HOPE
THERE IS HOPE
Scripture Reference: Romans 15:13 (NIV)
"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."
What is hope? In simple terms, hope is having a positive imagination concerning your future or a confident, joyful expectation that something good is going to happen. Some examples I can use: if you are sick, hope helps you see yourself healed. If you are living paycheck to paycheck, hope helps you see yourself with not only enough money to pay your bills but enough left over to help others.
Now, for most people, they have been going through a terrible situation for so long that all hope is gone. All they see is their situation either getting worse or at best remaining the same. Knowing this, how do you see yourself any different from how your life is currently?
From our scripture reference, there are some key things we need to take note of; God is the source and author of hope. Hope comes from God. He is described as the God of hope. When I talk about hope, I am not talking about wishful thinking or in terms of how the world defines hope. In the world people will make statements like, “I hope I have enough money this month to pay the bill” but in their minds what they are really saying is they are not sure they will have enough money to pay all their bills this month. That is not hope as defined by the Word of God. Knowing that God is the author of hope, how does he get hope to you? Through his Word. Hope does not say my bills may or may not be paid this month but rather hope says, “my bills will get paid because with God all things are possible according to Matthew 19:26”. And how do you know you have hope? Hope is confident expectation that something good is going to happen and because of this confident expectation, you are filled with all joy and peace as you trust in him. You may not necessarily know that is going to happen but deep down in your heart you know good is going to happen. When you know for a fact that Jeff Bezos is bringing you a cashier’s check to cover your expenses, you eagerly await his arrival because you know he has the resources to cover your expenses; you don’t doubt he can afford it. He is worth a lot of money and he is known to occasionally give away large amounts of money. That is a great illustration of hope as defined by the Bible. Because God said whatever he said to you, you know it is God, so you are filled with joy that the situation is being handled and when you are no longer worried about it, you are at peace. You know God is that powerful and one way or another, whatever you are facing is nothing in comparison to His awesome power and might. You just know that surely something good is going to happen.
Hope = Joy + Peace
Isaiah 26: 3 reminds that God will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him because he trusts in Him and in Philippians 4:4 Paul reminds us to always rejoice, no matter the situation. As you begin to meditate on his word and make up your mind to trust him, then the Holy Spirit steps in and takes a hold together with you and through his empowerment you begin to overflow with hope (joy and peace in the midst of whatever is going on). Only through the power of the Holy Spirit are you able to have a confident expectation that things are going to somehow work out. It is unnatural to be full of joy and be at peace when you know if that payment does not post by midnight, the repo-man is coming for your car. Because of hope, you can see beyond all possible scenarios, you see yourself driving even if the repo-man comes through! Hope is supernatural, it defies logic, it is born of God and is not only sustained by the Holy Spirit but you get to a point where you are overflowing with hope. This reminds me of David when he said in Psalm 23 that his cup was overflowing with oil. Here is something I want you to know, God deals in excess! Look at the two fish and five loaves story, there was overflow. We are the ones that have limited God in our lives. God never runs out of resources, and you can believe that when he says you can overflow with hope in spite of what you are facing you surely can no matter what anyone says. Personally, I believe we are called to overflow so we can have more than enough hope so we can pull someone out of the hopelessness ditch. You know of people who are always full of hope, and it is contagious to the point that it is impossible to be hopeless around them. Paul is one of those people. When he wrote to us about rejoicing always in the book of the Philippians, he was in prison. That is a man who was overflowing with hope, and we can be the same way. God is no respecter of persons.
Now let us examine Hebrews 6:19-20. It states, “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”
This verse goes on to describe for us hope as an anchor for the soul. Ever watch a huge ocean liner that is docked, there is usually some kind of a thick rope or chain with an anchor attached to it at the bottom of the ship. The anchor weighs quite an enormous amount but surprisingly it never weighs more than the ship. Its holding power comes from the weight of the anchor, its shape, the weight of the long chain, and digging action.
Now imagine there are some horrible weather conditions; waves are tossing the ship back and forth. Because of the combination of all the factors mentioned above, that ship may slightly move or toss around, but it will not be able to go far unless it becomes detached from the anchor or if the anchor somehow gets dislodged from its position.
Now see hope as an anchor. That is how important hope is in the life of a believer. Imagine your life overflowing with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. No matter the situation, no matter what you may be going through, maybe moments of discouragement may creep in but just like a ship that eventually will not move so is your soul when anchored by hope. And just like when a ship’s crew can never use an anchor they are not sure of on a ship, the Word of God describes hope as both sure and stedfast. This hope is the real deal. Just like an anchor digs steadfastly into the ground beneath it to secure a ship, hope goes all the way behind the veil where our own high priest Jesus is seated. Not only is this Jesus our high priest but he is the high priest that has gone before us and according to Hebrews 4:14-15 he is inviting us to go boldly before his throne, the throne of grace to obtain grace and mercy in our time of need and not only does he invite us to do that but scripture says he has been where you are and understands what you are going through.
Not only is God the author of hope, but through the experience of Jesus’ life on earth He understands and by the power of the Holy Spirit He sustains and wants you to overflow with hope! God is so much involved in hope, and He wants you to not just have hope but overflow with hope. As you overflow with hope, eventually faith is the next progression after which manifestation after all faith is defined as being the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Section 2
Scripture Reference:
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.
Still examining Hebrews 6:19, the Word of God lets us know that hope anchors the soul. We know that we are a three-part being; we are spirit, live in a body and possess a soul. The soul is a combination of your mind, will, and emotions. That is the place where you make decisions. Think of it as a compass for where you go in life. Just as a compass determines the direction in which a ship is going to go, so does the soul.
You want to experience victory in your mind, it starts by you getting a handle on your soul.
What does the Word of God have to say about this?
Romans 12:2 (KJV) "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
Everything in your life that you have done can be traced to the state of your mind. Proverbs 23:7 says as he thinks in his heart, so is he. How you think is who you are! Even if you did actions that are contrary to what you think, that is only temporary. Eventually the way you think will be manifested in your actions. Romans reminds us to not only not to conform to how the world does things but to renew your mind. You do this by reading and meditating on the Word of God. As you do this continuously, slowly your thought patterns will begin to change.
As your thinking changes, you will notice that you are looking at things differently and so will your decisions. Your emotions and decisions are an expression of what you keep your mind focused on. Let me give you an example: if you are acting out of anger, chances are your mind has been set on things that cause anger. Have you ever lashed out at someone out of anger unnecessarily, think back to what you were thinking about prior to that incident. If you're experiencing and expressing peace and joy instead of what you may be facing, chances are you are doing what Isaiah 26: 3 says, keeping your mind stayed on the Lord, because you are trusting Him to see you through.
Here is an important truth, knowing scripture is not the same as living a life called for by God. That is why you will find people may know Bible verses but their lifestyle has no resemblance of God. What is interesting is Psalm Chapter 1 tells us that only he who delights and meditates on the law of the LORD day and night will be the one that will have fruit like a tree planted streams of water and eventually yields fruit in season and its leaves do not wither. According to scripture, that person prospers in everything they do! You have to make the decision and effort to keep your mind on His word day and night. The same brain space you use to worry about life is the very same space you need to repurpose for meditating on the word of God and see how your life will begin to change.
Let hope from God, through His Word, sustained and made to abound by the power of the Holy Spirit anchor your mind, will, and emotions and watch the faithfulness of God be manifested in your life.
