LIVING ON HOPE

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13 ESV

It is something as important to us as water is to a fish, as vital as electricity is to a light bulb, as essential as air is to a jumbo jet. It’s one of the most powerful words in the English language. It’s a power that keeps us going in the toughest times of life. It’s a power that energizes us with confidence, excitement, and anticipation as we look to the future. It gives us a reason to live. It takes obstacles and transforms them into possibilities. What am I talking about? HOPE!

It’s been said that a person can live 40 days without food, 4 days without water, 4 minutes without air, but you can’t live 4 seconds without hope. Tertullian said, "Hope is patience with the lamp lit." Hope is holding on when things around you begin to slip away. Hope is praying expectantly when there seemingly are no answers. Dr. G. Campbell Morgan tells of a man whose shop had been burned during the disastrous Chicago fire. He arrived at the ruins the next morning carrying a table. He set the table amid the charred debris and above it placed this optimistic sign: "Everything lost except wife, children, and hope. Business will be resumed as usual tomorrow morning."

Many men become bitter toward life because of the unfortunate circumstances in which they find themselves. Many quit. Others have taken their own lives. What makes the difference in the outcome? Talent? No! The only difference between those who threw in the towel and quit and those who used their energy to rebuild and kept going, is found in the word hope. What does hope do for mankind? Hope shines brightest when the hour is darkest. Hope motivates when discouragement comes .Hope energizes when the body is tired. Hope sweetens while the bitterness bites. Hope sings when all melodies are gone. Hope believes when the evidence is eliminated. Hope listens for answers when no one is talking. Hope climbs over obstacles when no one is helping. Hope endures hardship when no one is caring. Hope smiles confidently when no one is laughing. Hope reaches for answers when no one is asking. Hope presses toward victory when no one is encouraging. Hope dares to give when no one is sharing. Hope brings the victory when no one is winning.

There is nothing to do but bury a man when his hopes are gone. Losing hope usually precedes loss of life itself. You don't need a better environment; you just need more hope. It's the one thing in your life that you cannot do without! Hope is that basic to life. I have hope today. “Where there is no hope for the future, there is no power in the present.” It is an unshakable hope. It is a hope based on something eternal and all-powerful. It is a hope founded on good evidence.

If you are without hope today, or if you have a loved one who is without hope, there are links for hope you need to know about and take into your life..I am thankful to Sam Crabtree for his article that has influenced this blog.

Three Ways in Which We Use the Word "Hope"

We use the word "hope" in at least three different ways.

1. Hope is the desire for something good in the future.
The children might say, "I hope daddy gets home early tonight so we can play kickball after supper before his meeting." In other words they desire for him to get home early so that they can experience this good thing, namely, playing together after supper.

2. Hope is the good thing in the future that we are desiring.
We say, "Our hope is that Jim will arrive safely." In other words, Jim's safe arrival is the object of our hope.

3. Hope is the reason why our hope might indeed come to pass.
We say, "A good tailwind is our only hope of arriving on time." In other words, the tailwind is the reason we may in fact achieve the future good that we desire. It's our only hope.

So hope is used in three senses:

a.a desire for something good in the future,
b.the thing in the future that we desire, and
c.the basis reason for thinking that our desire may indeed be fulfilled

The Distinctive Biblical Meaning of Hope

All three of these uses are found in the Bible. But the most important feature of biblical hope is not present in any of these ordinary uses of the word hope. In fact the distinctive meaning of hope in Scripture is almost the opposite of our ordinary usage.

I don't mean that in Scripture hope is a desire for something bad (instead of something good). And I don't mean that in Scripture hope is rejection of good (instead of desire for it). It is not the opposite in those senses.

It is the opposite in this sense: ordinarily when we use the word hope, we express uncertainty rather than certainty.

"I hope daddy gets home early," means, "I don't have any certainty that daddy will get home on time, I only desire that he does." "Our hope is that Jim will arrive safely," means, "We don't know if he will or not, but that is our desire." "A good tailwind is our only hope of arriving on time," means, "A good tailwind would bring us our desired goal, but we can't be sure we will get one."

Ordinarily, when we express hope, we are expressing uncertainty. But this is NOT the distinctive biblical meaning of hope. And the main thing I want to do this morning is show you from Scripture that biblical hope is not just a desire for something good in the future, but rather, biblical hope is:

A confident expectation and desire for something good in the future.

Biblical hope not only desires something good for the future; it expects it to happen. And it not only expects it to happen; it is confident that it will happen. There is a moral certainty that the good we expect and desire will be done.

1. The Link Between Gratitude and Hope

Gratefulness looks back. Hope looks forward with desire and reasonable confidence and expectation. By looking back, gratitude fuels forward-looking hope. As with over-matched ball teams that are behind late in the game, hanging their heads without oomph, without hope for the future, there isn’t power for the present. Persons who tend not to be grateful tend not to be hopeful.

2. The Link Between Hopelessness and Misplaced Trust

Hopelessness is a curse; it’s the curse of trusting in man or in anything other than God and his perfect wisdom and timing. Marshall Faulk wrote, "There are no hopeless situations, there are only men and women who have grown hopeless about them.” Despair looks at immediate realities; hope sees ultimate realities. Some see a hopeless end, but others see an Endless Hope. Psalm 33:17, The war horse is a false hope for salvation. . . How is hope sustained? Answer: trust the right thing, God. Hope believes that God is not done. Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not the feeling we will have. That is, hope is the (up) feeling we have that the (down) feeling we have is not permanent.

3. The Link Suffering to Hope

Romans 5:2–5, "we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

The goal of everything, including suffering, is hope. Many lose hope during tribulation, but God intends for tribulation to produce hope… through faith. How does one grow in hope during tribulation? Answer: God’s love is poured into our hearts (through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us).

4. The Link Jesus to Your Hope

Jesus is our hope. In the baby Jesus, God was fulfilling the hopes of his people in a way that they did not recognize. We may not see it now, but God has already acted for us, and God is working even now behind the scenes to bring about his good will. The key is to remember Jesus, who knows your situation, and whose Spirit in us is a down payment of glory yet to come. God is not done.

5. The Link your hope to the God is the origin and object of hope.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope" (Romans 15:13)
God is the One who gives hope. He is the source; He is the origin of hope. He is the object of our hope and He grants His people peace and joy as they believe. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.” The God of hope is the one who fills you with joy and with peace.

6. The Link Your Hope to the God Who Is Not Done

"Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God." Psalm 42:5

The best sermon you preach yourself this week may be only three words long: HOPE IN GOD! John Piper

God was not done when Noah was in the boat, Sarah was barren, Joseph was in prison, Moses was on the run from Pharaoh, the children of Israel were pinned against the Red Sea, the walls of Jericho blocked possession of the promised land, Gideon was hiding from the Midianites, Samson was seduced by a woman and blinded, Ruth was widowed, David was mocked as a boy facing a giant, Job’s children were all killed, government officials persecuted Daniel, Jonah was in the belly of a fish, Paul couldn’t get rid of this thorn, and Jesus was put in the grave. God is not done! Hope is not undone, because he is not done!

In your life hope is like a reservoir of emotional strength. If put down, look to the emotional reservoir of hope for the strength to return good for evil. Without hope you have no power to absorb the wrong and walk in love, and you sink into self-pity or self-justification. If you experience a setback in your planning—get sick, or things don't go the way you want—you look to the emotional reservoir of hope for the strength to keep going and not give up. If you face a temptation to be dishonest, to steal, to lie, or to lust, Look to the emotional reservoir of hope for the strength to hold fast to the way of righteousness, and deny yourself some brief, unsatisfying pleasure

“My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus'blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand….
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand.”

Holding on to hope,
Pastor Bill