Hope For Life

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (KJV)

Without hope there is no faith. Without hope there are no ideas, no mental images, no spiritual concepts, and certainly no spirit. Hope is a container that holds or gives shape to our ideas, concepts, and thoughts about God. Without hope for our future we are either in darkness or are sliding down to the abyss where darkness rules.

Hope is the fuel of life. Under ideal conditions, we hold a hope to be better. We hold a hope for the future. We hope that things will get better. We hope for a change of position or circumstances. We hope for a better world, better job, better family life, better relationship with Christ, better health, better emotional life, better spiritual life, the list could go on for a long time. Every second of our life is predicated upon hope for the next second, next minute, next hour, next day, and next year. Our hope for the coming days fuels us for our service and work today.

When we have a day in our life where hope slips away it is a day of devastation and trauma. When we have a day where God calls a loved one home it is a day of grief, loss, and trauma because the hope we hold for sharing our life with that person is gone. When we have a day where a business venture collapses with no opportunity for rebuilding then we call that day a great loss because we lose the hope of the future of the business.

Hope may indeed be more vital than love, for with no hope to fill our hearts we do not care about whether we have love within us.

Hope and the Light of Life are the same thing. They are so intertwined we cannot separate them. Christ is the hope of the world. In spiritual darkness there is no hope and without hope there is consuming darkness.

Lack of hope

In the Old Testament, hope was but a vague image.

1 Chronicles 29:15 We are aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. (NIV)

It is the lack of hope, light, and vision that drives men and women, groups, and nations to destruction often taking others down with them. People of no hope are in darkness and torture. Satan has his way and his control over them. Without hope for the future, we do not strive for a better tomorrow. Without hope burning within us, we will not work to better our life or the lives of others. Without hope we care not whether we live or die, remain free or a slave, grow wiser or remain ignorant, remain faithful to our Lord or slide backward into the outer darkness. Without hope, we do not care. Hope is the underpinning of all that is in the consciousness of humankind. When the human race immerses itself in the darkness that is vacant of hope the race has no future vision and no reason to move forward. Without a vision for the future the human spirit collapses into the darkness.

Job 8:11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds thrive without water? 12 While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass. 13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless.

God constructed the soul of men and women to run on hope. However much we might disagree with the religious practices of other faiths, God placed in the soul of every person a need for hope that leads to a need to believe in Him. When the human soul is in darkness there is madness and nothing to lose. In the absence of hope, a singular human being and the world will self-destruct. Hopeless children look out upon the world with vacant eyes. Hopeless elderly look out upon with world with eyes full of tears if they see no heaven that awaits them. In the absence of hope, there is terror, fear, anxiety, and a foreboding sense of doom. In the absence of hope, there is no humor, laughter, or lifting of the spirit.

Jesus Christ is the Hope and Light of this world and the universe. If Jesus, the Hope and Light of the world is within us, we are all called to His service to give away His Hope and Light.

Psalms 9:18 But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.

We cannot give away what we do not have ourselves. Even the most lowly and most forgotten among us needs hope and also needs to give it away. Something happens when we purposefully give hope away. It is indeed more blessed to give than to receive and when we give away the fuel of life then blessings pile upon us and our deeds are counted as acts for God. To give away hope we must portray all of Christ’ love. We must portray his humility and compassion.

We need to give hope away because others need it and we need to give it. We must not remain in our cubicles and only take care of our selves.

`Matthew 25:40 ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

When we give hope to others, what is it we are giving away? We are giving the essence of Christ. Giving hope is giving life to those people who are alive in body but whose spirits have gone into the darkness of the tomb. The substance of the rebirth through Christ is hope, for we go from darkness to light. In the rebirth process, we go from a vision of an end to our life to a vision of life everlasting. Giving hope is giving the love of Christ and the vision Christ gave the world. It is through Christ that the world can see into the heavenly realms. In your daily walk, whether it be as a solitary prayer warrior in recluse or as a servant interacting with hundreds of people, giving hope is the starting point for the message of and the message about Christ and His redeeming grace. Giving hope is giving a picture of what is possible when all things look impossible. You may be the person who gives the beginning outlines of that picture. Giving hope is giving forgiveness when forgiveness is not earned nor deserved. You may be the human being who through your own act of forgiveness shows another person forgiveness is possible. You may be the person who shows that there is hope that all sins can be washed away in Christ’ blood shed for thee and others. Giving hope is inspiring another to set a goal and plan for the future when it seems there can be no future. You can be the person who reminds others that goals a task done with the will of God is a task that can be achieved. You can be the person who reminds others that no task is so large God cannot but help move mountains out of the way. Giving hope is giving the message of Christ’ salvation even when we are in pain. You may be the person who is in pain but who remains positive, hopeful, and in good humor. Even in pain you can show others that no pain whether physical, mental, or emotional can separate you from Christ your Savior. It is through you and your gift of hope that others can be prepared to hear the message and come to a fuller understanding of who Christ is and the person He wants all of us to be. Giving hope is bringing joy to the joyless. You may be the person who brings the laughter that destroys the grip of hopelessness. Giving hope is showing the beauty of giving without the "show" reflecting back upon ourselves. You may be the person who shows the godly inner glow of humility. Giving hope is showing others that another person cares for them and about them. When others see that another person cares about them, it is not so distant a leap to see that Christ loves and cares about them. Giving hope is showing another there is no end in sight within the heavenly realms. You may be the person who points up into the twinkling star lit sky and helps another try to see the infinite found only in God. Giving hope is showing honesty when honesty hurts the giver. You may be the person, who through an act of painful honesty, shows another person the power and dynamic force of being honest with themselves, with others, and with God. Giving hope is showing the power of self-control and self-denial. You may be the person who lets others know of your temptations and trials but through the help of Christ, you maintained your self-control and were able to deny yourself and who then resisted the temptations in your life. Giving hope is showing that growth is possible in spite of the momentum of stagnation. You may be the person who shows another that starting over at any age brings glory to God. Giving hope is showing that always doing the right thing is beneficial. You may be the person who shows how powerful righteousness can be and how destructive unrighteousness can be to a person and to a family. Giving hope is showing that humility can come from placing our burdens, cares, and worries in the hands of the Savior. You may be the person who shows humility.

No matter who you are or where you are on this earth, God needs you to be a person of hope. He needs you to be a person of hope until you take your last breathe. It is through you and your witness that hope can be triggered, spawned, started, begun, initiated, or inspired within others.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (NIV)