Bible Study
The Hope That Does Not Disappoint (III)
Hope means an aspiration, an expectation or a desire for something to happen.
Biblically, hope means a joyful and confident expectation of good, an assured look into the future or the anticipation of good (1 Corinthians 13:13. AMP, Titus 1:2). Biblical hope is patient, it waits with confidence and joy because it is convinced of the manifestation of it’s expectation. It’s confidence is based on its anchor and foundation- Jesus Christ. The confident persuasion and assurance that the object of Hope will manifest is the finished work of Christ (1 Peter 1:21, Colossians 1:27). Yes, the blood of Jesus is continually speaking of better things for us.
Relationship between Hope and Faith
Unlike Faith which is NOW, hope is unseen and in the future (Romans 8:24-25). Meaning that if you needed something to happen Now, you should be engaging Faith instead of Hope. This is because Hope always looks into the future almost endlessly, but Faith believes, speaks and acts like it already has it now.
So have you been acting in faith or are you in hope? If you find yourself saying “I am confident that God will do it for me no matter how long it takes“, then you’re in the Hope zone. Faith would rather say; “I believe that by the stripes of Jesus I am healed and so I have no business staying bound on a sick bed. I’ll arise now and act like the healed that I am“. Halleluyah!
As already mentioned, biblical hope exhibits an almost indefinite and unending kind of patience. This implies that faith must always be engaged in order to bring the expectation of hope into tangibility. This also means that one must be spiritually alert in order to recognize the right timing and appearance of the object of hope so as to seize it by faith.
Most of Israel totally missed God’s description and function of the Messiah. So even though they had a messianic hope of an Annointed One who would deliver them from their enemies and restore power to them, yet, they didn’t recognize Jesus as the sent One when He showed up. Israel lacked spiritual sensitivity and understanding as to the exact description and role of the Messiah, hence they didn’t recognize the time of their visitation (Romans chapters 9-11, John 1:11, Mark 6:1-6, Luke 9:51-56).
May this not be our experience in Jesus name. Amen.
But could it be that the manifestation of your long awaited hope is starring right at you and yet you do not see it? Friend, look around you, think about that situation again, stretch your imagination a bit more, deepen your spiritual sensitivity. Can you see the answer you’ve been waiting for? God is faithful, He will Always do His part. Don’t miss God.
Hope Will Not Disappoint Because We Love As God loves
As we now know, faith makes real the things we hope for (Hebrews 11:1). However 1 Corinthians 13:2 tells us that it doesn’t matter how much great faith we have, we are nothing if we are lacking in love….
“I may have the gift of prophecy, I may understand all secrets and know everything there is to know, and I may have faith so great that I can move mountains. But even with all this, if I don’t have love, I am nothing.“
1 Corinthians 13:2 ERV
Dear friends, faith without the works of love is dead (James 2:14-26).
Now, if Hope will not manifest without Faith, and Faith is dependent on Love to work, then Hope will not manifest without love. Hope needs both faith and love to work.
See what Romans 5:5 says….
“And this hope will never disappoint us. We know this BECAUSE God has poured out his love to fill our hearts through the Holy Spirit he gave us.”
Romans 5:5 ERV
God poured His love extravagantly into our spirits.
I do not think that God lavished His love in our spirits just to make us reservoirs of His love. No, He wants us to KNOW the depth of His love towards us so that we can in turn EXPRESS that same love towards others.
The greatest of faith, love and hope is love (1 Corithians 13:13). Do not stifle your miracle; put away all forms of bitterness, unforgiveness and hatred and intentionally put on Christ, put on God, put on love.
Our Hope will not disappoint because God loves us deeply and dearly, and we love just as God loves. Amen. Our hope will not disappoint because it is founded on Christ.
Friends, as we look expectantly to the Blessed Hope of Jesus’s return in glory (Titus 2:13), let’s wait in joy, confidence and with spiritual alertness. Let’s wait in faith, actively sharing God’s love to everyone around us.
Praise the name of Jesus!
Thank you for joining me on this study. Please join me next time as I begin a new study series; Wisdom For Influence. ?
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Previous Parts of this Study
Remember that you can access previous parts of this study as follows; Part 1: Study Background. Part 2: The Scope of the Christian Victory. Part 3: How Christians Gained Victory. Part 4: How Faith, Love and Hope Mix Together for Victorious Christian Living. Part 5: The Nature of God’s Love. Part 6: Characteristics of God Kind of Love. Parts 7 and 8: Winning Through Love. Part 9: How to develop our love nature. Part 10: Giving Is Not (always) Love. Part 11:Victory Through Faith: Understanding Faith. Part 12: Victory Through Faith: The Righteousness of God. Part 13: The Stimulus for Faith. Part 14: The Faith of Abraham (A). Part 15: The Faith of Abraham (B). Part 16: The Blessing of Abraham. Part 17: Activate The Blessing. Part 18: Abraham’s Righteousness. Part 19: You Can Grow Your Faith (A). Part 20: You Can Grow Your Faith (B). Part 21: The Hope That Does Not Disappoint (I). Part 22: The Hope That Does Not Disappoint (II).
