Do you really hope so?

By Helen Knueven

The word, hope, has been diluted so much – that people say things like:

“I hope I win the lottery”

“I hope I marry a rich guy whose hobby is cooking.”

“I hope they know how lucky they are.”

(There is no confident expectation of these things.  They do not really express a true hope.)

We don’t expect to win the lottery – or marry some yacht-buyer.  Usually when someone says,   “I hope they know how lucky  they are”, it is prompted by an emotion.

We use the word so loosely – that we forget how powerful true hope can be.  It is used in a somewhat wishful thinking way – but real hope is powerful. 

God’s Word elevates the word, hope, to epic proportions.

Yet the hope that God gives us is so powerful – and holds within it a revolutionary patience.

From reading the scriptures below, my heart is encouraged in seeing that Hope is so powerful to the Christian that it comes to us in the person of Jesus Christ.  We cannot experience salvation without hope.  Indeed, our faith is built on hope, a confident expectation of God’s Word.

Jesus Christ took upon Himself our sins and has promised true believers salvation for eternity.– He is our great Hope!

I Timothy 1: 1  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;

I also love this scripture:

Romans 4:18  Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

We look at ourselves, and disqualify ourselves because of our own unworthiness, but against  hope we believe in hope because Jesus Christ has proved to be the One who came to save sinners, and not the righteous.

We need the supernatural power of the Holy Ghost to experience this hope.

Romans 15:13  Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

And lastly – Hope cleanses us, purifies us and readies us for the day of His appearing.

1 John 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

1 John 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.

This is the kind of hope that ushers us into His kingdom at the time of our death.

It is also the kind of hope that empowers us to live today.

Do you hope in Him?   

If not, know that God is ready to give you hope.

Jeremiah 29 13   And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.