Many times we talk about faith; yes, faith is important but faith must also meet hope in you. G.o.d did not call believers into hopeless living. You can"t claim to be a child of G.o.d and say you are hopeless or that there is no future for you. There is a future for you in Christ Jesus as long as you are G.o.d"s own. And there is no medicine for discouragement than to be of good courage.G.o.d is encouraging your heart now so you can have a glorious ending. That is why it took G.o.d a long time to convince Moses to be the deliverer of the Israelites. Moses was reluctant to go to Pharaoh when G.o.d sent him; rather, he gave G.o.d several reasons why he was not the right person for the task. He had previously killed in Egypt and the Egyptians must have been looking for him to avenge the death of their loved one; apart from this, he was not a fluent speaker.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
Faith gives substance to your hope, to your optimism. Don"t come to a point that you get so depressed that nothing can encourage you. No matter how long the night is, beyond the night is a glorious morning coming. Don"t allow divine hope to escape you. G.o.d is for you, so be optimistic about life.
Many only see darkness, gloom and evil as if nothing good can come to them again; no wonder there are suicide cases all over. If only you can hold on, the plan of G.o.d will come to reality in your life. Hope makes you hold on, so don"t let the enemy tamper with your hope.
There was an exercise done in the military in a particular country and the bridge collapsed. While others fell down and died, there was a man that held on to the branch of a nearby tree. He was there for hours and at a point, he got so tired, yet, he held on until those on rescue mission came. When he was finally rescued, he was asked how he didn"t give up. He said anytime he got to the verge of giving up, something tells him to keep holding on; that rescue is on the way. I pray you will not use today to silence your tomorrow.
Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope.
Zechariah 9:12
When you become a prisoner of hope, you will not see any alternative to Jesus. Believers are not hopeless Christians. People may see the beginning of our lives but it is not over today; a glorious future lies ahead of us. When Job had trouble, it was as if the trouble would not end but Job was a man who endured patiently. Every trouble has expiry date and just as every drug expires, whatever the enemy has planned against you, if your hope is in place, will also expire and the story will change. The story of the Psalmist will be your story as well in Jesus name, Amen.
When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
Psalms 126:1
And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Job 42:10
Just like Job, a turning point is coming your way in Jesus name. We are partakers of the hope of Jesus; hope that is not based on circ.u.mstance or on what we feel but on the infallible word of G.o.d. G.o.d is not a man; He cannot fail because there is no failure in Him.
For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be the partaker of his hope.
I Cor. 9:10
You can"t claim to be serving the Lord and not be hopeful because as a believer, you should be conscious of the fact that G.o.d is a rewarder. The system of the world rewards the diligent; that is why everyone keeps aspiring to be diligent. If man, in his human wisdom knows this, how much more G.o.d that cannot fail? It is my prayer that you will learn to rely solely on this G.o.d and as you do that, G.o.d will prove Himself mighty on your behalf, Amen.
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great G.o.d and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
t.i.tus 2:13
As believers, we are to share our hope with the people of this world. Don"t always look at yourself in the perspective of the past. If things were not working for you when you were an unbeliever because of the family you come from, now that you are born again, you have the right to pitch your tent to whichever family you prefer; the spiritual or the physical. Remember the spiritual governs the physical, so, if your physical family does not make you happy, then, pick the spiritual.
Wherefore remember, that ye being in the time past gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncirc.u.mcision by that which is called the Circ.u.mcision in the flesh made by hands. That at that time, ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without G.o.d in the world.
Ephesians 2:11-12
The above verses refer to our former state. This is the destiny of a hopeless man without Christ; the condition of the unG.o.dly or the condition of a believer who does not know who he is in Christ. But thank G.o.d verse 13 is our present state:
But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:13
The blood of Christ has unified us and brought us to the covenant therefore, whatever has been against us in the time past are bound to give way. We have been rescued from the dominion of darkness and we have been brought to the kingdom of G.o.d"s own Son; the kingdom of hope. It is not yet over on this side of the world because Christ is our hope, so don"t allow anyone to echo the voice of despondency and hopelessness in your ears. The future does not belong to the children of wickedness but it belongs to you. Circ.u.mstance or the devil cannot control your destiny as long as you cling to this hope.
In Luke 13, Jesus came to the synagogue to preach and there was a woman who was bent over; not for eighteen months, but for eighteen years. And you wonder how a woman could still manage to come to the temple despite her painful and shameful condition. While there are some people today who have trouble for about a year or two and they allow that to take them away from G.o.d"s presence; this woman kept coming to the temple because she had hope.
And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift herself.
Luke 13:11
The Bible says she could not lift herself up, yet, she kept coming to the temple. She came because she must have wondered, "who else will I serve than G.o.d? I don"t know why I am this way, I don"t know how or when I would be healed but I better serve the One who created me no matter the ridicule or shame". Though it is beyond the comprehension of anyone, one day, this woman met the Word in flesh and when Jesus saw her, He called her and healed her.
And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified G.o.d.
Luke 13:12-13
You will glorify G.o.d in Jesus name. Don"t allow the enemy to break your focus, what keeps you coming to G.o.d despite the contrary challenge is hope. There"s no room for discouragement; don"t give in to desperation or frustration.
Incidentally, the enemy talks to all of us; after all, you can"t stop the devil from talking. Every great leader has been discouraged at one time or the other but what makes the difference in their lives is that they refused to give in to discouragement. They refuse to be bothered about what the devil is saying. The devil speaks to us in the stronghold of our minds to bring discouragement.
The more we think about our problems, the more we come to desperation and hopelessness; but the more we think about G.o.d, the more we rejoice and ignore whatever the enemies are doing. By doing this, the word of G.o.d will come to reality in our lives.
In Acts 14, Apostle Paul was ministering at Lystra and there was a man who had health challenge; not for eighteen years but from the womb. His problem was as old as his age. In those days, it was believed that anyone born with a deformity must have existed before and was full of evil.
And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother"s womb, who never had walked.
Acts 14:8
Think of this, why come to the church if you are hopeless? Don"t just come to church to show face or to mark attendance; come with hope. Come because you know G.o.d"s word is the solution to every life challenge; let faith in G.o.d"s word meet hope in you so it can produce miracle. Though we don"t know how he got to where Paul was preaching but despite the fact that he had never walked, he dragged himself to where Paul was preaching. It was not certain he came for healing; you can be sure he came just to hear the word of G.o.d and that day, he was hearing from a man who was anointed for miracle.
The same heard Paul speak: who steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed.
Acts 14:9
The eye is the window to your mind; this cripple man was focused on Paul, he didn"t allow anything or anyone to distract his attention. How did he get his faith? Faith came through the preaching and the preaching met hope in him. How do we know faith met hope in him?
Said with a loud voice, stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.
Acts 14:10
Whenever faith meets hope in you, miracle is inevitable. This man displayed his hope by doing what Paul asked him to do; he didn"t argue with Paul. He did the possible and G.o.d, whose word is infallible, did the impossible. May the G.o.d of heaven and earth be glorified in your life, Amen.