God of Hope

Verse of the day: Romans 15:13 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.

I have often heard, and am guilty of same, people use the word “hope” in a way that implies wishful thinking. “I hope the weather is nice tomorrow.” “I hope I’ll be able to take a vacation this year.” “I hope you are doing well.” The word “hope” being used this way does not reassure in any way. To hope or have hope is something that is based on a certainty; and can only come for the God of hope. Nothing that man can do will give us the assurance or hope (like the hope we find in Jesus). Man cannot provide a way to Heaven. Man cannot make a promise that all will turn out fine in our lives when we are suffering trials, persecutions, and tribulations. We, as humans, are flawed at best, and fail each other, and ourselves, often. Sadly, too many of us, even born again believers, put too much weight on the promises made to us by family members, friends, and people we have put our trust in. Stop and think for a moment; once upon a time we were able to enter into a contract with another person and seal it with a handshake. Today, we must have written contracts written up, and even then, people look for loopholes in order to renege on carrying out whatever was promised. What hope is there in all of this? None at all. Unlike the “wishful thinking” expressed when we use the word “hope” today; true, biblical hope, is a confident expectation or anticipation. The same confident expectation we, as born again believers, have that we are heaven bound in Christ, and that Jesus is coming back again. This kind of hope can only come from a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The Word of God tells us that we can have joy and peace, regardless of our circumstances, but that only comes from faith, and believing that God is true to His Word (Phil 4:6-7). Our God has already proven that He is true to His Word. Much of what He has promised has already come to pass, including the coming of Jesus to give His life for us so that we can have eternal life in Him (Isa 7:14; Zech 9:9; John 3:16). He promises that our salvation is secure in Him, and that no one would separate us from His love or pluck us from His hand (Rom 8:38-39; John 10:28 ). In the Christian life we will excel in our faith only because of the hope (confident expectation) we have in God’s promises. The power to abound in our faith, and live a life that will glorify God can only come from the working of the Holy Spirit, both in us and through us. Our ability to endure until the end is going to depend solely on how close we stay to God; how much we believe and trust Him, and how well we obediently follow the leading of the Spirit. There is no formula we can come up with, on our own or scheme that anyone we know can conjure up, that will compare to simply trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit to fill us with the joy and peace that comes from knowing that we have a Living Hope; and that Living Hope is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

If you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior, then your “hope” is just wishful thinking. However, you can have a confident expectation and assurance when you call upon Jesus Christ to give you eternal life. He promised that if you believe that He died to pay for your sins, and call upon Him, in faith, you will be saved. Call upon Him today (Rom 6:23; 10:9; 13).