Hope

 The Spirit of God has been speaking to us about the importance of  “Knowing God”.   Knowing and growing in God is to have hope, to grow in hope, and to be empowered by hope. A man without hope has forgotten or made himself a stranger to his Creator. 

“Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him,” Psalms 43:5

This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. Jeremiah 17:5

A man without hope has made and let the things of this world convince and persuade him to be his hope.  For what happens when those things fail him?
 

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.  And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:15-17

“And He (Jesus) told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man was very productive.  And he began to reason to himself, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’  Then he said ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.’
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’
So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.  And he said to His disciples, ‘For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ” Luke 12:16-23

A man without hope does not know “who” Jesus is.
A man without hope does not know the Father who is hope.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”  John 14:6

 

The Affects of Hopelessness
For a king without hope is of tired coals. Even though the breeze livens it, it doesn’t produce flame.  Even though it glows temporary red it quickly forgets.  He is adorned with a royal breastplate but inside he is poisoned by thoughts of cowardest.   Prodded and poked like a cage lion, his rage if any is brief for he sees no point.  Hope to him is like the morning steam ghostly rising off the waters into the skies.  Life has all but become meaningless. Words of wisdom on a page do not help him.  He might as well be blind and as dumb as a stump that produces nothing.  He might as well be a poor blind man who sits in a pitch-black room as the roaches eat his sandwich.   He might as well have no mouth to eat for he can no longer taste what is good.   The spite of hopelessness makes him brash as a careless drunk.  Those who surround him are poisoned and stung by his tongue. They have tried to pour goodness into his life but there is a giant hole in his cistern that is never satisfied. He is deaf to the bells that signal his walls being breached and he has no strength to reach for his sword. He was a beautiful dogwood tree in spring that now has turned to a weedy cedar that steals all the water around him until nothing grows. He is a man without a lasting legacy.  He is a continual patched ceiling with no fixed roof.  He is a man who puts on clean clothes but never takes a bath.  Seeing no hope in the rules and worlds of men, He has given up the pursuit to the catch the elusive word “peace”.  He looks only to himself and says,  “It is hopeless I will act accordingly to the understanding of my hardened heart.”

“But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.” Jeremiah 18:12

Maybe they saw it as hopeless because God wasn’t their source of hope? But I am reminded with God even a stump has hope.

“Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot- yes, a new branch bearing fruit from the old root.” Isaiah 11:1

This shoot is Jesus.   Some of us know what it means to be a stump and know when our stomp was awakened to new life in Jesus Christ.   This hope ushers into a life in the Spirit of God and in the Spirit of God brings forth the fruits of the Spirit.
 

“But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control….” Galatians 5:22-23

Look at those gems that so well characterize hope.

Transformed into Vessels of Hope “with”  and “in” God

“There are three things that will endure- faith, hope, and love- and the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

As I have allowed God to speak to me about hope, I saw hope not as just something that helps the Christian endure in this life but how hope is tighten woven together with faith and love in God.   Faith, hope, love… they change and transform us.  They become our spiritual make-up.  Faith hope and love are like bands of light that form our eternal structure. I don’t know how this is completely I just saw a vision of this as I was writing… a figure being transformed - their person was being covered over with tiny bands of light.

The Spirit then reminded me of this verse about Jesus.   “Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone.  The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”  John 1:4-5

No wonder why 1 John 4:4 says, “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

No wonder why Jesus said to us believers, “You are the light of the world- like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see.  Don’t hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all.”  Matthew 5:14-15

If we are a Christian, our life should bear witness to the light now living and growing in us.

It is that hope, faith and love that God is pouring into us that comes out.

These things may seem elementary but examine them more closely.  Through your relationship with Jesus Christ, God is building you up in the inside by His Spirit.

Look at these carefully with me.
Faith: Hebrews 12:2 says Jesus/God is the author and finisher of our faith.  He not only created us but also completes us.  He makes what was once worldly – Heaven bound.

Love:  1 John 4:16-17 says “We know how much God loves us, we have put our trust in him.  God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.  And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect….”

Trust in just another way to say hope and not just that but look at what it is saying here. What is doing the work and completing the work of our spiritual being?  It’s God’s love in us.  It is God’s love transforming us.  God is pouring in his goodness and “building” us up in faith, love and hope in Him.

Hope:  Psalm 62:5-7 “I wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.  My salvation and my honor come from God alone.   He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.”

We have to position ourselves before God- mostly often quieting what is going on inside ourselves so we can hear Him.   I find reading and meditating on His word or a scripture is helpful.  Some position themselves with a song. The fact is it is difficult and impossible to receive anything from God if we ignore Him, don’t let God speak to us or do some in vain religious routine.  Just as David says, “God is our hope. He is our salvation and he “clothes” us in his honor -that is not made in the things or attitudes of this world.

Caught up in Hope or the busyness of this life?
The floods of life come and do they ever leave a mess of mud and muck behind. I was talking to a friend who neglected to clean out his drainage ditch and when the rushing storm waters came down off the hill from his neighbor's house, they quickly overtook the neglected drainage ditch... They flooded his garage and lapped up against the front door of his house. They then went around the side to the backyard where muddy watery muck spilled over into his swimming pool- transforming the clear blue water into a brown mess.  My friend said, "This all could have been avoided if I hadn't neglected to clean out the drainage ditch.”

The busyness of life can cause us to neglect a lot of things in life including our relationship with God.
God promises his foundation is high enough so when the floodwaters come that they won't bring down the house sitting on it but what if we allow and neglect the maintenance around that foundation.  What if we allow life to cover the foundation with its busyness until the foundation is unrecognizable? Can you build on something that you can’t see?

Usually our words and actions will show there has been a lack of “maintenance” in our relationship with God.  We lose sight of what we have been given and in so doing… we never take the time to discover fully and build on the foundation of Jesus Christ, which God the Father has graciously given.

Other times we can be diligent in our devotional time but still feel this sense anxiety, nagging, and since of oppression.   I think being thankful for the little things is a great start.  Thankful for who God is and how he thinks about you.  "For I know the thoughts that I think towards you," saith the Lord, "Thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give you.  Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."  John 14:27
 
Hope in God is like a romance.
In all marriages sometimes we fail to connect.   With God we can do this.  Sometimes we as the bride of Christ fail to see who we are really "married" to? 

Sometimes we don't put much effort into our marriage and we all know what happens when we don't put much into the romance department.

What if your spouse suddenly got tired of you?  What if they stopped trusting in you?  Only wanted you to be around a small-allotted amount of time or were too busy for you.  What if they only wanted you when they needed something?

What if they no longer sought you out for love, physical attention and companionship? What if they decided they knew all there was to learn about you?  And they never asked you what your interests and wants were?  They just took you for granted? 

Now think…  If you say God is your God and you are to love your God but you take Him for granted, is He really a God you love? 

How can anyone be encouraged, captured and caught up in the God of Hope if we don’t spend time with Him?

I know God/ Jesus knows when we take him for granted because he says, 
 

“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen from your first love. Turn back to me again and work as you did at first.  If you don’t, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the church.”  Revelation 2:5

Then sometimes we haven't done anything to be distant from God.  We just feel like he is distant from us.  Life seems to be taking it's toll.  We seem to be in the crowded train station of life pushing our way through the crowd that is going the opposite direction but we can't seem to see God so we panic or become uneasy.   That is when we just need to sit down and be quiet.  We need to ask God show to us a refresher of who we really are to Him?  Show me Lord what you really think of me? Remind me.  
   
God tells us to love Him and that is good.   And... I find He isn't hesitant when we just need to hear He loves us and is with us.
 

Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” Matthew 22:37-38

"I command you- be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged.  For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

"So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to God then a whole flock of sparrows." Matthew 10:31

When we allow the mess of life to clutter the foundation on which we are to stand, how will we really see the clear foundation of our hope in Jesus Christ?  How will that affect our mindset and actions?

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,” Hebrews 6:19

Illustrations of Hope
Hope in God is like people caught up in the goodness of Christmas season.  There is a wonder and joy in the air as many good things fill the days between now and December 25th.  Good things such as goodwill and charity towards others that have less, the smells of the seasonal goodies being cooked and shared, the sparkling Christmas lights, the music that fills the air, the family/ friend gatherings, the exchange of gifts (that probably originated in Jewish celebrations where people exchanged gifts to remember what God had done), the Christmas parades, concerts, shows, candle light services, - the wonder and joy of the Savior’s birth seems to sprinkle and season the days leading to the Savior’s birth.  People are caught up in the Christmas season.   In God we are caught up in hope, which brings out goodness in our lives.

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” Romans 15:13

Hope is like a rope tow on a snow slope. You grab on to it and it pulls you up the slippery snowy slope of life.  Hope is like a ski lift where you “position” yourself in front of the chair and it comes- you sit and it carries you up the mountain. Hope is like a kite with its arms spread out wide in surrender, catching the wind that takes it higher and higher.
 

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31 

 

Hope is to live by.

"... he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope." 1 Corinthians 9:10 NKJV

Hope is not far from us.
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.  And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.  God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.  For in him we live and move and have our being.’[ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”  Acts 17:24-28

We are His offspring of hope.

The God of Hope Leaves His mark.
I find God is not even far from those dictated by human understanding, for when one cries out in situations they consider direr, Hope Himself answers…. but because they are dictated by human understanding Hope is often lost on them.  I have found however something…. every time our God of hope answers in both Christians and Non-Christians, God leaves or deposits a marker, a stepping stone, a monument in the human soul to refer back to.  God leaves them in the deserts of peoples lives to the mountains tops of people’s lives.  Why does God, do this?

So man has no excuse that they didn’t have a choice to know Him.  So man has no excuse and says God never extended His hand.   God is not responsible if a person continues to dig a hole.  It’s a person’s choice not to surrender his/her shovel and not to ask for help out of that hole. Some go right back into that hole like water finding the lowest spot.  They have a choice to embrace the God who reveals the life saving and changing hope through Jesus Christ or not.

Hope and Heaven and Hell
This thrusts us into a deeper topic of heaven and hell based on our acceptance or not acceptance of Jesus as Savior of our life.  This statement may not be politically or religiously correct but it wasn’t God who came up with political or religious correctness.  God is not politically or religiously correct He’s just CORRECT.

Hell is the exact opposite of hope. Think about it…. What is birthed, nurtured, and matured in hope? If you don’t know- they are things such as joy, peace, love, goodness, faithfulness, and a sound mind?

Hope is reachable now but these good and wonderful and amazing things will be ripped and stripped away in hell.  These good things will be absent in hell because hell is absent of God who is hope.