A friend recently posted this and I thought it was good and wanted to share:
Hope
It’s tempting to put our hope in the wrong places- relationships, financial security, personal or professional abilities- but all of these will let us down and leave us broken. Our firmest hope is found only in Christ Jesus. He is our rock and firm foundation.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy spirit. Romans 15: 13
I wait for the Lord; I wait and put my hope in his word.
Psalms 130: 5″
– Jeff Kelly
My Reply
Nice post! Hope was a key component of our study yesterday in church so this post is timely.
I don’t things you listed are bad per, perhaps often good, but no doubt they should be a lower priority than we tend to place, as this verse states; “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.- Matthew 6:33
We can truly hope in God because He knows our needs and He cares (like the parable of the sparrow bird).
Hope and faith are connected. The best kind, the truest hope is rooted in faith unto God.
In church yesterday, we studied this passage:
Romans 5:1-5 esv
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 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.”
The word hope is mentioned three times.
When our greatest hope is for God’s glory (not our own or other people’s glory) then God can fully bless that as it brings His awesome power full circle with our inclusion (Matthew 6:33).
Unfortunately in this world, it also includes suffering. Jesus, our supernatural Hero suffered. Why should we not?
But there is a purpose in suffering (certainly the non self-inflicted kind) as that passage in Romans tells us.
Yet even in suffering, we are,encouraged to rejoice in only a way the hope of our great destiny enables. The Holy Spirit via God’s love uses suffering to make us better people.
James writes in 1:2- similarly, “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”
So even these inevitable hardships are blessings if our faith and hope are in God first and foremost.
After-all, He works in mysterious ways.
Hope floats when placed in God.
Pondering Life : Pursuing God 