SCRIPTURE GEMS - 12

SCRIPTURE GEMS – 12

What are your hopes?  Some hope for a new house, new car, a better job.  These are things that have not yet been acquired.  So what is hope?  Hope is a desire, a wish.  Perhaps there is a confidence in the future with a solid assurance that whatever is wished will happen, but not yet.  It involves trust.  Without hope, a Christian would be floundering in life but we have an anchor that ties us down.  Heb.6:19a   We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

As we think of our definition of hope, Rom.8:24,25 may give us some insight.  We don’t see our hope.  However, we can know that we can have this hope.  Eph.1:18   This hope was not an afterthought.  Paul used his hope promised to his ancestors in his trial before King Agrippa.  Acts 26:6,7   David mentions his hope in Ps.39:7.

Man has a tendency to wrongfully place his hope.  1 Tim.6:17   Another example of hope wrongfully placed is explained in Acts 16:19.  The evil spirit was removed from the slave girl and hope of profit was gone.  Sometimes we have hope until all becomes catastrophic, then we lose our hope.  This happened with all but Paul in Acts 27:20.  Paul’s hope was anchored, firm and secure.  They were saved.

Abraham was such an example of hope. Rom.4:18   The verse begins, against all hope.  Certainly, many things for which he hoped would seem impossible to the normal person.  Could we say that people of God are not “normal.”  Abraham’s hope tied him down to the promises God made to him.  Hope was his anchor that kept him firm and secure to continue in God’s way.  He was able to see his offspring which God promised.  Being the father of many nations was not realized in his time on earth but it happened.  Heb.11:1

Our hope is not realized all at once and this is where our trust and confidence in the future comes into play.  The Jews were given prophecies of a Messiah that was to come.  Matt.12:21   When that hope became a reality, many did not believe and so it turned to the Gentiles.  Rom.15:12   The Gentiles were then able to have a hope.

Those who believe, whether Jew or Gentile, now have a hope.  1 Tim.4:10   Because of our belief/faith in God, we also have access to this hope.  Rom.5:2; 1 Pet.1:21   As we accept Jesus as our Savior, our hope is in Christ.  Heb.3:6   Paul used Jesus synonymous with hope in 1 Tim.1:1.  Without Christ, there is no hope.  Eph.2:12

We learn through the Scriptures that by endurance and encouragement provided, we are given hope.  Rom.15:4   A person might hope for a new house but they would realize that it could never be obtained in their lifetime.  That is a dead hope.  We have a living hope.  We have confidence that it will definitely happen.  1 Pet.1:3   It is a living hope because Jesus paved the way by arising from the dead.  This provided a way for our salvation through His blood shed on the cross and then followed by His resurrection.  The hope placed in this salvation is the helmet of our Christian armor.  1 Thess.5:8   Paul tells the Corinthians that if our hope in Christ in just for this life, we are to be pitied.  It is so much more than that.  1 Cor.15:19

God’s love through the Holy Spirit gives us the power to keep our hope secure and strong.  Rom.5:5   This hope causes our lives to change.  1 Jhn.3:3   We are encouraged and strengthened  in good deeds and proper words because of this hope which we have in Christ.  2 Thess.2:16,17   This hope does not cause us to just sit and wait for it to happen.  After Paul had explained the second coming of Jesus, some were doing just that.  2 Thess.3:11   They were then exhorted to get to work.  2 Thess.3:13

Through it all, we have joy because of this great hope we have in Jesus.  Rom.12:12   Whatever happens, this hope will bring us through.  Titus 1:2   Just think, it has been promised before time began.  Our hope of eternal life lies in the fact that we have been made right by God’s favor (justified by His grace).  Titus 3:7   We hope for the righteousness which comes by faith through the Holy Spirit.  Gal.5:5

We are called to holy living so the divine favor of God will be upon us as Christ is revealed at His coming.  1 Pet.1:13   We must continue in our faith, firm and steadfast, and hold on to our hope that has been shown to us through the gospel.  Col.1:23

Our hearts overflow as we realize the hope that God gives us through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Rom.15:13   Let us never release the anchor of our soul.  Heb.6:19a   We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.  Ask ourselves, “Where do we stand?”