December 26 – Hope In Faithfulness

“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.” – Lamentations 3:21-25 (ESV)

At Christmas time we might hear and say much about “peace” and “joy” and experience great happiness.  But not always. Not for everyone. Christmas time can also be a very difficult time for many. Who we celebrate and what we remember at Christmas is the birth of Jesus who was born in Bethlehem and lived there for maybe two years or more. The birth of Jesus, who is the Christ (Messiah) was the fulfillment of prophecies given by God to prophets, whose stories are written in the books of the Old Testament. Jeremiah was one of those prophets. Today’s verse, found right in the middle of the Lamentations of Jeremiah. He states clearly his reason for hope in the middle of his sorrow over the destruction, captivity, and exile of Judah. He calls to mind the lovingkindness, the mercies, the faithfulness of God.  He declares that God is enough – his portion – and the reason for Jeremiah’s hope. Then the promise for us, that the LORD, is good to those who wait and seek him. Today, whatever our circumstances or memories, let’s seek Him while we wait and find in His word His goodness. It will give us hope also.  

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November 10 – Resting In Silence

 “My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.” – Psalm 62:5-6 (NASB)

There are times in our lives that our best option is to back away from our worries and take a respite, like a breather. The idea of waiting in silence as we read in this verse is very close to the idea of resting.  God created us humans and gave us a physical body that needs rest for recuperation from the work we do.  God also gave us a soul which also requires rest and we get that rest by waiting for God in silence.  When we wait we can hear and learn to believe in God's promises.  That's what gives us hope and that hope comes from God.  Our word 'hope' means a way to wish. We want but don't know if we will get it and perhaps will be disappointed.  But God created us to have hope that comes from Him and never disappoints us.  Our hope grows and gets stronger as we wait in silence.  As we wait in silence, we think about and meditate on what God has promised.  He promises hope from his unchangeable character and lovingkindness.  Today let’s do it; let’s wait only for God and for Him alone.

 

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September 12 – Peace and Access With Sure Hope

Therefore having been justified on the principle of faith, we have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ;  by whom we have also access by faith into this favour in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God.– Romans 5:1-2 (DARBY)  Since we have considered these two verses over the past two days, today we look again in a different version of the Bible.

In the fifth chapter of Romans, we’ve already considered the first two verses mining for the promises God has given to us. For all who by faith believe that God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ to live on earth in human flesh, God’s purpose was accomplished when after living a perfect life, without sin, Jesus was sacrificed on the cross while carrying the sins of the world. He paid in full the wages of sin (Romans 6:23). Everyone who believes in Him and repents, receives eternal life. So far we have noted two links which secures our eternal future. The Apostle Paul specifies two links securing our salvation; we have peace with God (v.1); we have access to be standing in grace (v.2). Also in verse 2 we find that we have a sure hope of glory. The third link, (v. 2) promises us access and hope, and standing in grace we make our boast in this hope of the glory of God. Our hope will positively not disappoint. It is amazing to recognize that this hope is ours. Proclaiming this hope we will never be ashamed for it is solid true.

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September 11 – Access to Overflowing Grace

 “...we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.” – Romans 1b-2 (NASB)

As we read yesterday, we have a relationship with God based on objective peace. We were brought into this relationship of peace through our Lord Jesus Christ and by no self-effort or work. And now, “through whom [that is Christ] also we have obtained our introduction by faith." Again, to be clear, our introduction, our access, to grace is by faith; and it's through Christ alone.  Everything is because of Him.  This truth is rich, it has boundaries which are untouchable and unreachable.  “Through whom” ⸺  Jesus Christ, ⸺ we have peace with God and through Him we stand in grace.  It’s because of Him. Peace with God is a first link and standing in grace is a second link to our security in Christ.  The key thought is that the intercession of Christ brings all this to us all.  Through Christ “we have obtained our introduction,” or literally, obtained our access (see NKJV).   The word “access,” here is translated in the NASB by the word ‘introduction,’  which in Greek means access, entrée. It is a word of epic importance. It's a staggering word. Through Christ alone we have access by faith into God's realm where grace overflows.

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May 28 – Never Disappoint

“Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” Psalm 33:22 (ESV)

The last verse in Psalm 33 is a short prayer. This is really a prayer of faith. When we think of God's love as enduring and never failing, that is faith. We believe that God loves us and always will. The “steadfast love” can also be rendered as “unfailing love” and we can believe that God loves us and always will. Our verse also mentions our hope and of course that is not wishful thinking, it is expectation. When we expect God to show us His love that is also faith. So, in faith, let's expect God to demonstrate his steadfast love to us. And, let's expect it to be not a once in a while experience but a lasting all time experience.  That's what it means to have God's love resting upon us all the time. God's love is with us all the time, that is a promise God has given to us and we can trust in it with a hope that will not disappoint us – not ever.  

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February 28 – Living Hope

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” -  1 Peter 1:3 (NASB)

When we hear the term “born again” we need to keep in mind that many have used it in ways to make it commonly misunderstood – especially from its original meaning in the Bible. In our verse today we have a promise of God’s great mercy. He has caused us (faith believers) to be reborn with a living hope. Again we consider the difference between the today’s usage of ‘hope for’ and the living hope that Christ has provided. Our hope in Jesus is a living hope. We have absolute assurance because what we hope for has already been done. We have already a living hope and all it promises in Jesus Christ. When Jesus died physically while hanging on the cross, He, the Son of Man, was absolutely dead. He had committed His spirit into the hands of God the Father. But Jesus did not remain dead. He was resurrected to a new life. That is what our living hope is about – we too have in Christ the benefits of His resurrection. He has already caused it to happen for us through our spiritual birth. It’s a hope that is alive and never will disappoint us.

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January 17 – Believe and Follow

“We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you;” – 1 Thessalonians 1:2 (NASB)

It was about A.D. 51 when the Apostle Paul wrote from Corinth this letter to those believers in Thessalonica. They constituted the church which was founded on Paul’s second mission trip. With Paul was Timothy and Silas, so it is those three that make up the “we.” Paul was a man of prayer and he with his companions prayed frequently for the all those who were in the church. Paul uses a favorite three-fold combination of faith, hope and love. The Thessalonians’ response to the preaching of the gospel in their midst established indisputable proof of their salvation. The evidence of God’s love for the Thessalonian believers was His choice of them unto salvation. From the Greek word translated chosen (eklogēn) comes our English “election.” That God has chosen to bless some individuals with eternal life is clearly taught in many places in both the Bible. Likewise clear, is the fact that God holds each of us personally responsible for our decision to trust or not to trust in Jesus Christ. Verse six affirms their choice as they followed Paul and in his submission to Jesus as Lord and Savior. 

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January 14 – Hope With No Shame

“ …and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” -  Romans 5:4-5 (ESV)

Aren't there times for each person when what is hoped for ends in deep disappointment and even shame? We stake our hope on uncertain outcomes and when it fails us, we may well be downcast for a time. This isn’t the kind of hope that we receive as believers from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We’ve learned that even the times of sufferings are times that produce good traits in us. Endurance, character, and hope are mentioned in our verse. In this promise is this hope. A hope than will never result in our shame or disappointment. The hope comes from God and is built upon His Word and His promises. How is it we can be so certain that this hope won’t disappoint us? Because it comes as a result of God pouring His love into our hearts. This is the ministry of His Holy Spirit. This is why God gave to us His Spirit dwells within us never to leave us without His encouragement and counsel. We’re assured by God and so our hope is in that assurance. We are His precious people and He our marvelous God.

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January 13 – He Knows and Gives Hope

“‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB)

The verse selected for today is often a favorite. Many take the promise in this verse as if it is given directedly to each believer. In a much larger sense it is true but not in the primary sense. Jeremiah, was sent to give God’s messages and warning to the His people in the Kingdom of Judah. (The northern Kingdom of Israel was gone and its people dispersed.) Warnings of conquest and destruction were repeatedly given to them by God through Jeremiah and each was ignored, mocked, and disregarded. They treated Jeremiah treacherously with malice and physical torture. But look one verse back to Jeremiah 20:10 we have the necessary context. God promises a time to bring the captives back from Babylon after seventy years in exile. Not all came back but God is promising in verse 11. God promised welfare and no longer calamity. He promised a future and a hope. While not directly in this verse, God has promised each believer a future and a hope. We too have this promise of welfare and not calamity from God from God. We find these promises many places. He gives us hope that is absolute and never disappoints.

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December 25 – Our Clear Purpose

“Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” – 1 John 3:7-8 (NASB)

It’s Christmas Day on our calendar and our thoughts are turned to the Gift of Gifts, Jesus the Son of God. Remembering so many other names we can use; King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. We might think our selected verse is sort of unusual for this day. But, no. It is appropriate in many ways that we recall and think about the reason we have this day on our calendar and what we celebrate God becoming fully Man while remaining fully God. It is mind blowing.  Let’s take time to contemplate this extraordinary situation.. If the Son of God came to help us stop sinning — to destroy the works of the devil — and if he also came to die so that, when we do sin, there is a propitiation, a removal of God’s wrath, then what does this imply for living our life? For the next three posts, thanks to notes from John Piper’s “Solid Joys”, we will look at three gifts which God in Christ has given us. They are, A Clear Purpose for Living, Hope That Our Failures Will Be Forgiven, and Christ Will Help Us.

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In part sourced from John Piper's podcast, "Solid Joys." https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/three-christmas-presents 

December 10 – Unending Comfort and Hope

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,  comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” - 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (ESV)

How about the times in our lives when what we need is encouragement or comfort? Today's verse is about the grace of God through which we are comforted or encouraged.  God knows when his children need to be encouraged. He promises to give it to us. Jesus Christ, the Son of God and our Father God in heaven have provided for us eternal encouragement to help us live the Christian life. This doesn't mean that God encourages us once and it lasts forever. It means that because He is eternally the source of encouragement and comfort. He is with us all the time. He never leaves us so whenever we need encouragement, God will be with us to give it to us.  When we need comfort He is our unending supply by grace. It is a promise from God that lasts for eternity because God's promises last that long. They never cease and He never exhausts the supply. Let's take encouragement from this promise today.

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November 30 – Hope. Peace. Joy.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” - Romans 15:13 (ESV)

Three words which we use often in our thoughts and conversations. But does our use reflect the power and fullness of these words for us? The first is Joy and this verse should fill our hearts with rejoicing. We fully believe that these blessings are for us today just as they were available to the Christians in Rome to whom these words were written long ago. God desires to fill us with joy. God also offers to us Peace. But the peace God gives is not the peace found in this world. Peace treaties and conferences and summits all mean just one thing – lack of conflict between warring parties. The peace from God is the removal of the hostility that separates us from Him and binds us to His love. If our hearts and minds are disturbed by some crisis or difficulty, God wants to fill us with His peace. If you are wondering about your eternal future God wants to remove the uncertainty and doubt and fill us with His Hope. His joy, peace and hope are our promise today and so we give thanks God for His love.

 

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October 21 – One Means One

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” – Ephesians 4:4-6 (NASB)

We have been promised as faith believers that we are one together. So it may seem strange, after reading these verses and understanding this promise from God that there is myriad of versions of Christian bodies each following a different interpretation or teaching. Paul, the apostle is teaching the body of believers in Ephesus that in all the world there is only one body of believers. Paul lists seven elements of unity centered on the three Persons of God. He focuses on the Trinity—the Spirit in verse 4, the Son in verse 5, and the Father in verse 6. Paul’s point is not to distinguish between the Persons of the Godhead but to emphasize that, although they have unique roles, they are completely unified in every aspect of the divine nature and plan. These are the basis for unity that should exist in the body of believers. One body refers to the universal church. One Spirit is the Holy Spirit who indwells the church. The words, one hope when you were called, all believers have a common hope regarding their future with God, a confidence that began at the time they were “called” to salvation.

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September 22 – Merciful Father

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” – 1 Peter 1:3 (NASB)

Even if we do not know them, there still is one father and one mother for every person created. Though God was known as Creator and Redeemer in the OT, He was rarely called Father except as in Isaiah and Jeremiah. Jesus Christ, always addressed God as His Father in the gospels except in the separation on the cross (Matthew 27:46). In doing so, Christ claimed to be of the same nature and being, as the Father. Jesus does not forbid the showing of respect when He said “And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.” Christ says no to the use of such names as spiritual titles, or in a sense that accords undue spiritual authority to a human being, as if he were the source of truth rather than God. By speaking of “our” Lord, Peter personalized the Christian’s intimate relationship with the God through His Son. For God provided a glorious salvation for mankind. He is merciful because sinners need God’s mercy. We were in a pitiful, desperate, wretched condition as sinners. Only by God’s mercy are we forgiven and born again.

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July 30 – Waiting Patiently With Hope

“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” – Romans 8:24-25 (ESV)

We continue talking about hope, and by that we mean hope that has faith as its foundation. It is not a ‘wistful’ hope but a hope out of conviction that God’s promises are ours to keep and trust. “Seeing is believing” but that isn’t believing by faith and it isn’t “seeing is hoping” either. Even our faith is a gift from God. Because of our faith, we have hope that what we do not see now is yet truly ours.  It is not really hope at all if we say we hope in what we can see and confirm. We do not really have hope for what we see when assurance and proof is right in front of them. We hope for heaven and that's a hope which will not disappoint; we know it is ours although we do not see it now. We have our hope in God’s promises, in His word. God has said, “Take My word on it.” So, we can and do that with faith and hope from God. It is because of that hope and our conviction in the promises that we are able to patiently wait for it to be. 

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July 29 – Assurance + Conviction = Faith

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1 (NASB)

We consider some of the narratives found in our Scriptures. Those narratives have prophecies, revelations and promises from God’s Word. The key to receiving these promises and the blessings they bring is ‘faith.’  We all have a kind of faith and exercise it every day. We have faith in a light switch, but not when our supply of electricity has been cut off. However, a promise from God in which we have hope and are convinced it will be is because of our faith. When we learn of a promise from God it is by faith that we have assurance of its fulfillment and that is where our hope is. By faith believing in what God has promised, we have assurance and conviction even of things we cannot see. Hope in God’s promises and convictions that what is promised is true even if we cannot see it, feel it, or touch it, is because we have faith. Heaven, is a promise. Jesus Christ coming back one day is a promise and we have hope and conviction in its truth. What promise of God will be good to have faith in today? Let’s do so and we will not be ashamed.

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July 28 – Hope Abounds

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” -Romans 15:13  (ESV)

In the letter the Apostle Paul wrote and sent to the believers in Rome, he takes time to proclaim how our God seeks to fulfill a promise He made to the patriarchs of the people of Israel. God has intended from the beginning to include in His plan of salvation, all nations, all people, all races without distinction. To the Jews at the time, all non-Jewish people were called Gentiles. This is the term Paul uses to identify all the people in the world. For Jews and non-Jews, God is the source of eternal hope, life, and salvation for every person. He is the object of hope for every believer. Unlike our English. word “hope,” the New Testament word contains no uncertainty or ambiguity. This hope expresses something that is certain, but not yet realized. The believer’s eventual providence is to share in the glory of God and that hope will be realized because Christ Himself secures it (1 Timothy 1:1). It is only because of the clear and positive promises we have in the Word of God, that we believers have a sure foundation for hope. It is a hope that will not disappoint. 

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June 28 – Covered In Hope

“For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name. Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, According as we have hoped in You.”  Psalm 33:21-22 (NASB)

Psalm 33 was written to praise God as the Creator and Preserver of life.  Especially our life if we have believed His word. God's unfailing love is defined as his mercy or his lovingkindness. Another word used would be steadfast love. Can we imagine a love that is loving, kind, and steadfast?  The Psalms in our Bible offers many expressions of praise to God. There are also many prayers in these songs as our verse today in an example. God's love is eternal, it never fails. In order to experience this unfailing love, something is required on our part. We must have an attitude of expectation, of true hope. The psalmist has the request for God’s love to be upon us “according as” which is ‘even as’ or ‘according to’ the hope we have in God’s promises. Our hope is built on that which comes from what we know is true and we can expect it to happen. To experience God's unfailing love, we need to expect Him to show it to us – then His love will cover us, it will be with us. If we constantly expect His love, we'll constantly experience it.

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May 24 – Unbounded Grace

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.” -  Romans 5:1-2 (NASB)

Day to day we may not, very often, think about the grace in which we stand. Considering that grace in our lives is pretty much limited to the word “gracious” which, means kind, polite, civil, tactful, and courteous. Grace, however, is much more than politeness or civil behavior. Our promise in today’s verse is powerful because it explains what grace brings to us. Because of the grace God has for us we, who in faith believe in Jesus and His words, have been justified. Notice the “have been” there? It is past, it is a done deal. Being justified provides for us peace with God which is also by grace, our possession. We have such a possession of peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and it is through Christ we were introduced by faith into this marvelous grace. We really need to think about this deeply and frequently. It is a gift which continues to develop into more gifts from God. The last promise is hope, and hope is ours because of what God has fully done for us by grace. It a hope for which we can triumph in the glory of God.  

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April 10 – Holding Firmly To Hope

“…so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to hold firmly to the hope set before us.” – Hebrews 6:18 (NASB)

“A promise is a promise” we say because just a promise is sometimes not enough to convince others that we are true to our word. We find the need to double down on our promise to tell the truth and not lie. This is because we and humans in general have a history of being untruthful or not fully truthful at least. So our oath when sworn in to testify in court is “to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” An oath puts an end to all arguments, so there can be no argument about the expectation of truth.  God promised Abraham He would make him a great nation, He then confirmed it with an oath by swearing by Himself.  As heirs of the promises, we know they are for us as well. When we read the promises from God, we trust them – at least we should because God’s promises are underscored by two things. First is it impossible for God to lie (Titus 1:2); second, His ever truthful Word is supported by His promise sworn on Himself. We have hope in every promise of God. We can know it is real and true.

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