Hope is an essential and fundamental element of Christian life, so essential indeed, that, like faith and love, it can itself designate the essence of Christianity. Unbelievers are without this hope. Christ is the actual object of the believer’s hope, because it is in his second coming that the hope of glory will be fulfilled. Hope is a person or thing in which expectations are centered; to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence; to believe, desire, or trust. Hope against hope, to continue to hope, although the outlook does not warrant it. Now that we have the foundation of hope; remember those times when you once had a pure hope in something or someone. Hope as with anything else can be beaten down and nearly destroyed. If not destroyed, it definitely will become handicapped. Hope is apart of our emotions.
Have you ever looked or waited for something to happen that you became disappointed about over and over again? This is the recipe for dashed hopes.
Have you ever looked or waited for something to happen that showed up greater than your expectations? This is the recipe for high hopes.
As with anything else it is our ability to create hope that can become realistic or unrealistic depending on the information that we have and how we react to that knowledge. It is the dashed hopes that we experience that finally will cause us to give up. In the book of Jeremiah 29:11 we are told by GOD “I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. WoW! GOD is the ONE that knows our plans because it is HE that design the plan for our life; where we are to go; what we are to say; who we are to pal around with; who we are to marry and so forth and so on. Sometimes in those plans that HE has for us the enemy will toss a wrench into the project. It is here that we must not give up; either step over; jump over or pick up the wrench; move it out of the way and continue towards your destiny. The unbeliever will throw in the towel; raise the white flag because they can’t take another disappointment. Their thoughts become “what’s the use” or “everyone is saying or doing it”. First of all everyone is not doing or saying it. Secondly who is everyone? I’ve heard so much about this person; where are they and why is it that in all my years I keep missing where everyone is when everyone is speaking or doing something that I must speak or do?
You have so much to hope for; never think that there is nothing to hope for. The world is a big oyster; the meat in the clam is you and the pearl found in the oyster is the sand. Think about that; a pearl is made from one (1) single grain of sand that is ingested by an oyster. The sand is not digested and becomes a pearl because of the work done on the inside of the oyster and the sand grain.
So it is with us; you are the (oyster); JESUS is the one (1) single component needed to make things happen anew in our lives. We ingest The Word (sand) which becomes activated by The Holy Spirit (new creation) which then reveals the pearl within us.
This is why we are able to “Hope in the LORD, for with the LORD there is unfailing love. HIS redemption overflows”. Psalm 130:7
This is the secret: CHRIST lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing HIS glory. Colossians 1:27