A Living Hope 1 Peter 1:3-4 Romans 8:22-25 1 Peter 1:13-16 Psalms 25:3 Psalms 33:18-20 Psalms 43:5 Proverbs 13:12 Psalms 33:16-22 Hebrews 10:23-25 Hebrews 6:17-19 01.22.18

A LIVING HOPE

BREAD

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, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you.   1 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV)

²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.  Romans 8:22-25 (NIV)

¹³ Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”   1 Peter 1:13-16 (NIV)

³ No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.   Psalm 25:3 (NIV)

¹⁸ But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, ¹⁹ to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. ²⁰ We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.   Psalm 33:18-20 (NIV)

⁵ Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 43:5 (NIV)
 
¹² Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.  Proverbs 13:12 (NIV)

¹⁶ No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. ¹⁷ A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. ¹⁸ But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, ¹⁹ to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. ²⁰ We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. ²¹ In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. ²² May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.  Psalm 33:16-22 (NIV)

²³ Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  ²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. ²⁵ Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  Hebrews 10:23-25 (NIV) 

¹⁷ Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. ¹⁸ God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. ¹⁹ We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.  Hebrews 6:17-19 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Hast thou, O my soul, felt the weight of thy own guilt and misery, and been enabled, in reality and truth, to lay hold by faith of the blood of Christ for thy redemption, and faithfully to devote thyself to him in heart and life?  Then hast thou a sure foundation to go upon:  let it be thy constant care firmly to depend upon these and such like blessed declarations; for every blessing thou standest in need of.  Has Christ brought life and immortality to light?  Then look unto him and live.  Is there redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins?  Then throw all thy guilt upon his atonement.  Has he blotted out the hand-writing of ordinances that was against thee?  Then shake off self-righteous dependences, and legal fears also.  Did he die for thy sins?  Then let his goodness and love lead thee to unfeigned repentance; let the sense of thy sins break thine heart, but encourage thy hope in the gospel.”    K.H. Von Bogatzky

“To live without hope is to cease to live.”   Fyodor Dostoevsky

“Other men see only a hopeless end, but the Christian rejoices in an endless hope.”   Gilbert Brenken

“God promises us redemption, but His sacred path leads us away from safety, predictability, and comfort.  Any attempt to fly over the dangerous terrain or make a detour to safer ground is doomed because it will not take us to God.  Instead, it leads to a host of other idols that can’t provide us with the confidence of faith, the dynamic of hope or the passion of love we so deeply crave.   Each day we either live for God or for other gods.  In each moment of hardship we fear either God or man.  When we choose to worship gods and fear men our lives will suffer an emptiness and turmoil that is not much different than trying to fill our bellies with dirt.  At first we may feel full, but in short order our violation of God’s plan will lead to torment.”   Dan Allender

“It's a promise that whatever you might be experiencing today is just one chapter in a story that He is writing, and that story isn't over yet.... extract the precious from the worthless (Jeremiah 15)..Life has far more sticky situations than miraculous moments. As you encounter challenges, difficulties, and setbacks, train your eyes to ‘extract the precious.’ Train your ears to hear the promise. And train your heart to pursue relentless hope.”    Beth Guckenberger

“Seeking with faith, hope, and love pleases our Lord; and finding Him pleases the soul, filling it full of joy.”   Julian of Norwich

“Hope, it is exquisitely fragile and it is an exceptional force and it is essential to faith and you can’t afford to lose it.  Lose your fears but never your hope.”  Ann Voskamp

“Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered in anything short of God and His will for us.”   Billy Graham

“Canst thou answer this, believer?  Canst thou find any reason why thou art so often mourning instead of rejoicing?  Why yield to gloomy anticipations?  Who told thee that the night would never end in day?  Who told thee that the winter of thy discontent would proceed from frost to frost, from snow and ice, and hail, to deeper snow, and yet more heavy tempest of despair?  Knowest thou not that day follows night, that flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed winter?  Hope thou then!  Hope thou ever!  For God fails thee not!”    Charles H. Spurgeon   

HEART SAVOR

• ·       “My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil.  His oath, His covenant, His blood Support me in the whelming flood; When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh, may I then in Him be found; Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand.”  Edward Mote
• ·        Hope that is seen is no hope at all.
• ·        Wherever I am now, it is just one chapter of my story and it is not over yet – I must learn to extract the precious from the worthless, to train my ears to hear the promise and my heart to pursue relentless hope.