Tuesday 10 March 2015

Vibrant Hope

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 a hope and a future.  Jer 29:11

There is no foreseeable future without hope.  Our future is closely tied to the hope we have, because hope releases the future.  Hope inspires the future because without hope there is no vision, and without vision the people perish.  Hope births vision, because hope sees positively into the future.

Hope is tied to our belief in God and His promises, especially His promise that pertains personally to us as individuals.  The more hope that we have in God's promises to us, the tighter we can hold on to a future filled with expectation in His goodness and grace.  God's intent toward us, as the scripture from Jeremiah states, is good and prosperous.

Hope can ride adversity because our hope in Him keeps us secure.

For you will forget your trouble; you will remember it like water that has flowed away.  And life will be brighter than the noonday; though there be darkness, it will be like the morning. And you will be secure, because there is hope.  Job 11:16-18

Hope keeps us optimistic for our future.

Even if He slays me, I will hope in Him. Job 13: 15a

Hope can be restored on a word from the Lord.

From there I will give back her vineyards to her, and turn the "Valley  of Trouble" into an "Opportunity for Hope."  There she will sing as she did when she was young, when she came up from the land of Egypt. Hosea 2:5

Hope brings joy.

Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced; my body also will live in hope.

Hope increases faith.

Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became he father of many nations according to the pronouncement, so will your descendants be. Rom 4:18

Hope sees the eternal, invisible realm.

For in hope we were saved.  Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance." Rom 8: 24-25

Confident hope brings boldness.

My confident hope is that I will in no way be ashamed but that with complete boldness, even now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether I live or die.  Phil 1;20

Let us thank God for the hope that we have in Him, for His promise to us is that our future is bright no matter what it may appear to look like at the present.  God loves us and wants us to have a vibrant, faith filled and expectant hope in our future, because He holds it securely in His Hand.