The Believer Has Hope!

Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all...As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength.  -G.K. Chesterton, Signs of the Times, April 1993, p. 6.

The Bible teaches us that biblical is hope something entirely different than the wishful thinking of the world. Listen to the words of Psalm 31:24, “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.” And again from Psalm 71:5, “For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.”Hear also Paul, “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity,” 1 Corinthians 13:13.

The world says that hope is merely a fond wish or desire. The words used for hope in the Bible, on the other hand, tell an entirely different story. They teach us that biblical hope is “A deep settled confidence that God will keep His promises!” Biblical hope is a “joyful, confident expectation”.

In the face of the hopelessness that grips our world, there is one group of people that possesses genuine hope. The believer has hope!

I do not know what tomorrow will bring my way. It may bring death, disease and disaster. It may bring sorrow, pain and hardship. It may bring blessing, joy and happiness. I may not know what tomorrow will bring, but I do know for sure that tomorrow might bring Jesus. Titus 2:13, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”

Here is how the dictionary defines hope: “to have a wish to get or do something or for something to happen or be true, especially something that seems possible or likely.”

Hope, from the world’s viewpoint is just what that definition describes. The world sees hope as a wish or a desire. Hope, as the world sees it, is a longing for something that may or may not take place.

The hope of the believer is wrapped up in the second coming of Jesus Christ. He is coming and His return brings us hope for all our tomorrows!

Scripture: Genesis 8:1; Psalm 3:2-6; Mark 4:30-34; Luke 18:35-43; 1 Corinthians 15:54-58; Revelation 22:18-21; Job 17:15; Proverbs 13:12

Prayer: Heavenly Father, give us a thankful sense of the blessings in which we live, of the many comforts of our lot; that we may not deserve to lose them by discontent or indifference. Hear us almighty God, for his sake who has redeemed us, and taught us thus to pray. Amen

May your day be blessed!

Destry