The Power of Hope – Part 2

  

Hope is like faith.  You cannot have one without the other.  Hope is expecting what you see inside of you to manifest itself outside of you. When it manifests, it becomes real, and when you see it, you have no need to hope for it any longer.  Today, we are going to delve deeper into what hope is, and how important it is that we use it with our faith every day.

Scriptures:

Hebrews 11:1:  Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].   ^{AMP  hoped – elpizo – to expect,  and hope for}

Hebrews 6: 13-20:  ¹³  For when God made the promise to Abraham, He swore [an oath] by Himself, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, ¹⁴ saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” ¹⁵ And so, having patiently waited, he realized the promise [in the miraculous birth of Isaac, as a pledge of what was to come from God]. ¹⁶ Indeed men swear [an oath] by one greater than themselves, and with them [in all disputes] the oath serves as confirmation [of what has been said] and is an end of the dispute. ¹⁷ In the same way God, in His desire to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable nature of His purpose, intervened and guaranteed it with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge would have strong encouragement and indwelling strength to hold tightly to the hope set before us. ¹⁹ This hope [this confident assurance] we have as an anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it]—a safe and steadfast hope that enters within the veil [of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence of God dwells], ²⁰ where Jesus has entered [in advance] as a forerunner for us, having become a High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.    AMP   ^{hope-elpis- to anticipate with pleasure; expectation}

Galatians 3: 13, 14:  ¹³ But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” ¹⁴ Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.    ^NLT

Romans 4:18:  Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”   ^Berean

Romans 4:18:  Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping–believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!”    ^NLT

 Acts 2: 22-32:    ²² Men of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus of Nazareth was a man certified by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. ²³ He was handed over by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. ²⁴ But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in its clutches. ²⁵ David says about Him:  ‘I saw the Lord always before me;
                       because He is at my right hand,
                       I will not be shaken. ²⁶ Therefore
                       my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices,
                       my body also will live in hope, ²⁷
                       because You will not abandon my
                      soul to Hades,  nor will You let Your
                      Holy One see decay.  ²⁸ You have
                      made known to me the paths of life,
                     You will fill me with joy in Your presence.’
²⁹ Brothers, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰ But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne. ³¹ Foreseeing this, David spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His body see decay. ³² God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses.    ^Berean

Matthew 1: 1:  The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.    ^NKJ

Romans 8: 22-24:  ²² For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. ²³ And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. ²⁴ For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.    ^NAS

Exercising hope is thinking, imagining and meditating on Scripture.  Let’s practice hope with Isaiah 53 (Health) and Luke 6:38 (Finances).

Isaiah 53: 4, 5:  ⁴ Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Luke 6:38:   Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full–pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”   ^NLT

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