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Hope

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
(1 Corinthians 13:13 NASB)

We often speak of love, and rightly so for it is the greatest.  We also often speak of faith, but how often do we talk about hope?  Hope is great, if not for any other reason, because of the company it keeps with love and faith.

For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
(Romans 8:24-25 NASB)

Hope involves an expectation that we will receive something we do not currently have.  But, what is it that we most hope for.  Most of us would immediately say heaven.  Yes, we should have hope that heaven will ours, but is that the most important thing we should hope for?  I think not.  Most important is the hope, the expectation that God will, through providence, through the Holy Spirit, and through His word transform us into the image of Christ.  This, above all else, is the great prize.

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
(Philippians 3:20-21 NASB)

But certainly we have hope for heaven and for overcoming this world and having our frail bodies transformed into eternal bodies through which we can worship and serve the Lord forever and ever.

But hope is not just for the hereafter.  Day by day we should live in hope about things in this world as well.

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
(Hebrews 11:6 NASB)

Faith and hope are strongly dependant upon each other.  We must believe, Paul writes, that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him.   If we have this conviction then we can face each day with hope that God will, that day, reward us.

"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
(Matthew 6:25-26 NASB)

We should live with confident hope that God will supply our needs because of His great love for us.  Hope is the key to defeating worry and anxiety in life.

You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.
(2 Corinthians 3:2-4 NASB)

One of the most important things we should hope for pertains to God's work in the lives of people around us.  It is easy to become discouraged by others but we must never give up on God's work in their lives.  We must have confidence through Christ that God can transform others just as He has transformed us.

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
(1 Corinthians 13:13 NASB)

Jack said:

Most important is the hope, the expectation that God will, through providence, through the Holy Spirit, and through His word transform us into the image of Christ.  This, above all else, is the great prize.

  Thanks for that awesome reminder.

I have hope this thread will not again slip so quickly onto the second page.

Quote from: Serenity432001 on Fri Dec 15, 2006 - 08:23:18
Jack said:

Most important is the hope, the expectation that God will, through providence, through the Holy Spirit, and through His word transform us into the image of Christ.  This, above all else, is the great prize.

  Thanks for that awesome reminder.

Thanks Jack as Lisa said. This is a good thought you have shared and it is the main thing I pray daily for. I pray that God will do the transforming work in me he has promised and I pray that as stubborn as I am that he will soften me to allow him to do it instead of me fighting him all the way. I still have much growing to do he is not finished with me yet.

I am scheduled to speak on Sunday at a memorial service for everyone in our community who have died in the last year.  They hold this service as a way to help people who have suffered the loss of a spouse, child, grandparent, etc. cope during the holiday season.

I plan to speak on the hope that was born with Emmanuel.  Because Jesus came to live among and die for us we can have hope that this life is not the end and we will see our loved ones again.  Jesus was the firstfruits of the resurrection harvest, so we too, in him, one day will be resurrected never to die again.  And if those whom we love are in Christ - we have the hope of spending eternity with them in the presence of God.

What a great hope and what a great motivation to evangelize our family and our friends!

As Jack put it, I hope that our Heavenly Father not only transforms me as i die to the flesh daily, but I also hope that he transforms those who are around me. I don't want to sound partial but I also hope that he transforms those who are very special to me and even those whom I have not met yet,people all over the world.

Great post, Jack.

Yes, and the hope for us in every hopeless situation.....He is our salvation in all times of distress and our security and peace in times of normalcy. 

Don

Quote from: johntwayne on Fri Dec 15, 2006 - 07:09:44

Hope involves an expectation that we will receive something we do not currently have.  But, what is it that we most hope for.  Most of us would immediately say heaven.  Yes, we should have hope that heaven will ours, but is that the most important thing we should hope for?  I think not.  Most important is the hope, the expectation that God will, through providence, through the Holy Spirit, and through His word transform us into the image of Christ.  This, above all else, is the great prize.

As he changes me from one glory to another I live in hope of one day seeing him face to face and being holy as he is holy.

What a glorious hope! To see Him, face to face!

QuoteWe must have confidence through Christ that God can transform others just as He has transformed us.

And therein lies the wonder of His rest and peace. 

Thanks, Jack, for the illumination of Christ in your post.   

Before I was a Christian, I remember when hope was only something I knew I really had no control over. It was just a wish. To me, to be without Christ, hope is just an illusion. To be in Christ, hope is a given. My hope in Christ and all He is about, is Him being True and Trustworthy. I have Faith in Him, which gives me Hope and Love. In turn, I have faith that I can show others my hope comes from His love.
I will never again live without faith, hope or love, just because of Him!!
Thank you, Jesus!!

Amen, msbradley

When going through hard times, sometimes well-intentioned people will say, Don't get your hopes up?  And, I've actually been guilty of this myself but I try hard not to say that anymore because sometimes in the midst of trials, hope is all we've got.  And so what if we get our hopes up?  Yes we may be disappointed again but hope can keep us from being devastated. 

And the absence of hope is really a living death.....hence the horrible state of this world...to see hopeless people all around us, it is something so heavy and burdensome and devastating to see and that I think is what the Father saw when he looked at us.
Hence, shouldn't our greatest ministerial desire be to go into this world of hopelessness and give it since He gave it to us?

Don