As we look around today, we are starting to see a world that is falling into despair; A time that was warned about by God. While there has always been despair in this world and times of mass sorrows and pain….People even in their despair had hope.
We as humans have an innate characteristic in us for hope, it is how we can get through most things….how we can get through each day, get through bad situations, get through our trials and tribulations….and some people even when they are at their lowest point of despair, still has hope in something…..
What is Hope?
Definition of Hope
“a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen, to anticipate; to want; to wish for; to trust.”
There are many different times we have different types of hope….and we have dreams based on hope.
All hope is selfish in nature, because it always starts with I . We can never as humans get away from hoping in one way or another….how often do we say…’I hope,’ or ‘I wish,’ or even ‘I thought’; ‘I assumed,’ ; It is such a habit that we aren’t even aware of saying them most of time.
As we grow older, we start to realize that hope can also bring it share of sorrows…..because in hope you can find what you want….but never receive it….or it doesn’t come the way you hoped (wanted/expected) it would.
Yet……we still find ourselves always hoping….. People all over the world live everyday hoping that tomorrow will be better, hoping that our day goes well, hoping that we get that bonus at work, hoping we can buy that car, hoping that we can have peace, hoping that we can live another day, hoping; that the future will be brighter and better……
We can make plans throughout our lives, giving hope a chance to manifest all those plans, and while some of them come about, most of them don’t. We daydream and fantasize in our hope that these things can and will be true.
It can’t be just because we hope something happens, or is true….that the expectation happens….There are many religions today that are teaching this kind of Hope….they are teaching and telling people, that they can create and manifest what they hope for and what they want, however, in order to do this they must not think they will not receive it….or they won’t get what they hoped for.
In other words….this is their excuse to other people when their wants and hopes do not manifest….it is because they didn’t really believe.
How sad and yet not surprising at all that people fall for this false hope, false belief, because as humans we are desperate to have things of and in this world….none of us are exempt from wanting to believe in something so easy…..
How many of these people actually have experienced it? Not a whole lot…the ones teaching this falseness, they have achieved it, because they have fooled many people into spending money to buy books, Cd’s, Apps, and podcasts….
It is a part of being human, to have hope, to wish for things, to want things….even though most people will never receive what they hope for….sometimes you get what you hoped for and then some, and then sometimes what we hope for never happens when or the way we had hoped (expected) it would.
At the root of this hope is having what you want….and most people attribute getting things you want from having money.
Do you realize how many people buy numerous tickets to the lottery, hoping they will win? Only to try again and again….some never give up….others get bitter…and others realize that they are wasting more money than they intend and only buy one maybe once a year, still hoping they might win.
Another side of this….is hope against hope. In other words, you hope for something you know will never happen, or you will never receive….yet deep down….you still hope you might receive or get it.
There are people that will make claim there is no hope, or they have no hope, and therefore they make life choices that are detrimental to their health, to their lives, and even the lives of others. They are too lost to see that even in their despair and choices, they still have hope….a hoping that their pain will disappear, a hoping that they will reincarnate to a better life, a hoping that there is no God to answer too, a hoping that there is no Hell, I could go on and on.
“And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.” Jeremiah 18:12
As you can see…even in our last moments here on earth….we all have expectations of something that we want to believe…..what we hope is true.
A False Hope
No human is without hope in something…..and in hope, you will find what it is you believe and have faith in…..
You see, what you hope for, in essence coincides with what you have faith in…..looking around at the world, you can see that the majority of people have hope in Man, they have hope in governments, in doctors, in scientists, in teachers, in laws, in judges, in other people, in themselves, etc.……
“For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” Galatians 5:5
They have a hope in someone coming to bring peace and safety, peace and security to this world….they have a false hope….and because this hope will tell them what they want to hear….and show them what they think they want to have…..they will put faith in this false hope…..
Even today, right now, there are religions and churches that preach of a false Jesus, a Jesus that says it’s okay to lead sinful lives, that all will go to heaven, that he wants you to be happy, healthy, and wealthy…..that wants you to open yourselves to your own godlike powers and gain a higher purpose….This Jesus being preached and taught today….wants everyone to have what they want and to be who and what they want……And people put their hope, faith, and trust in this Jesus that was created by Demons and Man…. rather than in the true Jesus.
“For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;” Colossians 1:5
I share this to all who will listen, to all who are in despair, to all who are anxious and fearful, to all those who are struggling just to get thru a day……. there is a hope above all these that is a promise….a hope that is the greatest hope of all….a sure hope…a wonderful hope…a hope that is everlasting…..
Jesus Christ: The Blessed Hope
“His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun; and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.” Psalms 72:17
In the Old Testament it was expected and hoped for that God would send a Savior, and it was in many instances referencing trust and faith in God. In the New Testament Jesus Christ was the hope and expectation manifested in physical form, and when Jesus was crucified, hope was referenced to His Saving Grace.
“For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.” Hebrews 7:19
In Jesus Christ all our hopes rest in His word that we are saved if we but believe, but it goes deeper than a surface hope for saved believers….. For we know that the hope we have in Him is a true hope because we have faith in His word.
The teachings of Jesus Christ, brings with it promises made by God himself for all those who have hope in Him, for all those that have faith in that hope…..but, why would we need hope in Jesus? Why would we need to understand what that Hope really means?
See, God did not just give us hope for our salvation, but a hope, a hope that in this world we have something to look forward to that can never be taken from us…..a place in heaven…..
“That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:7
The Promises of Hope
When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we have a sure hope in the promises of God….we have hope in the eternal life in heaven, in peace, in joy….
“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;” Titus 1:2
By our hope in the word of God, brings about our faith in Jesus….and by our faith in Jesus grants us the hope of our belief in grace.
“By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:2
While we as saved Christians will still have humanly hope in material things and want of things in the world….we have a hope that we can rest upon forever, free from death, free from Hell…..free from Sin.
“Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,” Acts 2:26-27
Jesus Christ is The Blessed Hope that came….and, The Blessed Hope that will come again……
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13
He promised to come for His Bride at the Rapture of the Church…
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:3
He promised to come back to rule as King…..
“And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelations 19:16
As saved believers, we should never lose hope in Jesus, we should teach others how to have the same hope we do….and we should trust that in our time of trouble and in the time of trouble to come…that our hope in The Blessed Hope shines so brightly that everyone can see it…..
Have you heard of The Blessed Hope, even in passing?
Do you want or have The Blessed Hope in your life?
Do you hold on to or look for The Blessed Hope in this world of sorrow?
Do you understand or want to understand what The Blessed Hope means?
Those that do not know the Lord, and those that refuse Him…..all the hope they have, is of and in the world….the world will pass away…..
“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 1 John 2:17
Hope Not In Vain
There are many people who will make claim that as saved believers, our hope is vain….why should they hope in the same God, because to them the God we have faith in….is the same God that causes them pain and hardship…..it is because they do not understand, or want to know that it is not God who brings evil into the world, it is our sinfulness, Satan, and demons. They also do not want to understand that the hardship’s they may face comes about from their own choices and God allows it…..
“When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth. Proverbs 11:7
It all boils down to what we as humans want to believe in….what we want to have hope in.
Scripture has been proven time and time again….why not have hope in a sure thing….even now, everything in scripture is coming to pass….it is happening before our very eyes….so is our hope really a vain hope? Is our hope in God of the scripture a false hope?
“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” Romans 15:4
Not according to everything we see….the pages of the Bible are leaping off the pages every day…..and that is why all of those who do not believe will find out very soon our hope in Jesus will be justified, and it will be their choice to find that hope or not…..before it is too late.
For there is coming a time according to scripture, a time that humans will live with no hope….they will lose all hope of ever going to heaven, and of ever knowing Jesus Christ as their savior….and it will come during a 7 year tribulation…. at the 3 1/2 year mark, that all humans will face a choice to accept A MARK, and if you accept it….there will be no more hope for you.
“And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever ever: and they have rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” Revelation 14:11
What is YOUR Hope?
What is your hope in? Is your hope in yourself? Or is your hope in Christ Jesus? Is your hope in Man or is your hope in a promise made by God?
The Only Hope you can expect, depend, and believe in…is The Blessed Hope. Nothing else can or will save this world, or save you. Without Jesus Christ, you have no hope for all other hope is in vain.
“But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” Hebrews 3:6
How sad it is that people pass by this hope….this hope that brings calmness in this world’s storm, this hope brings peace to the heart because we know God is true to His word…..this Blessed Hope brings us into a grace with salvation, and a place set in Heaven with God forever….
If you know this hope….don’t let the worries of this world cause you too much fear and anxiety….do not despair if you know and have this hope….trust in it….
“The hope of the righteous shall be gladness; but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.” Proverbs 10:28
My hope is in the promise made by God….
My hope is in THE BLESSED HOPE, and no one can take that hope from me….I hope that your hope is in Jesus Christ as well.
“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.” Romans 15:13
Understanding The Word 