Hold Onto Hope

This morning I am focused on hope. There are two sets of verses from Paul's letter to the Romans, and a third from the letter to the Hebrews that are the basis of my meditation:

Romans 8:24-25 NIV
[24] "For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? [25] But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."

Romans 15:13 NIV: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

And finally the most quoted verse on faith and hope from the Letter to the Hebrews:

Hebrews 11:1 NIV: "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."

As I read the first verses this morning, my heart was reminded of some of the things that I hope for in my heart, concerning the Lord, the Kingdom and His manifest presence. I have in me this hope for something much more than I am now experiencing in Christ. I hope for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit like they saw in Acts 2. I hope for God's presence to so fill His church that we all fall face-down in worship. I hope for the pouring forth of healing, so that every person who comes for prayer is healed. I hope for the day all our family is alive in Christ, and pursuing relationship with Him. I hope for salvation, healing, cleansing and deliverance to come to thousands, and tens of thousands. I hope to see many raised from the dead in Jesus' name. I hope for the return to and even surpassing time of miracles and signs and wonders through the church.

I have all this hope inside of me, and the question is where did it come from, or who put it there? The second question is why?

The first question is easily answered for God is the God of hope (Rom 15:13) and all hope comes from Him. He is the author of hope. So if hope exists in me, it came from Him. The second question becomes more interesting at this point - if the hope is from God, why did He put it there? I believe that it is to cause a yearning for something more, which then causes me to pray for and pursue this something more.

In the letter the Hebrews, the author associates hope with the promises of God in Hebrews 6:11-12: "We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. [12] We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised."

So, in other words this hope that I have in me, is an unfulfilled promise, but one that God intends to fulfill. It is is through patience, faith, diligence and confidence that I will see these promises fulfilled. God intends to deliver on His promises, and the natural response to a promise is the hope of seeing it fulfilled. Hope is looking for that which haven's seen yet, but which we know is coming, because we know the purposes of God, His intents, will always be true! So when I read the scriptures, instead of just reading them as a historical document and receiving knowledge, when I read them I have received from the Lord His promise. This promise causes me to hope, pray and pursue God until I see His promise fulfilled.

God does not intend to fan the flames of hope without the chance of seeing them realized. He says in Proverbs 13:12 NIV: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." God is not about making us sick, but rather about breathing life into us.

So my encouragement today is to hold onto this hope, with the knowledge that this signals the intent of the Lord, and what the Lord plans on doing, He does! He wants us to overflow with hope, spreading His hope to all.