“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12)
The World’s “Common” Substitutes For Hope:
Wishful thinking
Blind optimism
Ambitious dreams
For most people, hope is something they do, but the Bible talks about hope as something we can have.
“I pray that God, who gives hope, will bless you with complete happiness and peace because of your faith. And may the power of the Holy Spirit fill you with hope.” (Romans 15:13) [CEV]
Hope is the confident expectation that God is willing AND able to fulfill His promises to us.
“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you …” (1 Peter 1:3-4)
“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul …” (Hebrews 6:19)
We have hope because …
- … we’re absolved of our past.
“21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end …” (Lamentations 3:21-22)
“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” (1 Timothy 6:17)
- … we’re assured of our future.
“5 … he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7)
An Advent Prayer For you:“16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places …” (Ephesians 1:16-20)