
Hope is something concrete…something as strong and trustworthy as an anchor!
Photo courtesy of Charl de Klerk under Creative Commons License (BY-NC-SA 2.0) (words added by hopetoinspireyou.com)
What does Biblical Hope look like?
–Confident expectation-not wishful thinking
–Definite assurance-not lacking faith
–Moral certainty–not necessarily logical
Remember…
This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls!
That verse creates a vivid image in my mind of our hope!
Consider what an anchor does for a ship….how it connects a vessel to a body of water preventing the vessel from drifting due to wind or the water’s current.
Isn’t that just like hope connecting us to God preventing us from drifting when the storms of life come upon us?
I will leave you with two reflections for this week that I just “happened” to run across while I was writing these thoughts.
When listening to this song, entitled I Have this Hope by Tenth Avenue North, notice how the word “hope” can be replaced with “confident assurance.”
Remember this acrostic for the word HOPE….
Heaven’s ultimate
Outpouring of the
Promises from our
Eternal Savior
Be encouraged this week to live out the Biblical hope that we have available to us in Christ!
“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.” –Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
