HAVING HOPE

A powerful Scripture relating to hope is Romans 15:4.

“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

Think with me for a moment about the last two words of this verse. What does it mean to have hope? In this scripture having hope should not be interpreted as having the possibility of hope. There are places and times where having hope could be interpreted that way. When Jesus died on the cross for us He gave all of us the hope of eternal life. But until you place your faith in him you do not actually hold that hope in your hand. This verse is a stronger statement of hope. I believe having hope here means for hope to have you.

I have a close friend who would always watch the morning news on television before coming to a morning prayer meeting. He would sometimes come to the prayer meeting almost too disturbed to pray. He had trouble praising God because he was upset about problems. He wasn't able to pray for other problems because he was upset about what was on the news. I believe my friend had hope in the sense in which he belonged to the Lord Jesus Christ. But his hope did not have him. He needed to apply hope to his life and especially his prayer life. It needed to grip his life. 

All of us deal with this problem from time to time. But, as 2 Peter 1:4 says, we have very great and precious promises by which we can escape the bonds of the world and of our sinful nature. How do we apply these promises to our lives?

Romans 15:4 calls us to listen to the encouragement of Scripture. Are you listening to God? We need to hunger for what He will say to us in His word. Much of our anxiety as Christians would be overcome if we would allow things God has told us to grip our lives.

Romans 15:4 gives us a combination of applications. It is through endurance and the encouragement of scripture that we gain a firm grip, a life-changing grip on our hope. It is a fact that luxury, success, comfort, and acclaim in this life can actually diminish our hold on hope by distracting us from it. It is when we are forced to endure deprivation, failure, discomfort, and discredit that God's word can speak to us most powerfully. Are you looking to Scripture for God to encourage your heart in the trials that you are facing? In times like these you need God’s hope to have a firm grip upon you.

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

httphinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

YouTube
https://goo.gl/PyzUz7

THE SAFETY NET OF HOPE

We are told in Hebrews 6 that the anchor of our souls is firm and secure. Such hope serves as a kind safety net in our daily lives.

Hope that reaches beyond this world will be a Safety Net From Fears that assail us. A trapeze artist must put in thousands of hours of practice to be able to amaze the crowds who gather to watch. But she would never be able to practice, especially her most difficult aerobatics, without a safety net. If our future is absolutely secure in the arms of Jesus all of life becomes practice for the real main event.

Hope is a Safety Net From Failure. This kind of Hope does not make us careless. The aerialist certainly finds falling painful even in practice. But she can learn from her falls because they are not fatal. We can risk in the challenges of life because our hope is secure.

You have probably heard the cynics of our time say something like, “Everyone has a price. Everyone will cheat, everyone will be unethical, everyone will sell their highest virtues for the right price.” Christians can escape those temptations, if we keep our eyes on our hope that is out of this world. Hope is a Safety Net in the Face of Temptation. Keeping our hope in mind will strengthen us in the face of any temptation. I don't have to lie, God loves me. I don't have to cheat, my reward in Heaven is certain. I don't have to lust after that thing or that person, my Lord is near, and His return is imminent.

The perspective of a secure hope even gives us a Safety Net in the Face of Success. Our greatest temptations often come in our triumphs. Success can make us prideful and careless. Arrogance makes us disgusting to God. It can even ruin relationships with those we love. But if I can keep my eyes on hope beyond this life, I will be able to say, “This is only worldly success. It is nothing compared to what is waiting for me in Heaven.”

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

httphinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

YouTube
https://goo.gl/PyzUz7

HOPE IS PERSONAL

Our hope, God's hope is personal. In his 1939 Christmas message to the nation King George VI read Minnie Louise Haskins’ poem, God Knows, given him by his daughter, Elizabeth.

“I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year,
‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’
And he replied, "Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.’

While we look forward to life beyond this life, our hope is more than what we think of as life. We certainly hope for all that we can understand of gates of pearl and streets of gold, but the heart of our hope in and beyond this life is the person of Christ.

In Titus 2:13 Paul explained our hope by saying we are,

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”

He is our blessed hope.

Hebrews 6:19,20 calls us to Jesus.

“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

I have cancer, and I don't know how long I will live. In all that I do I am preparing to enter the dark corridor of death. It is uncharted territory for me. But I know Jesus has passed this way before me. He is our forerunner. He knows the way. And He is holding tightly to my hand.

This is not the cold map of doctrine. This is His personal direction. He continually whispers through His word, “Trust me. Follow me. Depend on me. I will lead you home.

Relationship with Him promises continual novelty and dynamic security. I will always be held in His hands whatever we face. His wonders will be new every morning for ever and ever.

As I pen these words I am on an airplane. As exciting as technology can be, I am glad this flight is not completely automatic. We have a competent pilot. We have been told that there are thunderstorms in and around our destination. But our pilot has assured us that he will avoid them wherever they arise when we get there.

JESUS IS OUR HOPE.

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

httphinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

YouTube

https://goo.gl/PyzUz7

ANCHORED IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

Where is your anchor fixed? In my first post in this blog I referred to the storm in acts 27. Let me call your attention to something a little unusual in that account. Still in the night after they had discovered the danger of a coast they could crash into, some sailors sought to escape the ship. They lowered a boat on the pretense of laying out anchors from the bow. They had already cast four anchors from the stern. They needed four anchors to slow their progress from the wind and waves. These anchors could have been dumped overboard. But an anchor from the bow would have needed a boat to take it to a place where the ship could be pulled forward. I suppose that was what they were pretending to do.

Another scripture pictures an anchor that is used like this. Hebrews 6:19,20 reads thus.

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure that enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.”

The curtain refers to the veil of the temple. That was where The Mercy Seat was. That was where the High Priest would meet with the Lord every year to make sacrifice for the sins of the people. Because the Scripture reads, “where Jesus has gone before us”, we understand that this passage is talking about the veil in the presence of God in heaven.

While I could not find another ancient reference for this use of an anchor (with the possible exception of Acts 27), this passage seems to say our anchor has been carried all the way into the harbor and where we will be drawn past the reefs and rocks into the safety of the presence of God.

The only safe place to anchor our lives is in heaven. If our lives are anchored in the stock market, if our lives are anchored in the culture or our politics, if our lives are anchored in our own desires or ambitions, we will certainly be lost in the storm.

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

httphinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/

http://daveswatch.com/

YouTube

https://goo.gl/PyzUz7

THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL

For some time I have been planning to write a book on our hope in Christ. So I have decided to give you a foretaste in a regular blog. I am calling this new blog, “THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL."

Have you ever been in the storm from Acts 27? I did not ask if you have read it, although I recommend that you read it. I am asking if your life has been besieged by such a storm.
It began with a gentle southerly breeze promising that the troubled seas were behind them. Then Euroclydon fell on them without warning. First they dumped their cargo, the purpose and profit of the voyage. Then they threw the ship's tackle into the sea. For many days, they may have lost count, they were driven, who knew where, across the open sea. In the dark of night long after the crew and passengers had lost hope of being saved the sailors sensed that they had come near some land. This was not primarily hope. They were terrified of dashing the ship upon the rocks. So they cast four anchors and longed for daylight.
But there was hope beyond what any of them could see. Paul stood before them all and declared that God had sent His angel to assure him that they would all be saved.
One of my favorite verses in the entire Bible yes Hebrews 6:19.

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.”

Do you have an anchor that keeps your life stable in the midst of the storms that assail? God has given His children the anchor of hope that will hold our hearts fast in the wildest storms.

http://theanchorofthesoul.blogspot.com/

http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/

http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/

http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/


http://daveswatch.com/


YouTube





https://goo.gl/PyzUz7