Hope looks ahead

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It is part of human nature to hope and to be filled with longing and expectation.

1. Hope means

Trust and expect that something positive will develop in the future.

• To get healthy
• A conflict is resolved
• An important exam is passed

Hope acts as an inner force that motivates people to keep going rather than give up. Hope in something greater, a better future, even when there is no evidence.

Hope is a ray of light within us that drives us to believe in possibilities, even in dark moments.

2. Human Hope

This hope is part of our earthly existence. Part of our everyday life.  

In all stages of life, the idea and expectation of hope — of fulfillment — changes.  

Memory:  

Reunification between East and West Germany. Through peaceful demonstrations and hearts full of hope, they awaited freedom. Their wish was fulfilled.

Dialogue at Jacob's well. After a long conversation between Jesus and the woman, she said to him:

The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”  Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” John 4:25-26 (ESV)

Your hope and expectation came true. When Jesus comes, and He came. He will explain everything to us. Blessed encounter.


3. The Divine Living Hope

The term 'hope' appears 150 times throughout the Holy Scriptures. It is not an uncertain, vague expectation of the future.

Divine hope is a gift of God that belongs to faith and love. It is a gift from God to us humans, not a temporal, but an eternal hope.

Experiential hope - Peter clarifies

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 1 Peter 1:3-4 (ESV)

Hope Brings Joy

After the jailer had heard the message of a new life, he brought Paul and Silas into his house and cared for them. He rejoiced along with all who lived in his household that they had come to faith in God. According to Acts 16:34

Hope is founded on faith

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrew 11:1 (ESV)

Hope is founded

• in God the Creator  
• in Jesus the Savior from sins  
• in the Holy Spirit the Helper  
• in God's Word and the promises

4. Statements of the Psalmists

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. 
Psalm 62:5 (ESV)

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. 
Psalm 37:5 (ESV)

For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. Psalm 71:5 (ESV)

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. Psalm 130:5-6 (ESV)

5. Lasting Eternal Hope

Hope in the greatest distress. In the Lamentations of Jeremiah, Jeremiah mentions despite the greatest difficulties:

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”. Lamentations 3:21-24 (ESV)

Paul says:

So now faith, hope, and love abide. 1 Corinthians 13:13a (ESV)

Hope as an Anchor

An anchor has the function of holding a ship or boat in a specific position so that it is not driven away by wind currents or waves. The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews uses this comparison. He encourages us not to give up in any situation in life. We are anchored in the presence of God; nothing can separate us from Him.

So that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain. Hebrew 6:18-19 (ESV)

I call out to you: Let hope carry and hold you throughout your entire life.

Author: Edith Waechter
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