The Hope is an anchor of the soul.  And as thy soul prospers, so does our lives…

Got Hope?

Where there’s Hope, there is Peace.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation (troubles, pressure): but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.  John 16:33

To “overcome” in the Greek, means… to be victorious; to conquer; to prevail.

What did Jesus Christ do for us that could cause us to “be of good cheer” in the midst of a world of tribulation and pressure and troubles….?

What did he give us?  His Peace.  And where does this Peace come from?

In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began…  Titus 1:2

That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.  Titus 3:7

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Romans 6:23

The Hope is our eternal life….our eternal victory in Christ.

Our Peace comes from knowing our Victory.  And we learn of our Victory in God’s Word.

It is our Victory over eternal death, and all the negatives of this world…  Our Hope is that by God’s Everlasting Mercy and His Loving-kindness, He has granted unto us such a tremendous reality, that by our heart to believe, we too may be partakers of His Divine Favor and Grace, as He granted His Son, for his life sacrifice to us… Now what he earned and deserves, as an eternal reward, we receive also!  wow!  (this is called a mystery) We are joint-heirs with Christ.  This is to be our spiritual attitude in life.  This is Joy!

Jesus Christ won the Victory.  And this “Victory” is in the present tense…in the now.  An experience to enjoy now….or as soon as you are willing to believe… We are to live according to it now and every day forward.   This reality must become part of us…as we grow in our understanding of it.  By keeping our hearts turned toward God.   We must study it from God’s Word. (an abundant study)  And be renewed by it.  By working it into our thinking and heart.  Otherwise, how can one have confidence (faith) in life…?   Where there is no Hope, there is no peace and no confidence.

That we “might have Peace”…(John 16:33)  God’s Peace ruling in our heart is priceless!  It is one of the most valuable and desirable qualities, that a man can experience.  To have undisturbed rest and inner quietness, of assurance, that regardless of circumstances, one could be of good cheer and remain courageous in life, against all obstacles and negatives.   And we are to let this (reality) act as a ruling umpire to direct our hearts….which means we are to follow and pursue this Peace…and keep it!

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.  Colossians 3:15

We have Peace by keeping our heart fixed on The Hope.

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

To get the Hope, we must set our affections and desires on things above… Giving up the desires and love for this world… and setting our desire on God’s purposes.

Since you were brought back to life with Christ, focus on the things that are above–where Christ holds the highest position.
Keep your mind on things above, not on worldly things.
You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Christ is your life. When he appears, then you, too, will appear with him in glory.
Colossians 3:1-4

What a Promise! Do we believe it?  If we believe that God created life and the universe, then we can believe He has our eternal lives in His Hands…perfectly waiting.  Therefore, our Hope is to know with certainty that our future is secure, glorious and beyond our satisfaction.   And therein we find our Peace and Joy.  Look within… it is in you.  The world has nothing even close to offer…nothing close to compare!

Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast… Hebrews 6:19

The Hope gives us a solid, unmovable foundation to place our confidence in.  And it gives us endurance to run the race of life… keeping our Attitudes right…as one who is representing Christ and his victory.  His ambassador.  When one is competing in the games, and reaches his victory, does he not celebrate and rejoice?

Our heart is to manifest such Attitude as is appropriate for this victory over this world. Not to wait until we get to heaven.  What we put our heart on is what we see and feel and become..  How high do you want to go?  Perspective is everything.

So, in the world we shall, absolutely, have tribulations, and fears, and pressures and all kinds of negatives attacking our heart, soul, mind and body… And if we still find ourselves subject to the attitude of our old man nature… perhaps fearful, and getting frustrated, and anxious, and negative in certain situations… we have not yet let the Hope do it’s work in our heart.  Transformation is a continuous action…As we aim our hearts to find Peace and letting it rule, and direct us…into Abounding…

Again Perspective is everything…

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time (life on earth) are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  Romans 8:18

Our suffering is light and temporary and is producing for us an eternal glory that is greater than anything we can imagine.  II Corinthians 4:17

The Hope puts life into perspective for us.  I often say, “life on earth is but a spit in the ocean compared to our eternal life”… Therefore, don’t fret it.  You won the victory!  So, don’t let the world suck you dry… The Hope pumps life into us….by holding unto the proper perspective.

The Attitude of Victory.

Be anxious for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6, 7

Do not be anxious (without peace) about anything!  If we obey this command…not letting the physical realm lie to us, in that we respond with anxiety which is fear, which means we have not yet developed the faith in this that we are constantly doing it…believing the spirit over the flesh. To do as this instructs is to have the Peace of God, securing your heart.

Part of our Victory in Christ is having access with confidence to God who will work all things together for our good.  All we have to do is Ask and Pray. And be thankful.  Therefore, why be anxious for anything?  God’s Word says we are made too good for this world to bring us down.  If you are down, get up!   Let the world see your Peace and Joy….because you have The Hope!

As we allow our heart to meditate upon this reality, in knowledge, we really do Abound in a new perspective of life…  Develop the habit of thinking on the Hope…it will give us the endurance to keep going in peace and thankfulness… praising God along the way…

The Hope is a reality that brings us Peace that passes all our understanding.  A Peace the world never knew.  It’s priceless!  And Joy that is unspeakable.  That during the toughest storms of life….we can be unmovable in our spiritual position, and attitude, being always thankful, rejoicing always, and abounding in Hope.  This is to Prevail in life!

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.  Psalm 31:24

The Hope, yet to be seen, but to be believed on… To know and trust in the Hope is to find Peace and Joy and Patient Endurance for life’s journey.

The Word declares that God has given us, in a certain knowledge, everything we need for a successful life, in a complete perspective.  The knowledge of the Hope is definitely needed.  For it completes our purpose on earth.

The Hope gives us understanding into the perspective of God’s eternal plan.

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,  Ephesians 1:17, 18

The purpose of God’s Wisdom and Knowledge is that we “may know (to perceive in understanding) what is the ‘Hope of His calling'”…which is our true and vital purpose.  Wherefore, it is for us to be well informed of our eternal freedom, not being ignorant of our future.  But to live in the Confidence of this Reality.

“His Calling” is for us to know and understand who we are spiritually and of our eternal life, which is already accomplished in Christ.

The Promise of the Hope: (note:  all of these records of “the Hope” are in the noun form)

In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.  Titus 1:2

The word “hope” here does not mean to “wish for” something as if there is a chance that it won’t happen.  It is meant as an Absolute Accomplished Reality.  It is presently “laid up for you in heaven”.

For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.  Colossians 1:5

The Hope is ours! And it is so significant, that it falls under the classification of a top secret agenda that God had kept secret since the beginning of time.. (“according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began” Rom. 16:25) “The Mystery” was a secret.  But then it was revealed to God’s people in the first Century.  It came as a certain and precise knowledge regarding the Truth and Reality of Christ, illuminating our full potential as believers.

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  Colossians 1:27

To Us!  That’s “To whom” God made it available.  And by us dwelling and growing in this knowledge, along with its wisdom and understanding…it gives us the Hope that we are called to….as the Hope of Glory!  This knowledge puts us on the path that leads us directly to the center of God’s Will for our lives.  For it is not something we can see with our eyes, or register with our physical senses…

For we are saved by (in) hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.  Romans 8:24, 25

With ‘Christ in you’ it is available to see it, with your believing heart.  It is our spiritual Purpose, promised by God Himself.  It is why we were saved. To be in the Hope.  And one day it will be realized as our Reality.  It is our anchor or foundation to our eternal life. 

That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the (heavenly) veil.  Hebrews 6:18, 19

An anchor of the soul.  A promise to rely on and trust in… both sure and steadfast, secure and firm. By believing we can trust in this Hope with our lives.  It is more sure than the ground we walk on…

When the Hope is realized in your heart, Joy is born.  And now life has changed…and you know, assuredly, that nothing that happens on earth, no circumstance can take away the reality of who you are, and where you are headed in God’s plan.  Because He sees you there now!  It is an accomplished reality!  It says,  (in the present tense in the Greek) that He “has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”… We are already seated with Christ at God’s own right hand!   Therefore we Rejoice in the Hope!

No matter how bad life may get, we have a sure Hope.  And we should set our hearts upon it…for out of it comes our Joy and Peace.  For with it, comes our eternal victory!  Jesus said, “in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

The Greek word for “overcome” means to be Victorious!  We have the victory over this world….and over fear and death!  No more darkness! No more Night!

But in the world we will experience trials and tribulations here on earth…and although today, the believer in Christ does have more power than he realizes on earth, but it won’t be until that day of Christ’s return that we see our complete victory…in our new selves.  Jesus Christ will bring our completeness in Victory!  It is in his second coming that the hope of glory will be fulfilled.

“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound…”   I Corinthians 15:52

For the Lord Himself, at the summons sounded by the archangel’s call and by God’s trumpet, will come down from heaven, and first of all the dead in union with Christ will rise,
then those of us who are still living will be caught up along with them on clouds in the air to meet the Lord, and so we shall be with the Lord forever.
So continue encouraging one another with this truth.  I Thessalonians 4:16-18

Indeed, he is coming back to gather us together!

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him.  II Thessalonians 2:1

This is our Hope!

But when will such a thing happen?

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.  Romans 13:11

We don’t know!  God does not tell us when our Lord will return to rescue us…but we know that it will be before the great tribulation period that the book of Revelation speaks of…also known as the “wrath to come”.

For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,  I Thessalonians 5:9

To know and understand the Hope (of salvation) in the precise knowledge of the Mystery, we find this is the most accurate perspective. For some believe that Christians must endure the tribulation period, and others believe we are already in the tribulation period.  But when we study it thoroughly, we find the Truth, that indeed we are delivered…rescued and saved from it!

And to wait for the coming from heaven of His Son, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.  I Thessalonians 1:10

We wait for it…looking with anticipation, knowing it is coming.

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.  Titus 2:13

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? I Thessalonians 2:19

Put this on….make it a tangible reality in your believing heart….Own it!   We are a new creation.  We are now of the day, no more night.  For now we must walk in the light. Filled with Joy and Peace in believing….abounding in the Hope.

But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.  I Thessalonians 5:8

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the holy spirit.  Romans 15:13

Joy and Peace come from believing the Hope.  That’s extremely important to realize.  And then we can abound in the Hope as we keep it in our heart and rely on it… allowing it to do its work in our heart.  It will give us the Patient Endurance we need to keep fighting the good fight….to run our race.

“THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Hebrews 12:1, 2

God the Father set before His Son, a promise.  And that promise brought Joy, and for that Joy that was in his heart, he was able to endure the cross.  And that is the example we are to learn from,  as we run our race of life.  The “Joy” that Jesus Christ saw, that enabled him to keep going, enduring…despising and ignoring the shame and pain, was you and me with him in glory.

We Look to Jesus….so as not to take our eyes off the Hope….but to stay fixed in our calling.

And so we wait for it by Faith and out of it comes the quality of Patient Endurance.

It is Christ in You, the Hope of Glory!  And in that we Rejoice!

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  Romans 5:2

Rejoicing in hope; patient (endurance) in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.  Romans 12:12

Having the knowledge of this Hope gives us the proper perspective of God’s purposes and plans in the creation of life.  It is a promised reality where we will have the ultimate privilege of experiencing our existence in His eternal glory and light.  The Hope of his Return will be a tremendous thing, that will come to us soon.  Even though the world will reject God and His purposes, they will one day be confronted with this event…

But for us who believe, it is of most value and significance.  It is what we are called to…to set our hearts upon.  It is enough to change our lives forever, a new course.  And therein we find strength and endurance to run the race that is set before us.   Our appointed race, is our immediate purpose, which is to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. To develop into His nature… It is to pursue His Will for our lives in the spirit, according to the Word of God.   As we anticipate with earnest desire, to see that great day come, we must keep our course to maintain our vision and direction…developing ourselves in Christ.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.  I John 3:1-3

Those of us who live according to the Hope, will be greatly rewarded at his coming.  As the Apostle Paul shares…

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.  II Timothy 4:7, 8

 To Love his Appearing is to Rejoice in the Hope today!  Because we know the Hope of His calling… our Eternal Victory!

For now, we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by Faith…

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;  but the greatest of these is love.  I Corinthians 13:13

These are spiritual realities that are absolutely necessary for us to function in the spiritual realm.  And for us to have an impact in this worldly realm.  These three abide to give us the Who, What, Where, When, and How of our eternal calling.  Everything that God has done for us is embodied in these three.  And now every thing we do is to be exhibited and expressed in them….in Love…in Faith…in the Hope.

Love is first, God’s Love to us, and then our Love for Him.

Faith is our ability to believe God’s Word.

Hope is our future reality.  It is our completeness of salvation in victory and righteousness.  It is our eternal spiritual lives, with new bodies abiding in His glory. This starts at the point of Christ’s return for his church.

Why is Love the greatest?   Love is the greatest of these three because it acts as the “catalyst”.  It is the energizer to our Faith.  And in order for the Hope to be activated, we must first have Faith to believe it.  And the more we Love with the Love of God, the greater our Faith will be energized…resulting in endurance in the Hope.   We need all three activated and functioning in our lives as a synergetic force.

For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision (works of the flesh) availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh (energizes) by love.  Galatians 5:5, 6

Love energizes and provokes our Faith into believing action…and anticipation of our great Hope.

“but only faith that is spurred on to action by love.”  Galatians 5:6b (Williams)

“but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love.”  Galatians 5:6b (Amplified)

Love, Faith, Hope work together for us to fulfill our Eternal Purpose.

The Apostle Paul commends the Thessalonian Believers for their example of Love, Faith and Hope.

“We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”   I Thessalonians 1:3

God has called us to eternal glory in Christ, and how we get there is through and in these three Energizing Realities.  These are what we build our lives on.  This is our greatest support system.

Let’s begin with The Hope…