Hope: The Kind That Keeps Us GoingSample

  

Day 1

There are some truths more important in life than others. Not every truth is on the same plane, and it has a different effect on us 

For example: America lies in the northern hemisphere. True or false? You will get burnt if you put your hand in the fire. True or false? Both statements are factual, but they hold different value for us. 

Life is continually changing. There is so much uncertainty in the times we are living. Who thought the world would come to a screeching halt because of a virus?  

How do we navigate this? What is our view of life? How do we make sense of everything happening around us – the good, bad and the ugly? What truths do we need to anchor our lives in amid constant change? 

A while back, I had a conversation with a young man who said something like this: "The earth is hurtling towards doom and destruction, and there is nothing that we can do to save the planet. We have reached a point of no return." I thought to myself- how fatalistic and what a hopeless view of life? This kind of thinking has dangerous consequences on how you live life. Your eschatology or how you view life's end will determine how you live life today. 

Here are a few passages of scripture. Can you to pick out the common thread in these verses. 

Hebrews 6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 

Romans 5:3-5 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame/disappoint because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us 

Psalm 39:7 My hope is in you 

Psalm 62:5 Rest in God alone O my soul for my hope comes from Him. 

1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three things remain – faith, hope and love. 

Colossians 1:27 Christ in you the hope of glory 

1 Peter 1: 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 

Let us examine what this HOPE is.

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13:13, said now these three things remain: faith, hope and love. Why did he pick these three and not prayer or evangelism, etc.? 

Faith – because without it, we can't see God and cannot experience the new birth and, most importantly, cannot please God. 

Love – because it is the first, greatest and the new commandment to love God and love one another. It is the only command that Jesus stressed. When we love one another, we fulfill all of the law. Without love, everything amounts to nothing. 

Hope Why hope? Have you thought about it? 

Because we believe in Jesus, we have a living hope and an inheritance that will never spoil, nor fade. 

REFLECT AND ASK YOURSELF

What are some of the things/ people/ situations you have put your hope in, in the past?

Did they let you down?