March 14th, 2017 Eric Rubino

The God of Hope

By Peg Yarbrough

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. 
Rom. 15:13

God desires for His children to abound in hope.  As a matter of fact, He wants us to live in hope all the time because hope is a life giver, and hopelessness is a life killer.  

But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.  Psa. 71:14
 
Hope is a life giver.  
Hopelessness is a life killer.
 
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.  
Prov. 13:12
 
Hope motivates.  Hope is a fervent desire for a good thing, a godly thing.  When we receive that godly thing we were hoping for, it is a “tree of life.”  We hope for a better day, better health, a raise at work, a vacation, the healing of a friend, for good things to happen to our spouse.  Paul “hoped” to send Timothy to minister to the believers in Philippi.
 
Him [Timothy] therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.   Phil. 2:23
 
Hope is the gas in our engine – the motivation that keeps us moving forward.  Hopelessness is the empty tank, and that’s when one gives up and gives in.  
 
Every godly thing we pursue in life, in one way or another, is based on hope.
 
Biblically speaking, hope is “the confident expectation of something good.”  Not to be confused with THE hope, which is the confident expectation of the return of Christ; who will take us to our new home in our resurrected bodies.
 
And the hope of Christ’s return is crucial to staying motivated to live for God and not “return unto Egypt,” which means to go back to your old ways of stinkin’ thinkin’, living only for your self, driven by selfishness.  Without THE hope burning in your heart, you will take your eye off the prize, and you will lose your way as to what is really important in this life.
 
Hope keeps us going.  It prods us on to do the next right thing to bring it to pass.  And faith is the substance (brings into manifestation) the thing hoped for.  
 
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Heb. 11:1

Faith springs from hope.  Living in hope can be a constant state of mind, and then faith “pulls the trigger,” so to speak, to bring a specific thing to pass. You don’t have much faith in the midst of hopelessness.  And your hope should be based on the promises of God.  Both faith and hope are energized by love; by believing that God really does love you, and that He’s got your back.   Hope lifts your heart because in hope you are fully persuaded that God is faithful to do what He says.  Faith, hope, and love are inseparable.  It takes all three to live the more abundant life.  
 
Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.  Psa.  31:24

Hope gives you strength.  Hopelessness saps your strength.  You are designed to hope.  You are designed to be strong in the Lord.  You are designed to look to God with the confident expectation of something good.  King David said, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me ALL the days of my life.”  Psa. 23:6.  Now that’s a man full of hope!
 
Whatever comes your way, don’t let the Adversary steal your hope.  Your Father is “the God of hope” and His desire for you is to abound in hope through His power working (energized) in your life.
 
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. Rom. 15:13
 
Hope is a life giver.  Hope is a motivator.  Hopelessness is a life killer.  A hopeless man is a defeated man.  But, praise God, our hope is in the Lord, and not in our own strength.  I invite you to seek God’s help in staying filled His kind of hope.  What are you waiting for?
 
And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.   Psa. 39:7  Amen!
 
Abounding in Hope,
Peg